Gold in the Dust: Stay Golden, Ponyboy

Lauren Nixon-Matney • July 18, 2025
Gold in the Dust: Stay Golden, Ponyboy

Novel: The Outsiders by S.E. Hinton
Elvis: Tomorrow is a Long Time

Film: The Outsiders (book adaptation)

There Was Gold in the Dust

They say God formed the first man from the dust of the ground.

But no one ever said what was in that dust.


Maybe it was just clay and ash,

the dry hush of a world not yet singing.

But maybe

just maybe

there was gold in it.


Maybe flecks of firelight had settled in the soil,

the last sparks of stars that died in silence.

Maybe the earth held ancient shimmer,

buried deep beneath the weight of time,

and God saw it

and scooped it into His hands.


So when He shaped Adam,

He shaped both ruin and radiance.

Humility and heaven.

The fragile and the forever.


And maybe that’s what we are:

dust, yes

but dust with gold in it.

Carrying light we didn’t earn.

Worth we didn’t make.

Shining, not because we’re perfect

but because somewhere in our bones

is the memory of being touched by God.



The Outsiders


Some stories don’t end.

They just settle into your bloodstream

a line, a face, a feeling

that never really fades.


Sometimes it’s a whisper from a dying friend.

Sometimes it’s the way a book cracked open your chest

when you were too young to explain why.

Sometimes it’s a song that plays in a flashback,

and you don’t even know how long it’s been

since you first heard it

only that it’s still playing

somewhere in you.


I remember the way it made me feel when I first read The Outsiders in school.

I remember thinking it wasn’t just a book it was a mirror.

A bruised kind of beautiful.

A world of boys who didn’t belong anywhere but found something holy in the way they held each other up.

Grease and grace.

Bruised knuckles and beating hearts.


I read it with a highlighter soul,

like maybe if I underlined enough,

I could hold on to the gold parts a little longer.


I can’t remember exactly when I saw the movie only that it felt like watching something I already knew by heart.

Like someone had filmed the inside of the book and pressed record on the ache.


It wasn’t polished.

It wasn’t perfect.

It was boys with names like Dallas and Sodapop and Ponyboy,

moving through a world that didn’t make space for softness.

A world that made them run,

made them hide,

made them fight to protect something fragile inside themselves.


And somewhere in the middle of it

after the church,

after the fire,

after the smoke and fear and burned skin

there’s a moment that stops time.


Ponyboy is lying there.

Still.

Bruised.

Between waking and remembering.


And that’s when the song begins.


“Tomorrow is a Long Time.”

Not loud. Not showy. Just… floating.

A ghost of a song.


You hear it, and it feels like something sacred.

Like a voice coming from somewhere beyond the world.

Elvis Presley, sure.

But the words... those words

those are Dylan’s.


“If today was not an endless highway…”


And suddenly the movie isn’t just about Ponyboy anymore.

It’s about you.

And your brothers.

And your quiet thoughts at night.

And every moment you’ve tried to hold onto something gold

before the world washed it away.


That’s what this story does.

It sings.

It haunts.

It stays.


“Stay gold, Ponyboy.”


It’s the line everybody remembers.

But maybe we never really understood what Johnny was saying.

Not completely.


He wasn’t just asking Ponyboy to stay innocent.

He was telling him to remember what he’s made of.


To remember that even in a world of broken glass and scarred up hands,

there’s still something in us that can’t be touched.

Something golden.

Something God breathed.

Something that doesn’t come from winning fights

or being tough

or even surviving.


It’s just there.

Quiet and glowing.

Buried in the dust,

but never gone.


I didn’t know back then

how many times I’d need to remember that line.

How many nights would come where I’d feel scraped raw by the world,

where I’d wonder if I was still the same kid who believed in beauty,

who believed in people,

who believed in light.


I’ve grown up.

Gotten older.

Watched things break, watched people leave.

But that line

stay gold

has followed me.


It followed me through friendships that felt like family.

Through late-night drives with the windows down

and songs that felt like scripture.

It followed me as I started to understand the kind of woman I wanted to be

not the softest, not the strongest,

but maybe the kind who still sees beauty,

even in the dark.


And now

now I catch myself saying it without meaning to.

When someone shines and doesn’t even know it.

When my daughter twirls barefoot in the living room,

music in her blood.

When my son says something wild and wonderful

about God, or stars like Adam was made from gold.


I think of Ponyboy.

I think of Johnny.

