It is commonly thought that as we grow older we become less flexible in mind and body, less able to adapt to change, less resilient. There is truth in that. And falsity as well.
First, some truths: with aging, skin becomes less supple and eventually begins to wrinkle. Our bodies change and seldom for the better. Mortality becomes more and more real.
As we age, times change, but we have difficulty changing with them as we once did. Music moves on as we stay put somewhere in the past, stuck in the Beatles, Johnny Cash, maybe even the Five Satins (Shoo-doop un shoo-be-doo). Fashion changes and we fall further behind what’s happening today. Indeed, if we were to try to be really up-to-date in our clothes we might begin to look a little foolish.
And yet, how much change can a person deal with? How much change have we already dealt with? Most of us still alive have dealt with unimaginable grief, terrible physical and emotional pain, wars and rumors of wa
rs, being fired from a job, divorce, childbirth… the list goes on and on.
Grief. Many of us have lost our life partner. The pain of that is close to unbearable. Yet we bore it and kept on in life. A few have lost a child. We have all lost our parents, grandparents, and many friends. Each death is a reminder that we, too will pass from this earth. As time passes, the pace of loss picks up. People get sick, friends die, beloved family members die, pets die. Our bodies run down, our minds run down, we get sick…
The times we’ve lived through boggles the mind: the end and aftermath of WWll, Korea, the 1950s, rock & roll, Berlin Wall goes up, civil rights (the endless struggle), women’s liberation (another endless struggle), outer space, sexual revolution, drugs/inner space, assassinations, Vietnam War, Berlin Wall goes down, Watergate,
gay liberation (another endless struggle), computers, internet, Afghanistan War, Iraq War, terrorism, gun violence, Trump/Jan 6, War in Ukraine, and so much more!
We know a lot about resilience. We laugh, we cry, we love, we hope, we experience beauty, we enjoy. It is a hard road, and here we are.
Giving thanks
Photos: I’m having difficulty posting photos. From the top, these are taken in upstate NY, Northern California, Oakland