I recently had the pleasure of attending the 50+ Festival at Ryerson University in Toronto where I was blown away by the keynote speaker, David Cravit of Zoomer Media and author of his book, The New Old
David encapsulated my view of what life could and should look and feel like as we get older.
He framed this by describing our culture’s traditional view of aging “The Old Old” vs. an ever-emerging way of aging as “The New Old”.
The Old Old was generally modelled by people of our parents’ and grandparents’ generation. To these folks, getting older meant a slowing down and disengaging from active life. Work life would draw to a close known as retirement; physical activity would be slowly traded in for an easy chair and sex? In essence, things were on the slow road to winding down.
Enter the New Old. The New Old is us, or it could and should be. Sixty is not the new 40. Sixty is 60 but it is what 40 used to look like. Boomers, Zoomers, call us what you like but, the point is, that the 50+ crowd are not heading for that easy chair. Oh no, we are heading to a chair in a classroom, a place in a new or expanded social circle, a spot on a 50+ sports team, or just bugging the powers that be to clue in to our needs, our interests, and our power.
So, looking to the future, what cadre do you want to be part of? Old Old? Or, New Old?
If you want support on that exciting journey into what I hope and expect will be a long and vibrant tomorrow, please let me know.
Joycecurry@futureselfcoach.com
(Next up: Thoughts about being visible at any age)
