Sex, for me, is no longer casual because the same intimacy that I feared in my teens and early twenties that led me to treat sex like a plaything is the same intimacy that I now crave, respect, and will hold in the highest regard if I'm blessed to fully experience it with another person.
It seems to me that the whole “old and mature” thing us middle-aged people do is a bit of roleplay—a persona we project at work and in public to help perpetuate the conspiracy of age equating to maturity.
I remember telling my mother that I was getting ready to pledge a fraternity and she, in her simple wisdom, said to me, "Why would you pay all this money just to let some boys beat on you?", which, in hindsight, was a GREAT question, lol.
