The aging process: Barbara Schöneberger with the unadorned truth

Barbara on the subject of "getting older", which nobody can avoid. Not even with money.

My makeup artist looked at me a few years ago while I was soaking my Spanx pants and asked, "When would you say did your body start to change?" I actually wanted to cry, but then I had to laugh because you have a picture of yourself that was taken shortly after graduating from high school – and this inner reluctance to compare it with reality. Although you can clearly see the change – or let's calmly say deterioration.

Take your time to accept the new look

I think it's going downhill in stages. You stay conserved at a certain level for a long time. And suddenly you age abruptly, and that status lasts for a few years again. As if the body wanted to give you the chance to calmly accept the new look. And when you've just made peace with the new look, things keep going downhill. Funnily enough, the appearance of my thighs doesn't correlate with my well-being. I feel better in my body today than I did when I was 20. New are thoughts like: "Hopefully the light in the restaurant will be a little darker" or "Should I pull my jeans over my bathing suit when I walk from the couch to the kiosk?" . I find it comforting that nobody can get away with the subject of "getting older". Not with money or any other way. You can have an operation, but you never look younger afterwards, just different.

BARBARA November 2019