24/10/2024
When we are young, we want to look older.
And when we are old, we want to look younger.
And there is a window in the middle of it all when we’re supposed to look as we wish.
But we waste that time wishing
we were taller or thinner or curvier,
our hair was longer or shinier, curlier,
parts of our body were firmer and perkier
and we’d started to use anti-wrinkle cream earlier.
And by the time we realise we were perfect just as we were,
the window has closed. It is too late.
Too late to realise that all those things never really mattered in the first place.
But it’s never too late to start letting go.
To stop wanting, stop wishing.
It’s never too late to accept yourself.
To look in the mirror and realise that all along, you never needed to look older or younger or anything else.
You just needed to look like you.
*****
Becky Hemsley 2023
Artist Chez Simons
