YOU DO IT, I DO IT, we all do it every single day. We age. And while fighting aging has long been an outlook all women have been taught to embrace, The Sister Project was recently given a gift we can really wrap our arms around—a shift of outlook on aging. And like all gifts, this one gets better when shared.
Are you ready to accept the gift? We hope so. Because at its heart is the question we recently tried to grapple with in America: Can women really be anything they want to be?
It appears they can, but for all of us, no matter on what side of that argument you may fall, here is the great equalizer, without which no matter who you are, what your education, age, job experience or community organization skills, there can be no real achievement. We must first learn not only to age, but to age well—in body, mind and spirit. Achieving this, we could be then set out to be anyone we want to be. So, ask yourself: What one thing are you willing to do right now—and from this moment on—to better reach this goal?
Thanks to our new friends Cait and Marty for alerting us to the video above, an ad from Kaiser Permanente set to a Michelle Shocked song that we believe is from a not-so-young 1988 album. It sounds good again right at this moment, doesn’t it?
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{ 14 comments… read them below or add one }
Wow, ok — I’m one of those who resisted the first mammogram until age 41. And I’m not at all sure how I feel about having that done YEARLY. But that is certainly one way to protect the future of my “old woman” self.
There are other ways too. Nurture your self-esteem. Stay connected to young people, who (if they know you well enough) will reflect back to you the power and beauty you may forget to see in the mirror. Maintain excellent posture and bone density — nothing says old and frail like a dowager’s hump. Remember what a hospice nurse friend told me, “Life is hard, be gentle.” That includes being gentle to yourself! Happy new year ladies… xoxo Jaya
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1uIAVpM-D_A
You’re Aging Well
sung by Dar Williams (who wrote it) and Joan Baez
I really love this song and wanted to share it.
Wonderful! I’m forwarding it to all my ‘sisters.’
Hi there, Jaya. And welcome. Such good advice. Happy new year to you, too. Please come back soon. Sisters are great at taking good advice.
Hi, Nancy. Oh, that song you give us. What a gift! It’s rolling around in my head like a perfect prayer. Thank you. Please come back with more.
Hello, Marsha. Welcome. Give those sisters that boost and who knows what will come your way in return. Something good, no doubt. Please come back soon.
I’m glad you loved the Old Woman video as much as I did. I think I’m going to turn into the old cheerleader at the game bouncing up and down trying to keep time.
Oh!!! I just watched the You’re Aging Well video and got all teary. Thank you so much for that Nancy. I’m going to link to that next and credit you and The Sister Project.
My goal for myself is “buff senior citizen.” I used to take really terrible care of myself, but no more. I’ve changed my entire lifestyle in the last 2 years, eating, exercise, medical exams/testing, the whole shebang. So I see myself at 80 pumping iron, running 5 and 10Ks, and basically kicking every other old lady’s butt!
Well, I apparently have been asleep (or frozen solid, weather being what it is at the moment) and just saw this great musical suggestion from Nancy, which I will post for all to stream. Maybe out front on the TSP network homepage. Thanks for the tip; thank goodness for the community and its comments.
i flippin love old women! This reminds me of a photo we have of Lady, my grandmother, doing a sweeping curtsy on the sidewalk when she was probably 79 or so, wearing some kind of American flag dress. So wonderful.
Yo, Smith: A photo of Lady in a flag dress sweeping a curtsy on a sidewalk? I’m thinking the Sisterhood needs to see that.
Hi, Sandy: Welcome back. So glad you are going for buff senior citizen. Me too. I’ve replaced my French perfume with the enticing smell of Tiger Balm, and I’m thinking to hell with the drugs: Give me the bones I build from pumping iron, the heart I get from the eleptical machine, and the brain power that is now proven to come with those crazy balance exercises I struggle to master. New age? You bet. Let’s make this age the best age we’ve ever been. I’m with you, sister.
Marion, if you want to work on balance, try Pilates. I’ve been doing it for a year and it’s great. Not only does it aid with balance and stability, but I’m starting to see a glimmer of muscle in my belly. Holy Abs Batman!
I just got back from a wow trip to Nicaragua, first visited during war time by me in 1986. Nicaragua is tired of being poor and I found new limits in my aging body. Made me a bit grumpy. Until I stood in Dona Valeria’s smoky kitchen (wood fueled cooking stove; heat is controlled by how much of the log you stick in) while she fed me beans and rice and amazing cheese. Dona Valeria was my “mom” in the home stay in the rural coffee community we visited. She looks about 65 or 70 and has adult children.
So, I asked: “How many years do you have?” (Women are never afraid to do this and I think it’s easier in Spanish….). “52″, she grinned. I choked. Gasped: “I’m 55.” We burst out laughing. She immediately pointed out that at my age, I should also be given the respectful title, DONA. I never thought about it this way.
Now, I’m proud to be a dona and proud to know a younger dona who taught a good life lesson!
Hi, Maureen, ah, I mean, Dona. Such a good life lesson, and apparently well-learned. The sisterhood teaches us, and if we are lucky, we learn. You did, and then you turned it around and taught us, as well. Lovely. Thank you. Please keep visiting.