Aging and beauty
‘Come over to My House’ by Theo. LeSieg (commonly known as Dr Seuss) and ‘What do people do all day’ by Richard Scarry, two favourite books from childhood have made complete sense when I look back over the years. They’ve weaved and tucked themselves into so much of my life. I’m so glad I didnt Marie Kondo them as they didnt spark joy in my 20’s!!
Mid 2023 I started work in Aged Care. It’s been an adventure. My role was to visit folks in their homes, apartments, Nursing Homes, or aged care facilities and help them; this varies from groceries together, driving to Dr’s appointments through to personal care.
I’ve loved seeing how my clients live, what they are up to, who they see, are they social or not. My favourite books mentioned above, where all about seeing how people live so I loved discovering this theme running through my life.
As I LOVE to have a creative project, I thought what can I take from this kind of work? What am I seeing that I value, that I feel inspired by.
So I started a notebook. After each visit I wrote down an insight, a tip, a thought about how to age beautifully. I’m not necessarily talking about outfits and externals, but also minds, hearts and souls of the aging.
Here are a few of my insights so far:
Be interested in others. Don’t be a bore or a know it all. Ask questions, find something about that person in front of you that interests you.
Eat healthy foods, drink water & enjoy it with others. But also, enjoy wine and cheese!
Make sure you have good friends of all ages.
Dress up, dont cut your hair if you dont want, get that pink stripe if you want to, wear cute clothes and yes, still feel comfortable.
Take your vitamins, get massages, go for facials, or put a mask on at home. But look after your body, its your home for hopefully a long time.
If you have a purpose, a North Star, take time to see the link between what you are doing and who you are. Weave in your purpose to what you do, be purposeful and I’m sure you’ll find something, an interesting way to look at your job, an angle that you hadn’t thought of before.
‘I have to constantly re-identify myself to myself, reactivate my own standards, my own convictions about what I’m doing and why’ wrote Nina Simone.
So its fun, to think about what we are doing and why. What lens, what fun unqiue perspective can you bring right now to your own life?
x
