If you had told me when I woke up this morning that I would read an article that, when I got to the end, I would exclaim “That’s me!” and that it would be written by David Brooks - a political intellectual with whom I have long disagreed on just about everything - I would have told you I wanted some of what you’d been smoking.
I wonder whether it's just Brooks being Brooks, but he didn't mention a late bloomer who, in later life, became much more serious about several issues and accomplished a lot. His name is Joe Biden. Wait. I don't wonder
Tom! 🥰 For those of us who have been in the late bloomer pond and beat ourselves up early in life over not fitting the standard achiever mold, experienced multiple career rejections, changed carrer direction several times, had some small successes, and grown old still questing: THANK YOU for sharing this column. I usually disagree with David Brooks and would never have read it were it not for you. As for Joe Biden, he’s turned out to be a wise old man - a patriot - whom I’ve come to trust, respect, and admire. Thank goodness for his experience and wisdom. Now, in my 70’s, I’m working as hard and smart as I can to help Joe and fellow Democrats win in November. It’s my new job. 😂❤️🤍💙 Deborah
What a lovely piece and thank you for sharing it. I suspect President Biden fits into this category. He's still reading and values learning. He got off to a fast start and then had to deal with tremendous personal challenges which slowed him down. I believe he's a better president and human being because he is older, has failed, has wandered, and has picked himself up again and again. Plus, he likes people and it's not all about him. Wisdom is a precious thing. Late blooming can be beautiful, like December roses.
My epiphany about "checking out" was that I will likely be busy with something up until I do check out, and then it will be someone else's responsibility to sell my stuff, burn it, or send it to the dump..... It gives me a sense of freedom that I will be liberated from my "stuff".....
Better late than never, right? Maybe it just takes some folks longer to get in touch with their authentic selves than others and in many instances I’ve noticed that the early bloomers everybody thought were so fabulous were actually expressing their authenticity being the useful idiots they were born to be.
There’s a spiritual aspect in all this “blooming" business too that’s difficult to nail down in clinical terms. That’s what makes the whole journey as a human being so interesting and at times, so difficult. Shakespeare articulated the job description pretty well with “To thine own self be true, And it must follow, as the night the day, Thou canst not then be false to any man.” That seems like a pretty good starting point for an inquiry into this interesting topic you’ve raised TC, in the context of this rich, intellectual bouillabaisse you’ve created here on Substack. I’m enjoying it immensely.
Do keep in mind that the "to thine own self be true" is spoken by Polonius, Shakespeare's master of cliche. In fact we see all sorts of people who are "to their own selves" true, with their own selves being consumed with an obsession with power, and they are happily false to many, many men.
Absolutely. I have a friend who is still learning and curious about the world, her , family and her friends at 101! She is a joy and an inspiration to be around 😊
Listen carefully, Thomas. I want you to blink once if you have been held against your will to read this codswallop from The Department of the Fucking Obvious, and twice if you are fine.
At its pus-laden core, this is David Brooks not even rising to the level of Wikipedia. Only the naive and the intellectually lazy find anything to amaze here. Conspicuous by his absence is J. R. Simplot, of whom the majority of the booboisie (including shit-for-brains Brooks) have never heard. I advise you to research the man, as he most likely is the sort of example Brooks would have wanted for this article, but knew nothing about.
David Brooks traffics in third hand shit, past, present, and future tenses. You could have carved a better exposition out of a banana, if you really have interest in the subject.
I didn't find it amazing, but I did find it one of the rare articles that brought together the disparate elements of this that I have been trying to make personal sense of. I'll take a piece of information that I find adds to the discussion from wherever it comes from.
Agreeing with you. I am thinking that this resonates with late bloomers in a way that we never bloomers, who remain mere shrubs our entire lives, useful but not impressive, simply cannot imagine.
