Ashton Applewhite stands before a room of dozens of people expecting to hear the same ‘ol spiel. Instead, she poses a question: “What is every person in this room going to become?” When no one offers an answer she continues. “Older. The prospect has an awful lot of us scared stiff.” A renewed focus on […]
Jump: Face Your Fears Head On at Any Age!
I was watching the live recording of Will Smith as he prepared to bungee jump out of a helicopter over the Grand Canyon. I kept saying out loud, “I’m nervous. Oh. My. God. Don’t do this! I don’t wanna watch! Wait, yes I do! He’ll be fine. Aah!” As time drew closer to him getting on the helicopter, […]
“Dress Like a 100-Year-Old” Day: A Call to Action
It’s become a trend in schools around the US to celebrate the 100th day of school by holding a “Dress Like a 100-Year-Old Day.” Pinterest and some websites provide instructions for parents to help their kids look and act the part of an old person. Today’s kids are tomorrow’s leaders. We have a great opportunity to inoculate them against the damaging effects of ageism.
What’s Your “And”?
For improvisers, Yes And means you accept what the other player presents you with, without blocking it or denying it, and then you react constructively to it. You add to it. I invite you to join me in improvising our way through these later years. It’s easier than you think.
An Anti-Ageism Activist’s Thoughts on Getting to be Thirty…
In a recent conversation, my good friend Noah brought up the tendency of industrialised capitalist cultures to isolate age groups, which eventually leads to each age group othering (or, perceiving as ‘other’) anyone born before or after them. When younger people inevitably become the older outsiders, it is common to begin neglecting the ritual of […]
A MAGICal Encounter
“Well, there is magic in the air!” My Lyft driver greeted me with enthusiasm. Her last ride had dropped off at the same terminal and door I was waiting at—a gig economy mini miracle. Little did she know MAGIC really was in the air for me. I had just landed from spending a week working […]
Can We Please Stop Calling It AGING!
In order to shed the shackles of the “Calamitous Cs” and not be sucked in by the declining negative rhetoric of aging, why not replace them with the three positive “Constructive Cs”? Especially if you’re serious about living a life of continuous incline.
It’s Time to Believe Older Adults, Too
Just as we are encouraged to believe those who report experiences of sexual harassment, so, too, should we believe older adults who report elder harassment in any of its forms. Ageism, too, is a spectrum of abuse. All of this is to say that harassment in any form, toward any person, and for any reason should not be justified or tolerated.
