Inner vs Outer

It‘s funny how one’s inner and outer image don’t always align. I’m sure many of my 60+ friends (in age, not quantity) agree, we are still teenagers at heart. My inner image is one of long thick hair,  hip huggers and t-shirts, my outer image is of lightening skin and age spots–but still wearing hip huggers (“low risers”) and t-shirts. Growing up, being 60 meant certain rules of behavior and dress; I had never seen a sixty-year-old in jeans (we called ’em “denims” or even the more quaint “blue jeans”).   I did see many older women in house dresses, worn over a bra, or not. It was today’s equivalent of lounging clothes. It was NOT a nightgown, that was for sleeping. You put it on when you got home from work. Now, you can jazz it up with pearls and wear it for running errands. In fact, there are so many items you can wear for dashing about doing chores now. You can wear your exercise leggings with a nice top and fancy cardigan and go out for dinner.

 

My inner self still likes to go to concerts, although my outer self tends towards smaller venues with comfortable seats, drinks and food, and a bathroom nearby. My inner -and outer- self likes to dance at shows. Recently I got to do that at a Stevie Wonder concert at Barclay Center in Brooklyn (where all my other requirements were met). My outer self reminds me that I will be tired and achy the next day.

It is fun to see the barriers regarding age coming down. It can cause a plethora of choices, which may or may not be overwhelming and unsettling, but it also causes us to reexamine our lives, if we dare, and decide who we want to be, or who we are becoming. Like writing this blog, for example, as a way of connecting with like-minded or curious souls. It wasn’t possible before the internet. How will this affect those who don’t know any other way? How will it affect the Millennials, who’ve always seen their moms in jeans, boots and leather jackets, who’ve always known computers? My 85 year old mother-in-law, bless her, has taken what she can of the technology surrounding her, commenting on Facebook. And she looks great in white jeans.

But I don’t think I’m ready for this look yet. I do have 18 years to go, so who knows?