Wrinkles Are Our TRUE Life Lines.
A couple of weeks ago, actress, author, and “supermodel” Paulina Porizkova published the side-by-side photos below with the caption, “This is me. This is 60.”
Porizkova has long been an advocate for positive aging: not just accepting, but EMBRACING oneself, flaws and all. In fact, if you look closely at these photos, you will see the scars from the double hip replacement she went through a year or so ago.
As she stated several years ago—I believe before she even turned 50—“Old age is not a birthright. It’s a privilege.”
Yes, Porizkova is a “supermodel.” Yes, she was blessed with physical attributes only gifted to a very few of us. Yes, some might say, she might’ve had a head start in the 60-year-old appearance department.
But one could also argue that a person whose livelihood was as dependent on their looks at Porizkova’s has been might be overly sensitive to the changes that come with aging, rather than eager to celebrate them.
In fact, in an interview on NBC’s Today Show, Porizkova said, "Wrinkles are the signs of privilege that you're alive."
I would actually take that statement one step further.
During middle school slumber parties, I can remember a bunch of us girls “reading” each other’s palms and focusing on our “life lines” (the line that theoretically delineates an arc around your thumb).
While true palmists ascribe various meanings to the length and structure of that life line, I would submit that in the case of older adults, our WRINKLES are our TRUE LIFE LINES.
They tell the stories of our lives.
They reflect the good times and bad. The mistakes made and lessons learned. Our victories and our defeats. Our successes and our setbacks. Our loves and our losses.
The laugh lines? Worry lines? Frown lines? More than signs of aging, they give our faces character.
They are the evidence that we’ve LIVED. (As, by the way, are all our gray hairs!)
So the next time you look in the mirror, remember that you’re looking at the true reflection of your lifetime of experiences—and CELEBRATE them.
They’re more than a reflection of what you look like. They’re a reflection of WHO YOU ARE.
And you wouldn’t be YOU without them.