Time, Beauty and Youth

Hi! Today I would like to get a little bit off my usual didactic blog style and share something a bit more personal.

There is an important person in my life who has always inspired me greatly, who has always guided me through the path of wisdom, and above all who made me discover this amazing world of beauty: my grandmother.

Yesterday we celebrated her 90’s birthday.

My grandmother dedicated her life to the world of beauty.

She has been a hairdresser since she was 20 years old and she is one of the first Japanese people who went to the United States to study make up and practice hairdressing, in the early 50’s.

In 1965 she took over the school of hairdressing her mother had founded and has been working since then as the principle. Besides the teaching and the management of the school and multiple salons in Tokyo, she always kept on working on the field and also created various new designs of Kimono, the Japanese traditional garment. I have always been amazed by her sense of creativity and how a simple texture or material could suddenly be infused with life, in her hands. Material and texture just take some living expressions after she manipulates them, I don’t know how I can express it but it’s just amazing.

She has always worked and created in beauty with such passion, she is truly a source of inspiration to me.

So my grandmother turned 90. Honestly you would never guess her age when you see her. Sometimes people think we are mother and daughter…She just looks SO YOUNG (for her age…)

The fact is, not only is her outward appearance young, but so is her mind. And I guess this is where her secrets lie. Her curiositytowards new things and technologies as well as her will of keeping herself always up to date help keeping her mind young. She’s never afraid of challenging herself into learning new IT skills, she learns and today she actually manipulates internet, smartphone, digital medias effectively. I never heard her saying “oh that’s not for me…” or “I’m too old for that…” She just knows it takes a little time to completely assimilate but that she can do it at the end. The curiosity gives her the thirst for knowledge and the will of being part of the world in which we live everyday.

There is a last but not least thing about my grandmother: she has never gave up on her femininity. Although she’s 90, she always does her hair and wears make-up. But this is not in the attempt to try to look younger, it’s more a part of her etiquette. Even if she goes to the local grocery’s, even when she meets me, her grand daughter, at home, she would always dress nicely. She always pays attention to herself, her beauty.

The world of beauty is her life; she has lived for beauty and she still keeps living through it.

So if you are curious, live your life fully and with passion, and above all, if you always care about your own beauty and never give up on the woman that you are, I think it makes a pretty good recipe of youth; no matter how old you get, you will keep on shining beautifully!!