I am a senior! No, you don\u2019t have to commiserate with me. I am quite happy \u2013 and lucky too. After all, aging is the \u201cin-thing\u201d. Aging is chic. It is even a growth industry. There are lurking legions of caretakers, manufacturers, entrepreneurs, intercessors and lobbyists out there, just panting for me to ask for their \u201chelp\u201d. I don\u2019t even have to ask.<\/p>\n
This development is particularly insidious, when it comes to activities and ventures such as the new media that did not exist fifty years ago. After all, it was our and previous generations who created the foundations for those media. Still, we are being identified as living fossils.<\/p>\n
Sometimes, they ask us about our experiences, views and opinions. Sometimes, they even listen, particularly, if our responses harmonize with their canons and theories.<\/p>\n
It reminds me a bit of black liberation in the 60\u2019s and women\u2019s assimilation in the 70\u2019s. There is a difference, though. We seniors have been youngsters once, and, occasionally, we remember. The reverse does not hold.<\/p>\n
I agree: things are different. No, I haven\u2019t changed. The world around me has changed. My world has changed. I have episodes where I remember my young adulthood. The world was mine oyster, wide, open and full of opportunities. Risks were negligible; hurdles were there to be jumped, walls to be broached, rivers and oceans to be crossed. True, I didn\u2019t have any money. But if I did, I would have invested it with abandon in all kind of risky ventures.<\/p>\n
Over the subsequent fifty years or so, I have collected experience. The world has closed in around me. Accidents do happen, hurdles topple, walls cause bruises, you can drown in rivers and oceans, businesses fail. Liars, cheaters, thieves and robbers are waiting in the wings. Now, I do have some money. It is safely invested for a rainy day.<\/p>\n
It is not just loss of ability, strength, aggression and power. It is also a growing loss of confidence in my own autonomy. I have become aware of my limitations. If I act differently today than sixty years ago, it is not necessarily that I can\u2019t do it; it is that I don\u2019t trust that I can.<\/p>\n
I can type, e-mail and blog. I can create web sites and databases. I write my own software. But I don\u2019t Twitter nor venture on Facebook. The social media are beyond the scope of my shrunken world. Digital disabilities of the elderly are as much\u00a0affective in nature, as they are due to cognitive, perceptive or motor losses.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
I am a senior! No, you don\u2019t have to commiserate with me. I am quite happy \u2013 and lucky too. After all, aging is the \u201cin-thing\u201d. Aging is chic. It is even a growth industry. There are lurking legions of … Continue reading