I think of all of us,

trying to hold onto something good

in a world that keeps moving too fast.


And I whisper it, sometimes,

quiet and true

a blessing for whoever needs it:


Stay gold.



The Song That Stayed

“Tomorrow Is a Long Time” plays in The Outsiders like a ghost quiet, aching, unforgettable.

Elvis Presley recorded the version we hear in the film, but the song itself was written by Bob Dylan one of the great poets of light and longing. Dylan once said Elvis’s rendition was the only cover of one of his songs he truly treasured.

Maybe that’s fitting. A song about love and distance and memory, passed from poet to king, then folded into a story about boys who never had a chance

except, maybe, the chance to shine once.

To be golden.

And to be remembered.

Searching For Stars - Paperback Galaxy - Gold in the Dust: Stay Golden, Ponyboy 8bit retro art - S.E. Hinton

RESUME THE RHYTHM:

DRIFT THROUGH A CONSTELLATION OF MEMORY

Searching For Stars

By Lauren Nixon-Matney July 5, 2026
Buddy Holly : Last Kiss Pearl Jam: Last Kiss Cover
By Lauren Nixon-Matney July 5, 2026
My favorite literary phrase of all time is spoken by Josephine March, written by Louisa May Alcott in Little Women. “I like good, strong words that mean something.” You, my dear, you say good, strong words that mean something. You put good, strong words that mean something into the world, and I thank you so very sincerely for that. You have made such an incredible impact on my life, and on my outlook on beauty and aging. ⸻ I stumbled across your incredible fashion sense on Instagram and was completely hooked on your vibe. I absolutely love fashion. I always have. I’ve definitely had my own kind of zany style over the years. So when I saw you, I was like, OK, yes, she is amazing. I love this energy. ⸻ The way you put things together, the confidence, the energy, it makes you wanna get up, go into your closet, and actually enjoy getting dressed again. And for a woman approaching 40, who’s had three children and has had many of her own struggles with who am I, what’s my fashion, what’s my energy, or what’s my style, You just felt so damn refreshing and inspiring. So I hung around, but what really hooked me wasn’t just the style, it was you, the essence of you. The way you talk, the honesty, the fact that you just say things straight, no fluff, no sugarcoating, no trying to be anything other than exactly who you are.. and somehow that makes everything you say sound even more profound. ⸻ The impact your message was having in my life became undeniable. It wasn’t just something I watched for enjoyment anymore, it was something I actually began feeling, and carrying with me. I grew up in a time where it felt like there was an expiration date on women. Like if you didn’t fit into a certain mold, or size, or type… your worth somehow became less. And then life happens. You grow up. You age. Maybe have kids. Your body changes. Your priorities change. Somewhere in the middle of all of that, you can kind of lose your sense of… who am I now? What’s my style? Who am I supposed to become? Am I too late for something? What even feels like me anymore? So for a while, I think I actually bought into that idea without even realizing it. The idiodic notion that maybe I had passed some invisible point where things were supposed to quiet down. Tone down. Fit into something more “acceptable.” Or the grand illusion that I was out of time to follow my passions! But watching you… that narrative just started to fall apart. The way you show up, the way you speak, the way you move through the world so fully as yourself… it made me realize that aging isn’t something to fear or shrink from. If anything, it’s where things start to get really good. It’s where you get bolder. More comfortable. More you. More beautiful. ⸻ What you’re doing matters so much. The way you show up, the way you speak, the way you fully own who you are, it doesn’t just stay on a screen. It carries through pixelated waves. It reaches people like me, in real life, in real moments, and shifts something quietly but powerfully within us. So I just wanted to say thank you. For your honesty, your energy, your style, your voice… all of it. You have inspired me, Searching for Stars, and undoubtedly countless women all over the world more than words can truly translate. Thank you, for being you!
By Lauren Nixon-Matney May 6, 2026
Okay, so I asked God for a sign this week… and I didn’t make it easy on Him. I had just seen this video about asking for a sign, about how God answers, about how He delights in it… and something in me just… recognized that. Like, oh. I’ve felt that before. Lindsey, it was your video. And the second I heard it, I remembered something. I remembered a time, years ago, back in that early, foggy, pinkless season of motherhood, when I had asked for a sign too. I had prayed, really specifically… really honestly… “God, just show me I’m okay. Show me I’m on the right path.” And I asked for a blue butterfly. I didn’t see it right away. I waited. I wondered if I had imagined the whole idea in the first place. And then, not long after, life moved us somewhere new. A new place, new energy… the kind of move that feels exciting and terrifying all at once. They handed us the keys… and right there on them… was a blue