Drop the Act, It's Exhausting! by Beth Thomas Cohen

Author:Beth Thomas Cohen [Cohen, Beth Thomas]
Language: eng
Format: epub
Publisher: Taylor Trade Publishing
Published: 2015-01-15T00:00:00+00:00

Mitigating the Fear

In therapy there is a type of treatment for anxiety, PTSD, and related disorders called exposure therapy, in which people, provided a safe environment, face and control their fear by being exposed to what scares them. While I am in no way comparing the negative emotional effects aging has on women to PTSD or any other psychological issue (although I would believe it if someone with credentials said it), there is something to learn from facing the music. Knowing what is going to happen helps us mentally prepare and visualize how we can handle it, whether it is by calling in some reinforcements, or letting go gracefully. So, let’s rip this bitch off like a Band-Aid, shall we?

You’re 30: You know stuff now. Your 20s were for “ducking up,” as my auto-correct would say, and learning from those mistakes. (For instance, never again will I convince myself that sleep is for sissies and go straight from a party to the airport. You will not “sleep on the plane”; you’ll vomit in the security line. Go to bed.)

—Olivia Wilde

According to The Merck Manual, a change in vision is often the first undeniable sign of aging. Been there, done that. And it’s all downhill from here. . . .

Generally, when people are in their fifties, the ability to taste and smell begins to slowly diminish. (Try as I may to imagine this might be helpful with my propensity for wine, optimism fails me. As people age, taste buds on the tongue decrease in sensitivity, affecting our ability to taste sweet and salt while keeping our buds sharp for anything bitter and sour. (Mystery to the plethora of sour balls in nursing homes solved!)

As people age, the gums recede. Let me tell you, I just had to talk a friend of mine off the ledge after she returned home from the dentist for her biannual cleaning. Just one week after her forty-second birthday, her doc said she had receding gums, which exposes her teeth to food particles and bacteria. He gave her a test called a “gross debridement,” which really knocked the wind out of her. I mean, the name alone . . . She discovered her tooth enamel was wearing away, and was asked whether her yellowish teeth ever bothered her enough to consider whitening. An hour and $250 later, my friend was Steve Harvey’s twin. By the way, whitening one’s teeth (not that I’m opposed to it, because my friend’s teeth look amazeballs) wears away at tooth enamel. Do you see where I’m going with this?

With aging, the nose tends to lengthen and enlarge, and the tip tends to droop. I included this one because I have no idea what to make of it, but I do wonder if it has anything to do with the loss of smell (hmmm), or is it simply something else to prove that nothing is immune to aging? You had me at droop. . . .

Thick hairs may grow in the nose and on the upper lip and chin.

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