Danuta
A cis woman, age 50
(Un)certainty
Hey, but don’t you worry, everything will be fine
Wrinkles and gray hair on women are so adorable
You still have everything ahead of you: travel, love, career, life
You have to think positively, you have to believe it will be fine
You mustn’t assume dark scenarios, no dark scenarios
You shouldn’t stockpile worry, what will be will be and it’ll come out in the wash
But it will definitely be fine, there’s no other option
Hey, and how do you know all this?
From what world do you come that you know the future—my future?
I know best how I feel now, and how I felt before
I know what thoughts I have about the fact that I’m already closer to there than farther away
It’s true, what will be will be and it’ll come out in the wash
But it doesn’t have to be fine at all. It can be, but it absolutely doesn’t have to
Certainty—that’s precisely something I’m losing step by step as the years pass.
I often encountered such an opinion. Well yes, usually younger people say such words trivializing the fact that at this age I feel how I feel, and in general I don’t like such talk, such superficial, coaching talk, that ‘oh don’t worry, it’ll be fine, look, chin up, you have to think positively’, it works on me like a red flag on a bull. (…) It is not about living by them [dark scenarios], arrange life around them, but to be aware, I don’t know, maybe it comes from people not wanting to confront difficult things, well I somehow prefer to confront and prefer to think that death precisely and this isn’t terrifying to me. Difficult topics aren’t terrifying to me.
About the project in Poland
Art educator Monika Mizielińska facilitated creative workshops where participants explored queer aging through artistic expression. Using materials provided on-site, they created diverse artworks reflecting their visions, hopes, and concerns about the future.
