"I’d just like to age gracefully," so many women I know have said. What exactly do we mean by that? Does it mean being completely ‘natural’, leaving our hair uncolored when it loses its pigment? The Menopausal Goddesses discussed ‘shades of gray’ hair in one of our meetings. We realized that while most women we knew (including ourselves) waxed rhapsodic about the beauty of allowing our hair to go gray as a sign of graceful aging, these same women all colored their hair. When queried why, they responded that silvery, moonlight hair is beautiful, yet so many of them/us ended up with a muddy or yellowish gray. And that’s a color that we just don’t want to see in the mirror looking back at us!
Does aging gracefully mean celebrating our wrinkles, without intervention? Well, hardly. We run the gamut from merely tolerating them to trying to smooth them out with creams, emollients, injections, or lifts.
Upon reflection, maybe aging gracefully simply means being comfortable in our own skin, whether wrinkled or smooth. Perhaps aging is graceful when you like yourself enough that you’d enjoy having yourself as a friend.
Unafraid, unashamed, unapologetic – most of the time anyway. For the other times, we have our girlfriends to help us through.
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I loved it!
What a wonderful idea this is to share, comment, commiserate and navigate the unknown and turbulent waters of whatever Menopause is or is supposed to be. Perhaps it's up to us to redefine this train that has pulled into the station of our lives requiring us to get on board. If we turn this ride into a first-class, Four Season's experience instead of merely riding coach, then maybe, just maybe the landscape that unfolds will be thrilling and wonderous beyond expectation. That being said, as a passenger getting onboard, the better we look, the better we'll feel when we see our reflection.
I'm all for aging gracefully, as a concept to embrace ourselves as the women we have become, however; there's nothing wrong and something very right about presenting that person we've metamorphosized into in a shimmering light. And if that means a few beauty aids and/or the talended hands of our favorite plastic surgeon, hairdresser, etc. then I'm all for that!
Watching the telltale moment when my brunette hair parts in the wind and I start to look like the skunk who is proverbial roadkill, I DO beging to wonder about this notion of aging gracefully. There's a part of me the absolutely believes I will NOT go peacfully "into the good night." Age is but relative and aging is not something I accept gracefully. I like the way I look with brown hair. Gray turns me sallow and non-descript. I'd much rather burst onto the scene as a brunette with energy and vitality and have people surprised by my age rather than having to win them over to the fact that a gray-hair can relate to the Gen X and Y folks. Just a different point of view. Warmly, Eileen
I think aging gracefully is just damn hard work!
If I could just stay 50 something until 80, well that would be perfect.
Going back is unthinkable as I have gained so much insight, knowledge, experience and love along with the wrinkles, sags and grey hair. Now it seems I must be the gatekeeper of my own body and mind; trying to keep them as strong and healthy as possible until the end.