Aging On The Vine - Stay Visible, Be Ageless
Mar 10, 2021
I must be feeling old or something. I am sure it has nothing to do with restarting my exercise.
At first, this may seem like a depressing photo—a disgusting old leaf on a dried-up vine.
But when you consider what makes that leaf different from all the other leaves that simply fell off and were returned to the soil from the same vine, you realize it is a vision of hope. Sure, it would have been easy to give in to the call of nature.
"Lay down, well done, your watch is over"
But this leaf did not go quietly into that dark night. It decided to hang around and see what was happening.
In our ageist society, where people are considered over the hill at 30, it is essential to remember that we still have beauty whatever youth thinks of us. We still have truth. We still count.
It feels many times like society wants its older population to simply disappear. To be invisible. We are told we are past our productive years, implying we have nothing more to contribute. Please go away.
This relies on the assumption that you can't teach an old dog new tricks. I have had several old dogs. They came up with new tricks on their own, thank you very much.
This is not true everywhere and with everyone. I am truly blessed that my parents (both still with me, knock on wood) live in a town where they are constantly supported by people giving them rides to appointments, checking on them, and siblings who come to visit. Just as they helped in the rearing and education of so many of those same people, and their children, and their parents. This is the meaning of community.
The message of ageism is so strong that, quite a few years ago now, I had a friend who was decidedly freaking-out over his 30th birthday. He felt like he was a failure because he had not achieved all the successes he wanted to have in his life and now he was locked into the life he had right then and it would never change.
I pulled him aside just before his celebration and told him this: "Look, everyone would agree that if you do something for 20 years, you could consider that a career. And with the advances of modern medicine and your healthy lifestyle, the chances are good you will live well into your 90s if not 100 years or more. So you don't have decide what you want to be when you grow up until you are 80. Relax, you have my permission."
So I still have 15 years to decide what I want to be when I grow up.
Don't ever let our societal images define who you are. They are not reality. They are driven by commercial motives (and believe me, I have nothing against commercial motives). Don't give in to the despair of the seasons.
Shine your beauty so bright that none can ignore it.
"Stay Visible. Be Ageless" - Rosalind Mitchell, MD {1956-2021}