BY ARIANA HALVAEI

Lately, I’ve been thinking about aging.

I recently celebrated my 26th birthday. I feel young and playful; full of life, possibilities, energy, and ideas. 

But this past year, I noticed that I’ve been thinking about aging. Not all the time, but enough for me to say to myself: “Damn. I’ve never thought about this before…”

I found myself thinking about my physical beauty, how it won’t last forever, how one day I’ll get wrinkles and gray hair and my body won’t be as firm as it once was. I started thinking about how certain habits could accelerate this process – like drinking, staying out late, not keeping exercise in my daily regimen… etc.

Obviously, I’m not the only one. Girls around my age and even younger are already getting botox and other anti-aging treatments, I also know that girls as young as 13 or 14 are on TikTok dishing out their “anti-aging” skin care routines (literally WHAT).

I recently read an article from Business of Fashion that discussed how Gen Z, despite being known for “body positivity” and “authenticity”, is buying into anti-aging products and procedures more than ever and earlier than ever. The headline read: “Gen Z is Already Worried About Looking Old”. It struck a chord, ‘cause, well, it had essentially brought to life those dark thoughts that I was having for the first time and had only been subsisting in my brain, not yet brought to fruition. 

What makes me laugh about this whole thing?

 I’M ONLY 26. Can I chill?

In a society that continues to put a woman’s value on her youth and beauty, it doesn’t take an Oppenheimer to understand why many women and girls harbor a fear of aging. Mentioning wrinkles, gray hair, or loss of vitality can send shivers down the spine of even the most confident woman.

Women are BOMBARDED with messages that suggest their worth diminishes as they grow older, fostering insecurity and anxiety as we spin around the sun. The age of social media has created a hyper-connected world where comparison is constant and validation is sought.

However, after finding myself both stumped and afraid of what the future may bring to my physical features (and value), I came to the following conclusion: HELL NO. No way am I letting everyone else and some stupid apps tell me how to feel about myself and about my life. I wanted to pivot; to change my mentality and approach, to outsmart the system so-to-speak (that’s the competitive girl in me). 

It was around this point when, a personal hero of mine, goddess Margarita Nazarenko put out a video on YouTube about aging as a high-value woman and how to approach it. Again, I felt like my soul was being spoken to directly. You can watch the video below:

After acknowledging the issues women face around aging and how our value is often tied to it, she then points out something that I really needed to hear: 

Aging is a mf privilege. 

Woah. I felt myself fill with shame. How could I even for one second think of myself as less valuable for aging? I mean, girls, the opposite of aging is dying, lol. We ain’t living in a Benjamin Button fairytale. If you’re not aging, you’re not living. 

So, as I approach my thirties, I want to view aging as something that should be celebrated as a journey of self-discovery, wisdom, and growth. When I think of 16-year-old me, for instance, a whopping decade ago, that girl would be so in-awe of the woman I am now. Not because she would think I’m pretty and young-looking, but because I’m bold, I take risks, I’m a hell of a lot more confident which has enabled me to accomplish goals and dreams I never would have thought possible, I’m funny, I’ve lived through experiences that have made me alllllll the wiser… and 16-year-old me would have thought I was freakin’ Wonder Woman. 

And yet, I’m still only 26. There’s still much learn; there are a zillion more experiences ahead that will make me laugh, cry, get angry, change my mind, get the butterflies, lift me up, then humble me. Honestly, I can’t wait for 36-year-old me and 46-year-old-me to read this and laugh thinking I knew more than I really did, telling my younger self “oh just you wait…”

So, all this to say: girls, I hear you. Facing aging is daunting, but only because we’ve been taught so. While it’s normal to think about it, last time I checked, aging is inevitable. Let’s enjoy the process. It’s not wrong to relish being young and beautiful, in fact, you should celebrate it every day. I know for a fact that a happy woman who values herself and celebrates herself has a confidence that ignites the type of beauty that transcends age.