Old crone? Hell, yeah

“Within the next decade, 78 million baby boomers born between 1946 and 1964 will turn 60 — and more than half of them are women.

No face-lifts, tummy tucks, or Botox are necessary for some local female boomers. These women don’t feel bad about their necks — or their age. They are “crones,” women who are reshaping what it means to grow older by embracing 60 and beyond.

While many may shrink from the term “crone,” which conjures up images of a withered old woman, the concept originated thousands of years ago when women’s life patterns were conceptualized in stages — maiden, mother and crone.

A crone is not an age, nor is it a time, it is a state of mind for these women. What sets a crone apart, however, is her willingness to tell the truth about her life.” - Crones Counsel

I turned 62 in May and I couldn’t be happier about that. I wouldn’t go back to my youth in exchange for all the moisturizers at Macy’s cosmetic counter.

I do feel very lucky in that my life is very fulfilled at this stage. I don’t identify with what I do or how I am perceived by others like I did not all that long ago. Most of that is due to a practice I’ve chosen that takes me inside and shows me, very clearly, who I am, what I need and how to get it. I’d be lying not to give credit where credit is due, so just had to say that.

Some of what got me to this point in life, though, is due to a lot of hard work over the years to understand where I came from, what happened to me, especially during childhood and youth, and how to react differently to situations than I had been for so many painful, anxious years. In short, it’s all been worth it. I intend to enjoy this time, this freedom, this wisdom and this comfort I’ve finally found. I plan to be a huge opportunist in garnishing all there is in this life I’m being given, for a limited but luscious time.

I heard a discussion recently about information related to life extension and the hope that someday the body can live eternally, or at least a few hundred years. I’m so not interested. I understand there are health benefits coming from that type of research, but to spend my precious moments on Earth trying only to extend them is just not for me. Long life is not the goal. Big life is.

I have a dear friend who thinks what I believe and feel is utter nonsense. To him, a human being is little more than chemistry, and any emotions we may have are simply little neurons and peptides colliding to produce an illusion we put labels on like love, peace, joy and happiness. His focus is solely on staying here, not on what he feels while he’s at it.

All that is fine and dandy with me and I don’t judge his take on things. Hey, maybe he’s right; maybe that is all that’s causing these feelings. Either way, I’m enjoying, not trying anymore to figure it all out anymore. Right now, all I know for sure is I feel gratified and from that comes gratitude and there’s nothing quite like that chemical reaction to get my little heart chirping. Illusion or not, I just know I’m a feeling machine and I really love those feelings a lot, no matter where they come from.

So old crone? Hell, yeah, bring it on. “Youth is wasted on the young” said Georgie B. Shaw. Though it doesn’t have to be that way, I’m just glad I made it this far, because I sure did waste a lot of time in the past overlooking what was there all along.