Hi, it’s Dr. Denise Taylor, and today I want to talk about being visible.
There’s a lot written about people of around my age, mid- fifties upwards and about how we feel invisible, how we’re not seen, and we fade into the background. I don’t think I fade into the background, and I don’t think you do too.
I think it’s about owning our age, being comfortable with who we are, being comfortable about the stage of life that we are in and one of the things is about to dye, or not dye our hair. We can choose to dye our hair because it makes us feel younger and it makes us feel better. If that’s good for you, that’s fine.
My decision to stop dyeing my hair was firstly, to stop using chemicals. I thought that was a good move. But also, it was … who am I pretending? I thought it was important as I trained as a wilderness guide to do more and more things that were natural.
So back to being visible.
Often people, and I noticed at my gym and in the swimming pool, the older people will tend to take a step back, and move out of other people’s way. But why? I want to say, don’t do that. You were there first. You are in that swimming lane. You just keep it, you don’t have to move out of your way just because somebody younger who swims faster is, is there.
I’ve noticed it with my mum. As we walked down the road she’d move out of the way. The town she lives in, Knutsford, in Cheshire has really bad pavements for older people and they’re quite narrow and she’d be moving out of the way and letting the young people nave the pavement and she’d move onto the road and it’s like, no mum, really? You don’t have to, other people can do this. You just. claim your space. And she does that now and I’m really proud of her. And she turned 90 earlier this year, so it’s so good to know that.
So, what I’m thinking today, with this one is about being visible, owning our age. You know, I’m 65. Anybody who’s 20, 30, 40, they’re all going to be 65 one day we hope. I mean, the alternative is not that great really.
So, we’re all going to be old and I think it’s really important to be somebody who is feeling comfortable in our skin, Happy with the age that we are, calling out ageism. I think that’s a good thing to do.
This is just to get you thinking about are you happy with your age? And what are you doing, if not, how can you make yourself be more happy with the age that you happen to be?
Anything that makes you feel a little better is probably worth doing, but I think it’s being comfortable in our own skin.
I hope this just gives you a bit of food for thought, something to think about and I’d love to hear your views.
Till next time, take care. It’s Dr. Denise. Bye-bye.