Isabel Allende has just won one million euros with the Planeta Prize, at 84. And what’s curious isn’t the prize, but how little she plans to spend.
“Right now I don’t want material things. My house is simple. I have a car that’s already 15 years old, and I don’t plan to replace it. My phone, my computer—everything is old because I’m going to leave this world very soon”, said the writer. She lives in a small house she bought for herself when she separated, and never thought she would end up sharing. Later, she fell in love with Roger Cukras, and they spent lockdown there together. She doesn’t collect books or clothes: everything has been simplified.
But don’t mistake her for an elderly woman. “I look old, which is different. Old age is when you depend on other people. I’m still independent, very healthy, and very strong. I’m a strong old woman”.
Perhaps aging well isn’t about accumulating more, but about needing less and less to feel whole. 💛