Let's face it. Aging in our culture is incredibly challenging, which is why most of us have ignored it or pretended it was not going to happen to us. Although both men and women are affected, women bear the biggest brunt of our culture's disempowered and disrespectful view of aging. Older men are seen as distinguished while women do not have the same currency as they age. Women often find themselves on a treadmill, trying to outrun biology so they can halt their perceived loss of power. This cultural paradigm also affects younger women who live under the tyranny of objectification--believing that their worth and value lie only in their youth and their looks. It's a cultural disease. We are stuck in a society that worships eternal youth. Beauty and youth are wonderful, but they are only a part of life, and when that part of life wanes, we must transition to something deeper and more meaningful or wither. As women, we have become co-conspirators in our own oppression (and depression) by accepting these views, by perpetuating them through our disempowered conversations with each other, by contorting ourselves to be who we are not, and by judging ourselves in the mirror. This is a subtle yet deeply rooted way to keep us from knowing and exercising our power. It keeps us small and quiet when, really, we are a force. Let's reject the cultural default. Our birthright is far better. Fifty is the threshold crossing into our most radiant and authentic self. It's the era of our inner Queen. Let's initiate ourselves so that we can step powerfully into our 50s. That's why I created The Art of Turning 50. I'm on a mission to give us all permission to reject the cultural default and to live freely and authentic. Everyone benefits (like your children, your friends, our co-workers, our exes, the animal kingdom, even the world) when we stop living in the past and embrace our inner Queen--when we own our wisdom, and when we accept and love ourselves as we are. Then any improvements or fixes or enhancements can come from our core of self love and self acceptance. Let's create a world where we respect our own aging as the emergence of our authentic selves, where young women and little girls are related to their worth from the inside out and look forward to the widsom, radiance, and privileges of aging. Let us become that woman. For ourselves. For others. For the planet. The Art of Turning 50 is a beautifully designed guidebook -- part workbook, part journal -- that guides you through expressing yourself, processing your life path up to now, and creating a new future. The end result is to create your own Rite of Passage event and initiate yourself into your new vision. Use the guide at your own pace--you can work through the guide as fast or as slowly as you want, or as many times as you'd like. It will provide you with a rich and profound experience as you (or someone you love) crosses the threshold into her 50s. --By Kenlyn Kolleen