Would you drink a youth elixir?
Finding the energy of spring in my latest book
Dave and I really entered elderly millennial territory the other day when we started discussing the latest fashion choices made by ‘the youths’. Fashion, as we all know, is an ever-turning wheel of recycled trends, and at the moment the kidz appear to be recycling the nineties. It’s all combat trousers and baggy tops, and I’ll be honest, I’m pleased for them. They look so comfortable! I had the misfortune of being a teenager when skinny jeans were a thing and it was nothing short of cruelty.
It took half an hour to get into the bloody things, you could barely move around in them, and I was so traumatised that I didn’t really wear jeans for most of my twenties. Of course, some teenagers would just think, screw you! I shan’t bend to the whims and trends of my peers. I shall wear what I like! But those teens are rare and precious - I was very much one to wear what the others wore, keen to fit in and be a part of the 2006 zeitgeist even if I cut off my blood circulation in the process. Beauty is pain when you’re young and insecure.
Watching the spring buds emerge and the bulbs sprout out of the ground (our alliums are full of potential), it’s impossible not to focus on youth and new life at this time of year. My kids are really into the Dutch-Japanese anime Moomin series from the 90s and this morning they were watching the Fortune Teller episode, in which Moomin and Sniff decide to pedal a snake oil to try and get rich using honey and water to make a ‘youth elixir’.
When they try and sell eternal youth to Mr Hemulen, a well-meaning, plant-loving old creature, to their complete surprise, he rejects them completely.
‘Be young again? Go through the whole thing once more with moods and growing pains and girlfriends, late nights and all that? No thank you, absolutely not. I’m happy the way I am.’
People often talk whimsically about returning to their youth. Oh to be young again! If I speak about it now at the tender age of 33, I’m not really taken seriously because I am still, by all accounts, young. But it’s still been twenty years since my teens, and I’m telling you now, you couldn’t pay me to relive those years. I was happy enough, had lots of friends and fun, went to parties and enjoyed school. I had a good old fashioned teenhood, but the trouble with that is, alongside the fun and frolics, life is abuzz with insecurity. The wheel of life is meant to roll forward, not back, and with every new day we gain an extra spoke to help us push forth with confidence and experience.
This forward motion is one of the themes of my latest book Ebb and Flow (Bloomsbury, 2025), which is all about living in tune with the rhythm of the year, embracing every aspect of the seasons, and enjoying the privilege of every new day we get to spend on earth. (In human form, at least.) Nature is the ultimate youth elixir, am I right?
You can buy your own copy of Ebb and Flow: A Guide to Seasonal Living from all good bookshops, but I particularly recommend Bookshop, RSPB, World of Books (second hand and I still receive a royalty - double win!) or direct from my lovely publisher, Bloomsbury. Thank you!
Before I go, could I direct you to this article about how Meta has been stealing authors’ books and using them to train their AI without permission? Oh yes, you heard that right. All of mine have been stolen, and most of the other authors I know. There was a big old protest this week and plenty of conversation happening, but it’s difficult to know how to face down a bazillion dollar company headed by a literal psychopath. Still, knowledge is power! So please read the article and support your fave authors here:
Sign this petition to protect authors’ livelihoods from the unlicensed use of their work in AI training
Borrow books from the library - not only does this support our precious libraries, but authors still get royalties!
Leave positive reviews online, even on nasty Amazon
Push pins into a Mark Zuckerberg doll
If you can, treat yourself to a physical book from a nice, ethical bookseller, or buy one as a gift for someone else. Who doesn’t love a book?
Like you, I'm quite happy to have gone through youth (and middle age!) and be on the other side. I feel fortunate to have been a child of the 70s/teen of the 80s... no social media or anything remotely like that and probably, I'd suggest, the best music decade yet (although I did foolishly turn down the chance to go to Live Aid as I thought the roster wasn't heavy or punk enough for my tastes c. 1985! Idiot!!). The ONLY things I might be tempted for would be: (i) read Music at Uni (rather than English) and (ii) stick with my running (and not bloomin' smoke my way thru Uni!) and do a marathon instead of putting it off. But as I'm doing music now and still running, maybe I havent missed much. BTW - we love Ebb & Flow - has a prominent spot on our shelves in the new extension and ready at hand.