Girl Everlasting

How to Age in a Culture that Fears Death

There is perhaps no better illustration of this idea than in ageing, and especially, ageing as a woman. Many women attempt to hold on to their beauty as time plays its funny tricks on them. It turns your hair grey, it thins your skin, it morphs your figure and it changes your face. There are two types of women who age: those who age gracefully, and those who age spitefully. The spiteful woman is the selfish one, who has always put herself at the centre of her world.

The graceful woman is the one who has no regrets, because she has always been living courageously, virtuously and unselfishly. The graceful woman does not wallow in nostalgia for her own beauty and youth, instead, her past comprises lovely memories that do not embitter her present, and she has built a world, a family and a life that she continues to enjoy because it is still filled with love. You can feel it in her presence. Though she is “old” she exudes a radiant warmth and joy that I believe young people are desperate to be near today, because it gives them a healthy model for living and hope for their own futures.

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