you’re an old king from some vanquished country

bob dylan’s thoughts on being 80:

The best thing
The best thing about being 80 is that you outlive the clocks that have been chasing you. It’s freedom from that lie that anything was ever under control. You don’t chase the parade anymore. You’re an old king from some vanished country. You’re harder to program. You’re not rushing to become anything and you’re not haunted by things that you did. You’re haunted by how little of it really mattered in the way you thought it would.

what i love about this is that it’s not ACTUALLY the best thing, i mean, there are good things in his statement (freedom, not chasing the parade), but also bittersweet things (“you’re haunted by how little of it really mattered in the way you thought it would”). being 80 probably is mostly bittersweet. so much loss, so much of everything.