Fountain of youth

There is a way, but only one, to live forever | Vern S. Poythress

Illustration by Krieg Barrie

You do not have to wait long to hear exhortations to care for your health and your looks. Yes, most of us need more exercise than what we are getting. And, yes, we eat too much junk food. But at the other extreme lies the cult of the body, the cult of youthful beauty. Young Hollywood stars become the model for all-American good looks. Our preoccupation with our body becomes self-indulgent. We get trapped into worshipping one more American idol.

Do you remember Ponce de León? The only thing I remember about him was that he wandered around Florida looking for the Fountain of Youth. The link between him and the Fountain of Youth is probably a later invention. But it sticks in the mind because the idea of the Fountain of Youth is so striking. Might there be, somewhere in an obscure part of the world, a water source that you could drink from or bathe in to make you perpetually youthful, perpetually healthy? A fond desire, no? We Americans, with our love for youth and our avoidance of death, find ourselves strangely attracted to the idea.