Google Images can certainly be instructive. When searching for "old women" you get a selection of gross images. "Funny" pictures. Like the iconic old woman smoking a cigar... ha ha, very funny. Women with no teeth - again, fricking hilarious. After scrolling for pages, I finally got to Helen Mirren. Who is gorgeous (and has admittedly had some "work" done). And a couple of other real women. But mostly, "old woman" seems to be a joke. Nice.
When googling "old men," you are treated to a selection of photos of Don Johnson, Christopher Plummer, Tommy Lee Jones (who is so sexy), Pope Benedict, Clint Eastwood, a generic distinguished gentleman with a pipe... and then some old toothless men.
I have really never had an age crisis before. I was thrilled to turn 30. I was thrilled to turn 50. I didn't really mind turning 60. And then I started working with women who are all younger than my youngest children. One of them was born the year I got sober.
I have never thought about my age so much. It is a weird form of self-centeredness. And it is not fun.
Yesterday I decided this long hair has got to go. I might even stop coloring it. I have decided that worse than being "old" is trying to look "young." I hadn't thought of my hair that way, but I think I would be better with short hair.
I have had two good days at work in a row. I have grown friendly with one of these young women. She is a delightful young mother whose husband stays at home with baby. He sends her pictures of him all day long (the baby). She coos with delight. It is very sweet. She invited me to lunch yesterday and we talked about our new jobs. It is good to hear someone else's perspective, especially when it aligns with mine!
Being on a 180º learning curve is probably good for me, but really challenging. I am learning not only about my job, but about people, and myself.
Every day I start my day with a prayer that God gives me the strength to do his will. I ask him to show me how I can be the person he would like me to be. Every now and then, I get a glimpse of that. I have had several days in a row that feel like I am finally getting to the other side.
And the two "terrible" weeks start today, so I better get out of here!
Let's all stay sober today, OK?
13 comments:
My mother still looked lovely at 95. I believe that age is just a number. I hope that I'm right.
I think I believed that age was just a number until the last few years. Arthritis will change your mind about that. So will a drooping, wrinkled face.
hmm I've never been thrilled about my age... no not true actually I was happy to stop being a teenager as that time I thought there was a lot of bad press around teenagers.
I don't really remember 30... 40 I remember waking up on New Years Day and the first thing I said in response to my wife's cheery happy new year was "I'm bloody 40 this year" - my birthday is in October as well!
Hmmm 50 this year, just planning a friends/family do to celebrate it - I just feel I wasted so much of my life at times... the "we will not regret the past" is still very much a yet for me rather than reality
Go Mary! Go Mary! Go Mary! Uh Huh, Uh Huh, Uh Huh, Uh Huh , Uh HUH!
Well, I'm going to the plastic surgeon today for a consult on getting rid of these lovely little nose veins that I inherited from Jack Daniels and I plan to be blonde when I'm laying in my casket at the ripe old age of 102. Call me vain but I am thankful to have recovered some of my vanity after years of drinking Dr. Apathetic's "I just don't give a &%$# elixir".
While the media makes fun of older women, they also make men out to be bumbling idiots. The media is filled with lies I tell you! Look at pictures of elderly Katherine Hepburn.... Absolutely beautiful!
My guess is that your heart shines through and makes you more beautiful than you realize.
People are not "Old". They are "Seasoned". Like you are a Seasoned Professional. SPICY. N'est-ce Pas? I placed this comment wrongly on an earlier dated post
I still get fired up about looking younger, but not as much as I used to. Some things must be accepted. You have a lot of energy..believe me, I see low energy every day. You can outrun most of your younger co workers, and don't you forget it.
Sigh...that's all I've got...sigh.
Mary Christine, I agree with you about the acceptance we need as we age, how we need to come to terms with ageing even if we stay blonde and wear short skirts and go on dancing in high heels. I'm not an idealist here because I know what arthritic pain or chronic backache or speech impediments after a stroke have done to the quality of life of women in the village in their 60s. Health is a gift as we get older and that, along with freedom from depression or mental illness, counts for more than anything.
I hear every sentence you typed and every space in between.
My inner conversations with my self about hair could go on all day.
I google the same stuff, and all my co-workers are younger as well.
I'm open to suggestions my friend.
Thank you for the thoughtful comments.
Thank you for the thoughtful comments.
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