Our Stories Cannot Remain Untold - episode 191
What do you think of this definition of confidence? A place of belief in oneself that is unshakable. This week’s guest, Donna Cravotta, had a lot to say about women over 50 owning who they are and not caring what others think. And that spells confidence. She shares that these women are a bridge, a bridge between how life was and how life's going to be. It’s a special moment in time.
It began after her frustration with the lack of representation for women of a certain age in mainstream media along with her determination to create a platform for them. Donna created, "The Real 50 Over 50 Visibility Project: The Wisdom Revolution,” which aims to uncover and amplify the stories of women over 50 who are changing the world. She is hard at work providing ways for them to connect and collaborate. These untold stories are important for us all.
Creative. Fun. Genuine.
— Donna Cravotta
Again, Observation
Thoughts from Our Stories Cannot Remain Untold
Have you ever felt invisible? You probably have in certain situations or with certain people. It’s not a great feeling, not being seen. You feel yourself shrink a bit, or a lot, and wonder if you will ever be seen again. I think some people likely go through huge periods of time without being visible to someone. Of course that is a heartbreaking situation for anyone.
Donna brings up a valuable point in women reaching the second half of life and feeling less visible than they did in the first half. (This would be in general terms because there are always exceptions, and there are the extreme sides of the ol’ bell curve.) For myself as a woman in the third act of her life, I can attest this is definitely a thing. My perception is that I have become less noticed as I have aged. Now do I want to be noticed? Not particularly. I just happen to notice that I’m not. It’s an observation more than anything.
Catcalls? Not anymore. Do I care? Not really. Again, observation. Thankfully we also live in a time where our awareness of treating women like objects is improving. But is it? Probably yes, and no. I don’t think catcalls are as prevalent as they once were. But who am I kidding? I’m not in the age or stage or life where this would even be a thing. Do I miss it? Not really. Again, observation.
I remember reading a quote by Kathleen Turner something along the lines of having to choose your face or your body when you hit 40. Zsa Zsa Gabor (if you know that name you are around my age) said the same thing. French actress Catherine Deneuve worded it this way, “After a certain age, you can have your face or you can have your ass, it's one or the other.” So that seems to be a thing. I do wish we would embrace the beauty of aging and not feel we have to keep looking like we did in our 30’s because that is so unrealistic. Do we cheat? Sure, and to the degree is up to the individual. (Anti-aging creams anyone?)
I do believe women were created to be beautiful. Obviously, how is in the eye of the beholder and the expresser. We have curves, and are meant to be a kind of art no matter what that might look like for each one of us. And there are so many different ways to express that, thank God. I think we’ve made strides in body image and self-expression with farther still to go. We want to look good. We are God’s art, his masterpiece, the last thing he created. And it was good, very good. Again, observation.
Each woman is a work of art with endless ways to express her beauty.
— RCN
