“You can take no credit for beauty at sixteen. But if you are beautiful at sixty, it will be your soul’s own doing.” ~ Marie Carmichael Stopes ~
Maxine Hong Kingston is off on new adventures, at seventy. And isn’t she beautiful? She is my inspiration for the day, still the Woman Warrior.
EDITED THE FOLLOWING DAY TO ADD: Ms. G., a witty acquaintance wrote and pointed out the Stopes quote is pure balderdash. “It reminds me,” she complained, “of when people used to say that at a certain age we have the face we deserve. We do not have the face we deserve, we get the face that genetics dictate and now, thanks to plastic surgery, the face we can afford.”
She then went on to say some rather amusing things about popular do-gooders who were quite wizened when they departed this mortal coil, and if they weren’t beautiful, what hope is there for the rest of us?
Is my witty friend too literal? Do we judge beauty when it comes to the aged in only the most esoteric terms, and not in the more concrete and literal terms with which we judge our younger counterparts?
Hmmmm. Even though I think Ms. G. meant to merely amuse me, she gave me something to think about. You?
Wooo – thank god for Asian genes. Something to look forward to 😉
HAH! Well, I had a stern talk with my hair, and told it that I was expecting lovely silver locks JUST like that. But I can’t do much about the rest. Darn.
Have to say that I think all of my senior singers are gorgeous. Not sure how to describe it, but there is something riveting in their faces. And having seen a recent WWII photo display of them in the 40s, some of them were physically attractive in their youth, but I think they are more compelling now.
Someone just recommended that I watch ‘Young at Heart’–sounds similar to ‘Silver Belles’.
Between all of the above, I don’t mind aging.
Wow, 70? Seriously?
It’s kind of the opposite of being a “prodigy” at something. You can be an amazing writer, pianist, whatever, as a teen and it’s *more* special and you might get more credit than you deserve just because you’re so young. But if you’re still creating and passionate about it 50 years later–THAT’s the real gift.