Inspiration June 16, 2017
It's never too late to live the life you want.
These days growing old, especially for women, comes with a large dose of negative connotations and limitations.
For example:
Interested in changing your career path? Don’t bother, companies rarely hire “older” people for new jobs that younger people can most likely do better.
Thinking about going back to school? Hmmm, really? You’ll be surrounded with a bunch of twenty-year-olds. Do you really want to deal with so much judgment? And also, since you most likely won’t get a job after, what’s the point?
Ever since we can remember, we have been conditioned to think that we must learn, find a job, and work hard while we are “still” young. We must figure out our life and find our place, our niche, our path. And then, we must stay on it. But guess what?
An 82-year-old woman learned how to code in less than a year and just released a new app. On top of that, she was personally introduced by the CEO of Apple during The Apple Worldwide Developers Conference.
And just like that she changed what it means to be an aging woman.
This incredible woman’s name is Masako Wakamiya (aka Ma-Chan) and she represents what every aging woman (and therefore all women) must always remember. We can do anything. At anytime. Nothing can hold us back. Especially AGE.
According to an interview with Buzzfeed, it all started for Ma-Chan after she had retired and found herself caring for her elderly mother. She was feeling pretty isolated and decided it was time for her to do something about it.
So, after three months of persistence, she was online. And yes, at first she didn’t know how to use the internet or a computer. But she learned, and she learned fast.
In fact, Ma-Chan said that learning this new skill gave her wings. “Those wings took me to a wide world I never knew before I used a computer,” she told Buzzfeed.
Now, she is using those wings to help even more seniors fly (into interacting with the technological world).
For example, Ma-Chan noticed that most apps are designed for young people and can be difficult for older generations to understand and navigate. So she created an app called Hinadan that is user friendly for seniors, with big symbols, bright colors, and simple user interface interactions. And she has plans to release more apps in the future.
While Ma-Chan is having the time of her life, she empathizes with people who “don’t think of old age as an enjoyable time.”
At Entity, we recognize aging as a beautiful process that all women should embrace. Just because we get older and gain a few wrinkles, doesn’t mean our lives need to slow down or stop.
It’s important for young women to keep in mind that getting older does NOT mean fewer opportunities, less fun, less living. Aging actually opens up a whole new realm of endless possibilities. To be an aging woman is to be a new version of yourself during the many different stages of life.
If you want to go back to school, or start a new career, DO IT! Even if you have no idea what to start or how to start it, Ma-Chan did it at age 82, and we know you can too.
