WRITING PROMPT RESPONSE
Aging is Just Another Word for Living
Seeing experience and wisdom rather than weakness in something old
Why is it that we look with pity and sadness at old people? Why don’t we see their scars and wrinkles and exclaim “Wow, that person must have a load of experiences on his back”. Because sure, it’s always easier to see the negative things first.
In a world where barely anything gets fixed, tools, clothes and electronic devices end up in the landfill and nobody remembers how to patch a hole in your pants or change the tire of your car the ephemerality of the high point of our lives is shorter than our attention span.
Our society has changed in a way the beliefs shared by us are hurtful for ourselves. We have to cover the natural beauty of our skin in layers of brown paste in order to be seen as pretty.
Wrinkles, freckles, facial hair such as eyelashes or the lack thereof and any other unique features of our bodies are seen as old, faded and a sign of self-neglect.
Meanwhile, those specific abnormalities are seen as unique features in a dog, cat or any other animal on Earth. They are part of who they are including all the battle scars.
“Aging is not ‘lost youth’ but a new stage of opportunity and strength.” — Betty Friedan
But humans have a steep curve reaching their high point in life and once they reach this society-assigned stage in life, they are told it's only going downhill from then on.
Every wrinkle in your face built after a smile and day filled with laughter doesn’t stand for the happiness in your life but for a disgraceful aging process. Cover it up before someone comments on it.
Why?
Meanwhile, the world of flora and fauna out there is blooming for a day or two before its leaves begin to fade and fall off. The stems still stand strong facing toward the sun even after all petals have dropped and nothing but the seeds are left behind.
This is when the actual ripening process begins. Everything depends on how well the seeds can age while still attached to the flower. Only those lasting the longest before being carried away by the wind, birds and insects will have a lasting effect on the future.
Those who manage to get back into the soil.
“In the end, it’s not the years in your life that count. It’s the life in your years.” — Abraham Lincoln
In nature, age is beautiful. Powerful. And the key to survival.
Yet, in our society, every single gray hair gets pulled out before your partner will exchange you for a younger and fresher human.
Gray hairs are like the hair hanging from these flowers in the image below. Without those hairs, the seeds couldn’t travel anywhere or reach anything in life. They first protect the head and then make sure reproduction will be successful.
“The ordinary experiences of aging alter and clarify your view of past, present and future.” — Edith Pearlman
We display youth and beauty in the prettiest colors and see everything beyond thirty in black and white. The aging process has become ugly. Rather, cover it up.
“Count your age by friends, not years. Count your life by smiles, not tears.” — John Lennon
But if we look closely, if we approach that older lady with a lot of wrinkles and ask her about which person in life caused her so many laughs for such beautiful skin features to be built, I’m sure we’ll get to see her beautiful smile again the moment she opens her mouth to tell us the story.
If we learn to look at the side effects of age with a different eye, then we will find adventure, experience and grace in every seemingly faded flower.
“Beautiful young people are accidents of nature, but beautiful old people are works of art.” — Eleanor Roosevelt
It needs a lot to change the mindset of our society but just as a wise man once said, it all begins with a first step.
With your first step.
Stop hiding your wrinkles and scars and show your smile instead. And just like that, you’ll see many others copying your behavior and beginning to smile alongside yourself.
“Aging is not an option, not for anyone. It is how gracefully we handle the process and how lucky we are, as the process handles us.” —Cindy McDonal
This is a response to a group of beautiful weeds and wildflowers showing the beauty of faded blossoms. Click below for their pieces of art:
Dennett with “Fading Flowers”
Louise Peacock with “Vases of Flowers”
Kim Zuch with “Surgery, Fall Weather, Crafts, and Pollinators”
Penny Grubb with “A Week In Mysteries”
Barb Dalton with “From Birds to Buildings and Chunky ‘Monkeys’ to Skeletal Remains…”
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