Brooke Shields says she's happier than ever with herself at 59. Here are 3 lessons she's learned about aging well.
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- Brooke Shields, 59, has been in the limelight since she starred in the movie "Pretty Baby" at 11.
- She told Real Simple society is obsessed with youth, but with age comes experience.
- Here life lessons include not being afraid to age, having strong friendships, and loving yourself.
At 59, Brooke Shields doesn't like being called "aged."
"People imprint onto me what they remember from a certain era of my life, and they're attached to that," she told Real Simple.
But the actor and model, whose career started at age 11 when she appeared in the controversial 1978 movie "Pretty Baby," hopes that this will change with the release of her new book, "Brooke Shields Is Not Allowed to Get Old."
Shields said she is embracing aging, which feels "rebellious" because "our society has become so myopically focused on youth."
Brookes doesn't want people to "lose sight of the value that comes with age and experience and time," she said.
Here are three lessons she has learned in her 59 years.
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Friends are important
Shields said that she wouldn't be alive today without her friends.
She sees spending time with friends as self-love. "I leave either knowing a bit more about myself or remembering something I liked about myself through them," she said.
Plus, "it's really important to have friends so it's not all on your partner," she said.
Friendships are important for our physical and mental well-being. Professor Rose Anne Kenny, a gerontologist at Trinity College Dublin and lead researcher on the The Irish Longitudinal Study on Ageing, thinks friendship is just as important as diet and exercise for longevity.
Love yourself
"It's kind of a cliché, but God, you really have to learn early to love yourself," Shields said, adding: "There's just such freedom in finding all the ways you like yourself."
She said part of that is finding a sense of humor about yourself that isn't self-deprecating — which she used to be. But "after 30, 40 years, you start to believe your self-deprecation, and that's dangerous," she said.
Business Insider has previously reported on what it means to love yourself.
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Don't fear aging
Shields wants her daughters, aged 21 and 18, not to be "terrified" of aging because "there's something to be said" about life at 59.
"I feel like more of a new person now than I've ever felt," she said, adding: "I'm a bit more in my own life and skin. I'm sitting with myself more. I don't bore myself." This is because she's no longer focused on age-related milestones, such as having children, she said.
Plus, she said she couldn't have launched her hair care business in her 20s, without the life experience she now has.
"I think a life experience is the biggest gift we can be granted," she said.
BI has previously reported on other people who started businesses in their 50s and older.