The Benefits of Aging
Maya Angelou’s words “I wouldn’t take nothin’ for my journey now” ring in my ears while I sink back into my new cushy pillow on my favorite chair looking out at the palm trees being batttered on a couldy, coold day in Carlsbad.
A stranger/retail clerk/writer recently got me going with Morning Pages again, after a long hiatus. “Just 20 minutes every morning before anything else,” Kathleen said. After she helped me feel good about my 150+ pound 66-year-old body that she called “classic hourglass’, while trying on swimsuits. Swimsuits!
Why, oh why, do I still care? I removed my lash extensions several weeks ago and after an accidental sunburn on my face of millions of slatherings of sunscreen to start my day and-when I remember-reapply on my sweet face every four hours (right), I have decided to Let Go of Sunscreen. I don’t believe init for the rest of my body, so why on my face? To look younger? lol To minimize wrinkles? LOL
WTF cares?
And then there’s my hair: when do I Let Go of chemicals on my head every 6 weeks and let my hair go gray? Or shave it, like Liz Gilbert recently did as an anti-beauty industry statement. For today, I choose to keep coloring my hair and I’ve worked so hard to grow it out in order to simplify and be able to go back to my French braid, I couldn’t even consider shaving my head (how often, anyway? sounds like maintenance).
But in general, one of the unexpected gifts of aging is …
JUST SAYING NO TO (most) BEAUTY BULLSHIT
Other unexpected gifts include:
*Being invisible when I want to be (though tough when you want a server)
*Truly not minding what others think (the vast majority of time)
*Way less angst; way more Gratitude
*More abundance (it’s so nice to be beyond the 30-something concerns of a single parent)
*No more 8 to 5 so I get to call the shots and have a flexible schedule
*A gentle (some might say slow) routine in the morning for plenty of reading, writing and Wordlessness (after checking the phone, naturally)
*Time for more movement (and a greater understanding of how darn important movement is) which now includes a walk, bike ride or some dancing after every meal possible.
*Living days–or at least parts of days–as if they were my last.
