* Keynote Speaker Tracey Spicer with Faith Agugu, Jane Brown and Amanda Tanner
I’m often asked what advice I would give to women struggling with ageing.
Being at the helm of Silver Sirens since 2018 I’ve learned a lot from my clients, women in the Silver Sirens community and the speakers at our annual Redefining Ageing events.
Over the past 5 years, I’ve also had the privilege of reading and reviewing countless books, including Unbecoming by Joanne Fedler, The Art of Full Time Living by Natalie Yan-Chatonsky, Your Next Chapter by Angela Rapass, and Engaging with Ageing by Anne Ring.
I've had the pleasure of participating in many profound and illuminating conversations on SBS's Insight Growing Older, Loving Life, being featured on Arianna Huffington's Thrive website, and being interviewed by Sandra Sully for her podcast, Short Black.
I've also spent thousands of hours researching the topic of ageing for the Silver Sirens Virtual Sanctuary, all of which have broadened my perspective on the subject.
From all of this, I’ve distilled my advice into 5 simple points.
Assess what aspects of the ageing process you can control. Start prioritising your well-being, including physical and mental health. Research shows that those who have a positive view of ageing tend to age better as they are also more likely to take care of their mental and physical health.
Stay Curious and open to constantly learning from the people around you of all ages and be intentional about creating multi-generational social events.
Explore your need to be relevant. While staying up to date with technology and certain trends is essential and a good thing, be comfortable stepping aside to allow younger women to have the spotlight. Remembering that in this youth-obsessed world, we’ve had our turn.
Explore your internal dialogue around invisibility - who are you looking to for acceptance and validation?
Challenge your own ageist attitude by ensuring that you are not policing how other women age.
OUR 2021 THEME: COMING OF AGE
In an era of radical change, when women are stepping out of the shadows to speak up, be heard and tackle issues like race, violence, harassment, gender inequality, and homelessness; rethinking the status quo will be at the forefront of the day, from the speakers to the themes we are going to be tackling. The women of the world are ready.
For one powerful day, our Silver Sirens leaders explored the pillars of enhanced living through the lens of the following topics:
● AGEING ACROSS CULTURE
What if the limited, constrictive confines of our own western cultural perspective are an illusion? Speakers included: Rosemary Kariuki Australian Local Hero 2021.
● AGEING IN THE WORKPLACE Are you being overlooked for certain jobs? Are your opinions no longer sought? We heard how other women managed and triumphed over these scenarios.
● AGEING IN THE PUBLIC EYE
What is it like to live out this most personal - and sometimes excruciating - emotional and physical reckoning under the klieg lights of public media attention and judgment? What if you are only getting better with age, but your professional core identity and demographic appeal are associated with youth? Speakers included Tracey Spicer and Tara Moss.
OUR ELDERS ARE TREASURES
An old African proverb maintains that “When an Elder dies, a library burns to the ground.”
Usually, it’s not until we’re older that we appreciate the wisdom of those who have come before.