Today is my birthday.
I am sixty.
I do not feel sixty but then again, how is sixty suppose to feel?
I suspect the essence of a person is ageless and timeless, which is why so many of us are stunned at our chronological age.
American society is not kind to older people — especially women. I feel this often. It is like we become invisible and unimportant.
I think this is why so many of us become bolder and louder and just more forthright as we age. It is in response to social pressures that want to minimize us, or maybe just hide us away so everyone can pretend that youth is eternal.
I grew up in the era of Women’s Liberation and this has shaped my life and provided opportunity that the generations of women before me did not enjoy. As my generation ages, I hope we can carry forward that revolutionary spirit and redefine what it means to grow older so that our daughters and granddaughters and nieces are valued at every phase of their lives.
Live out loud at every age — the next generations are watching.
