Oscar Wilde said that, and it's true. The older I get, the more I realize I have a TON to learn! I don't mean to pick on the young, but remember when you were 18 and thought you knew EVERYTHING? I sure do. But, I also remember saying to my college advisor at graduation when I was 22, "But, I feel like I only know enough to know there is a ton more to know!" He laughed and said, "Exactly! Go! Live an adult life. The answers are out there!" I am, of course, still looking for them.
One thing is sure, older women have been my gurus and guides since I was a small child. I think of my grandmother and her friends in their fifties, sixties, seventies, and beyond. They were fearless veterans of love and loss, triumph and failure, joy and challenge. Their personal style was the perfect expression of their true selves. They wore honest opinions like a mantle. I see them now, jingling ice in their high-balls, a flash of diamond rings, cigarette smoke swirling above their graying locks. They wink at one another conspiratorially over my naivete. Oh, to be them!
Then, I turned 50, and the plethora of ugly, agist messages residing in my heart and mind expanded. Like many middle-aged American women, my self-esteem and self-image seem to roll around together in the dirt. Thankfully, I am working at silencing the noise. I feel a shift and I'll share more soon. My first realization? I am a woman of a certain age, the kind of woman I once envied!
In sharing positive aging practices here on the blog, I aim to bring you - and myself - information, ideas, and inspiration from a variety of voices. I'm in the fledgling stages with many exciting and helpful topics in the works.
If the Pandemic has taught us nothing else, it's taught us the importance of connection. When I find myself questioning, or worse, spiraling, I think of the sages in my life and look to them for answers. You may have some of the same questions and concerns. You also have answers! So let's help one another as we celebrate women aging.
#gracefulaging #50pluswomen #midlifewomen #betweenjloandbettywhite #embraceyourage #fabover50 #ofacertainage
Ashley, dear. I love how you write! I will read all of you blogs soon; just read sunday suggestions and I am no longer young enough to know everything (Oh the day when my two daughters learn this as well! ;-) ) Thank you for your inspired words and taking us on your journey with you -- when heck, we are all on it too! besos y abrazos, my dear. xo