{"id":10045,"date":"2024-12-11T01:53:07","date_gmt":"2024-12-11T01:53:07","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/sites.rutgers.edu\/books-we-read\/?p=10045"},"modified":"2024-12-11T14:27:05","modified_gmt":"2024-12-11T14:27:05","slug":"thoughts-on-aging","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/sites.rutgers.edu\/books-we-read\/thoughts-on-aging\/","title":{"rendered":"Thoughts on Aging"},"content":{"rendered":"

Aging is a fact of life, involving some not so great side effects such as wrinkles, sagging skin and loss of flexibility and muscle tone. Luckily there are positive factors that come along with getting older too \u2013 wisdom, grace, confidence, attitude and joy to name a few.\"\"<\/p>\n

For folks very much in the public eye these factors are amplified, scrutinized and criticized. In her latest book (Brooke Shields is not Allowed to Get Old<\/a><\/em>), actress, model and author (On Your Own,<\/a><\/em> There Was a Little Girl<\/a> <\/em>and Down Came the Rain<\/a><\/em>) Brooke Shields calls on her personal experiences with the aging process, giving a woman\u2019s perspective and that of someone whose whole life has been on display. With honesty and candor, Shields provides a perspective that is refreshing, revealing and surprisingly relatable.<\/p>\n

\"\"Using examples from her own life, she shares stories of surgeries gone awry (which ended up strengthening her ability to self-advocate) her role of mom changing as she relays very real feelings seeing her daughters go off to college and shifting her focus to what she feels comfortable with rather than what she assumes will please others. It is a reality check for all of us, as she poses questions like, \u201cWhy are we forever criticizing ourselves and our bodies while seeking ridiculous perfection? Why do we never see how unique and special we are? And why, when we finally take the pressure off or count our blessings or just enjoy who we are, is it practically too late? Bravo, Ms. Shields, I totally agree!<\/p>\n

Since I am a similar age, this book hit home hard for me, as I am experiencing children going off to college, caring for aging parents and trying to come to grips with the aging process. Looking in the mirror sometimes is not as pleasant as it used to be! But reading Shields\u2019s story was therapeutic, making me realize I am not alone.\u00a0 I wanted to keep shouting, \u201cYes!!!\u201d when reading her reflections on aging and making choices. One that particularly resonated was, \u201cone of the joys of getting older, as far as I can tell, is the ability to say \u201cno\u201d to the things you don\u2019t want to do.\u201d<\/p>\n

And I find as I age, I actually seek out reading material that aligns with my maturity more and more often. I really enjoy reading memoirs<\/a> and seeing how the issues I face relate to those of others, as well as getting a different perspective, which can be inspiring and enlightening. Instead of the romance and fantasy books I favored in my youth, I prefer non-fiction<\/a> these days, particularly books about science<\/a>, climate<\/a> and nature<\/a>. I love reading<\/a> and writing<\/a> about culinary history<\/a>. Brooke Shields is not Allowed to Get Old<\/a><\/em>\u00a0combines a multitude of these and other genres such as memoir, self-help, health and wellness, parenting, humor, psychology and even science, hitting many of my preferred literary hot buttons!<\/p>\n

For more books on aging available at Rutgers Libraries, try:<\/p>\n