Today is my 36th birthday. I know that this means I'm starting to stretch it a little bit to be part of a community that's specifically for youth. When I was in my 20's, I started a number of groups that were particularly for youth. I was often asked (by older people) "what's your definition of youth?" Sometimes I would flippantly reply "No one over 35."

And indeed this last year is the first time I've started to realize that I am actually going to grow old. I've noticed that it's much harder for me to get fit than it used to be. My life path is narrowing down - where I used to have a feeling of limitless possibilities, I'm now seeing that I have a particular job to do, and that I must do it. Yet while I have some sadness at letting go of some of the aspects of my youth, it's also deeply satisfying to start to glimpse some of the solidity and settledness of really growing up. Even though our Western culture (in America where I live and Australia where I grew up) tends to glorify the energy and beauty of youth and recoil from any signs of aging, I am starting to experience the particular solid joys of maturity. Of course, I am hardly an old man. Yet somehow this birthday feels like a significant transition moment.

I am also experimenting here somewhat in sharing my reflections with this community. I've never blogged before. This morning when I got up and saw a birthday greeting from TIG, I thought I'd try it out. I think I'm just starting to get the revolution that is happening in our world through these kinds of communications. It's like there are new forms of intimate connections coming into the world. Rather than only finding support from our family and immediate circle of friends, we can find a sense of connection from like-minded people all over the world. Those threads of connection may be 'thin' compared with our regular friends and family, yet I think they're very important nonetheless. It must be changing the collective human consciousness quite rapidly. With so many direct and intimate connections being made between people all over the globe, it will be easier and easier for us to feel part of essentially one human family. Or to put it in the negative, it will be harder and harder for certain groups to demonize others, since so many more people will have direct experiences of real connection with the members of whatever minority group is up for targeting. In part, I'm sharing my birthday reflections here as a gesture to this new form of intimate ties coming into the world. It's great to feel that my voice, my presence in the world can 'matter' to more than just my family and close friends, in that there is a global community of people who are willing to recognize and honor each other simply for being fellow humans sharing this magnificent and crazy adventure on planet Earth.