"Because I am hungry to see people owning up to the years in their life, in a society perpetually trying to sell us ways to pretend those years are not there."
I feel this deeply myself. And I agree with you that a new story about aging having worth is necessary for so much, especially with the increasing loneliness we're seeing among older folks.
Oof, yes, so glad/sorry it resonates. I've been trying to think of globally comparative examples. For example: are countries with high youth-oriented plastic surgery rates higher in elder loneliness, too?!
this was so interesting to think about how we frame these conversations. and I DID used to be more fun but I also was drunker and anxious so cheers to getting older and staying a good amount of fun 😀
Thanks for the nice article. It is amazing how much time and money we spend trying to look younger, or whatever else "the algorithm" has convinced us we should look like.
Ahh thank you for reading and sharing this! How surprised would my younger self be to learn I have even *become fond* of my meditative little back stretch moments!
This was such an interesting piece. I’ve been thinking about aging and climate change in other ways too, so it was nice to see your reflections!
Also a jazz composition of Wolfish sounds amazing, it reminds me of this hilarious but relaxing cassette my sister would play in the 90s: https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=nzfbrbW5pHI
This cassette is EXQUISITE, I don't know how I wrote a wolf book without having this piped through my ears during whole brainstorm process. I'd be interested to hear how you're thinking about these future-y topics! I struggled to let myself even view them in the same sentence because the scales are so vastly different, but then was interested what happened when they were...
Oh my god I'm so glad to have introduced it to you. Her friends still bring it up, like "Remember how you used that Jazz Wolf music as white noise at sleepovers?" and it brings me great joy to remember it intermittently.
Phew, I feel like I have a lot of unrelated and related thoughts to aging and climate change that I'll try to articulate. I work in public health so there's the entry layer for my thinking of how changing climates impact certain populations more, including the elderly. There's so much on this layer. Then there's another layer to that in what you said around third spaces and embracing aging. I feel like it maybe plays out as an issue in an overall "sense of belonging" - as we age, where we belong in society, and if we belong to a group, and if we feel a sense of belonging to the Earth. How this might impact our desire to advocate for long-term change? If we feel disconnected from others, from our bodies, from the planet, then it's really challenging to band together for mass change on the planetary scale this requires. There's also the issue if we, as a society, can't fully embrace ideas of aging, mortality, etc. then how do we plan for a future we won't live in? And if there's an inability to sit with hard truths (on the levels of "I will get wrinkles" to "I will age" to "The Earth is in crisis" and beyond), then there's more opportunity to push these "difficult" concepts aside. Maybe there's also something deeper to an issue around always being focused on the shiny and new, and lacking reverence or deference for elders (and the biological and necessary slowing down), that the urgency feeds more problems? And we need more wisdom. I'm realizing as I type this out that I have So Many Thoughts here, thanks for the prompt! I'm going to keep exploring this...
I feel this SO MUCH and I am so on board with all these inquiries. Have you read Jenny Odell? Love both of hers but reading 'Saving TIme' right now and it's making me think a lot about the function of third spaces in helping us exist in new formats of time/connection/being. Lmk if you'd ever be open for an interview re: how your job in public health intersects with thinking about these community climate q's?! In early stages of book 2 but am so interested.
I have How to Do Nothing in my bookcase but haven't read it yet (I guess following the prompt in the title).
Haha and I would be happy to answer any questions! It's more a passion-project and line of thinking than what I've learned in my exact role, but I could definitely point you to people/experts in the public health space who would be having these kind of thoughts and exploring them academically.
“When I was 22 I was better at staying up late, but you know what else I was? Insecure! Overly invested in other people’s opinions! A timid communicator!”
You perfectly put into words the sentiment two friends and I (were all 32) tried to express to our 23 year-old waitress last weekend! We mourned being her age and the smooth skin that came with it, but hyped up how much more confident and how our worldview improved by not giving a shit what other people think. Thank you!
"Because I am hungry to see people owning up to the years in their life, in a society perpetually trying to sell us ways to pretend those years are not there."
I feel this deeply myself. And I agree with you that a new story about aging having worth is necessary for so much, especially with the increasing loneliness we're seeing among older folks.