Thanks for sharing this. Nate has been having a really hard time with not knowing what he wants to do with the rest of his life (he’s only 15) while everyone around him (namely his mom and stepfather) keeps pushing him into different corners. I just sent this to him to read so he understands it’s not all terrible to not know your path at such a young age. As his father, being 45 and just now figuring it out and hitting my stride, I owe it to him to have him read this and hopefully shut out all the noise around him so he can find his own path. Thanks for sharing this. Love, your favorite (and only) nephew.
Thank you for reposting this article, Tom. It was most interesting, though, obviously, I am not as well-read as many of your responders: I don't know who David Brooks is. (Ask me who Mel Brooks is instead!) But, then again, from your's and others' comments, I'm not sure if I want to know who he is, but I'll certainly be on the lookout for him. At age 72, still learning, and probably will be to my last breath.
Spectacular article, thanks Tom. The multiple mentions of Mr. Biden are spot on. I would add that if one acquires perspective as one ages that also helps.
Yep, Joe is our current best example of a late bloomer. Then there are those who never had a struggle and never accomplished anything except deception, our current best example of the worst of humanity.
Been wondering for some time why I would continue to work on things beyond where anybody would notice, except me. Thought I was just a tad anal, but maybe I need some intrinsic reward. Or maybe a perfectionist to a fault. Something to chew on…
This is one of the last people I would have expected a column of this quality from. This is the same David Brooks who, in one of his many columns bemoaning east cost elitists, mentioned that none of them had ever eaten at the salad bar at Applebee's. (Applebee's has never had salad bars.)
But yeah, this was me. I had obsessions, first with aviation, then with marine mammals; and that obession took me into training dolphins and sea lions, and that took me onward to veterinary school and my first (and possibly last) degree, a DVM. I have struggled with feeling inadequate in my field, even 26 years on, but also knowing there is always much more to learn; it's one of the reasons I chose it as my third career.
Lately I've latched onto language learning, and defeating the conventional wisdom that one cannot learn foreign languages in old age, I am on my fourth foreign language, Portuguese, for a trip to Brazil this fall. (That said, Spanish is the only foreing language I have maintained; I intend to maintain Portuguese also.) My first serious study of foreign language was in 2020, when I was 61 years old. I didn't take language learning seriously in high school, and I came to regret that. No more regrets!
A great essay, Tom - and one that for me (and no doubt for many in this merry little band) hit rather close to home..... I have more ideas rattling around in the squash than I ever did earlier, and find that my thought processes now in my 80s have given me a clarity that escaped the fog of my youth. Strangely, the road has never been more open, the path never more real than it is now. I was a victim (self-flagellating) of the corollary of Dunning-Kruger..... Dunning-Kruger describes people who are dumb or severely ignorant and who believe they are experts, but the corollary is there are people who have talent but do not think they are any good, so their talent is suppressed or never developed. I am a writer at heart with 18 books published (non-fiction), but never thought I had the talent to write fiction. But the Bride, who has listened to literally hundreds of books on tape as she worked for 30 years, tells me my stuff is better than most of what she has heard, so now we are working on that..... All grist for the mill, and it will keep me out of the pool halls..... Well done, sir - well done.
Good luck on that. Can I recommend you go pick up all 20 of James Benn's "Billy Boyle World War II Mysteries"? You'll love them, since the history is accurate and the mysteries are mysterious. But more important, look at them as a window to what is possible with fiction that would interest you as a writer. (you'll really want to read all 20. And do in order, because events and characters from earlier books turn up to influence things in later books)
I wonder whether it's just Brooks being Brooks, but he didn't mention a late bloomer who, in later life, became much more serious about several issues and accomplished a lot. His name is Joe Biden. Wait. I don't wonder
I actually dropped the two people he did cite for that. Brooks will be Brooks.
