Aging in a Culture That Celebrates Youth

Finding a more expansive relationship with appearance, sexuality, identity, and purpose as we grow older in Newport Coast and Orange County

Aging can be strange because we rarely experience ourselves as simply “getting older.” We wake up as the same person we have always known, carrying decades of memories, relationships, accomplishments, desires, disappointments, humor, and curiosity, while occasionally encountering a reflection, photograph, physical limitation, or interaction that reminds us that other things are changing.

In Newport Coast and throughout Orange County, those changes can occur within a culture that places considerable value on vitality, beauty, fitness, wellness, and maintaining an aspirational life. Caring about how we look or wanting to remain attractive does not make us shallow, but when youth becomes intertwined with desirability, relevance, and worth, growing older can begin to feel like something we are supposed to resist rather than another part of becoming ourselves.

Read More