The Seven Stages

Dear Reader,
In As You Like It, Shakespeare’s comedic reflection
on life, the Bard describe seven stages of a person’s life:
Infant, schoolboy, lover, soldier, justice,
Pantalone, and old age. These
all seem pretty clear, except “Pantalone?”
I looked it up—it means
“dotard” or “old fool,” more or less.
Are we really the same people
now that we were in high school?
The philosophers debate about
what gives us our identity. Is it our
core values, or our moral compass, or even a Jimminy
Cricket type of conscience? I don’t know the answer to
that question. In truth, I can barely recognize, much
less relate to, who I was in college. Yet there is a thread
of something that connects me to that younger version
of myself.
As we go through these stages, it helps to have our
friends with us. Life at times is not easy and it’s good
to have that handful of comrades beyond family to help
weather or tough out the storms. Once you hit that 7th
stage you’ll feel a sense of satisfaction that you’re still
in the game, and that you have a life-enriching circle of
friends.

Patrick Wood
Publisher