I interviewed an expert on ageism for an article recently (still in progress) who reminded me that most of the "problems" of aging were invented by capitalism
Yes, the body & brain change with age. That's a reality. And yet, the _vast majority_ of people are sound of mind and able to live independently until they die. All the other the stuff we are convinced we should "fix" is a product of someone trying to sell us something
The conversation was a lot about women in midlife crisis, and I asked about whether women now are feeling more empowered after 40.
She said:
"The assumption that decline should begin at 40 is misguided, misogynistic, and wrong. And I think women are discovering that maybe it's a backlash. ...obviously this is taking place in this period of horrendous rollback of fundamental women's rights. So perhaps it's also saying, fuck that shit. I'm not going to curl up and dry up."
The gem:
"All these midlife transitions are on your way to giving fewer fucks about what the world thinks of you and the decisions you have made, and making them with greater clarity and strength."
@jilleduffy
My 40s were my best and favorite decade. 50s…pretty great too. 60s brought some challenges, but still pretty good. I’ll let you know about the 70s if we all survive the current clusterfuck.
I definitely have run out of fucks to give.
@PandaChronicle So good to hear that! There is something called the U-shaped happiness curve that shows, on average, people feel happier with their lives after around age 40 https://pmc.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/articles/PMC7529452/
@jilleduffy
My teens and 20s were pretty crap, and the 30s were less than ideal, so glad to have had 3 really good decades, not thrilled to think the next 20-30 years will not be great. Of course I know more & have more accomplishments on the way into old age.
@PandaChronicle I felt like I had been waiting my whole life to be in my 30s. I was not very good at being a kid or a teenager. And indeed my 30s were great. I'm struggling now in the 40s. It's conversations like these that make me optimistic though
@jilleduffy
many things that were eluding me came together in my 40s & 50s.
Courage!