.
While you are at it,
think about these lovely women,
who are inspirations to
all women and
are barely even known:
Bridget Riley - 87 year old English painter who had an exhibit at the Museum of Modern Art in Paris ten years ago and has continues to win awards for her artwork. Her work is currently on display at the Nelson Atkins Museum of Art in Kansas City, Missouri.
An amazing woman, Rego worked on her art while raising a family and taking care of her husband with Multiple Sclerosis. She faced discrimination also, but she never let it detour her from her work.
She made this statement:
“When I first went to art school, I think the women there
were picked on whether
they would make good wives for the male artists,
whether they would have
an understanding of the troubled males.
Women were good either for going to bed with
or making good wives – particularly if they came with their own money and
could support the men.”
"Old age is a bastard,
really, but it's only when you see a photograph of yourself that it is the most awful thing.
I don't feel any different to how I did when I was 15.
I would like the time again -
I would just paint."
She worked up until her death.
On not having a family and devoting her life to her art, she commented:
“When I was young,
I was clever enough
to know that
if I got married or had children,
I would be eaten.”
Just because you are working now in a job that you hate or dislike, doesn't mean that you should work at it until you die. It means that you may have to work at it until you are able to retire and then start your next career doing something you love.
The message here is to keep active,
keep working,
keep living – live until you physically die,
don't die
before your dead.
Have you started a second career? Are you over the age of 50 and doing a job you love and never want to leave? Are you staying engaged in life? Please share your stories, others will be encouraged by them – I know I will!
XOXO