Ageism And The New Normal

Photo by JP Leddy

As I get older , I find that ageism is alive and well in society. The jokes roll off tongues and in social media outlets on my wall more often by both young and those of my peer group. They roll off my shoulder simply because my self esteem is pretty much intact and I have maintained myself with much that I have gained in wisdom over the years that has been tempered by a youthful heart. I actually attribute that to my mother who imbued that in us and also in my father who has been deceased for years. It was part of our upbringing to take on life and to live it fully. Age was not a barrier to living life the way we want.

I think more and more of my generation have realized that , not that we are denying our years of life, but that we are not ready to enter a care home or retire from an active lifestyle. In fact most of us see a whole new era of living , where children have grown, and hell now with the advantages of living longer and healthier, we can truly enjoy life with those things that our youthful hearts still aspire to do.

I am enjoying my children as they are fully engaged in young adulthood. We actually like some of the same things. Technology, media and cultural meshing have closed a lot of the generation gap between us in a lot of areas. As they have children, being a grandparent takes on new dimensions, that defy stereotypes. There is infinitely more communication and sharing.

My mother who is even a generation up is also in this circle that is unlike anything before her. We are a tighter family and the years between us seem to fade. What value we get is the experience we share that we can bring to the generations that follow. It is a more intimate interaction. Thanks to social media like Facebook, Twitter, and the smartphone, our family is just closer.

The reality is that we are all still in a journey. Generations are sharing some of the same things together. Welcome to the new century and to the new normal.

I like it.