One of the other ways we see this obsession with being forever young is people’s refusal to deal with death. For many it is the taboo topic. They don’t even want to think about their own mortality.
It’s reflected in the way people try and skirt around the topic of death, by using expressions like ‘passed over,’ or ‘lost their loved one,’ etc. Once when I mentioned ‘a friend who died’ the person I was talking to, looked at me in horror as though I had said something wrong. Mick and I both tend to ‘call a spade a spade.’
But most people would rather try and gloss over death with ornate caskets of rich wood smothered with flowers. Some people, often men, refuse to make a will because they don’t want to deal with the situation. That can leave the wife in a precarious position, as happened to a friend of my mother, because the estate went into trust for their young son rather than to her.
It’s this refusal to think about growing older that leads to huge amounts of money spent on cosmetic surgery, diet formulas, gym memberships and even make up. Southern Cross magazine once said, ‘on any given day, the average Australian woman draws from a collection of $100 to $400 worth of cosmetic products to look after and make up her face.’ All I can say is someone else must have my share and more!
Or what about this one? ‘One of the three women interviewed by the Herald Sun for a “face-off” of beauty products and their costs admitted the total contents of her make-up drawer are worth over $5000.’ To me that’s ridiculous!
Now, don’t get me wrong, I’m not against make up. I wear it – just not near as much as I did when younger. But I still like to look attractive -for my husband as well as my own well being.
However, I don’t go to the extent of a woman I knew some years back. She didn’t take her make up off till after her husband went to sleep and always was made up again before he woke next morning. It’s very much the Hollywood version where everyone wakes up looking glamorous and with their make up and hair all in place. Mick likes to see me with makeup on but he’s just as happy when I’m not wearing any.
I’ve long gone past the need to feel my hair needs to be anything other than its natural color which, these days, is silver grey. And okay, so the face has some wrinkles. I’d be surprised if it didn’t. But what’s the point of trying to look like a young person in an older person’s body? Would you agree?
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Forever Young