The highlight of this entry of Anais Nin's Diary is her vacation in Provincetown. She is now 38 years old and has begun to think about aging. She sees Henry and Gonzalo aging. She lives in a country that loves youth. She listens to a 50-year-old talk about the past, reliving it, wanting to be in that place in time again when he was young. She finds her first gray hair and notices fine lines around her eyes when she smiles.
Anais goes to Provincetown in an autumnal mood which she says is caused by the young, who make her feel less young. She leaves Provincetown in a different mood, one of rebirth, where she sheds her fear of autumnal life.
When did you start to feel old? Does old age begin when one looks backward instead of forward? What did you do to shake that feeling of being old? Is it good to be old - when you're more yourself, when you've figured things out and have less conflict, when you have less self-doubt and are happier? Are there old people in your life whom you admire?
Anais Nin's famous quote "life shrinks or expands in proportion to one's courage" is contained within this Diary entry.
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