December 17, 2010

Aging Gracefully with Her Daily Green


This week's beauty is Kim Urig who is 44 years old. Kim is a freelance writer who grew up on an organic vegetable farm.  A few years ago she founded Our Daily Green, a website geared to helping people nurture a more ecological and economical household.

Our Daily Green is chock full of good tips for environmentally frugal folk, such as how to make your own firestarters, and solar powered exterior Christmas lights that turn on automatically at dusk. I like that.

Kim has this to share about aging:

I was honored to be invited to participate in the Lines of Beauty site. It took a moment for me to admit, yes, yes, I'm that age. I am a line of beauty and I embrace it.

When Louise invited me to her site, I was humbled and frightened. What advice could I possibly offer to women about getting older, when I still feel like a kid myself. Yes, I know, I'm almost as close to 50 as I was to 40. I don't think I look it. I wish I could bottle my secret, but I don't know what it is. My own grandmother also was beautiful until her passing at 94. She was a lovely woman who sat on Santa's lap until her last Christmas. To quote my cousin at her funeral, If you knew her, you KNEW you were loved. She had that magic, that devotion. It's why I chose one of the last photos of her and I together for this profile. She was the ageless one, I only hope to follow her.

I think the biggest piece of advice I can share is from my best friend's grandmother. We were teenagers at the time and grandma (who we called Beba) went shopping with us. She pulled up crocheted string bikinis. Yes, a grandmother. Who was large. Holding them for us to try on. We giggled and shifted nervously. Even then, my friend and I were shocked. But we heard her. Shuffling self consciously to the dressing room, we tried them on. At that point, she said to us words of advice I will never forget. "Girls, you need to wear it while you can." She smiled at us from her cane and large self and said, "I wish I had worn a string bikini. I wish."

It stuck with me. It's important to embrace each minute and moment that we are given. It's important to wear that string bikini while you can. It's important to do your best for as much time as you can. Embrace the woman you are.


Thanks Kim! I think your secret might be all those organic veggies, and your good self esteem :-)