Tuesday, March 31, 2009

Old and aging or what?

Portrait of old woman sitting by a window.Image via Wikipedia

I was looking for something in a file cabinet today and as usual, I can be easily distracted. In that distraction, I came upon some notes from an Ageing to Saging seminar that I participated in about 4 years ago. The day had to do with deciding how to face and live into the aging process and was presented by a person representing the Spiritual Eldering Institute. I thought I'd just share a few phrases for you to chew on during your quiet or busy moments this week and if you've got a minute just click on the Spiritual Eldering Insititute that is highlighted above -

"Elderly vs. Elder
Elderly is old and frail
Elder is wise and dependable
The elderly - die longer
The elders - live longer with vitality
Elders are still growing, learning, full of potential, still engaging with promise for the future."

When and why do you think that Americans never treasured (is it never or just not recently?) their elders? Native Americans, Asian Cultures and others than those born and raised in the USA honored their elders but when did we begin to treasure and worship only the young? And why did we buy into that worship - because we were young?

Have you heard of this Spiritual Eldering Institute before and what do you think about the subject? Lest you think I've strayed from the subject of Lent, I believe this is a subject that fits rather well into contemplation of what we do worship in and about the bodies that we've been gifted to inhabit during our mortal lives.



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4 comments:

  1. Lisa Gonzales-Barnes12:12 PM

    I really like the idea of elder instead of elderly. Thanks for the thoughts.

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  2. chris7:28 AM

    I've always liked the word 'elder' and now I know why. Thanks.

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  3. Kayce aka lucy10:22 AM

    i agree with lisa and chris! this conversation reminds me of something i read somewhere around the blogosphere (blisschick, maybe?) ...that as we age we shrink from who we truly are...we quit living big...it made me think of wrinkles and that maybe we get them because we quit living large...we shrink from ourselves. just a thought from my own personal mind sieve.

    i'll check out the elder institute soon. xoxoxo

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  4. Dianna Woolley11:06 AM

    Lisa and Chris - thanks for the comments re elder vs. elderly. It is a powerful little thought isn't it?

    Lucy - ....because we quit living large!!! It's the truth, isn't it? We must banish that and continue living large - it's too much fun not to! (Your MindSieve works well too - must be in the genes!)

    xoxo

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