The Lie

It's all the time and it's everywhere. Every time we turn on the television, surf the Internet, watch a movie, read a magazine or book, walk out our door, it's there.  Because of its omnipresence, we have become accustom to it. We've accepted it as normal. From its relentless barrage, we have been brainwashed to believe its message. Any adverse emotions related to it such as inadequacy, sadness, depression, fear, anger, or anxiety have been bound and gagged and sent to the far back corners of our minds, where they languish, until...

Ladies of age. Listen to us, for we are here to help. You can trust us, the ones who stand to make billions from your feelings of inadequacy. Are you sad and depressed about losing your youth and beauty? Are you fearful that that twenty-five-year-old mind-blowingly gorgeous blond bombshell with big boobs at the office will steal your man? What?? She already has? Well then, are you angry? Have a little anxiety about those crow's feet, drooping jowls, and frown lines? Fret no more. We have the cure for your debilitating and disfiguring disease called "aging." All we ask is that you 1) continue to accept the lie: you are not okay as you are, 2) believe all your friends are doing it, therefore so should you, 3) don't give any thought to how ridiculous you may look if we get it wrong, 4) don't consider for one second that the world's focus on youth is not your concern, and 5) give us a lot of money, 'cause beauty ain't cheap, honey.

I'm a woman of age and I feel bad about that. My feelings of inadequacy are due to the lie that follows me wherever I go. The lie is my shadow. It's right next to me constantly saying things like, "If only you didn't have that chicken waddle dangling from your neck." And "Whoa! Those are some big honky wrinkles you got there!" And, "You know, with a little money--okay, a lot of money--there are things you can do to get rid of that old-lady face." 

"I know, I know," I say back to the lie, "but I don't want to succumb to the whimsy of the shallow and fickle world."

Aging is a normal part of life, and we shouldn't be made to feel bad about that. Besides, today the favorite flavor is Anything Young; tomorrow it might be Everything Elderly. It's possible. You never know. It could happen. Maybe. Okay, there's no way in hell that could happen, but can't an old lady dream?