Being carefree

I caught the end of a programme on BBC last night about the Stones.
Old footage of Mick cavorting in a pink satin suit doing Brown Sugar, and other old clips of Jumping Jack Flash (apparently named after Keith Richards' gardener) and Honky Tonk Woman.
Those songs spanned my student years and seeing the contemporary footage brought it all back and made me perhaps realise that those days were perhaps more carefree than I thought.
Still enjoying life now, though

(Hi Marty)

I'm encouraged that so many people find this time in their lives to be carefree, I'll soon join the ranks of the slackers semi-retired

janerowena my life is almost a mirror of yours. I too am the oldest of five. I was left in charge of my siblings not because I was neglected but my mum was very ill. I now realise that being overwhelmed with responsibility at such a young age has probably added to my natural anxious personality. Recognising this has made it easier to live with. So i'v never really been carefree. My happiest time was when I was 'courting' 40 years ago. I am about to revisit the village were we met, married and had our first baby. I'm looking forward to it but part of me wonders if its best to leave memories alone. Revisiting may be a disappointment! I hope not

It would have been nice to have had carefree teenage years but mine were marred by trying to be as thin as Twiggy and it made my life a misery!!!

I feel more carefree now. Kids sorted, nice job and husband about to retire. Just about enough money so we won't starve. So, yes, I do feel carefree now.

Gillybob:

"Complications in the wind, complications where you come from, complications where you've been".

Thanks for sharing Grannyknot I really enjoyed it too. Just about sums my life up which is one big "complication"

Grannyactivist, have a lovely carefree holiday

Not to make light of situations where people have had great difficulty in their lives, I want to share a song by Steve Forbert called "Complications" that I love, and that always cheers me up, it makes me smile:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2yXTymwDuko

I don't know gilly. Without appearing to be pathetic myself and have a 'poor me' attitude, I think, with me anyway, when you've had a lot of bad things happen you find it hard to enjoy the good, for fear of more bad waiting in the wings. There is a line from a song 'being used to trouble, I anticipate it.....'
My DH has an expression which he uses to describe me. He says 'you would worry and blame yourself if your granny had piles'. I've no idea where he got that one from!

I wonder what makes us like this KatyK? More often than not with me its a feeling of guilt (why should I be having a nice time?) or a feeling that if I have a good time or dare to enjoy myself then there will be a pay-back.

No it isn't gilly. I'm the same.

I can't remember ever feeling totally carefree. I am a worrier and almost always have something or someone to worry about. On the (very rare) occasions I feel a little teensy bit "free" I tend to bring myself back down to earth with a bump by deliberately thinking of something to spoil the moment. Pathetic isn't it?

From my earliest memories I have always had responsibility for caring for other people. My mother left home for two years when I was just five years old and my siblings were aged 7, 6, and 3. My older sister is not, and has never been, maternal and so my brothers looked to me for mothering and that has been my role throughout my life - one which I'm happy and comfortable with I hasten to add.
The only time in my life when I was without immediate cares or responsibilities was last year when I celebrated my 60th birthday with the Wonderful Man on a two week holiday to Lesvos - it was sheer bliss. Ahh !
(We're going again this year with my parents in law - I'm so looking forward to it.)

dorset them were the days indeed for you!

I'm very of your memories of those carefree times

Childhood had issues but when they were in the background my carefree years were 3-10.

I was happy at school, had a lot of friends, felt loved, a nice family, loving school and schoolwork, loving playing outside, healthy, no bills, lots of good food, safe at home, loved my toys and books and comics.....

then along comes the stepfather.....

Oh yes the Beach boys! There's freedom.

HaHa Grannyknot I went and found my Beach Boys CD and popped the song on and away I was - twenty-two again. No high blood pressure or arthritis. Just my Mary Quant dress and Vidal Sasson style hair do. Them were the days!!!!

dorset that is lovely. It's giving me ex-ci-tations reading about the fun you had

I was 22 years old and living in Geneva for 18 months. Although I'd lived in Canada and the Far East I'd never been to Europe so it was all very new. This was 1967 and 'Swinging London' was happening but for me Geneva was the place.I met people from all over Europe and beyond as the U.N. is based there. Geneva has several borders so we frequently popped over to France for the evening as food there was cheaper [one always carried ones passport for this reason]. It was about 6 hours from places like Nice and St.Tropeze , Milan was a bit more but fine for a long weekend. My parents ate strictly English food, my mother's idea of exotic food was spag bol or kedgeree. In Geneva I was introduced to French cuisine and wines. I was earning good money, buying loads of French clothes, had handsome boyfriends with sports cars. It all seemed very sophisticated and so much fun. Whenever I hear the Beach Boys song 'Good Vibrations' I remember going along the highway to Lausanne with my boyfriend in his sports car, with the top down[ car's top not mine], this song had just come out and we loved it.
My mother became ill so I had to go back to the UK, such a shock as English boys seemed so crass and untidy.

Katy

Dragonfly

I'm sorry.

This one's genuine - X

Do you enjoy being sarcastic jingl? Or were you being genuine?

I'm not sure that I've ever been 'carefree'. I don't look back on my life with a rosy glow, I've made many mistakes and had periods of deep unhappiness from a very early age.

I'm getting better at recognising that other people were sometimes partly responsible for my state of mind and not to beat myself up too much.

I think I'm settling into a period of quiet contentment for the first time since my children were small. I've been told that I lived in my own world then. Perhaps I did but it was a good wee world.

I recognise that I'm very fortunate in having people in my life who love me.

That'll do.

Message withdrawn at poster's request.