Tom! 🥰 For those of us who have been in the late bloomer pond and beat ourselves up early in life over not fitting the standard achiever mold, experienced multiple career rejections, changed carrer direction several times, had some small successes, and grown old still questing: THANK YOU for sharing this column. I usually disagree with David Brooks and would never have read it were it not for you. As for Joe Biden, he’s turned out to be a wise old man - a patriot - whom I’ve come to trust, respect, and admire. Thank goodness for his experience and wisdom. Now, in my 70’s, I’m working as hard and smart as I can to help Joe and fellow Democrats win in November. It’s my new job. 😂❤️🤍💙 Deborah
What a lovely piece and thank you for sharing it. I suspect President Biden fits into this category. He's still reading and values learning. He got off to a fast start and then had to deal with tremendous personal challenges which slowed him down. I believe he's a better president and human being because he is older, has failed, has wandered, and has picked himself up again and again. Plus, he likes people and it's not all about him. Wisdom is a precious thing. Late blooming can be beautiful, like December roses.
I'd put Biden in the category for sure. Also in the category of people whose calendar age and "real" age are different.
And those late bloomers with prodigious interests "do not go gentle into that good night."
not at all
My epiphany about "checking out" was that I will likely be busy with something up until I do check out, and then it will be someone else's responsibility to sell my stuff, burn it, or send it to the dump..... It gives me a sense of freedom that I will be liberated from my "stuff".....
I pretty much think and plan the same way.
Better late than never, right? Maybe it just takes some folks longer to get in touch with their authentic selves than others and in many instances I’ve noticed that the early bloomers everybody thought were so fabulous were actually expressing their authenticity being the useful idiots they were born to be.
There’s a spiritual aspect in all this “blooming" business too that’s difficult to nail down in clinical terms. That’s what makes the whole journey as a human being so interesting and at times, so difficult. Shakespeare articulated the job description pretty well with “To thine own self be true, And it must follow, as the night the day, Thou canst not then be false to any man.” That seems like a pretty good starting point for an inquiry into this interesting topic you’ve raised TC, in the context of this rich, intellectual bouillabaisse you’ve created here on Substack. I’m enjoying it immensely.
Thanks Stewart
Do keep in mind that the "to thine own self be true" is spoken by Polonius, Shakespeare's master of cliche. In fact we see all sorts of people who are "to their own selves" true, with their own selves being consumed with an obsession with power, and they are happily false to many, many men.
Malignant Narcissists can take no other path
Thank you for sharing this, Tom. It looks like you are taking off and maybe there is hope for this old dog too. But your'e only 39, right?
Always and forever. :-)
Absolutely. I have a friend who is still learning and curious about the world, her , family and her friends at 101! She is a joy and an inspiration to be around 😊
Like the friends I have and have had who achieved or got close to that centenary birthday.
Glad to see there is evidence-based support for being a contrarian and a curmudgeon (you wouldn't know it to look at me, but . . .)!
I have, however, read Sticking the Landing. :-)
And I am beyond flattered that you have . . . and that you've recommended it!
Listen carefully, Thomas. I want you to blink once if you have been held against your will to read this codswallop from The Department of the Fucking Obvious, and twice if you are fine.
At its pus-laden core, this is David Brooks not even rising to the level of Wikipedia. Only the naive and the intellectually lazy find anything to amaze here. Conspicuous by his absence is J. R. Simplot, of whom the majority of the booboisie (including shit-for-brains Brooks) have never heard. I advise you to research the man, as he most likely is the sort of example Brooks would have wanted for this article, but knew nothing about.
David Brooks traffics in third hand shit, past, present, and future tenses. You could have carved a better exposition out of a banana, if you really have interest in the subject.
I didn't find it amazing, but I did find it one of the rare articles that brought together the disparate elements of this that I have been trying to make personal sense of. I'll take a piece of information that I find adds to the discussion from wherever it comes from.
A stopped clock is right twice a day. I'll give Brooks credit where it's due. This is actually good work by his standards.
Agreeing with you. I am thinking that this resonates with late bloomers in a way that we never bloomers, who remain mere shrubs our entire lives, useful but not impressive, simply cannot imagine.
