The Joy of Aging

Eyelid wrinkles. Crows feet. Lip line wrinkles. Sun damage. Saggy knees. This, my friends, is what happens when you get old.

I know, I know, I'm NOT old. I'm actually still quite spry for six months shy of thirty-seven. These little aging things just happen to jump out of the mirror at me sometimes and I think...where has my youthful visage gone?? 

I suppose I'd better get used to the wrinkles since I don't really see myself doing anything drastic (face-lifting, needles, etc) to get rid of those anytime soon. Maybe that Lifestyle Lift? If I develop a turkey neck one day I'm definitely looking into that! Do I have to get used to saggy knees? Could I get a knee-skin-oplasty (or whatever they're calling it) one day? I could get some more photofacial done. That really has helped the sun damage a lot. I wonder how much they charge for a whole body photo facial? Probably way too much. Sun exposure--so bad for your skin. All those sunburns I had, I wish I could undo. Younger ladies (and dudes): please please PLEASE wear your sunscreen every day! And for goodness sake do NOT bake yourself in a tanning bed. Ever had tanning bed burn on your ass? It's not fun. You will live to regret it.

Maybe if I just keep up my 5 day a week fitness routine, keep eating (mostly) healthy, and take my vitamins, always use sunscreen, keep not smoking, take up yoga, drink less alcohol, go running more...

Oh, well, maybe I should just accept that I will get old unless I die young. And I definitely would prefer to get old if given the choice. I'm just trying to figure out how to wrap my mind around accepting the inevitable parts of aging. More wrinkles, more saggy knees (and probably other things too), and so on.

Honestly, I really don't stress about it too much, but I do notice the physical signs that I'm not as young as I used to be. And really, that's pretty ok. I whine a little and then I get (mostly) over it. These days, I know myself better. I've got years of experience. I've got wisdom. And I'm actually in better physical shape now than I was even a year ago. I know that the people who love me, love me for ME, not my face or my body. I know I am so much more than my appearance. The trick is to remember that, and to believe it with my whole heart, even when my wrinkly eyelids try to tell me otherwise.

Probably!!

xo :)

Follow me!   Facebook   Bloglovin'  Instagram  Google+

Open to the Public

Is internet rudeness inevitable these days?  Is it something one should expect when putting themselves online publicly?  Personally, I think rudeness is unacceptable in any forum...there's no need to be mean.  But it seems that some just can't help it, making rude personal remarks, especially when they get to hide behind a screen and don't have to look the person they're insulting in the face.

 

A few days ago, a faceless internet commenter (screen name: "derp") replied to one of my comments on another website, calling me "dumb/ugly."  Now, I know I am neither dumb nor ugly, but reading that comment made me kind of slink back into my chair and feel...small.  Even though this derp doesn't know me and has no bearing on my existence, it still stung a little.  I'm slightly bothered by the fact that I even care what derp typed in his/her comment.  I'm confident, I'm happy...why should it bother me?  I'm not losing any sleep over it or anything, but it did get me thinking about how we humans act toward one another and, that we could all stand to be a little bit more careful about what we say, on or offline.

I know some people get their kicks from saying/doing things just to see how other people react; to get a rise out of someone.  I think that's a shame.  I'm willing to bet that 9 times out of 10, someone who says something vile about another person online would never say it to the person's face if given the opportunity.  

Take, for instance, Kim Kardashian.  This poor woman has been trashed countless times on TV, on magazine covers, and especially online.  I can't even tell you all the terrible things hundreds of people have written about her...I'm sure you've read some yourself.  She's been fat shamed, slut shamed, fashion shamed, and called every name in the book.  All by people who don't know her, only going by their own judgments from what they see in the media.  Now I'm not saying I am a huge fan or that I agree with her decisions/behavior, etc.  What I am saying is that she doesn't deserve all the hate that she gets.  Yes, she chose to make herself a public brand, but she's still a person.  She still has feelings and insecurities.  She still deserves to be treated like a human.  To the rude people: What if  it was your friend, your sister, or even you, dear Meanie, that was being treated this way?  I don't think you'd like that one bit.  I feel like a lot of people have really lost sight of the humanity of others.  Especially those they choose to judge from afar. 

I suppose the whole point of this stream of consciousness is...all the online/media negativity floating around these interwebs really doesn't help anything or anyone.  I suppose being negative and trash talking others makes some people feel superior or better about their own lives.  But that's never going to be the way to happiness.  What derp said about me is a tiny, tiny little piece of this problem.  I'm no worse for wear because of it, but it does make me realize even more now that words do matter.  What we say can have lasting impact.  Positive OR negative.  Think before you speak (or type).

I can still remember being a little girl, being teased, being called ugly.  "Sticks and stones may break my bones but words will never hurt me," right?  I said that to him, the boy that called me ugly.  But if that saying were true, I probably wouldn't still remember it after all these years. 

I hope derp's life gets better.  Really.

Via Post Secret

xo :)

Monday-itis Medicine

It's finally cooled off outside (scarf and jacket time!), I had a great weekend, and I got to sleep in just a teensy bit this Monday morning.  So even though the Cowboys totally blew it in the last  minutes of yesterday's game (damn Romo interceptions!), I don't much need my own Monday-itis Medicine today, but just in case you do...

