How Old Are You?
What needless agonies and fears
await us in our bathroom mirrors—
well-lit with no protective shade
to hide the tracks that time has made.
Put vanity upon a shelf.
Mere mirrors cannot reveal one’s self.
Wrappings simply serve to hide
the real gift that is hidden inside.
That old woman in the glass
is the result of years of sass
and fun and creativity.
She’s not defined by what you see.
Age need not carry fear or menace.
for all our ages remain within us.
Calendars only go so far
in telling us what age we are.
All photos on this blog, unless labelled otherwise, are by me. The prompt today is age.
lifelessons - a blog by Judy Dykstra-Brown 
“for all our ages remain within us”. What a beautiful poem!
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NYC
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Judy, I’ll tell you when age ceased to mean anything other than a gift to me. The day my younger brother died of a heart attack at 33. Now on every birthday I count the years I got that he did not have and I hope that I live those years for him. I’ll be 61 this month and proud of it. Thanks for the poem. 🙂
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That’s how I feel, also. My husband, father and grandfather all died at the age I am now. Once I suvive beyond this year, I, too, will count each year as a gift.
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I wish we could get this message through to young women putting hours a day into always being camera ready.
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Judy…you rock! I’m so glad I met you and figured out how to follow these posts! Hope to see you again soon in La Manzanilla!
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Hi Lori. I’m glad you did, too. I’ll be there on Jan 8.
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Thanks for the power read.
I’m not very well educated but I think you might be saying mirrors can be full of crap. Inside us is where it’s at.
You probably thought I died I’ve been messing around with a novel all through November. I just finished putting it on my blog site. Do you think they’ll make me take it down for being too long?
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Nope.. I’m working on a novel as well. Biiiig job.
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I think your writing reflects that you are very well educated–by life if not by university, Leland.
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Yes, Judy! Absolutely so!
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I really like the idea of not being defined by what you see. This should apply to not only aging faces but to all faces.
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LOVE the poem, Judy. A mentor of mine told me something long ago that I love to spread around, “Our eyes age along with us – the gift of fuzzy focus to remind us that we are ALL beautiful in His eyes. Glasses and bright lights are man’s contributions.”
Merry Christmas and Happy Holidays everyone.
xx,
mgh
(Madelyn Griffith-Haynie – ADDandSoMuchMORE dot com)
ADD/EFD Coach Training Field founder; ADD Coaching co-founder
“It takes a village to transform a world!
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I love this line, “for all our ages remain within us.” because that’s how I see myself, at different ages depending on what’s happening or what I am doing. Most of the time, I feel I’m only eight years old. Beautiful poem and something for me to keep in mind. May joy and peace meet you this weekend. Blessings.
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Spoken with heart!! My mother, who died at the age of 91, said she never felt older than 16.
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