Your commenting here is pretty impressive, Gary.
That’s very kind of you, Tom. Thank you.
Thanks for sharing this. Nate has been having a really hard time with not knowing what he wants to do with the rest of his life (he’s only 15) while everyone around him (namely his mom and stepfather) keeps pushing him into different corners. I just sent this to him to read so he understands it’s not all terrible to not know your path at such a young age. As his father, being 45 and just now figuring it out and hitting my stride, I owe it to him to have him read this and hopefully shut out all the noise around him so he can find his own path. Thanks for sharing this. Love, your favorite (and only) nephew.
Yes indeed - love to both of you.
Thanks for this, TC! I can definitely relate (just add 25 years to all the age references).
I love: "a high tolerance for inefficiency."
Yeah, I liked that too.
Thank you for reposting this article, Tom. It was most interesting, though, obviously, I am not as well-read as many of your responders: I don't know who David Brooks is. (Ask me who Mel Brooks is instead!) But, then again, from your's and others' comments, I'm not sure if I want to know who he is, but I'll certainly be on the lookout for him. At age 72, still learning, and probably will be to my last breath.
Spectacular article, thanks Tom. The multiple mentions of Mr. Biden are spot on. I would add that if one acquires perspective as one ages that also helps.
Yep, Joe is our current best example of a late bloomer. Then there are those who never had a struggle and never accomplished anything except deception, our current best example of the worst of humanity.
Been wondering for some time why I would continue to work on things beyond where anybody would notice, except me. Thought I was just a tad anal, but maybe I need some intrinsic reward. Or maybe a perfectionist to a fault. Something to chew on…
This is one of the last people I would have expected a column of this quality from. This is the same David Brooks who, in one of his many columns bemoaning east cost elitists, mentioned that none of them had ever eaten at the salad bar at Applebee's. (Applebee's has never had salad bars.)
But yeah, this was me. I had obsessions, first with aviation, then with marine mammals; and that obession took me into training dolphins and sea lions, and that took me onward to veterinary school and my first (and possibly last) degree, a DVM. I have struggled with feeling inadequate in my field, even 26 years on, but also knowing there is always much more to learn; it's one of the reasons I chose it as my third career.
Lately I've latched onto language learning, and defeating the conventional wisdom that one cannot learn foreign languages in old age, I am on my fourth foreign language, Portuguese, for a trip to Brazil this fall. (That said, Spanish is the only foreing language I have maintained; I intend to maintain Portuguese also.) My first serious study of foreign language was in 2020, when I was 61 years old. I didn't take language learning seriously in high school, and I came to regret that. No more regrets!
A great essay, Tom - and one that for me (and no doubt for many in this merry little band) hit rather close to home..... I have more ideas rattling around in the squash than I ever did earlier, and find that my thought processes now in my 80s have given me a clarity that escaped the fog of my youth. Strangely, the road has never been more open, the path never more real than it is now. I was a victim (self-flagellating) of the corollary of Dunning-Kruger..... Dunning-Kruger describes people who are dumb or severely ignorant and who believe they are experts, but the corollary is there are people who have talent but do not think they are any good, so their talent is suppressed or never developed. I am a writer at heart with 18 books published (non-fiction), but never thought I had the talent to write fiction. But the Bride, who has listened to literally hundreds of books on tape as she worked for 30 years, tells me my stuff is better than most of what she has heard, so now we are working on that..... All grist for the mill, and it will keep me out of the pool halls..... Well done, sir - well done.
Good luck on that. Can I recommend you go pick up all 20 of James Benn's "Billy Boyle World War II Mysteries"? You'll love them, since the history is accurate and the mysteries are mysterious. But more important, look at them as a window to what is possible with fiction that would interest you as a writer. (you'll really want to read all 20. And do in order, because events and characters from earlier books turn up to influence things in later books)