Oh Sloane Peterson, how I adored you from afar in 1986 suburban England; you were everything 80's cool to me. That fringed jacket, those boots, that hair. The cool boyfriend who bust you out of school to go out for lunch in the city. The epitome. I would watch these movies on a loop on my VHS player, whilst 'Raspberry Beret' played on the radio in the background. I look back now and see just how much I immersed myself in John Hughes' world in my teen years. He penned the thoughts of the generation. The age my daughter is now is the age I was when I poured over 'Ferris Bueller' and 'Pretty in Pink' and 'The Breakfast Club'.
I have read that the older you get, the more you spend time thinking about the past. I am not sure if this is true (seems it might be), but have noticed lately that the echoes of my past are louder as I observe Boo growing up in the same town that I did. Having a teenage daughter makes me revisit thoughts I had twenty five years ago and consider what I would have done then, if I had access to what she has now? Would I spend all day stalking on Instagram? Probably. Would I chat to my friends endlessly, about nothing, on Snapchat? Probably. Would I have absolutely no concept of what is going on in the wider world? Yep.
Meanwhile, back to now. The 1980's seem like a very distant time. Currently immersed in a whole different set of things like post-holiday unpacking, house build woes, keeping my son entertained during the last throes of the summer holidays.
I have that near-September feeling, the start of Autumn which here means stolen warm days, cooler nights, the start of the apple glut on our trees in the garden. I don't mind this time of year; winter seems quirky and interesting rather than how it seems by February, when it's like a house guest who has stayed too long. This proves to me again that what makes life good are the gentle transitions from this to that. If things stay the same too long, I find my tolerance of them is lower than it used to be. This is a 'not working' side effect (when I say not working, I mean not being paid to work!). When I was working I was just too damn busy to notice anything really. Now I notice a whole lot more. I'm thinking this a good thing. Life moves pretty fast; if you don't stop and look around every once in a while, you could miss it. ;-)
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| via this awesome 80's collection here |
