The Saggiest Wins

At the Denver Zoo, I become amazed with the number of animals who give prestige and power to other animals based on how much skin sags on their bodies.  I’m serious.  In a herd, the animal with the saggiest chin (dewlap) has the most power and prestige. 

And another thing:  Animals regularly make themselves look larger in this zoo.  It’s best to be wrinkly, big, and old.  It’s beautiful, powerful, and important. 

The other day, I notice the thin little wrinkles that have formed around my mouth.  I’m noticing all the sagging on my body and how nothing stays in its place.  I notice my own hands as I type–leathery and sketched with crossing patterns in skin that’s getting old.  I notice that it’s harder and harder to have a waist when you age. 

But, oh, where these hands have been!  Oh, the great conversations I’ve had with this very mouth!  Oh, the places this body has taken me!  I want these marks and sags to signify the beauty and prestige that they should. 

I like the zoo.  I like communities where old means beautiful. I want to foster that cultural shift in my own community. 

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Journal:  How can I see signs of aging as beauty, power, and importance?