Today I was cruising one of my many “private” photography group pages and there was a picture of a striking woman and the post read “still obsessing with this 57 yo ;)”. Various comments followed mostly stating how “good” she looked for her age etc. and then one person wanted to see the SOOC (straight out of camera version) implying that there must have been a lot of photoshop done to the image. The SOOC was posted it was obvious that not much had been done to the pic and this is just how this woman looked. More comments followed, most in amazement of how “good” she looked once again for her age.
Being the 56 year old that I am I was reminded that women of a “certain age” are considered the exception if they still are deemed attractive by the powers that be- the group of judges that determines when a woman’s attractive meter has stopped functioning and she has sadly “lost it”.
So many women are not bound by the constraint of numbers or someone else’s beauty standard. I look in the mirror and I see the reflection of a woman who has lived, spent some time in the sun before sunblock was the de rigueur. A face that has smiled for 50 plus years and has the imprint to prove it.
Most of us are juggling various ages- our biological age and the age of our heart and spirit, which has nothing to do with our years of the planet. The inner age that tells you that you can pull off skinny jeans, a bikini, or start a new career. Having a positive attitude and being kind all contribute to a timeless, ageless beauty that shines from within, the best anti-age serum.
To be 20, 30 or even 40 again would be a curse, because the woman I am the today is the product of all those years in the making.
Xoxo,
Gigi
Age has no reality except in the physical world-
Gabriel Garcia Marquez