Musing: "Skin Deep: Appreciating Your Value as You Age"

Catherine Saint Louis wrote an article this week for the New York Times entitled, "Skin Deep: Appreciating Your Value as You Age". It is interesting because she interviewed a couple of "model-turned-psychotherapists" who just wrote a book about about women aging in this modern world. I'll consider here a couple of ideas briefly mentioned and smoothly glossed over in the short space allowed for in the Times.

One of which is the notion that there is something to be considered in the impulse itself to "fight" age: to do battle with nature, to combat the aging process. Just consider for a moment that this is the language of advertisement and that the words we use to describe aging shape the way we experience it. And right now that experience is like war.

Wow, really? I can't think so. In fact I am more inclined each day to see that I become more myself with each passing year, that now, and perhaps this is the benefit of learning certain things sooner in life rather than later, but now when I look in the mirror I see me. This hasn't always been the case, and my experience tells me what the authors of the book "Face It" are trying to say, is that the reason or impulse behind the need to "fight" some part of yourself is what should be addressed: not the lines around your mouth or the creases around your eyes.

Perhaps aging gracefully is about aging peaceably.

Another point the article mentions about the book is that there is no real model for the modern way women in particular age, especially with the accessibility and relative affordability of laser treatments, Botox or plastic surgery and the other means we now have of externally manipulating appearance from stomach staples and face lifts to hair dye and tanning sprays. On this subject I am ambivalent. Perhaps more than anything, I have to acknowledge that as human beings we have an incredible ability to make nectar from poison, so I find I am unable to be disparaging of any means within the realm of well-being if it brings the user greater peace and happiness, health and well-being. As to the longevity of these means who can be certain?

I will take a moment here to also mention the idea that there is the additional factor of a radical diet. Never before has there been such a high percentage of processed food in the average annual caloric intake. Who can yet know what a lifetime of corn syrup and hydrogenated oils, pesticides and herbicides looks like, but what is certain is that there are children growing up on these things from the very beginning and that has never before occurred in the history of humanity. It has not really been possible.

The other day I had a stark realization about this idea when I saw a man pass me in the car and he was eating a hamburger. Not unusual, but it struck me just how incredible it really was. Think about it for a minute as though you were living 150 years ago. What exactly would go into providing you with that hamburger (not to mention the car you're riding in)? Consider the cow: raising it, slaughtering it, grinding the meat, starting a fire, grilling the patty. Then the bun: plowing the land, planting the seed, tending the crop, harvesting it, hulling it, grinding it, removing the germ so it stays a nice bright white on the shelf for years; consider mixing the dough, kneading it, waiting for the yeast to rise, rolling it, cutting out the bun, baking it, cutting it in half. Consider now the lettuce and tomato in a similar way, the condiments, the wrapping paper. Are you overwhelmed yet by just how intensive the process is? A hamburger is a highly processed food. The amount of time and energy needed to produce it should indicate to you that it is something you, in theory, should only be able to afford occasionally. And yet now it happens all the time: humanity flying down the highway at a fast speed eating faster food. Should we not consider that this practice might also influence the aging process, that living life this modern way might speed life up?

If we are to as the article suggests, "appreciate our value as we age", then we are to appreciate our value now, in this present moment. In this case immediate gratification is not out of the natural means of acquisition. I'm sure you have heard about a miraculous and costly supplement called human growth hormones (HGH) that is on sale now and is touted as the supplement for anti-aging and weight management. It is true, HGH is effective, but what is so fascinating and often overlooked is the fact that the human body is the greatest resource for it, and we are capable of producing it immediately. Some time ago I learned from a recording by Deepak Chopra that human growth hormones (HGH) are released in the skin when it is massaged with warm sesame oil. Just rubbing a bit of oil into your skin each day before you bathe will instantly release a shower of HGH washing your body in an invigorating fountain of youth. Whether you spend two minutes or twenty doing this is better than not doing it at all, and moreover it is free HGH: truly miraculous!

Hmmm. So perhaps aging gracefully means aging peaceably and with great freedom?

Musing: Feast or Famine

A tale of two wolves.
One evening an old Cherokee told his grandson about a battle that goes on inside people. He said, "My son, the battle between two wolves is inside us all. One is Evil - It is anger, envy, jealousy, sorrow, regret, greed, arrogance, self-pity, guilt, resentment, inferiority, lies, false pride, superiority, and ego. The other is God - It is joy, peace, love, hope, serenity, humility, kindness, benevolence, empathy, generosity, truth, compassion and faith. The grandson thought about it for a minute and then asked his grandfather: "Which wolf wins?" The old Cherokee simply replied, "The one you feed."

Meditation: What Value Do You Bring to the World?

Let me expand for a minute on my last post. It is a broad topic and there is plenty of room for misunderstanding. What I mean to say is something akin to the idea that there is merit to be found if you look, in anything, anywhere.

I am reminded by a book I read a long time ago by Auschwitz survivor Victor Frankl called, "Man's Search for Meaning". In it he basically describes the means by which he endured truly extraordinary circumstances in a concentration camp that were beyond his control. Central to his idea is the notion that man has the ability to choose freedom, even in the most dire circumstances. That we have inspiration for that freedom in our personal value.

Think on it a minute. Everyone is of value. You are a valuable person. There is some quality about you that is irreplaceable in the world. Whether you are a father, a mother, a sister, a brother, a friend or lover, you are in some way unique to the world. You exist in a way that no one else can for yourself and for those around you. There is something about you that can not be duplicated or imitated, it is yours alone and the world is a better place because of it.

Today's meditation: determine what value you bring to the world and recognize the value of others in your life, even those you resist or with whom you have difficulty communicating. Let this be the place from where you act, the source of your inspiration, the quality that brings freedom into your day-to-day life.