I've had body image issues for as long as I can remember. The story is long and complicated, and I refuse to spend the remaining 20 or so years of my life limited by how much space I take up and the way I look.

I subscribe to a thoughtful and helpful weekly newsletter, Dear Diet Culture, written by Katherine Metzelaar of Bravespace Nutrition. This Sunday’s letter seemed to be written just for me.

It seems it's impossible to age in many western cultures (especially in the US), in particular as a woman or femme, without receiving the onslaught of messaging around “preventing aging”.

As it turns out, we can't stop ourselves from aging. Shocking, I know.

But do you think about the aging process as being part of doing body image work? I believe that it can be foundational and transformative to include aging when doing this work.

Aging is something that you cannot control, the same way you can't control your body size. You’re told when it comes to the aging process that you should do everything in your power and strength to resist the process of aging at any cost to your mental and physical well-being no matter your age.

But this is exhausting and damaging.

Aging is a normal natural part of being alive. Aging means experience, wisdom and tenacity. It means you’re more powerful which means you’re threatening the systems that benefit off of you being younger and more vulnerable.

So, with this in mind, doing body image work is not just about coming home to, trusting and accepting your current body, it’s also about learning to interact with, care for and practice your skills as your body changes over time as you age.

We are all guaranteed to age. We are all guaranteed to experience wrinkles, sagging, loose skin, skin spots, and so much more.

But what if you embraced this? What if you were able to see an aging body and face as a beautiful part of life and one that doesn’t take away from your value, ability, intelligence or sexiness? What if you were able to see aging as something to look forward to as your body changes shape over time?