A fantastic piece. It terrifies me just how little support there is for the elderly - it exists on paper but is non existent in practice, something you don’t realise until you have to interact with the system. Covid showed just how dehumanising and dangerous the system is towards the elderly - and the lack of oversight of care homes is frightening. I am afraid of the assisted dying bill which whatever the theoretical arguments will be open to wide scale abuse - society is not protecting elderly people as it is.
I have been thinking much about aging and old age these days, and was happily surpised to find this piece of writing today. Will be looking in to de Beavoir's book asap. Do you have any other suggestions for reading on this theme? A note of my own: I have a feeling that old age is mostly considered as something negative, something to battle or overcome, rarely something to embrace or enjoy (and here I don't mean retirement), or even neutrally. I guess that in our western society youth is continuously so revered that this is the natural outcome. However, old age is a complex phenomenon, worthy of wider attention and contemplation.
I am an old man now, a pensioner, owner of a property. Difficult to complain when I see the struggles of the young and middle aged to find meaningful work to fund adequate housing such as the most common worker of my parents’ time could afford. But from my fifties on I felt the distain of younger people in the workplace, was openly pronounced “unpromotable” at that stage, humored and mocked to my face. All endurable, not the entire picture, for I was also appreciated, and even promoted before it was all done. But a key to getting through it was distinguishing my job from my work.
I started in the arts, enjoyed success entirely local and thinly compensated until the birth of a child inspired a shift from that vagabond mode to the confines of an office, what actors call civilian jobs. My work continued in every moment I could spare from my job. Poems, plays, music — I built up quite a catalogue. All attempts to do something with this were thwarted, resulting in no little anguish.
But when retirement rolled around, the sense of feeling ignored and marginalized was familiar. Again there was some anguish, but de Beauvoir’s advice rings true, both now and reflecting on my history — the effort to actualize your values through activity you find meaningful is the key to thriving when others turn their back on you. Where you and life intersect, there will be byproducts. Invest time and energy into those byproducts and they will reward you even if the world around you shows indifference or even seems hostile.
And on further reflection you may realize, as I did at the end of my employment, that the values you exercised in the course of fulfilling the obligations of your job were, in fact, the same values you express in your work. So upon retirement, the work can and must continue.
A fantastic piece. It terrifies me just how little support there is for the elderly - it exists on paper but is non existent in practice, something you don’t realise until you have to interact with the system. Covid showed just how dehumanising and dangerous the system is towards the elderly - and the lack of oversight of care homes is frightening. I am afraid of the assisted dying bill which whatever the theoretical arguments will be open to wide scale abuse - society is not protecting elderly people as it is.
I have been thinking much about aging and old age these days, and was happily surpised to find this piece of writing today. Will be looking in to de Beavoir's book asap. Do you have any other suggestions for reading on this theme? A note of my own: I have a feeling that old age is mostly considered as something negative, something to battle or overcome, rarely something to embrace or enjoy (and here I don't mean retirement), or even neutrally. I guess that in our western society youth is continuously so revered that this is the natural outcome. However, old age is a complex phenomenon, worthy of wider attention and contemplation.
The music score is phenomenal!
I am an old man now, a pensioner, owner of a property. Difficult to complain when I see the struggles of the young and middle aged to find meaningful work to fund adequate housing such as the most common worker of my parents’ time could afford. But from my fifties on I felt the distain of younger people in the workplace, was openly pronounced “unpromotable” at that stage, humored and mocked to my face. All endurable, not the entire picture, for I was also appreciated, and even promoted before it was all done. But a key to getting through it was distinguishing my job from my work.
I started in the arts, enjoyed success entirely local and thinly compensated until the birth of a child inspired a shift from that vagabond mode to the confines of an office, what actors call civilian jobs. My work continued in every moment I could spare from my job. Poems, plays, music — I built up quite a catalogue. All attempts to do something with this were thwarted, resulting in no little anguish.
But when retirement rolled around, the sense of feeling ignored and marginalized was familiar. Again there was some anguish, but de Beauvoir’s advice rings true, both now and reflecting on my history — the effort to actualize your values through activity you find meaningful is the key to thriving when others turn their back on you. Where you and life intersect, there will be byproducts. Invest time and energy into those byproducts and they will reward you even if the world around you shows indifference or even seems hostile.
And on further reflection you may realize, as I did at the end of my employment, that the values you exercised in the course of fulfilling the obligations of your job were, in fact, the same values you express in your work. So upon retirement, the work can and must continue.