Thompson Library Rare Books and Manuscripts Library

Call No. N7433.4.T23 P76 1974

“Half of my life gone, this is the point of reaching maturity, I guess. The other half will be the way to old age and death.”  

“The Process of Aging: A Fragment of an Ongoing Thorough Self-Analysis and Description to be Completed by the End of my Life” is a type-written artist's book by Athena Tacha. This is the first fragment recorded at age 38, but she recounts the aging process beginning as a teenager. It is a close, honest catalogue of the physical changes brought on by aging and her reactions to them, from the time she started trying to prevent aging as a teen using egg yolks to the horror at 38 noticing tendons protruding from her neck and the shock of spotting some white hairs. She draws her reasons for specific signs of aging, such as the long hours of standing on her job causing the veins in her legs to become more visible, and highlights the warning her aunt gave her as a child to stop scowling or she would develop wrinkles. She then speculates the actions she is doing at the time that would then later contribute to further aging. She is objective, stating her descriptions of these changes as matter-of-fact, and only revealing her emotions towards the changes in retrospect (such as the shock at her white hairs). Her attention to detail highlights how women, young and old, are acutely aware of how their physical bodies present.