Aging

This recently-published study shows that many advocates for diversity and inclusion in the workplace have cognitive dissonance when it comes to age discrimination. The same progressively-minded folks who support more opportunities for women, people of color, LGBTQ employees and those with a disability often feel conflicted when it comes to keeping older people in the workplace longer.

For the next week leading up to the U.S. Memorial Day, I’m going to riff on the subject of aging in the 21st century. We have four times as many people on the planet today compared to a century ago. It’s not because humans are having more children. It’s because we’re living longer.

MEA alum Rob Hanna and I recently rifted on “manopause,” the physical and psychological symptoms that often affect men in their 50s and are part of the natural aging process. It is estimated that testosterone decreases about 10% every decade after men reach the age of 30.

During the next two days, we will explore certain ways that women and men experience their bodies aging in midlife. Ironically, both of the MEA alums being interviewed were in the same beta Baja cohort in April 2018. MEA co-founder Christine Sperber interviews Jeanne Chung in today’s post.

“A funny thing happened on the way to the old-age home,” Maher said on his recent show about Joe Biden stepping up his game and defying skeptics showing how pervasive the problem of ageism is in the U.S. Rather than rattle-on about what he said, feel free to watch this seven-minute clip from the 65-year-old Maher.

If you read this recent post, you know I’m in love with actress Frances McDormand. But, then I came upon this interview with Katie Couric on aging and I really appreciated the last few seconds of it when she suggests our face represents the wisdom of our experience, the map of our life. Enjoy it. Good luck, Frances, tonight with the Academy Awards!

“Generally, by the time you are Real, most of your hair has been loved off.” - Margery Williams Bianco, The Velveteen Rabbit

Baja is famous for its treacherous roads with its stunning vistas. It’s heaven for anyone who loves to drive backroads. It’s hell for rental car companies. What an apt metaphor for life. We’re issued a vehicle at birth: our body. We’re offered expensive rental insurance (growing up with our parents), some driver’s education (school), and a roadmap (life lessons).

Australian author and rebel Bronnie Ware has spent much of her life offering palliative care and has conversed with hundreds of people on their deathbed. This led her to writing a book, “The Top Five Regrets of the Dying,” dedicated to helping more of us live a regret-free life.

As I outlined in this blog post entitled “What % of Your Adult Life is Still Ahead of You?” we vastly underestimate our future while occasionally dwelling on the past. Then, along comes this recent NY Times article, “If You Live To 100, You’ll Need More Than Money.”