Aging Gracefully. It's Not For Me.

When you search on Google, it provides "related" searches — in other words, the most common searches related to your search. When I searched on "aging gracefully," one of the first related searches was: is Aging Gracefully A Compliment?

Exactly. Apparently a lot of people wonder whether this "aging gracefully" is really such a good thing. As best I can tell, "aging gracefully" is to not push back on aging, but rather to embrace it wholeheartedly — with a smile while wearing your best baggy pants and clutching your book because those iPhones are just too complicated. To embrace aging appears to include throwing away your sexy clothes, your burgundy lipstick and canceling your Spotify account.

I do embrace aging by applying life's many hard lessons each day. I embrace aging by throwing away the insecurities of my younger years. I embrace aging by appreciating the good days so much more, and understanding that the bad ones will not last forever. I embrace aging by being a better person and expecting others to treat me better too.

None of which has anything to do with my thigh highs or my hair products. Quite the opposite in fact. After years of struggles, I can't even remember the last time my hosiery fell down mid-evening and I have learned that curling irons should only be used for good (translation: no big bangs). In other words, I embrace all the girly stuff now because I am much, much better at it than I used to be. Why shouldn't I show off my skill in walking in super high heels? I worked for that skill.

At the end of the day, I see no reason why making an effort to look my best — I said "best," not twenty-two — should not continue until, well, forever. It is the obligation I lived with for decades. Now I will live with the opportunity.