Loving wrinkles

I have always loved to look at faces of old women and men and tried to guess what their lives might have been like. This is especially true here in Tuscany in the evening, on the piazza, when it is cooler and when people of all ages gather to socialize.  The days in the summer are hot, dry and dusty and the faces of the elders in the village are tanned.  Many express a life of hard work, wisdom and love for their families and land.

It is every Tuscan’s pride to have his or her own vegetable garden and often fruit trees as well.  Berries and Mushrooms are collected in the woods.
The Tuscan cuisine is simple and wholesome.  Vegetables, Salads, a few herbs, pasta, polenta, meat, fish and fresh cheeses are all part of their diet - all as natural and healthy as possible.
Italians, on the whole, are very conscientious in how they cultivate their land.  In the people of the village you can see some of this care for the land etched into their faces.

In Chinese face diagnosis, every line and wrinkle has meaning and can tell the reader what and when something has happened in a person’s life.  Also a young face without lines shows features, the relationship between features and inherited qualities indicating a person’s disposition and character traits.
 
Hands as well can tell a lot about a persons disposition and character.
The lines in our hands indicate events of the past (left hand) and what is to come in the future (right hand).  Lines and wrinkles are the imprint of joy and sorrow, pain, illness, health, concern and the strength and weaknesses of character.

Have you ever asked yourself which wrinkle(s) you love in particular?

I know exactly which ones I love: the little ones under the eyes that show up in a certain smile of people that are serious, upright and correct by nature and it takes a little to make them laugh.  This smile then reveals another side of them: unexpected, mischievous and impish.  I can think of a few people just now that have it and I can’t wait to see their smiling wrinkles again!

Every wrinkle tells a story.  We miss the richness of life and the experiences it has brought by trying to do away with them.

Anyway...that’s what I tell myself when I see my face in the morning!

~Claudia