maariku

I wanted to share this with you in my previous post, but forgot. I love the idea, it is from postsecret.blogspot.com, where people send in their secrets on a self-made postcard

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"[A good bellydancer] must express life, death, happiness, sorrow, love and anger, but above all she must have dignity." -Tahia Carioca,

Mosaic

I received this in an email a couple of years ago, and kept it, I love the saying.... but I will do my 'darndest' to do so with a reasonable body, it is awfully hard to skid anywhere gracefully with arthritic joints, wobbly legs, and eyesight that doesn't allow you to 'read the fine print' One needs to be able to skid in gracefully, with a creaking shimmy or 2 and a 3 point turn without falling over, even if everything is worn out


"Life should NOT be a journey to the grave with the intention of arriving safely in an attractive and well preserved body, but rather to skid in sideways, champagne in one hand, strawberries in the other, body thoroughly used up, totally worn out,
and screaming WOO HOO - What a Ride!"
~Mosaic

gisela

My mother turned 60 this year but has always said that she feels 18 inside. Sometimes she says she gets surprised looking in the mirror and not seeing that 18 year old girl. The thing is, I can really see that girl in her eyes, she IS in there.

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You need chaos in your soul to create a dancing star-nietzsche

Aisha Azar

Dear Gisela,
My mother who is 75 this year says the same thing. She says that though her body is deteriorated and causes her pain, she still feels like 18 in her mind and heart. I am going to see her in a month or so. She has emphysema and Alzheimer's Disease. She weighs 72 pounds. On her birthday in May,for the first time, she did not recognize one of her children ( she has 8 of us). I want to see her while there is still the chance that she will know me.
She also has made comments about wondering who in heck that walking bag of bones in the Sharpei outfit in the mirror is. I know that sometimes when I inadvertently catch a glimpse of myself in the mirror, I am surprised at how I am not the thin woman from my 20s and 30s that I feel like inside.
Regards,
A'isha

lizaj

Yeh you sometimes catch sight of yourself and wonder who the old bag is staring back at you!

But I hate these patronising anecdotes on how wonderful age and older folk are. Load of crap. Nothing beats being (physically)young.Health, energy etc. Experience of what can go arse-up in life though makes you happier with yourself as you age. I like that!
I have to say though the best things about being old is you stop caring what people think.

But then I was bemoaning the body the other night after a bath and said to the auld fella "Wish I had a young body again"
Says he" You don't look so bad for your age"
My reply "I wasn't talking about mine"

gisela

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You need chaos in your soul to create a dancing star-nietzsche

adiemus

I don't think aging itself is fantastic, I think the wonderful thing is just what you've said above: Experience of what can go arse-up in life though makes you happier with yourself as you age.
and the other thing you said: the best things about being old is you stop caring what people think

Sadly, I saw my mother yesterday. She is 66, and has just had a total hip joint replacement. We were talking about my daughter who is 15 and has an outrageous sense of style - Michelle was in a fluoro pink tutu, with holey fluoro pink tights over her black tights, a fluoro green, yellow and pink striped top, purple cardigan, and AT LEAST 150000 different coloured necklaces - black hair with a fluoro pink hairpiece. My mother pulled one of those 'do you know how dreadful your daughter looks' faces - and I mentioned that at least she was 'herself' and that I wished I'd done that at her age!

Mum then looked at my hair and said 'it's getting quite gray isn't it, you know you need to cut it shorter once its gray, older women with long gray hair look so old.' I replied that I wanted to leave my hair to grow long and gray, and she said 'well you won't be standing beside me then, they'll think you're older than I am!'.

This is from my mother who has worn the same hairstyle since she was in her 20's, and is white-haired!

To say I was offended is to understate the feeling - but my mother and I don't really understand each other anyway...!
The point is, I don't really care as much about what most people say (apart from my mother!), and provided that I feel comfortable in my own skin, and I'm reasonably healthy (OK so yes I do have osteo in my feet and fingers!), I think what I wear and how I look doesn't have to stick with 'tradition'.

Since this conversation I've scouted out a bunch of inspirational photographs from the internet of women with gloriously long and gray hair! I think they look great - here's one!!

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He wahine, he taonga- Every woman is a treasure(Maori proverb)

lizaj

Gray oh you mean grey! What color or colour is that? At 61 I am staying blonde..miracle isn't it?
And I vow never to wear beige

Babylonia

Emmy Lou Harris is another "silver fox". She started going silver years ago and just went with it. She has kept her hair fairly long as well and the long, silver hair looks great on her.

Aisha Azar

I have a friend who insists that her hair is turning "clear", not grey!! Since I am in bad need of a dye job, my hair is currently quite "clear" at the roots for about a half inch and dark brown with reddish highlights the rest of the way. If I do not dye it in time for next week's video shoot, my dance company will disown me. Perhaps if I explain that I think my grow out is and not the grey it appears to be to the untrained eye???
Regards,
A'isha