Hi there! In this, my first blog, I’d like to share a little about myself and how I ended up doing this blog for Experience Life magazine.

I was on the cover of Experience Life twice. The first time was for the Power Aging issue in July/August of 2004. I was 54 at that time. The second cover was for their “Best Of” issue about a year and a half later (December 2005).

For that first cover shoot in 2004, I flew out and met Pilar Gerasimo, Experience Life‘s
editor in chief, at the Minneapolis airport. By the time we got to the
location for the photo shoot I had fallen in love with her and what she
told me about the magazine.

I thought, “Wow, finally a health
magazine with integrity! A magazine willing to do the research and
really test what they were reporting.”

Of course, I was also
delighted that they were acknowledging the whole concept of power
aging, and giving baby boomers some visibility in their pages.

The
boomer generation — my generation — is 76 million strong. That is a
huge audience. And certainly a large percentage of people in our
generation are living lives very different from the previous
generation. We have pioneered the way to new health and vitality, among
other things — embracing natural foods and exercise, seeing the
mind-body connection, and more.

From our teens through our
so-called old age, we boomers have redefined every decade of our lives.
Never accepting the status quo, we have been rebelling, inventing and
reinventing our lifestyles, discovering new and better ways to keep
both our physical and spiritual vitality. We are running marathons,
teaching yoga, going back to school. You name it, we’re doing it!

We’re certainly not letting any idea of age hold us back from doing what we want.

The
experience I’ve had at this time in my own life has been very different
from what society has presented as a model of “normal” aging. The
message most of us have received throughout our lives indicates that
“old” is something negative — something ugly, unpleasant and to be
avoided.

The word “old” is practically synonymous with tired,
sick, bored, cranky, close-minded. But the truth is, “old” just means
you’ve been around more years. Simply that.

Society
illustrates life in a graph with an upward line during our youth,
stopping at a peak and then falling in a sharp downward motion until
death. No wonder people have such a negative viewpoint about being over
30! And with advertising continually selling youth, youth, youth, we
have no indication of what the real possibilities are.

My
experience of aging has been so much better and more rewarding than
what I was led to expect. As I’ve aged, my life has become more
interesting, more exciting and richer in experiences. My life graph
seems to just keep expanding outward to encompass more and more. I have
more knowledge, more curiosity, more health, and more strength and
vitality than ever!

So I think it’s time to redefine what
aging is all about. If we choose, we can make “old” translate as wise,
mature, sexy, vital, energetic and discerning.

I am 58 1/2
years old, and for me, life has never been better. I’ve been working as
a model since I was 49, an age at which most models have long abandoned
their careers.

Ten years ago, about the time I was
“discovered” as a model, I was just closing a career in the fashion and
beauty industry as a makeup artist, working around the world with the
celebrities of the time.

I worked with a lot of famous fashion
models. But it never occurred to me that I could end up modeling
myself. When I was younger, I would have been way too self-conscious to
even consider it.

It may seem strange that I gained
self-confidence and comfort about my appearance as I aged, but that’s
just another one of those positive things about aging no one ever seems
to hear about.

Today, I’m still modeling (you’ve probably seen
me in ads for Oil of Olay and J. Jill catalogs, among other things). I
live in a big, old Dutch Victorian overlooking the Hudson River north
of New York City. I have two grown children living near me in New York
City, and a wonderful, diverse circle of friends.

I have had
many and varied interests throughout my life. However, nothing on this
planet is more compelling to me than my fellow man.

I will
never tire of the many different lifestyles, view points, philosophies,
skills, talents, melodramas and chaos we create and experience on this
planet. Oh, the fun and troubles we make for ourselves! It’s a
never-ending topic of discussion and exploration. And I think a lot of
it will make for great blogging.

I’ve shared some of my viewpoints on aging, health and living well in previous interviews with Experience Life magazine. And now, I’m delighted to have the opportunity to share more of my perspectives through this blog.

If there’s something in particular you’d like me to address, just let me know! (You can post a comment here or email me at cindyjosephis@me.com.) Otherwise, I’ll just keep writing about what I know and love.

Which
brings me to one last point: I’m not a doctor or scientist or
nutritionist or fitness expert. I don’t pretend to have all the answers
or a monopoly on what’s right and true.

I’m just me. But I take
my health and happiness pretty seriously. And I have learned a great
deal from living, studying, experimenting and figuring out what works
– at least for me. That’s why I’m calling this blog “Just Cindy.”

I hope you enjoy it, and I look forward to hearing about your thoughts and experiences, too!