The meaning of dying young and staying pretty
I don't need to remind you of the cliche 'life is short'. But what does this blog's namesake actually mean. And why it's important.
If you had 24-hours to live while you were at your peak, what would you do? It wouldn't be what you're doing right now, I bet.
Oscar Wilde said in my favourite book of all time 'youth is wasted on the young'. And if you've read A Picture of Dorian Gray, you'll understand the meaning of Die Young Stay Pretty.
We spend our youth worrying about our futures, our exams and our general growing pains. We forget that we're the fittest, strongest and most beautiful we'll ever be. And we're on the most exhilarating learning curve to boot. When you're older, you lose all those insecurities and just don't give a damn about impressing your peers. You're living for you. But are you?
We're not at our peak anymore and we're dogged by responsibility. That shouldn't be the end of it. We're wiser and more confident, so why shouldn't we grab life and live it to the fullest. Feed our souls with our passions, feed our minds with constant self-enlightenment and feed our hedonism by just enjoying ourselves. Yes, dance like no one is watching, sing like no one is listening and make yourself happy.
The best way we can express ourselves is through our art. However that may transpire. Through painting, music, literature, dance, gardening, cooking, film, spiritualism, travel, sport and all the other humanities. We should spend our lives in the pursuit of our art.
Think about your heroes. Mine are Mohammed Ali, Jack Kerouac and Thom Yorke. They lived their lives by principles, hedonism and dedication to their art. Most of us don't have the luxury of having time or success in our chosen art, but that doesn't mean you shouldn't devote yourself to it.
For me, I love travel. I love reading and writing. I love learning about philosophy. I love my home. I love spending time family and friends. I love food and sunny days. I love beer gardens and storms. And I love enjoying myself. That's what I work for and that's what I live for. A gluttonous approach in nourishing my soul with the things I love.
So Die Young Stay Pretty is about fighting for and indulging in the things that matter. Self-improvement and living like we are young and we are pretty - always.
"Live as if you were die tomorrow. Learn as if you were to live forever." GandhiWe spend our lives not doing things. We don't travel out of fear. We don't pursue our dreams out of fear. We don't love out of fear. And we don't speak out of fear. We spend our lives saying no, to ourselves.
If you had 24-hours to live while you were at your peak, what would you do? It wouldn't be what you're doing right now, I bet.
Oscar Wilde said in my favourite book of all time 'youth is wasted on the young'. And if you've read A Picture of Dorian Gray, you'll understand the meaning of Die Young Stay Pretty.
We spend our youth worrying about our futures, our exams and our general growing pains. We forget that we're the fittest, strongest and most beautiful we'll ever be. And we're on the most exhilarating learning curve to boot. When you're older, you lose all those insecurities and just don't give a damn about impressing your peers. You're living for you. But are you?
We're not at our peak anymore and we're dogged by responsibility. That shouldn't be the end of it. We're wiser and more confident, so why shouldn't we grab life and live it to the fullest. Feed our souls with our passions, feed our minds with constant self-enlightenment and feed our hedonism by just enjoying ourselves. Yes, dance like no one is watching, sing like no one is listening and make yourself happy.
Art is life
The best way we can express ourselves is through our art. However that may transpire. Through painting, music, literature, dance, gardening, cooking, film, spiritualism, travel, sport and all the other humanities. We should spend our lives in the pursuit of our art.
Think about your heroes. Mine are Mohammed Ali, Jack Kerouac and Thom Yorke. They lived their lives by principles, hedonism and dedication to their art. Most of us don't have the luxury of having time or success in our chosen art, but that doesn't mean you shouldn't devote yourself to it.
For me, I love travel. I love reading and writing. I love learning about philosophy. I love my home. I love spending time family and friends. I love food and sunny days. I love beer gardens and storms. And I love enjoying myself. That's what I work for and that's what I live for. A gluttonous approach in nourishing my soul with the things I love.
So Die Young Stay Pretty is about fighting for and indulging in the things that matter. Self-improvement and living like we are young and we are pretty - always.
Here's what a young, pretty and very much alive Debbie Harry has to say about it. Any excuse :)
First published 27/05/2015
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