Aging Disgracefully
JourneyWoman.com recently posted a beautiful article written by Amanda Burgess titled, “Women Who Travel: Six Secrets for Aging Disgracefully”. The article aimed to gather and share wisdom from women aged 60 and over on how they are aging disgracefully- that is, defying society’s pre-determined plan and rules for us as we age. This article is so important.
Culturally, there seems to be a path that we as women are expected to follow as we age. We are supposed to stand on the moving sidewalk that has been constructed for us, and proceed through our tunnel of aging, obediently staying put. Women who are deemed to be “aging gracefully” are awarded that badge when they stay on that moving sidewalk, but all of their outward appearances remain unchanged. Their skin is youthful and void of wrinkles, their skin doesn’t sag, they appear bright and sunny, and there is no outward evidence that they’ve ever had a slice of cake. Our outward appearance is to remain palatable. Countless hours and dollars are to be spent maintaining this appearance. The pre-constructed path is straight and suffocatingly narrow.
The women interviewed for this article share secrets of women who have learned how to live in a way that takes up the full width of their limitless lives. They have learned how to step boldly outside the narrow confines of that pre-determined path and take full, expansive breaths, drinking in all life has to offer. They are guided by their own internal compass. That narrow, pre-determined path is leading somewhere I have no interest in going.
My wish for all women is that we experience life in a way that when we venture out into the world, we are free to venture into ourselves. We are free to drop into our own soul, because that is the only thing that tells us our truest path. When we understand that our compass is within, we will learn to navigate the world in that way, and stop looking outside ourselves for directions. We are also able to see and honor that everyone’s compass leads them somewhere different, and that makes the world a more beautiful place. There is no way I can ever believe that we are all supposed to age the same way, in the same direction. I hope the wrinkles on my face show that I’ve experienced laughter and sadness and the full range of human emotions. I hope the sagging skin honors the lives my body has brought into the world and the time I have been gifted on this earth. And I love cake.
On this International Women’s Day, if you are stuck in the cage of how a woman is supposed to acceptably age, I hope you find this article, Amanda’s article, and all the women living their lives coloring outside every line, to be your little golden keys. I hope you find as many keys as you need for your cages. But I also hope you find that the cages were never locked.
Amanda’s article can be found here: https://journeywoman.com/feature-articles/women-who-travel-six-secrets-for-aging-disgracefully/
