Age is a Blessing - Own It

By Cath

“You’re going to love this! It will make you look 10 years younger!”

I was sitting in an expensive salon in Downtown Willoughby (if it’s expensive it must be good, right?), sipping a glass of cool, filtered water flavored with a delicate hint of lemon and trying not to breathe in the smell of the hair color that was being slathered on my head by a very enthusiastic (and, as he took great pains to emphasize, very straight) hairdresser.

“Isn’t it a little purple?”  I frowned at the color dripping off the brush. I had asked for a very specific shade of bright pink to match the temporary color I’d done at home, and what was going on my head was quite a lot darker than I’d expected. He assured me it was not and that I’d love it.

It was, and I didn’t.

I mean, I really didn’t.

Because it did make me look 10 years younger.  And I didn’t want it to.

Just a year before the incident at the hair salon, I was lying in a hospital bed, hooked up to a drip because I hadn’t been able to keep food or drink down for nearly 36 hours, and the doctor was murmuring threats of pancreatic cancer. She said it to scare me -- to make sure I followed up on the cyst that developed during a nasty bout of pancreatitis -- and I knew that’s what she was doing. Nonetheless, it made me worry. What if?

 I survived (obviously), but it’s taught me a new appreciation for my years. As women, we’re taught to run from age as if it’s something to be feared. We spend thousands on creams and make-up to cover up our lines and wrinkles as if they’re something to be ashamed of, when they’re not. What would happen if we started to think of wrinkles as medals for a life lived? What if we saw them instead as marks of the laughter and tears that have made us who we are?

Because if I’ve learned anything in my 45 years, it’s that every day on this earth is a blessing. Every single day is a chance to do something different, to change something you don’t like, or pursue something you do. And every day is a chance to make a difference to the people around you.

Don’t run from your age – whatever it is. Embrace it. And don’t be scared of getting older. It rocks.

I’m Cath, a photographic artist based in Willoughby, Ohio, and I’m empowered and poised because I love my grey hair (which is currently a fabulous shade of fuchsia) and my wrinkles.