butterfly. And I remember feeling that same quiet recognition. Like… okay. And then, a couple months after that, with prayers inside us building for a second child, we went to a park. One of those ordinary days that turns into something you don’t forget. And there were butterflies everywhere. Hundreds of them. Yellow, filling the air, lifting all at once like something out of a dream. And right in the middle of it… one blue butterfly. I just stood there, overwhelmed, because I knew. I knew I had been heard. Nearly one year to the day later, our second child was born. And then… life kept moving. Time passed. Things got busy. Full. Loud. Beautiful… but a little hazy, too. Somewhere along the way, I think I stopped asking like that. Fast forward. I’m sitting with my kids on New Year’s Eve, going into 2025, talking about goals and dreams. The kind of things you say out loud but don’t always fully claim. “I’ve always wanted to write.” And my daughter, so sure, so certain, just looked at me and said, “Then make it your New Year’s resolution.” And something about the way she said it… she didn’t question it. she didn’t overthink it. She just… believed it was possible. So I did. I started building something I’ve carried in pieces since I was in high school. Old notebooks, scattered thoughts, songs, memories… things I’ve never really known how to explain out loud. And for the first time, it felt like someone actually got it. So I got to work. Writing with a baby asleep on my chest… voice notes, typed drafts, music playing in the background… piecing together old memories with new ones. And I love it. I really do. But if I’m being honest… I started to wonder. Is this meaningful? Is this worth the time? Is this something good… or just something I want? And more than anything… I wanted to know if it was something God saw as good. Not just something that looked meaningful… but something that was. So I sat down, quietly, and I prayed. And I said, “God, if this is something I’m supposed to keep building… if I’m on the right path… if this is your will for me… please just show me. Give me a sign.” And I paused… because I knew I couldn’t ask for something easy. I had asked for butterflies before and blue jays have been unusually common in our backyard lately. I needed something specific. Something I wouldn’t just brush off. I looked over… and saw this little pink and white poodle sitting on my daughter’s shelf. And I laughed a little and said, “Okay God… show me a poodle.” almost sarcastically thinking… well, this one’s going to take a little more effort. But of course… Not even 48 hours later, we ran into Burlington. We were just there to grab socks and shoes for my toddler, her sandals were bothering her. Quick in, quick out. We ended up wandering a little. We’re headed to checkout… and my husband steps down an aisle, picks something up, and goes, “Okay, I know this is ridiculous… but we need this for the office.” And he had no idea. Nothing about my prayer. Nothing about the poodle. I’m barely paying attention yet. And then he turns it around. It’s a painting. Of a poodle. Not just a poodle… a poodle in a full business suit… sitting at a desk… reading a newspaper. I just… stopped. A business professional poodle, for the office we’re building together, a space where I can write. Like everything in me went quiet for a second. Because of all the things in the world I could have asked for… of all the ways that prayer could have been answered… it was that. I remember thinking, smiling, fighting back tears of joy… of course it is. Because I had asked for something specific. And apparently… He has a sense of humor. Also, just to make sure I didn’t miss it… because let’s be real, God definitely knows how to show out… the very next place we went… was Petco. And there was this real poodle. Then again. And again. Every aisle I turned… I kept running into it. And that feeling came back. The same one from before. Quiet. Certain. seen. beloved. Lindsey… Thank you so much, you reminded me to ask. You reminded me that God doesn’t just hear us… He answers. Not always in big, overwhelming ways… but in ways we’ll recognize. In ways that feel personal. Specific. Sometimes even funny… like they were meant just for us. And Lindsey… I just want you to know how much I appreciate all of what you’re doing. Your energy, your humor, the way you show up so fully as yourself… it matters more than you probably realize. You make people laugh, you make motherhood feel seen, and you bring light into spaces that can feel heavy sometimes. But there is also so much more than that… God really radiates through you. In the way you speak, in the way you encourage, in the way you remind people to keep going and to keep believing. It’s powerful. And it’s beautiful to witness. What you’ve created with “get your pink back”… that message, that reminder… it’s reaching people. It’s lifting people. It’s giving something back to women who feel like they’ve poured everything out. And that matters. It really does. I’m so grateful I came across your video when I did. And I’m really looking forward to everything you create next… especially your writing. You’re doing something good here. Keep going. Please never stop casting your light into the world… it really does break through the darkness.
Show More