At this month’s Writing as Healing workshop, we considered this poem by Jenny Jacobs:
When I Am an Old Woman, I Shall Wear Purple
By Jenny Jacobs
When I am an old woman I shall wear purple
With a red hat which doesn’t go, and doesn’t suit me.
And I shall spend my pension on brandy and summer gloves
And satin sandals, and say we’ve no money for butter.
I shall sit down on the pavement when I’m tired
And gobble up samples in shops and press alarm bells
And run my stick along the public railings
And make up for the sobriety of my youth.
I shall go out in my slippers in the rain
And pick flowers in other people’s gardens
And learn to spit.
You can wear terrible shirts and grow more fat
And eat three pounds of sausages at a go
Or only bread and pickle for a week
And hoard pens and pencils and beermats and things in boxes.
But now we must have clothes that keep us dry
And pay our rent and not swear in the street
And set a good example for the children.
We must have friends to dinner and read the papers.
But maybe I ought to practise a little now?
So people who know me are not too shocked and surprised
When suddenly I am old, and start to wear purple.
We discussed the following question, which you might want to use as a prompt for writing:
How do we find a balance between these two values? (1) being considerate, meeting our obligations, and not leaving others in the lurch because we’re being self-indulgent; versus (2) authenticity, no more need to impress people, and being free to do what makes us happy as long as it isn’t hurting anyone
Writing prompt: With all this in mind, how do you see your life now as opposed to when you were 20 years younger? It might help to take a moment to think about where you were, what you were doing, what was important to you then.
You might also like to use one or more of these quotations as prompts for writing:
“The older I get, the more I like myself. I’m not afraid to say what I think, even if it’s not popular.” – Coco Chanel
“Age is not important unless you’re a cheese.” – Luis Bunuel
“Life shrinks or expands in proportion to one’s courage.” – Anais Nin
“It’s not about being different, it’s about being yourself.” – Ellen DeGeneres
“The only person you are destined to become is the person you decide to be.” – Ralph Waldo Emerson
“Be yourself; everyone else is already taken.” – Oscar Wilde
