www.womanthismonth.com 79 May 2014 Most people say I do not look my age; even more say I do not act it! But that’s only the beginning. I am also scared of marriage, even though I am married. I’m petrified of divorce rates and I don’t wish to become a statistic. Recently on a trip, my friend who was travelling with his wife told me that this would most likely be their last one together. It seems their daughter will need his life’s remaining funds for schooling and she has already a penchant for designer shoes! I have travelled relentlessly since leaving home for Paris and London at the age of 17; I could never be grounded permanently. I’d go stir-crazy wondering what was going on in the rest of the world. Is it selfishness? Is it old age? Did I wait too long to have a child? What if I am the sensible one? With seven billion and counting on the planet, it will not be long before we hit eight and nine billion. Land, water and food are already a problem in many parts of the world. How are we going to feed, hydrate and house even more? Surely reproduction is no longer intended for the survival of the race. Some people state I must continue the family name. But I Googled myself and found that I am not the only one. The bloodline may run dry, but the name will live on without me. Perhaps it’s everyone else that is selfish. We should all start to think before reproducing. What kind of life are we giving those we leave behind when we are already worried about global warming and its effects? I can’t imagine what 12 billion peoples’ breathing is going to do for the temperature! Animals on extinction lists will be the least of our problems; almost everything is going to look delicious at that stage. Retaining different species will come down to the retention of the dominant one. Zoos will start to look like tuck shops! If we struggle to feed seven billion people with a healthy diet, how do we feed double when land runs out and the only thing left is synthetically produced food? Didn’t anyone watch Soylent Green? The movie touched on these concerns back in the ‘70s! In those days, it was a horrid thought. But what does one actually do when land is too scarce to bury people and the food supply is dry? It’s not likely that we are going to ever find another planet to inhabit. Anyway, in the last four decades since man travelled to the moon, it’s not like we have ventured there again. I’d miss cities if I stopped travelling for the sake of family. Neil Armstrong and his crew went to the moon just the once. Maybe I should just stop feeling sorry about having to make sacrifices and just have a kid. At least if we don’t travel, we can sit and look at pictures of places we may never go to. he says Fear and Eventuality by JAMES CLAIRE I’m scared of growing old; I can’t come to terms with being 45. I look in the mirror and I still see the 21-year-old I used to be. And that’s not my only phobia…
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