Not Defined By Age – Angelika, XO

It’s Sunday and time for our fifth installment of ‘Share Your Story; the Women the WSJ Missed!‘ This week I share Angelika Buettner with the Kuel Life Community.

I ‘virtually’ met Angelika through her Instagram account where I fell head over heels in love with her I AM project. Her passion and talent capture the pure essence of women in midlife. If you aren’t following her I AM Instagram, you are doing yourself a disservice.

Angelika shared her ‘number’ age with me but requested I omit it. In her words,

“The concept in my book is, not to give any numbers to the reader for all the ladies featured, as those numbers do not mean anything. Age is not who I am, neither does it define me….. I’d love to stay truthful to my concept and mission and not to be defined by age.”

This is her story:

KUELLIFE: What are you pursuing now, at this stage of your life, that surprises you or might appear to others as if it’s come out of left field?

ANGELIKA: Besides my career as a professional photographer, I AM pursuing to finish my book concept I AM. I have been working on it for several years. I started if in Paris before I moved to the US. We are about to finalize the design and publish it to get it out to the world. In short, the message is: My quest to empower women and portray authentic ageless beauty. A series of 121 Nude portraits and testimonials revealing the inner and outer beauty of women over the age of 40. 

In my professional career I am choosing to do more branding, consulting, and portraits; by being truthful to my beauty and fashion background and I ‘d love to discover more “mature“ women and see them published in advertising and magazines.

KUELLIFE: What’s a typical day like for you?

ANGELIKA: I wake up pretty early; 6 hours seem to b e enough at this stage of my life. I do a short meditation every day, some stretching, and yoga. I go to early morning yoga classes n my town. I walk the dog. Sometimes I go for a run, and if I’m not on set, I spend most of the day in front of my Mac; working on texts; emails; concepts; doing productions; organizing; and feeding social media. I am very much into healthy eating and cooking, organic most of it. During the summer I jump into the pool at the end of the day and swim 1 km (I am German born with a European soul).

KUELLIFE: With what do you struggle?

ANGELIKA: Lies, people who are not honest and tell you BS.

KUELLIFE: How do you motivate yourself and stay motivated?

ANGELIKA: I AM motivated. Always have been passionate about life; challenges; my job; spirituality; and trying out new things. I fuel myself with the unknown. I am never bored.

KUELLIFE: What advice would you give fellow women about aging?

ANGELIKA: Do not talk about aging all the time, it is not a disease. My spirit stays young; if I feel young. The emotions and thoughts influence what we are.

KUELLIFE: What does vulnerability mean to you? What has the ability to make you vulnerable?

ANGELIKA: Vulnerability is important to me, we have to be and stay vulnerable if we want to be open for life and its possibilities, challenges, and changes. It’s a part of the truth and our authentic way of being. Don’t close doors! It has a lot to do with how we deal with our most profound fears. I am an Empath. My own vulnerability allows me to look beyond things and dive deep.

KUELLIFE: What are three events that helped to shape your life?

ANGELIKA: 1. My intuitive decision to become a photographer 2. The birth of my kids: Lana and Jeremy 3. Marrying my husband and leading the unconventional life of an artist.

KUELLIFE: Who influenced you the most in life and why?

ANGELIKA: I AM self made, following my soul’s intuitions by sucking up inspirations from around the world.

KUELLIFE: What is the best advice you’ve been given from another woman?

ANGELIKA: Be true to yourself in all areas of your life.

KUELLIFE: What woman inspires you and why?

ANGELIKA: There are too many; for many different reasons. Women are on the rise and the world needs more courageous women SPEAKING OUT loud, actually IT’S HAPPENING NOW.

KUELLIFE: Are you grown-up?

ANGELIKA: I wish I will never completely be !!! Keep space for the magic! And the child’s eyes!

KUELLIFE: What do you do for self-care?

ANGELIKA: Meditation; yoga; personal development; reading; listening; nature; gardening; staying curious for life and new challenges; daring to do things differently than before; and living fearlessly.

KUELLIFE: And last but definitely NOT least: What are the top three things on your bucket list?

ANGELIKA: Travel more. Enjoy more. Create more.

P.S. I am a NO age person and do not like to be identified by age and believe nobody should. My book project “ I AM “ featuring women over the age  of 40 (but this only stands as a place holder for the  middle age woman who steps into the second big phase of her life ) portrays 121 ageless and authentic women. This avoids all judgement attempts by saying: Ohhhh, she look old for her age, aaaaaahhhh she looks young for her age. What does that mean to you? Our eternal spirit does not age. Our society judges people according to our nominal age, I think we have an obsession with this age number. Very often generations do not mix, because of the age barrier, how sad is this!