Valentine’s Day – The Perfect Storm
Happy Valentine’s Day lovelies! If no one has asked you yet, allow me – Will You Be My Valentine? Or, better yet – show yourself some love!
And so, with that said – it’s just too bad that Valentine’s Day is, in addition to a day manufactured for love, the perfect storm of anxiety, guilt, and manipulation.
- Anxiety because you SHOULD…
- Guilt if you don’t…
- Manipulation because if this – then THAT.
How well does this ad represent two-way manipulation? This wasn’t meant to be a rant… (how’m I doin’ so far?) … but who hasn’t thought poorly of themselves because they didn’t (or did) do something that was “EXPECTED? Ok, so I am ranting. But, if there was ever a day perfectly suited to rant about anxiety, guilt, and manipulation – Valentine’s Day is IT.
As a woman, it takes strength to look at this ad and not be angry. But, how can we be angry when this is our culture? We’re all to blame. We can say, “It’s not me!”, but… think again. Who hasn’t done something only because it was expected?
Here’s the Beef
Here’s my real beef: What does our demographic more damage than doing something only because it is expected – is NOT doing something because it’s NOT expected … not safe for women of our age, not appropriate for women over 60, too luxurious for someone on a fixed income, why spend that much time on something that’s only a hobby…
My Mom lived until almost 87. My Dad lived until 89. I am 62, which means (God willing) I have 25 more years. TWENTY-FIVE YEARS. I’m not going to accept our culture’s stereotype of what a “senior citizen” is. Even if I eventually need help and have to live in a community – I’m going to keep growing, learning, and planning for tomorrow. It can be so difficult when the world around us – and even ourselves! – send us the message of “old”, “tired”, “slow”, “pain”. We have to WORK to not absorb these messages as our reality.
Boomer Bootcamp
We need a damn Bootcamp for exercising our safe, appropriate, affordable, brave, worthwhile muscles. We need to snap the hell out of it. Get our heads back on straight.
That’s it. I’m going to create a Bootcamp. Boomer Bootcamp. Reinvention Bootcamp. Expel Expectations Bootcamp! I don’t know – I’ll think of something. Send me ideas and I’ll send you a sneak peek at the outline. I’ll have the outline completed by the end of this month.
What are your plans for the next 25 years?