Starting New Things After 70: I’m 72 and I Still Want More

I’m 72 years old, and I still want new things.

I don’t just mean new clothes, new glasses, or something pretty for the house. Although, to be perfectly clear, I still want those too.

I mean new experiences. New ideas. New projects. New places to go. New things to learn. New reasons to get excited.

Somewhere along the way, we seem to have decided that once women reach a certain age, we should become satisfied with what we already have.

We’re supposed to settle in.

Be sensible.

Stop changing things.

Apparently, once you cross 70, you’re supposed to be thrilled that everything is exactly the way it has always been.

That has not happened to me.

I Still Want to Look Good

I still care about my hair.

I still like makeup. I still like cute clothes. I still like jewelry and glasses that actually have some personality.

And no, I’m not trying to look 40.

I just want to look good at 72.

There’s a big difference.

I don’t understand why women are sometimes made to feel shallow for caring about their appearance as they get older. Nobody thinks it’s strange when a 35-year-old woman buys a new lipstick or changes her hair.

But apparently after a certain birthday, we’re supposed to become deeply fulfilled by moisturizer and comfortable shoes.

I like comfortable shoes too.

But I can want those and still want a great haircut.

I Still Want Things Just Because I Like Them

One thing I’ve become better at with age is admitting when I simply like something.

I don’t necessarily need a profound reason.

Do I need another pair of glasses?

Probably not.

Could I still find a pair that I absolutely have to have?

Absolutely.

Everything we buy at this age does not have to be practical, orthopedic, medically recommended, or on sale.

Sometimes something is pretty.

Sometimes it makes you smile.

Sometimes that’s enough.

I Still Want to Change My House

I also haven’t reached the point where I look around my house and think, “Well, that’s it. This is how everything shall remain forever.”

I still notice things I want to change.

A room could look better. The bathroom could use something new. There’s always something that could be organized differently, replaced, moved, painted, planted, or improved.

I actually think our surroundings matter more as we get older because we spend so much of our lives in them.

Why wouldn’t I want my home to feel good?

I don’t want it to look like someone has given up on decorating because she passed 70.

I want it comfortable.

I also want it pretty.

I Still Want to Learn New Things

This one surprises me sometimes.

The older I get, the more I realize how much there still is to learn.

Technology changes constantly. Websites change. Social media changes. AI changes practically while you’re having lunch.

Sometimes learning all of it is fascinating.

Sometimes I would like to throw the computer out the window.

But I still want to know how things work.

I don’t like the idea that technology, trends, or anything else automatically belongs to younger people.

You don’t suddenly lose your curiosity because you get older.

At least I haven’t.

I Still Want to Start Things

We hear a lot about slowing down as we age.

There’s nothing wrong with slowing down when you want to.

But slowing down and stopping are not the same thing.

Women Aging itself is something new for me.

I could have decided that at 72 I didn’t need another project.

Instead, I started one.

I wanted a place to talk about what getting older actually feels like from the inside.

Not what women over 60 or 70 supposedly should wear, should do, should think, or should stop doing.

I wanted to talk about what we actually think about.

Hair. Makeup. Clothes. Families. Homes. Pets. Getting older. Laughing at ourselves. Changing our minds. And figuring out what comes next.

Starting something new at 72 doesn’t feel strange to me.

It feels normal.

I Still Want New Beginnings

This one means more to me than the others.

When my two dogs passed away, both at 13 years old, I was heartbroken.

Thirteen years is a long time to have an animal woven into your everyday life.

They’re there when you wake up. They’re there while you’re making coffee. They know your routines. They know which chair you sit in.

And then suddenly they aren’t there.

That kind of quiet is awful.

After losing them, I could have decided that maybe I was done having dogs.

I was in my 70s, after all.

Puppies are work.

They need training. They chew things. They get into things. They run through the house like tiny maniacs for no apparent reason.

So naturally, I got puppies.

Sparky and Chopper.

And they brought all of it.

The energy. The toys. The training. The chaos. The laughing. The constant wondering about what one of them has in his mouth now.

They did not replace the dogs I lost.

You don’t replace a dog you loved for 13 years.

But losing them didn’t mean that part of my life had to be over.

I still wanted dogs.

I still wanted that companionship.

I still wanted the noise and the personalities and somebody following me into a room for absolutely no reason.

Apparently I even wanted puppy chaos again.

And Sparky and Chopper certainly don’t care how old I am.

They just want me to throw the toy again.

I Still Want to Go Places

Wanting new things also means wanting new experiences.

Travel may change as we get older.

I’m not particularly interested in proving anything by climbing a mountain with a backpack.

Quite frankly, even when I was younger that did not sound especially appealing.

But I still want to go places.

A weekend away counts.

A restaurant I haven’t tried counts.

A drive somewhere pretty counts.

A place I’ve never seen before definitely counts.

Adventure doesn’t have to mean doing something dangerous or exhausting.

Sometimes it simply means getting out of your routine.

I Still Want Something to Look Forward To

I think this might be one of the most important things as we get older.

We need things in front of us.

They don’t have to be huge.

A trip.

A new project.

A package arriving on Tuesday.

Getting your hair done.

Going out to dinner.

Redecorating a room.

Seeing somebody you love.

Sometimes anticipation is half the fun.

And I don’t think we ever get too old to need something on the calendar that makes us think, “Oh, I’m looking forward to that.”

I Still Want to Change My Mind

Another wonderful thing about getting older is realizing you are allowed to change your mind.

You can stop liking something you used to love.

You can suddenly like something you once hated.

You can change your hair, your clothes, your routines, your plans, your decorating style, or the people you spend time with.

You are not required to remain exactly the same person just because everyone has gotten used to you that way.

I think we sometimes confuse aging with becoming fixed.

I don’t feel fixed.

I’m still changing.

I Still Want to Have Fun

This should be obvious, but sometimes it feels like it isn’t.

Older women still like to laugh.

We still like to have fun.

We still like to be silly.

We still like things that are completely unnecessary.

Everything does not have to become serious just because we have accumulated more birthdays.

Actually, I think I take some things less seriously now than I used to.

That may be one of the better parts of aging.

And Sometimes I Want Absolutely Nothing

There is another side to all of this.

Sometimes I want absolutely nothing.

I don’t want to go anywhere.

I don’t want to dress up.

I don’t want an exciting experience.

I want to stay home.

That might involve comfortable clothes, dogs nearby, something good on television, and no plans whatsoever.

And I enjoy that more now too.

The difference is that I no longer think I have to choose.

I can want something new one day and want everyone to leave me alone the next.

Both are perfectly acceptable.

Maybe This Is What Aging Really Looks Like

At 72, I know that time matters more than it used to.

That doesn’t make me want less from life.

In some ways, it makes me more aware of what I do want.

I want people I love around me.

I want dogs underfoot.

I want things that make me laugh.

I want to feel good when I look in the mirror.

I want projects that interest me.

I want my home to feel like mine.

I want things to look forward to.

And occasionally I want something completely frivolous that I have no business buying.

I’m 72.

I still want new things.

Maybe that’s one of the biggest surprises about getting older.

You don’t stop wanting things.

You just get much better at knowing which ones are worth wanting.