Keeping the Light On

Recently I was with some friends talking about what to wear to an event when one of them said something that stopped me in my tracks. "It doesn't matter what I wear. I'm invisible anyway." Ughh… I immediately understood what she meant.

You go through life carrying a certain light. People notice you, open doors for you, conversations start. You walk into a room and people see you. Then one day, without warning, you realize people are looking past you to the younger person standing behind you. I get it, but there’s a danger in believing it. Because if you walk around convinced you're invisible, I think that's exactly what you'll experience.

Last week Bob and I went to New York to see Dion in concert. He's 87 years old. Eighty-seven. He looks 30 years younger. At one point he said, "I thought getting old would take longer." The audience laughed, but I couldn’t stop thinking about it. Isn't that exactly how it feels?

How is it possible that we're already halfway through 2026? How is music from the 1980s considered oldies? How are my kids somehow approaching 40? Life starts moving so fast it’s shocking and we’re not ready for it. 

But when I looked at Dion, I didn't see an old man. I saw someone who still had the light. He was funny, grateful, curious, and fully present. His next project is a Broadway musical. He talked about life, love and getting older without sounding bitter.

Maybe that's the secret. Not fighting the passage of time or insisting you're still 30. But fully enjoying the phase you're in. For me, it's a delicious phase, where my kids are grown, my husband of 27 years is sitting next to me, and I finally understand a few things I spent decades trying to figure out. 

The light doesn't come from being young. It comes from being interested, grateful and engaged. It comes from loving your life exactly as it is. That's what Dion still has at 87. My new goal isn’t to stay young, it’s to stay lit.