Condition of the Soul

Driving along the highway, I passed a rather obnoxious billboard that read “Do you want to look sexy at 30, 40, and 50, and 60?”  Don’t remember which product was advertised, but right away I indignantly dismissed the message as a cheap piece of ridiculous objectification.  Whenever I speak to a mixed crowd, I want to look calm and composed, confident, enthusiastic, maybe inspiring, but definitely not like a plaything.  I don’t want to see googly eyes, flushed cheeks, appreciating glances – NO!  First, it is distracting and I might forget what I was about to say (happened at least once), second, I’d like my audience to remember what I said and be able to apply it on the job or in life.   

But then, what if I am the audience? What if say, my favorite author were alive and I got to hear him speak?  There is a special adoring look that a woman bestows on a man she admires, that brightens her eyes and smoothes her features.  It had nothing to do with diet or skin care products, but rather with the condition of the soul, the sense of wonder, the ability to see the stars.  I think I’d like to stay that way long past sixty.