As a young girl, I remember walking home from school as the evenings got dark and I would peer into the bright windows of the houses I passed along the way. I was fascinated and also felt a little lonely and envious for the lives that I saw reflected within. I marveled at the rooms where everything seemed perfect and manicured to such a degree that I felt the occupants could never have any problems in life…

There comes a moment for many women over 60 when exhaustion quietly replaces resistance. After decades of trying to shrink, improve, discipline, fix, tone, disguise, and “anti-age” ourselves, something inside begins to soften. We start asking different questions. Not “How do I look?” but “How do I feel?” Not “How can I fight ageing?” but “What if my body is not…

I never thought that I would look forward to being 60 and yet as my 60th birthday drew closer, I felt an excitement that surprised me and took hold of me. I can’t fully explain it, but it was a sense of fully stepping into the woman that I was becoming…

When I was in my 20s and 30s, I knew exactly what I wanted and where I desired to go. However, as I approached my 40s and 50s, I began to have less clarity until I entered my 60th year where all of a sudden it felt as if a light had been switched on again…

As another year gently folds itself away and a new one begins to shimmer on the horizon, we often feel a familiar stirring – a quiet anticipation, soft but steady, like a hand on the small of our back guiding us forward…

At 65, I have reached elderhood. It constantly surprises me as I honestly don’t truly relate to the concept of being an elder and yet according to the World Health Organization, a person over age 65 is often referred to as elderly. And yet, I don’t feel elderly. If I were to listen to the way…

Autumn falls across my shoulders, wrapping my body up in her golden embrace. The air is cooler, fresher and more demanding of me. The leaves fall from the trees as if they are in love with the earth, nestling once more into her soft and expansive landscape…

As I approached my 60th year, I felt an aliveness that I hadn’t felt for a long time. There was a sense of joy and acknowledgment that I had made it this far. I had survived the storms of my life and here I was on the precipice of a new age, a new becoming…

For many years I lived miles away from my body. The truth was that I really didn’t like her (or me) very much. She never looked as I wanted her to look and seemed to have episodes when she behaved very badly; for example, when she refused to lose the weight I demanded…

Back in my 20s, I was one of the first generation plus-size models in the UK. I loved it. It felt liberating as a curvier woman to wear beautiful clothes and try on different styles. I modelled for fashion magazines, clothing companies and had fun sashaying…