How to Avoid Invisibility at Midlife

Invisible: adjective

1.  not visible; not perceptible by the eye
2. withdrawn from or out of sight; hidden

An interesting description; my question is as a midlifer, baby boomer, do you feel invisible?

I recently came upon a description for a workshop geared for women in midlife and was struck by the statement “As we age as women in this youth-oriented society, we often begin to feel less important, even invisible.”  ( my emphasis on the word invisible)

Yes, we are obsessed with a youth oriented society but is that due to our not being comfortable with aging and doing everything we can to stop the aging process or hide what aging looks like?  Or is this feeling imposed on us by the youth in our society?  Something to ponder.

Gray hair, crows feet around the eyes, lines on the face to me are natural and signify a person’s ability to embrace their aging and wisdom.

Do we make ourselves invisible by hiding behind botox and other means used to “look young”?

Are we making ourselves invisible as we don’t place importance on respecting those who are aging in our society?

As women, do we feel that past a certain age we don’t matter and therefore we make ourselves invisible?

Is this phenomenon only felt by women or do men feel invisible as well?

Invisible…

Sad to think that there are many who feel they are invisible to others.

We have so much to offer; wisdom to share, technology to broadcast our wisdom, lessons to share with others.

Invisible…

Is it due to a lack of self-esteem or not understanding what our role is after children leave home?

Invisible..

But what if we took our lead from the Japanese?  The word for this chapter of life is “konenki” which means renewal years and energy.  Just typing the word I feel alive, almost joyous.

Or learning from the Chinese who see this phase of life as one where a woman finds her voice, speaks her voice.

From Invisible to Visible and Respected…that is how I see my midlife.

How about you?