Listen to the audio version of this post here.

Sometimes you amaze me.

You had a lot to say about the notion of getting older and…weirder. All of it was positive, and much of it was zealous.

I wondered with you about the notion that we become more authentic over time. More comfortable and confident about who we are and what we believe. And much less inclined to hide our true selves, to hold back, to wear a mask.

And you confirmed the hypothesis. Enthusiastically.

Reactions, comments, and reposts

A bit of backstory here.

When I was a talk show host, my boss always told me not to focus too much on getting a response. Over and over, he said, “You do the show for the listeners, not the callers.”

Yes. And, I loved the dialogue that began when the calls came in. I always thought that’s what made for a good program. For me it was all about our conversation, not about my monologue. Me opining at the beginning of the show? That was just to get the ball rolling.

I feel the same way about my weekly interaction with you here. I try to say something worthwhile, of course, but the real value—and the real fun—come from your response, from our dialogue. And I pay more attention than my radio boss would like to the quantity and quality of that response.

The older-and-weirder piece generated way more interaction than most of my efforts.

Comments on my blog. Impressions, reactions, and profile views on LinkedIn. On Facebook, reactions, comments, and shares. And some people just sent me an email to say how much more comfortable they are with their eccentricities as they get older.

The numbers wouldn’t be all that impressive for some big-name blogger. For me? There was significant interaction.

That tells me being-who-I-really-am merits more exploration.

Here’s some of what you had to say …

“One of the best parts of getting older is caring less about fitting in and feeling more comfortable being fully yourself. Maybe ‘weird’ is just authenticity without apology.”

“We gain the freedom to be more of one’s unabashedly unique self as we age.”

“Right on with ‘weird’ but I would probably call it ‘truer’ to myself and my values.”

“I’ve always been eccentric, but I used to hide it.”

“Aging is so much fun!”

“I don’t suffer fools. I was always the ‘good girl’ who went along and got along.”

“I’m a Crazy Cat Lady. The more I embrace it, the more people love that about me.”

“A benefit of getting older is definitely being more comfortable being authentic. Your Fascinate coaching helped boost my confidence in this area by giving me clarity about what’s unique about me – and why it’s fascinating to others.”

“Let your Freak Flag fly!”

It’s encouraging, isn’t it?

You read so much about the downsides of getting older, whether “older” means 49 or 73 or pick-a-number. And to be honest, I’m becoming aware that I’ve talked so much about the downside of getting older.

I’m sick of stenosis, arthritis and all the other osis-and-itis labels. I shudder when I look in the mirror. And I miss the days when one of my careers was in full bloom. It’s been pretty easy to sink into negativity about this phase of life.

And I don’t think I’m alone. In online forums, women’s organizations, and private conversations among friends, similar issues are on the table for a lot of us.

That’s what made last week’s positivity about older-and-weirder so exciting. Maybe it really is possible to turn this trend around!

Here’s where I need your suggestions.

We seem to agree—a lot of us, anyway—that we can be bolder as we get older. We can drop the façade that seemed essential in our younger days and let the world see who we really are. And we get more comfortable with that all the time.

There are still some constraints though. The doubts that plagued our younger selves can reassert themselves every once in a while. Maybe about our work, maybe about our appearance, maybe about the way we play pickleball.

After our exchange about aging, a friend suggested I start speaking about this very issue.

You know I’ve been doing programs about networking, business communication, and professional presence for years now. I’ve loved all that, still do. And there just isn’t the same amount of work for me—who knows why?

Maybe I can create a program about becoming more authentic, comfortable, and confident as we age. Mature? Ripen? Okay, I’m kidding. It’s not “ripen.” But there is still a barrier about that word “age,” don’t you think?

Anyway, here’s my question for you. What goes into a program like that? What do people need to know about the freedom that comes with outgrowing the drive to hide our true selves?

Seems to me I could offer sessions for women’s groups, church groups, maybe even, yes, senior centers about embracing the current version of you. Unabashed about age. Reveling in what makes us unique.

What do you think? Is it a go?