Reinstating the role of the Elderly

Growing older is something most of us fear, dread and are hesitant to embrace. In many traditions and cultures today - the elderly still have a strong presence, function and value within the communities and families they belong to. Rather than being placed out of sight, made to feel irrelevant or invisible - the elders are respected and venerated for their wisdom, status, stories and history.

Today, there is a real loss and diminishing of the elderly as having a central function and purpose within the communities and world they belong to. Most live in isolation - disconnected and without a sense of connection.

We tend to glamorise youth today and impress an authority and power in young voices. Whilst it is vital to uphold and protect the freshness and energy that the young can bring - there is great insight and passion to be drawn from those that been here for longer.

Much like the forest - where age bolsters the rings of a tree and strengthens its growth - ageing is a process of widening our perception and passing on our "lived" knowledge and experience to the next generations. This inter-exchange has a vital function and space int the world.

If we can reinstate the significance of older generations within our communities and everyday lives, we might also develop less fear around ageing and re-impress a sense of ease, exchange, inclusion, interconnection, shared resources and belonging for all - whatever timeline.

Getting older can have its physiological compromises, but perhaps the gifts of greater compassion, patience, diplomacy, gratitude, faith and resilience, are worth cultivating and looking forward to with each season of life.

The message to the young should be to embrace every cycle and phase - and rather than fearing growing older, begin to envisage the qualities you wish to grow into, the role you hope to inhabit and the reputation you wish to hold as the years pass you by.

The older generations always have something worth listening to - that is always relevant and unique. Start listening, start connecting, start reintroducing the value of inter-generational relationships and revisit how you see getting older. It is a mistake to undermine or withdraw from the ageing process, or to put the elderly into a space of insignificance. There is enormous depth to be drawn from them and what they have to pass on.

If we can ultimately view getting older and an opportunity to inhabit changing seasons and in leaving behind a legacy to those around us - we might discover the power, voice and central function that lies in every phase.