 Post Secret is always one of my first stops along the interwebs on Mondays.  I often giggle aloud at some of the secrets people send in!  This postcard is one of my all time favorites as I used to be quite addicted to CSI.  Some of the postcards are sad and tragic, others silly, and still others full of hope for the future.  Post Secret does a lot of work for suicide prevention and I think that is such a great cause to support. 

This cute, stylish teenager is 17 year old Karrie.  Karrie has Down syndrome and she recently became a model for Wet Seal, her favorite clothing store.  Click the pic for her awesome and inspiring story! (via xoJane)

Prepare to shed a few sad tears, along with some happy ones.  The story of Mama Jade and her rescue will break your heart...and then fill it with love. (via The Frisky)

And this right here, is the absolute epitome of perseverance and resilience in the face of adversity.  Several Boston Marathon bombing victims and other amputees participated in a running clinic for challenged athletes yesterday at Harvard University.  Running is good for the soul, and it makes me happy to see these people, who've been through an awful ordeal, getting up and running despite the loss of their legs.  Talk about inspiration! (via Yahoo!)

Happy Monday everyone!

xo :)

Follow me!   Facebook   Bloglovin'  Instagram  Google+

The Power of Love

Ever been in love?  I have.  It's beautiful, exciting, passionate, intoxicating.  It's also painful, stressful, and very emotionally risky.  Love is, after all, what makes this life liveable; and also what makes this life feel completely unbearable at times.

When I first heard of Marina Abramovic, an NYC based Serbian performance artist, I saw this video:

The story (from Wikipedia): " In 1988, after several years of tense relations, Abramović and Ulay decided to make a spiritual journey which would end their relationship. Each of them walked the Great Wall of China, starting from the two opposite ends and meeting in the middle. As Abramović described it: “That walk became a complete personal drama. Ulay started from the Gobi Desert and I from the Yellow Sea. After each of us walked 2500 km, we met in the middle and said good-bye." Abramović conceived this walk in a dream, and it provided what she thought was an appropriate, romantic ending to a relationship full of mysticism, energy, and attraction.”

I was transfixed.  I cried a little.  Then I smiled a little.  So emotional and beautiful...I felt like I could understand exactly what these two were feeling.  Anyone who's been in love probably can.  Even though the two apparently met and spoke before this show, the emotional reactions here seem very real to me.  Every now and then, this video pops into my mind and I have to go watch.  I feel like it reminds us that, whatever happens in life, real love is forever.  Even if you no longer have the actual in-person relationship, even if you knew it wasn't right or that the relationship had run it's course and you parted ways, the love you felt never really goes away.  I think that's a good thing.  It's good to have love in your heart.  We all know the world needs more love...sweet love.

There are a million writings about love and relationships.  I've read quite a few!  But one in particular sticks out for me.  I've often said that, to me, it pretty much sums up the meaning of life.

"Love anything that lives...a person, a pet, a plant...and it will die.  Trust in anyone, and you may be hurt.  Depend on anyone, and that one may let you down.  The price of [love] is pain.  If someone is determined not to risk pain, then such a person must do without many things--getting married, having children, the ecstasy of sex, the hope of ambition, friendship-- all that makes life alive, meaningful and significant.  Move out or grow in any dimension and pain as well as joy will be your reward.  A full life will be full of pain.  But the only alternative is not to live fully, or not to live at all."  --M. Scott Peck in The Road Less Traveled

May you all have a love-ly afternoon.

xo :)

 

 Follow me!   Facebook   Bloglovin'  Instagram  Google+

That New Dress Feeling

“I mean, a new dress doesn’t get you anywhere; it’s the life you're living in the dress, and the sort of life you had lived before, and what you will do in it later.”  Diana Vreeland

Sometimes I feel like a new dress will fix everything.  Make me feel younger/thinner/prettier/better.  And yes, it usually does...for a while.  Then the night is over, the dress goes back in the closet, and I'm down from my cloud.  Hello eyelid wrinkles, hello zit I had masterfully covered with Lancome concealer (which is the BEST, by the way), and hello blister from dancing all night in those high heels.  I do love that feeling though...don't you?

New dress...almost like a first kiss.  You see it among the stuffed full racks. It catches your eye with that beautiful color or fabulous looking neckline.  "Oooooooh!" you say excitedly, eyes wide.  And it's my size!  And on SALE!  This could be the one!  Wait, don't get your hopes up too high...it might sit funny on your hips or bunch weird around the middle.  Let's try it on.  Anticipation bubbles as you wander around looking for the fitting room.  Why are those things never close by??  Found it!  You strip, slide new dress off its hanger and unzip..."please oh please oh please let it fit!"    You slip it on, wiggle the zipper up, and you turn around to face the almost always unforgiving dressing room mirror...  "Yes!"  No waist bunching, the zipper lies flat, and your boobs look amazing.  Success!!

I love shopping trips like that!

It's rare to find an article of clothing that makes you feel that good.  And even rarer to find one that will keep making you feel that good every time you put it on.  It's important, however, to feel good even without that one, spectacular new dress/top/skirt/pair of shoes.  The quote above made me think...do I do my best to feel good, great even, every day...even if there is no new dress?  To live my life as positively and authentically as possible, to be happy?  I sure try.  Some days are better than others.  But it's good to remember, that as beautiful as that new dress is, and as wonderful as it makes me feel, it's only a dress.  It is better to feel beautiful on the inside.  To know that I am a good person, I am smart, capable, compassionate.  That I am living a good life...in any old thing I wear.

    xo :)