More than a few years ago, shortly after my 50th birthday, I was at a party and suddenly realized something very distressing: no one was looking at me. Yes, I know that sounds incredibly egoistical and vain, but I’m being honest with you. I’ve been told I’m a pretty attractive woman and I had gotten used to men noticing me when I entered a room. But this night, no one did. And I realized something.
I was beyond babedom.
I didn’t look bad; in fact, I looked pretty damn good. But there were 20-something women in the room who were true knock-outs. You know; how I used to look when I was their age. But I don’t anymore and that was the first night BB smacked me right across the face. It’s not the same for every woman. But I can guarantee that virtually every woman reaches a point in her life – not necessarily at the same age as me – where she realizes she is (or, more accurately feels she is) “past her prime.” Ugh. What an ugly phrase.
I’m not simply talking about appearance; that’s just the one that smacked me in the face first. It’s realizing you can’t run up the stairs quite as fast as you used to, can no longer ski 5 days in a row without feeling like you’re going to die, or admitting that all the squinting in the world won’t help you read that phone number on a business card. That BB moment is different for all of us and is really just a reflection of what we’ve held onto as an internal guidepost.
Now, some of my friends claim that they aren’t – and won’t be – beyond babedom, ever. One very close friend in her 50’s, who shall remain nameless, told me. “Maybe you’re beyond babedom. But I’m not.”
Well, maybe she’s not – but then why did she have at least 5 plastic surgery procedures?
It doesn’t feel great when it happens. But we all get there.
But – and this is a big but – you get over it.
And that’s what this blog is about. Getting over it. Getting past it. Moving on. And loving it.
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