Sarah of course is one of my biggest supporters of Lines of Beauty, but because we are so different in some ways, her thoughts carry her to topics for this blog that I might not ever travel to.
So today I introduce Sarah Becker, my first guest blogger, whom I’m grateful, once again, for peaking under the layers:
"I think about Lines of Beauty often. I wonder about the possibilities for stories that talk about the territory between recognition that one is aging in some way at any given moment and accepting the process of aging as it appears at that time. Actually it's not about accepting the process of aging because having to "accept" it sees it from a negative stance from the beginning. It's about understanding the transition one is in at the moment and looking forward to change, no matter what it is. But I think I can say that because I have come to this understanding with time and experience.
I’d like to hear those specific stories from women which would tell us more about the internal processes we go through in change - more than optimism and "can do". Because I think that the most optimistic of us have times of needing a good talking it through with ourselves to move ourselves along toward growth and realization. This process of aging happens any time in life, as we comprehend the changes and stages of our lives - really from the earliest years. We start by seeing it as "growing up", becoming adult, and then so often it's "oh no, I'm going to turn 30, 40, 50, etc." One hears the dread around one all the time as people we know turn specific ages. Where is the welcoming of wisdom and experience, of moving forward?
But it is broader and deeper than that...what am I doing with my life? What needs to change? What can change? How do I have to see differently in order move myself along? How do I understand my living-self knowing that some day my life ends? All of us hit roadblocks or stagnation in this process but something moves us along to get to the other side toward new understanding.
So while aging can be seen from the point of view of our bodies and spirits and beauty, it's really about moving through the life cycle. We inhabit our bodies from the beginning. They come to define so much of living. I'd like to hear the stories of our minds and hearts, and yes, of our bodies too - all within the crunch and grind and breath of life."
More about Sarah here.
