Ian Hamilton & Cassy Bond - Conscious Aging
I have just turned sixty.I do not subscribe to the world view on Ageing.
I, and Cassie, my lovely partner, do not believe or accept that people who grow old have to take their place 'on the bench' as a basically useless stock item with an invalid 'use-by' date.
We are not the first to rebel against society mores about aging. The Greeks, so enamoured by youth and beauty, gave oldies a very hard time.
Cicero said, many many many years ago:
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We must use moderate exercise,take just enough food, and drink to recruit, but not to overload, our strength. Nor is it the body alone that must be supported, but the intellect and soul much more. For they are like lamps: unless you feed them with oil, they too go out from old age... The fact is that old age is respectable just as long as it asserts itself, maintains its proper rights, and is not enslaved to anyone. |
Yet rebellion in a youthful, ill-considered sense is not, we feel, the way of the elder. The elder has always been the caretaker and repository of society's culture, much like the Australian Aboriginal is both caretaker and repository of the sacred knowledge of his/her land. As such we need to speak from the place we have been assigned by society, but we don't need to take on the rampant ageism that our culture has assigned us.
We need to speak as elders about changing the perception of the elder.
Of course, we must learn first what it means to be an elder. We were never trained to be a teenager, a married adult, and we know sweet nothing about what it means to be a fulfilled elder spiritually, mentally and socially.
We've been researching eldership, or the role of the sage, and we are organising a a national model for elder training. We'll be lecturing as well as supporting discussion groups here on the net.
As an elder you are fulfilling a purpose that is all but lost to modern life. You are passing down the wisdom, mentoring youth, and supporting community in ways that are so much more effective simply because of what you are. You are conscious of what you are doing and standing squarely, earthed in your power. You know where you have been, and you know what it took to get there. You have the humility wrought through age to communicate your truths without force. And you see your role as that person willing to serve in the unique place of life fulfillment called 'Sage'.
We'd love to hear from you. Please go to our Contact Us page and let me know of your interest. If you want to check us out a little more, go here