Celebrating my sisters!
One sister is 8 years younger than me, the other is 10 years younger. They’re both amazing moms, fantastic cooks, super smart, and bad ass athletes.
The elder sis was not athletic as a girl (like me), and began finding her stride in her 50s as a gifted swimmer, cyclist, and runner and is now a nationally ranked triathlete. She came in 3rd in the US on Sunday in USA Sprint Triathlon. The younger sister was on the high school track team specializing in hurdles, played rugby in college and is now doing tris, long distance bike rides, and swims. She did a 3 mile open water swim for Swim Across America this weekend.
Patirica is taller than me, long and lean, and Tina is my height with strong legs and shoulders. We stand together in front of a mirror and we don’t think we look alike, but FaceBook thinks I am one sister, and when we recently participated in a cycling event other riders thought the other sister was me until we took off our helmets!
How we feel about how we look, specifically as we age?
My sisters and I don’t talk about looks or even aging much or at all. We’re all very often swept into stuff with our families, training for performance, and other activities that are fulfilling.
We feel great in our 60s and 70s, and plan on continuing to do all of the things we’re doing, and living well for a long, long time.
Aging and looks, (appropriateness in photos?) has been a topic on my Instagram, as I pondered what a woman emailed me saying that she didn’t approve of my swim suit posts,
I won’t lie. I see sagging skin in photos, and sometimes I feel very self conscious…then I go ahead and post the photo because I think I look strong and I’m happy and proud to be 71. Yes I do buy skin products wishfully thinking that maybe something will actually do what it promises. Then I come back to reality!
This is what I wrote on that Instagram post, and I’m so happy that there were very supportive comments:
Someone told me last summer that I shouldn’t post swimsuit photos of myself. She said she’d prefer shots of my clients before and after.
Welp.
1️⃣ I don’t do client photos like that.
2️⃣ I’m trying not to be self conscious about an aging body – an important part of my message for women.
3️⃣ I’m strong, and I like the appearance of muscles, even if the skin is far from “perfect” female ideal.
🌊These are the most beautiful afternoons, we live a half mile from the beach, and I’m just so damn tickled that he likes to take pics of me. It’s good to be loved and I’m going to post these late summer beach photos as long as the weather allows.
This is a great article in The Guardian, Young women are turning their backs on body positivity. It’s time we all stopped obsessing about how we look on feminism and aging. Here’s the last paragraph in that article:
I looked long and hard at that TikTok of the beautiful 28-year-old who felt like it was an act of courage to display her actual face (the one she lives with day in and day out) to the world. I saw a young woman who has lived enough of a life to have evidence of it on her skin, and who has so much more in front of her still. I hope that, like me, she’ll come to see every wrinkle or freckle or extra inch around the waist as a token from the smiles, days in the sun (with sunscreen!) and nourishing food she has enjoyed in life. After all, regardless of which path we choose, we all end up older at the end of it, if we’re lucky. Ageing is a privilege, as they say.
How do you feel about aging? Your appearance? We need to share our wisdom and strength for one another. We’re in this together.
Thank you for being here!
x
Polli
