Tomorrow is my birthday, and to celebrate, I'm going to give away a limited-edition Glimsen mug. More details to come, here on the blog and on Facebook. Good luck!
“Do you have anything for wrinkles?” the older woman asked me, leaning over the cosmetics counter and looking at the bottles filled with lotions and potions.
“Our skincare program is the best place to start,” I said, indicating our three-step regimen and then picking up another bottle. “In addition, this moisturizer will help reduce the appearance of tiny, fine lines.”
If my sales trainer could have heard me at that moment, she would have been so pleased. “Never say the word ‘wrinkles’,” she told our class of trainees. “Instead, use the phrase ‘tiny, fine lines.’”
I'm pretty sure I gave a mental shrug. After all, I was a 21-year-old college student. I had no fine lines, laugh lines, or any other kind of lines to speak of.
German novelist and short story writer Franz Kafka said, "Youth is happy because it has the ability to see beauty. Anyone who keeps the ability to see beauty never grows old."
Kafka often wrote about existential and surrealist themes, so I'm surprised that this quote came from him. But nonetheless I like it.
Never growing old sounds good to me at the moment, especially since tomorrow is my birthday and I now have fine lines of my own.
As I look back on my many-ish years, one thing I know is this: I want to keep that ability to see the beauty around me. I want to actively look for beauty, keep my eyes open for the unexpected, and cultivate a childlike sense of wonder.
I don’t want to become jaded or hard, cynical or bored. Lord forbid.
Rather, I want a heart that will always be moved by things like waterfalls, water lily paintings, and Handel’s Water Music. And be deeply grateful for them, too.
A heart that’s young with a face that’s wrinkled? In that case, those lines are fine with me.
Two questions to choose from today: What's your favorite thing about growing older? Or, as you look back on your life, what is one thing you know now?
I'm honored that you've taken time out of your day to stop by my blog, Glimsen, where I share glimpses of the beauty around us in nature, the arts, and the unexpected. When you sign up to receive my blog posts and updates by email, you'll receive a free gift of beauty in your inbox. You can also find me on Facebook and Instagram. I look forward to connecting with you!
