Beauty does not fade over time. Quite the opposite, time has a way of revealing our innermost beauty because it no longer has to compete with gilded youth. Like the curtains on a stage drawing open, what lies behind the veil suddenly takes center stage. But many of us don't make the shift in perspective necessary to allow this part of ourselves to emerge. In quiet desperation, we will rush toward some intervention that promises to restore our youth (or at least uphold that illusion). How else do you stay relevant and desirable in a culture that worships children? It is a bulwark of our times.

For the woman who feels her beauty has been lost to time, perhaps she should first examine how she defines it? After all, what makes us discontent are those things we cannot see through. Luckily, inner, soulful beauty can be cultivated; we can demand from it, like a daily practice. One way to start is to lessen the intense gaze we place on ourselves and be other focused: identify ways to give, help a friend in need, listen without filter. If you are feeling inconvenienced while doing these things, chances are you are on the right track. As Wallace Stevens writes in his poem “Sunday Morning,” “Death is the mother of beauty.” A death to vanity. To be more focused on other. What can be more beautiful than that.