Age and Looks
On my last birthday, I decided to share my age. As expected, there were lots of varying opinions about it.
I have, for the last couple of years, been worried about the fact that people might perceive me as younger or older than my actual age. It became a source of concern when I moved to Lagos.
I confided in a friend about this insecurity, and he said something very profound. In his exact words, “Who defines what someone in a specific age should look like?” It really got me thinking. Who says that a 23-year-old must look this way or that way? Who defined these ideas or perceptions?
It became obvious that this was a case of me holding onto the words people had said to me in the past. There are no standards whatsoever, there’s no specific way a 20 or 19 or 57-year-old should look. This is not to deny the fact that age does tell a story on our bodies, this is saying that our bodies tell these stories differently for everyone at various stages.
Tiny advice, when someone talks about their age, believe them or not. But don’t go about acting like that’s not their age.
