5 intentions I have for aging well

Thursday, July 26

I'm turning 30 this year. THREE ZERO. Is it hilarious that I'm writing a post on 'aging well' while still in my 20's? It probably is, but whatever, I can't help it. I have PLANS.
Aging means a lot to me. It's always brought me a great amount of joy. I admire my own children's proclamations that they're going to "stay little forever." They're two people who are living in the moment. Content, enthusiastic, and joyful in their respective stages of childhood. The idea that they would someday live in their own houses, (or sleep in their own beds for that matter lol) or that Isla would marry anyone but her dad, is far from their personal truth right now. I was not this child. I had my entire life planned out. I had a desk that I would become an entire office space in my mind, I would give speeches into fake microphones, and under my bed were hatboxes full of real estate listings of my favorite houses, interior design ideas and pictures of 35 year-old women cut out of my mom's clothing catalogs because I liked their outfits. Really. Sometimes I look back on that kid and wish I could show her what she would do. What her house would look like. What her job would turn into. The car she would drive. Just cut her a break, so she'd be able to feel a little cooler than she did back then. To let her know that it was ok to reach for more age, wisdom, and growth and that it would all turn out better than she hoped. And that getting dressed would be even more fun than whatever was happening in the 1999 Chadwicks catalog.

And now I feel like I don't have to look SO far forward anymore. I know what I want for my life, but I actually feel like I can have it now. Like I DO have it now in a lot of ways. And so it is within this present moment, and in this coming decade of my 30's, that I have some intentions of how I will treat myself and my life so that aging remains just as much fun as it always has been. Which I wrote in collaboration with Biossance, as their company’s clean beauty standards have helped me bring greater intention into my self-care routine for years.

1. Intentionally surround myself with people who are positive, abundant, and life-loving.

This is just one of the infinite reasons that I'm grateful that my children are my children. They were born geniuses. Already knowing that it's all about love. With zero doubts that they are capable, smart and strong. And that running fast is done for no other reason besides having fun and feeling good. They are my teachers, and some of the most life-loving people in my life. Their wonderfulness aside though, the 5 (adult) people we spend the most time with quite literally makes up who we are. And throughout the next decade, and most definitely for the rest of my life, it's my intention to nurture that circle, so that the people I'm spending the most time with are also the ones pushing me, lifting me, inspiring me, and acting as a mirror in which to more clearly see myself.

2. Take time for daily body-centering rituals.

We're not our bodies, but we live here in them. They're how we represent ourselves to the world, how we experience what life has to offer, and part of loving ourselves is loving them. We know all the guidelines. Drink water, exercise, eat a balanced diet, take care of your skin. And it's important to find a way to intuitively make those feel good for you. Maybe you enjoy warm water more than cold, so you get a new thermos that's way cuter than your cold water bottle. Maybe you pick up a book about intuitive eating, and drop all the rules. Maybe you wake up a little earlier so you can listen to music in the shower and take your time soaking in your skin-care products. Whatever feels good. Create rituals. Make as many moments as possible, moments of self care, because of your intention for them to be so.

One of the rituals that brings me a lot of joy is my skincare. This is no secret, as I've run through my nightly routine on my instagram before. I've since had a lot of questions about my morning routine, since it looks a little bit different (definitely lighter and faster.)

Without question, and especially right now since I've spent so much time in the sun this summer, I'm using these two beauties from Biossance (top fave clean beauty brand since forever) every single morning: Squalane + Mineral SPF 45 and Squalane + Phyto-Retinol Serum.

Did you know they came out with a retinol alternative serum?? I got my first preview of the product straight out of a beaker at Biossance’s HQ last year. When the lovely lady executives told our group they were releasing a clean, plant-based retinol, it was basically just 10 girls screaming. I'm relatively new to the retinol scene (about a year and half-ish) and I LOVE what it does to my skin, but since this serum uses plant-derived Bakuchiol (just knew that off the top of my head) you get the same potency without any of the side-effects of a typical retinol (increased sensitivity, can't combine with Vitamin C, and it's recommended you don't use while pregnant or nursing). So all hail a pregnancy-safe retinol!! Could've used one or five bottles over the years.

Biossance's sunscreen is one of my favorite clean beauty sunscreens I've ever found, not even kidding. Literally from the glow it gives you alone. It goes on white, but warms to transparent, is non-oily, and leaves this glow-y SHEEN you guys. I've never been more motivated to SPF daily. Bonus, it's good for the environment/oceans (no oxybenzone or octinoxate and non-nano minerals).

Taking 10 minutes to cleanse and apply serum and SPF to my face every morning is just one of the few quick body-centered rituals that make my mornings feel good, and subsequently my days feel better. NOT TO MENTION THE ANTI-AGING BENEFITS (both physically and emotionally!)

3. Find more ways to have fun every day.

Play with my children. Watch more funny movies. Find new and creative ways to move, exercise, and push my body. Take more vacations. Read every day. Go to Target. Go to the mountains. Take a work break in the park. It doesn't matter what it is really, but if you're consistently cognitive of what does or doesn't feel good, what is or isn't fun ... you're becoming an outside observer of yourself.  And being aware of yourself and mindful of how you feel, is the first step to knowing yourself, strengthening your intuition, and becoming someone who has the ability to rewire your own patterns of negativity, anxiety, and stress. Becoming cognitive of yourself, even hour-by-hour, makes taking action to follow what you know to be good for you that much easier.
So that's my aging-well plan: follow the good. Follow the fun.

4. Do things that scare me.

This includes setting goals that may otherwise be deemed 'unrealistic',  even by myself. I want to age in experience, in bravery, in wisdom gleaned from taking risks, in showing up before I was ready, in being the person who's a little less limited by her human doubts than she was the day before, in aligning with my truth and living it with the integrity, even if it looks differently than you thought it would. I know I keep talking about feeling good. And you would think these two things ('feeling good' & 'doing things that are scary') are counter-balancing, but I've learned that feeling good does not mean living easily, lazily, or indulgently even. Instead they both come down to living intuitively. And dang, if that intuition doesn't make you SHOW UP.

5. Actively give myself grace every day.

This is a lot. Aging into who you're supposed to be is a lot. Chasing your dreams is a lot. I mean jeeze, even having dreams is a lot. A lot of learning, a lot of patience, a lot of trying and trying again, a lot of question asking and answer seeking, and it's SO EASY to see something like your fear or reoccurring bouts of anxiety as a failure. But I will not be the girl who cannot see the good. Who cannot see her successes before she sees her failures. I will seek to see myself more clearly. See the whole, forgive the broken, try everyday and give grace everyday.

And with THAT, and in those ways, it is my intention to age well, age gracefully, age abundantly, age positively, and age youthfully. Fingers crossed.


Thank you to Biossance for partnering on this post, and for encouraging more conscious self-care. 


Anonymous said...

Retinol and Vitamin C can absolutely go together. I say this as an esthetician with over 10 years in the field, trained by a very respected dermatologist. Also retinol increases your sun sensitivity, it should be part of your night routine not your day routine.

the dress journal said...

I love your outfit! Can you share where the pieces are from? 
Also, that's so awesome that you have figured out how to pack so minimally; I've always wished I could
get there.

Love From India.


Anonymous said...

Your daughter looks just like your husband and Everett looks so much like you!

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