I heard many stereotypes about older age and unconsciously subscribed to many as the years went by. But in contrast, the first death I personally encountered was my grandpa’s peaceful death back in middle school. He showed me that final years, final moments, and death, can be peaceful and blissful. I did not talk to him much, but he became a role model for my elderly years in the future. I still do not understand older age nor death, but I held it with more respect.
Last year, I took HDS1 that introduced me to the pros of older age, including more wisdom, joy, better decision making, being more present, and even happier than younger years. This was an idea I was not exposed to prior, and led me to take USP141A now. Especially seeing my parents age into their elderly years, this course was especially relevant to my life.
I see the world differently now. At the USP141A retreat, we were introduced to how older adults see the world: how different ways of moving around we take for granted are not always accessible in older age, what matters now may differ from what matters once you are not far from life’s end, how people vary in how they want to be remembered for. Everyone experiences the world differently, seeing life and even the same events as different realities. The tree one person sees is not the tree another person sees, even if it is referred to as the same tree.
From reflecting on the retreat, talking to various older individuals at the West Center, hearing different stories from the readings we have in this class, and just pondering older age more, I now further realize that there’s more beyond that. Not only do different people experience different realities, the same person experiences different realities at different moments in their life. How I exist/experience/see sunsets today may be so different from my 70 year old self. And on a smaller scale, how I exist/experience/see sunsets today will probably be different from my tomorrow self.
The seemingly monotone and same day-to-day could be seen as us experiencing something completely novel every passing day. It’s wild to ponder and see it this manner, and this way of experiencing life has brought me a lot more anticipation, novelty, openness, wonder, curiosity, and appreciation for being alive right now. I want to see how older adults see life. How beautiful, peaceful, accepting, and understanding is life to them?
I still don’t really understand older age and death. But perhaps it’s nice to just live life, and one day, maybe when I enter older age and eventually pass, I’ll understand.