Over the past few weeks my team and I have been lining up cities for the Age of Disruption 2016 World Tour. We hope to visit 40 cities next year (including 10 overseas!) and we’re working with our friends and partners to settle on the final lineup, to be announced imminently.
Since wrapping up the 2015 Tour last month I’ve been thinking hard about the core message we are trying to deliver. The more I think about it, the simpler it gets, and I think I can sum it up in just three words: aging equals growth.
This is a truth I’ve always embraced, but to be honest it’s not until recently that I have grown old enough to experience it personally.
As I get older I find that my emotional state gets a bit easier to manage. From my earliest memories onward I have always been subject to powerful if in-artfully expressed feelings. When I was younger, I would often call to mind a storm-tossed sea and a person clinging to a wooden raft– just holding on. Age seems to be smoothing this out for me. Now it seems that maybe that raft has a keel and a sail and a hand on the tiller. I feel less exposed, less vulnerable and more comfortably confident.
I mention this internal evolution because it is precisely the kind of age-related growth experience that our culture dismisses and denies. I am getting older and the older version of me really is demonstrably better than the younger version of me. How is this possible? I trust what my experience is telling me. I trust my own sensations far more than I trust the story of aging that my culture has foisted upon me. When millions of people can see aging only as a state of decline, the result is a self-fulfilling, self-mutilating narrative of fruitless struggle and inevitable loss. Who needs that?
I’ve got a better idea. How about if we kick the old story of aging to the curb. Does anybody out there want to share a story of how your aging has helped you grow as a human being?
Hi, I am an Aging 200 student at the Erickson School of Aging. Great Article. Many people see aging as a negative thing but really its a time of growth and appreciation for the life you’ve lived thus far. I like how you simply said the older version of you is better than the younger version. Obviously physically most people aren’t as active as we once were when we were younger, but mentally there is no comparison. Our experiences as we age are key.
Hello,
I am an AGNG 200 student at the Erickson School of Aging. I agree with your blog post that Aging equals growth. If you think about it, as we grow older, we gain experience and wisdom. As you stated in the post, it is easier to manage your emotional state. Being a college senior, your analogy of just holding on was a perfect way of describing where I am at in my life currently.
In class, we watched a video from Rabi Zalamn about Spiritual Eldering. In the video, he says a life without extended consciousness makes the extended life a depressive thing. Spiritual Eldering as described is continued growth and development. In addition to your post, I think that growth can be obtained by sharing your wisdom to the younger generation.
Dear Bill, I am about to turn 70, and I am the founder of The Radical Age Movement based out of New York City. (www.theradicalagemovement.com) What you describe is a constant process, and I am still in that process. Like you, my emotional life is more under control but I can’t say that I’ve crossed over to the kind of peace and tranquility that many elderly people describe to me. I think I still have a way to go. I do agree that aging is growing. After all, we are aging from the moment we are born. The experiences of emotional turmoil that we accumulate as we grow older inform the way we handle those situations moving forward. Once we’ve been through one of those experiences and come out the other end healed and whole, we can rely on ourselves to be able to approach similar circumstances moving forward with the knowledge that we have make this trip successfully before and have the confidence to know we will succeed again. And, so, the trip is not as rocky and there is now a rudder in place.
Hello Kristen ,
Your words are truly warm and wonderful and deserve a reply . You have taken great efforts to advise me and this very act of yours inspires me further . My life has been a topsy turvy ride — many downs and a few ‘ups’ ! But when my eyes open in the morning , I thank the creator for another day , a bonus .
I am 67 and am proud of it and consider myself fortunate to be up and about – truly . When I see so many of my fellow beings aged 60 and plus and in a pitiable state , I consider myself truly fortunate .
And then I go out and shine !
I have never found that true happiness , family wise , it has always escaped me . But I do not like to wallow in self pity and sympathy . I simply go out and bring laughter and in turn joy and in turn happiness to others — and this in turns spurs me on with positivity and patience and a longing to live further ..
Some days are bleak and morbid and drives me nearly ’round the bend’ and ‘over the edge’ , But before I take any drastic step , I talk to myself and ‘dig’ into my inner self and a sense of calm prevails and this brings me back ‘ down to earth ‘ .
It is this inner peace that brings in tranquility . Difficult to explain it , but you have experienced it .
And that is where “AGING EQUALS GROWTH ” .
Kristen , thank you so much for sharing and caring .
Please keep in touch .
Cheers — Arthur .
When you spoke of being better at regulating your emotional state, this YouTube video came to mind. This guy has a kickass definition of wisdom I am still metabolizing.
Dr Bill , you have me alert and thinking . Yes , as you grow old , you get to mature yourself . And as you say – ” you have grown enough to experience it personally ” . How do you go about this ? This at times is intriguing .How does one transcend and bring in that inner peace , enlightenment , joy and happiness . I am 67 and still at turmoil with myself .
Please be kind enough to guide me further . — Arthur . Would love to hear from you soon . Thank you .
Mr. James,
I am neither Bill nor am I an elder, but I read your comment and it touched my heart. I am sorry to hear that you are experiencing inner turmoil. Sometimes I experience this myself. To say it is hard is an understatement, yet you (and I) always find a way to keep going. There is an inner strength within you that has moved you forward, even when it has been hard. And, I hope, there are also friends, family, and other supports who help carry you when you are feeling weak or tired or in despair. I notice when I take good care of myself, I feel better. I don’t know your story, but I hope that you can do more of what makes you feel at peace, and eliminate or at least limit the things that bring you sorrow.
Keep on, pal!
Kristin