A funny thing happened to comedy star Mary Walsh as she got older 鈥� instead of slipping into the sad and gloomy decline society had warned her about, she found herself getting happier.
At first she thought it was just her, but then she researched it and realized science has shown it鈥檚 a common feeling that comes with age, 鈥漬o matter what your physical ailments or your money situation.鈥�
鈥淣ow, if you have been miserably unhappy, you鈥檙e not going to shine with the light of 10,000 suns, but you鈥檙e going to be happier than you were when you were 46 when you鈥檙e 66,鈥� says the St. John鈥檚 satirist, who recently gave a TEDx Talk in Toronto about old-age happiness.
鈥淚 remember reading years and years ago that life was full of 1,000 tendernesses and thinking, 鈥極h yeah.鈥� But then it hit me: that is true. As I get older and more wrinkly, I can鈥檛 see myself really because my eyes are gone, and so when I look in the mirror, I look quite good,鈥� the 66-year-old continues with a laugh.
鈥淚t鈥檚 the world being tender with you. You鈥檙e losing everything that you have, everything that you鈥檝e depended on, everything that you鈥檝e known 鈥� and to make up for that, you鈥檙e happier.鈥�
Indeed, Walsh appears to be living her best life these days.
The creator of the CBC comedy 鈥淭his Hour Has 22 Minutes鈥� was announced Thursday as the recipient of the Earle Grey Award at this year鈥檚 Canadian Screen Awards, set for March 31.
The award is for her body of work, which has also included starring in the 1980s-鈥�90s 鈥滳ODCO鈥� sketch comedy series, and writing, producing and starring in the mid-2000s sitcom 鈥淗atching, Matching and Dispatching.鈥�
鈥淚 keep trying to be very calm about it and go, 鈥榊es, I鈥檓 very good,鈥� but actually inside I鈥檓 leaping up and down and bubbling,鈥� Walsh says. 鈥淚t is, of course, a great honour.鈥�
It鈥檚 one of many things Walsh has on the go.
She鈥檚 currently starring in the CBC series 鈥淟ittle Dog,鈥� preparing for another appearance on 鈥�22 Minutes鈥� and planning a cross-Canada trip with 鈥�22 Minutes鈥� cast member Cathy Jones to record online sketches featuring their 鈥渙ld-lady characters.鈥�
Walsh is also doing a short documentary with the National Film Board of Canada on how 鈥渨omen get more radical as they age.鈥�
鈥淎gain with the 1,000 tendernesses theme that I seem to be playing, we find ourselves sexually invisible at some point. We find that we鈥檙e not the object of anyone鈥檚 desire anymore, we fall out of that place,鈥� Walsh says in discussing the doc.
鈥淏ut the big payoff for that is we suddenly become the subject of our own lives for the first time鈥�. It is a great revelation, to get older and to just feel that freedom of being the subject of your own life as opposed to longing to be the object of someone else鈥檚 desire.鈥�
Walsh is also writing a feature film screenplay about Newfoundland and Labrador鈥檚 1966 Come Home Year civic event, in which those who hailed from the province were encouraged to return. The story features a 13-year-old girl who is sent back 鈥渢o the people who didn鈥檛 want her in the first place,鈥� Walsh says.
The film is taking longer to write than Walsh expected.
鈥淚 find that all mountains are steep now and that all steps are more slow,鈥� she says.
But she doesn鈥檛 lose heart over such matters anymore.
鈥淚 think, 鈥楴o, I鈥檒l just keep going. I鈥檒l get a chance at it again. I鈥檒l sit down at it again and I鈥檒l keep going,鈥欌�� says Walsh, who is also a mental-health advocate.
鈥淲hereas before I would just go, 鈥極h, well, obviously then I鈥檓 not meant to do that,鈥� and say goodbye.鈥�
Victoria Ahearn, The Canadian Press
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