‘We all need to remain forever young, you see, no matter how old we really are.’
AS I write this I am in a hotel in Singapore, waiting for the clock to strike 6 p.m. That’s the time I start preparing for the BlackPink Born Pink world tour concert here, the second night of a two-night engagement.
Yup, am seeing this world-famous KPop girl group because their concert date coincided with my parents’ May wedding anniversary, a date I normally mark away from the Philippines where my sense of loss is, of course, greatest.
Since I was here already and saw their concert date, I decided to get myself a ticket, and one for my GenZ friend who is responsible for introducing me to the four singers. Then I invited two more friends who are almost my age who were happy to tag along — and so I have three companions who will troop to the National Stadium of Singapore to witness this show without trying to loop (at least for three of us) grossly out of place in a sea of GenZees.
It was in November of last year actually that my GenZ buddy told a group of friends that he wanted to invite me to watch BlackPink when they came to Manila in early 2023. I was provoked to ask “Who the hell is BlackPink?” and that’s when I found out who they were and started listening to their songs. Of course, we missed the Philippine Arena concert because I never saw any promo for the concert, maybe because I am not normally part of their target audience anyway. And that in turn is what prompted me last February to check their future engagements and voila! A concert in Singapore coincided with the days I would be there.
Or here, to be more exact.
The group has a number of catchy tunes but I guess I like “Forever Young” the most.
Admittedly, I don’t understudy most of the lyrics which are not in English anyway except for the refrain that goes “Forever Young” (how else?). But heck, the refrain, which is also the title of the song, is not only catchy but thought-provoking. So it’s now the most prominent BlackPink song in my Spotify playlist I’ve entitled “My Bieb playlist.”
We all need to remain forever young, you see, no matter how old we really are. Going in attitude and outlook, which means constantly asking “why” and “why not,” looking at things and issues in as many different and creative ways as possible and not accepting the status quo as a forever thing.
With a forever young mindset we will feel more youthful. And because the mind is so powerful, feeling more youthful will in turn impact how we live, do our jobs and live our lives.
Even society as a whole will be more energized!!
In many ways it’s true — age is all about your mindset. And so I’ve chosen to be forever young, and hope you will, too!
