Aging

“We’re still living with the old paradigm of age as an arch. That’s the old metaphor. You’re born, you peak at midlife and decline into decrepitude…A more appropriate metaphor is a staircase. The upward ascension of the human spirit, bringing us into wisdom, wholeness, and authenticity.” - Jane Fonda

How to Die Well Death is what makes life worth living. It’s true. Death gives life a deadline. It gives a timeframe to do what truly matters in life.

It's interesting how coincidences show up when you're thinking about something. Mine occurred on the evening of the day I attended Chip and Michael Hebb’s workshop, their first Death Over Dinner (DOD) virtual collaboration. Michael, the founder, shared his personal story and how DOD evolved into a global phenomenon.

As the executive director of Wallis Annenberg GenSpace – a new community space for older adults in Los Angeles – I have the great privilege of interacting with older adults who are at different phases in their work lives.

Packing for a 5 day retreat at the Modern Elder Academy, I have a good idea on how to get started.

I had the good fortune to travel to Konya, Turkey for the Mevlana Whirling Dervish Festival nearly a decade ago. This celebration of the poet/philosopher Rumi’s life had a profound impact on my appreciation for Sufism and the mentor relationship Rumi had with Shams, his wild-eyed muse.

I loathed two verbs when I was younger: to be content and to be settled. Both of them felt like a compromise. They reminded me of something my radical 10th grade history class taught me: “Comfort breeds apathy.”

I’m ageist. There you go, I’ve said it. And though you may deny it, so too are you.

“One of the reasons that old age is so disconcerting to many people is that they feel as if they’re stripped of their roles. As we enter old age and face physical frailty, the departure of children, retirement, and the deaths of loved ones, we see the lights fading, the audience dwindles, and we are overwhelmed by a loss of purpose, and by the fear of not knowing how to behave or where we now fit in this play.

“It seems to me that the basic facts of the psyche undergo a very marked alteration in the course of life, so much so that we could almost speak of a psychology of life’s morning and a psychology of its afternoon."