A Revelation During the Pandemic Crisis

The one thing I can admit is having more time for reflection during the imposed staycation or quarantine we have all been experiencing.

Yesterday, while reading my fave Saturday newspaper an article captured my attention. It was spot on and related to my concept behind the blog and podcast: Growing Older With Gusto.  I began this journey in writing and hosting a podcast with  hopes that younger generations could learn from the wisdom of those who have gone before on how to grow older in a fulfilling way. We all do grow older — whether we are 30, 60 or beyond.

The nuggets of wisdom will hopefully dispel the negative connotation that surrounds the art of growing older. So, instead of dismissing older people — we learn from them.  en

So –yesterday’s Wall Street Article had a column by Alison Gopnik that spoke to this exact concept. It was entitled, “Why Elders Are Indispensable For All of Us”.  Gopnik makes several wonderful observations that have come to mind during the pandemic. Her articles she has co-authored reflect on how human old age, cognition and culture evolved together.  It brings up the subject of how people live to a ripe old age for a reason.  The authors(anthropologist, psychologists and  evolutionary biologists)  point out the difficulty in practicing a skill, and teaching it at the same time.  They give the example of trying to make pancakes on a weekend morning with a child helping–it takes twice as long!  They found  that evolution occurs when older people can teach the younger people. The flow goes like this….people in their peak and at their most productive can focus on getting tasks done. Younger people can be matched with much older people who have the knowledge but may have their most productive years behind them.  The author studied more than 20,000 people in 40 different locales and the findings were similar.  They believe these findings may explain why humans are living to a ripe old age.  Evolution shows that the care of people when they are very young, and very old helps everybody to grow older with gusto!

Our lives during the pandemic have provided a landscape for making us realize that people who care for the very young and the very old have little status and low pay.  Hopefully, the takeaway from having time to reflect is the realization of the strong connection between the young and the older generations and how important it is to bring the learners and the teachers together.

Be sure to go to our website and subscribe to our Blog and Podcast.  Our address is:      www.growingolderwithgusto.com.

We have some exciting guests lined up for you this summer.   A collaboration between our Podcast and The Lustgarten Foundation takes a look at how pancreatic cancer is treated today, and what is promising for the future. We will have a series of speakers from the CEO to a cancer survivor to a physician who is working with pancreas transplants.

Later, we will have guests speaking about handwriting interpretation and how we can strengthen our brains through handwriting and a health entrepreneur who works with people in maintaining balance and being agile as we grow older.

So, check out the website and listen in to Growing Older With Gusto.