This semester, I’m teaching a course called “Storytelling for Positive Aging.”
Studies show that a positive attitude, a growth mindset, towards the process of aging leads to longer and happier lives. In this course, I explore the questions: How can we tell ourselves better stories of aging? How can we respond to cultural attitudes of ageism? How can the sharing of stories between the generations (the exchange of wisdom) impact the attitudes to aging?
“I don’t want to think like an old person,” said my friend.
“You might want to have more positive language around aging,” I say to him. My awareness coming from researching the material for this course; I think I might not really have noticed the statement before.
The strange thing about ageism is that we are biased against our future selves. We struggle against the inevitable clock of time to remain at our peak with the dream of eternal youth. We lament the decline of the body and the slowing of the mind.
However, perhaps there is a purpose to every stage in life. The goals that we have in the summer years of harvest cannot be the same as in the winter years. Instead of judging our older selves as frozen and useless, the winter years can also have purpose… perhaps sharing the wisdom that the years have given us.
As I shift into that place where there are likely more life years behind me than ahead of me, the world begins to look different.
Watch TED Talk “Why we should embrace aging as an adventure” by Carl Honore
Resources
- Bolder: How to Age Better and Feel Better about Ageing by Carl Honore
- Why It’s Time to Start Thinking More Positively About Aging, Psychology Today, article by Susan Kraus Whitbourne