Oof, yes, so glad/sorry it resonates. I've been trying to think of globally comparative examples. For example: are countries with high youth-oriented plastic surgery rates higher in elder loneliness, too?!
this was so interesting to think about how we frame these conversations. and I DID used to be more fun but I also was drunker and anxious so cheers to getting older and staying a good amount of fun 😀
Truly 100 cheers to having less booze and less anxiety, I want to tell my younger self to just relax, she'll get there, it'll still be a romp!
Thanks for the nice article. It is amazing how much time and money we spend trying to look younger, or whatever else "the algorithm" has convinced us we should look like.
Keep trying to be fun!
Phew, right?! And thanks for the kind words. Fun Winter is ON!
This article was filled with lovely thoughts, and actually made me smile. I am sorry for the lower back pain ;)
Ahh thank you for reading and sharing this! How surprised would my younger self be to learn I have even *become fond* of my meditative little back stretch moments!
This was such an interesting piece. I’ve been thinking about aging and climate change in other ways too, so it was nice to see your reflections!
Also a jazz composition of Wolfish sounds amazing, it reminds me of this hilarious but relaxing cassette my sister would play in the 90s: https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=nzfbrbW5pHI
This cassette is EXQUISITE, I don't know how I wrote a wolf book without having this piped through my ears during whole brainstorm process. I'd be interested to hear how you're thinking about these future-y topics! I struggled to let myself even view them in the same sentence because the scales are so vastly different, but then was interested what happened when they were...
Oh my god I'm so glad to have introduced it to you. Her friends still bring it up, like "Remember how you used that Jazz Wolf music as white noise at sleepovers?" and it brings me great joy to remember it intermittently.
Phew, I feel like I have a lot of unrelated and related thoughts to aging and climate change that I'll try to articulate. I work in public health so there's the entry layer for my thinking of how changing climates impact certain populations more, including the elderly. There's so much on this layer. Then there's another layer to that in what you said around third spaces and embracing aging. I feel like it maybe plays out as an issue in an overall "sense of belonging" - as we age, where we belong in society, and if we belong to a group, and if we feel a sense of belonging to the Earth. How this might impact our desire to advocate for long-term change? If we feel disconnected from others, from our bodies, from the planet, then it's really challenging to band together for mass change on the planetary scale this requires. There's also the issue if we, as a society, can't fully embrace ideas of aging, mortality, etc. then how do we plan for a future we won't live in? And if there's an inability to sit with hard truths (on the levels of "I will get wrinkles" to "I will age" to "The Earth is in crisis" and beyond), then there's more opportunity to push these "difficult" concepts aside. Maybe there's also something deeper to an issue around always being focused on the shiny and new, and lacking reverence or deference for elders (and the biological and necessary slowing down), that the urgency feeds more problems? And we need more wisdom. I'm realizing as I type this out that I have So Many Thoughts here, thanks for the prompt! I'm going to keep exploring this...
I feel this SO MUCH and I am so on board with all these inquiries. Have you read Jenny Odell? Love both of hers but reading 'Saving TIme' right now and it's making me think a lot about the function of third spaces in helping us exist in new formats of time/connection/being. Lmk if you'd ever be open for an interview re: how your job in public health intersects with thinking about these community climate q's?! In early stages of book 2 but am so interested.
I have How to Do Nothing in my bookcase but haven't read it yet (I guess following the prompt in the title).
Haha and I would be happy to answer any questions! It's more a passion-project and line of thinking than what I've learned in my exact role, but I could definitely point you to people/experts in the public health space who would be having these kind of thoughts and exploring them academically.
"sea levels will never be this low" 😭😭😭
Here in solidarity, tromping through the flooded Long Beach hiking trails with you!
I’m so intrigued about that geographer…has he written a book or articles I could find? Fascinating!
Yes! I'll send it to you
“When I was 22 I was better at staying up late, but you know what else I was? Insecure! Overly invested in other people’s opinions! A timid communicator!”
You perfectly put into words the sentiment two friends and I (were all 32) tried to express to our 23 year-old waitress last weekend! We mourned being her age and the smooth skin that came with it, but hyped up how much more confident and how our worldview improved by not giving a shit what other people think. Thank you!