The Sexiest Superpower You Can Unleash This Year

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Summer is zipping by like a teenager on their first moped. Flaming out like a Fourth of July firecracker. If you haven’t experienced any of the other kind of fireworks — the sexy, sensual, festive kind of explosions deep in your belly — don’t start crying into your pink lemonade just yet.

Trust me. I turned 60 in July. Been divorced for 12 years. Still single and still having way too much summer fun.

Here’s what you can do to sizzle through the rest of summer. You don’t need to be unmarried or rich to pull this off. And you certainly don’t need a Hamptons beach house or 300-foot yacht.

· Buy yourself your favorite flavor ice cream cone. Sit on the teak bench outside the parlor, on a bench at the bus stop, or on a random front stoop. Set your phone timer for 20 minutes. Lick the cone languorously until the timer goes off.

· Find bikinis and sunglasses at end-of-season sales. Buy a suit that’s racier than anything you’ve ever worn — think teeny-weeny bikini or sheer one piece — and a retro pair of sexy sunglasses like the pretty pink cat-eye Ethel glasses you can order here: Put on strappy sandals. Then go to a beach or pool, radiating your womanhood, no matter how ridiculous or flabby you feel.

· Track down an old, unrequited crush from high school, preschool, youth group or summer camp. Make the first, second and third moves. Flirt outrageously online. All while knowing you’ll never see that particular human again in the flesh. OR — perhaps this does lead to a real reunion!

· Screen your favorite summer flick. Grease? Thelma & Louise? Summer of ’42? Invite your funniest and best friends. Dress code must be sexy and beachy.

· Unearth 20 pictures of yourself from 20 different summers. Create a scrapbook of your past summer fun. Decorate it wildly with colored sand, glue and lots of those little drink umbrellas. And on the cover, put a recent shot of the gorgeous you NOW.

· Invent your own summer triathlon. Mine is a swim, kayak and ice cream sundae. Yours could be breakfast, mint juleps, a yoga video or a best friend Zoom happy hour. Whatever. Pick your three favorite summer activities and make them into a marathon of self-love and girl power!

You may be wondering whether you have the moxie to tackle these frivolities, or asking yourself why on earth you’d want to. I’ll tell you why. Society too often defames us as women.

We’re too fat. Or too thin. Too pale. Too dark. Our lips, breasts and thighs are the wrong shape. We are too smart. Too ambitious. Too insecure. Too aggressive. Too little or too much of everything.

Women are rarely celebrated for just being our real selves.

As we age, female-shaming intensifies. We become invisible. Through the lens of employers, marketers and movie-makers, we are too often worth considerably less at 55 than 25. This, despite our wisdom, decades of skills, our ability to keep commitments and make more judicious choices.

I call baloney on all of this. However, almost no one is going to be your cheerleader in this world, especially as the cellulite, wrinkles and gray hairs predominate. You have to cheer yourself on — and don’t compare yourself to the doctored photos on social media.

That’s the reason having a fun, silly, sexy summer as an older woman is a worthwhile pursuit.

Your final assignment: every day for the rest of the summer, smile at a nice human you don’t know. Walking down the street. Driving on the highway. Standing in line at the pharmacy. Friendliness is contagious, and a smile is the sexiest superpower you can unleash.

As for me, this 60-year-old single hot mama is headed for the beach in a black one-piece suit studded with fake diamonds. I’ve got on a floppy straw hat atop my blonde-silver curls, and a pair of pink cat-eye sunglasses.

I’m ready for a day of hot and sexy pleasure — and perhaps a bit of trouble. Even though it is August already, it’s never too late to have some fun in the sun and adventure that fires our spirits all year long.


What's been the best part of YOUR summer? Let us know in the comments below.