I've been thinking about anti-aging a lot recently…
Well, not just recently, it's kind of top of mind all of the time, doing what I do... an esthetician for nearly 20 years.
I have spoken before about the unique education I have received in my line of work. A peek into the minds of fellow women and their feelings about aging. The topic comes up daily, and what I have noticed is that we all feel about it a little differently.
Some people truly do not care, some people care quite a bit about it, and want to resist it at all costs, and others find themselves somewhere in the middle.
I've also written many, many times about how the beauty industry- the industry I have spent almost 20 years steeped in- gives me the ick.
I am bored by the focus on profiting from insecurity. We get it already! We are supposed to feel like shit about ourselves and your cream with it's synthetic weird ingredients will finally make us valuable in society. 🤪 The messaging has grown stale.
But what I often find myself chewing on is this space between anti-aging culture and this other cultural response called pro-aging that doesn’t always sit quite right with me either.
The term pro-aging sounds to me like “bring on the degeneration!” (I know that's not what's meant, but I can't help my brain from going there every time I hear the term)… I also think it can swing too far the other way and almost shame the desire to look beautiful or gasp- the word they HATE- youthful.
Humans are primal, and the fact is that visual beauty signals several messages, such as vitality, fertility, health, and even emotional aliveness. These instincts run millions of years deep, and policing language is not going to override that.
In the work I am here doing, instead of selling you “anti-aging” products, or pretending appearance doesn't matter… I would rather live from a third perspective that honors aging while at the same time cultivating vitality.
Our purpose here in Earth school is not to obsess over our bodies, but they're also not something to abandon either.
In many traditional philosophies, the body is seen as an instrument for living your life.
Caring for our physical being is stewardship.
It's also interesting that two people can be the exact same age on paper and look and feel completely different. Chronological age and biological age are different because time passes for everyone of course, but vitality comes through by how the body is nourished and supported.
So the question becomes:
How do we feel alive and juicy for as long as possible?
Because wrinkles are going to come, and no matter how much is spent on cosmetic interventions, the face will evolve. It is a right of passage, and I truly believe it is beautiful when paired with vitality.
And the good news is, vitality is something we can actively support.
So, below are a few ways to do that.
