Where Have All the Wise ELDERS Gone?

Where Have All the Wise Men/Women Gone?by Michael Meade, D.H.L.


We live in a time of great forgetting. It's not just that people live longer and short-term memory loss becomes inevitable over time. We reach for a familiar name, but it is temporarily out of our reach. Having parked a car so many times, we forget exactly where we parked it this time. We enter a room only to forget why we crossed that threshold and what we were looking for.

There is no tragedy, no great loss in that. Some forgetfulness is natural, just as eyesight weakens over time. Yet nature, in its wisdom, may see the whole thing differently. After 40 or 50 years a person has seen enough of this world and the point may no longer be just looking at life or observing what is going on. After enough time has passed, the issue is not the simple loss of sight, for the point has become the need to develop a genuine vision for life.

The loss of common sight might serve to precipitate deeper insights about life and about death, another event that nature requires. As we "grow older," we are supposed to also grow deeper and thereby become wiser. Those who continue to grow as they grow older are able to develop long-term vision where most become blinded by near-term needs and common neediness. Growing older happens to everyone, but growing wiser happens to those who awaken to a greater sense of meaning and purpose in life.

Similarly, the inevitable loss of short-term memory that accompanies aging is not intended to be a complete loss. Losing one's immediate grip on certain details can be related to gaining a greater grasp of the long-term issues that affect both culture and nature. The first kind of forgetting misplaces things in the moment, but the great forgetting involves a loss of memory regarding the gift of life itself and a lack of living wisdom that helps make both individual and collective life meaningful.

In traditional cultures, the elders are expected to remember the essential things that everyone else keeps forgetting. After "growing up," a person is supposed to grow down and become rooted deeper in the ground of being, like an old tree that draws from ever deeper resources. In traditional cultures, the elders were considered to be a valuable resource without whose guidance the whole society could lose its way.

Yet in modern life, instead of people growing "older and wiser," people can simply grow older and older. People can live longer and longer without becoming any wiser for it. When there is no genuine growth in growing older, aging can become all about loss. The longer people live the more of life they seem to lose. Instead of developing wise and seasoned "elders" who can help others find meaningful ways to live, modern societies are in danger of producing "olders" who blindly seek ways to hold onto life at any cost.

This can be seen as the problem of the olders vs. the elders. Traditionally, elders carry a greater vision of life because they develop insight into their own lives. The elders are those who found threads of purpose and meaning amidst the illusions and delusions of life. Amidst the inevitable troubles of life, the bubble of the "closed ego" bursts and a deeper, wiser self is born. Such psychological maturity involves a shift from a self-centered life to one of genuine meaning and of greater service to others.

Yet, in a culture where older folks are in the majority and people tend to live longer and longer, there seems to be an increase of fear as well as a loss of wisdom about life and about death. There seems to be a lack of knowing elders who can recall essential things in midst of the great crises troubling both nature and culture. What is the point of living longer if it doesn't mean becoming wiser and being more able to serve something beyond one's little-self?

Aging can involve various levels of memory loss. Alzheimer's disease is a tragic condition for individuals and for entire families. I am not wishing pain or suffering on anyone; however, there is something of a psychological ailment involved, a sense that more and more people are falling out of the story of life even before the end is in sight.

Can the increasing loss of memory be a collective symptom trying to call attention to the deeper issues of sustaining culture and helping nature? Is it possible that the real social security crisis is about recollecting the deeper reasons for living one's life, rather than simply collecting compensation for surviving it? Can life itself be trying to provoke an effort at recalling the deep memories and imagination that form the true inheritance of human kind?

An old idea suggests that the only ones more idealistic than young people are the elders. It's not that the elders naively believe that the great ideals of humanity, peace and justice, healing and compassion, are simply attainable. Rather, the idea is that without a commitment to such ideals a culture simply collapses into political infighting and economic warfare. The gridlock in the nation's capitol may be an increasing national shame, but the grid lock on American imagination may be a greater tragedy in the making.

While the political parties fight over who might be the "adult in the room," there is a desperate need for elders in communities throughout the country. Whereas the '60s were characterized by change brought on by a youth revolution, the current morass may only be changed by an elder awakening. The revolution waiting to happen in this country may involve an awakening to the necessity of the role that elders can play in the great crises facing both culture and nature.

Issues like poverty and joblessness, climate change and sustainability require long-term visions combined with self-sacrifice and genuine courage. Elders are not elected, so the short-term thinking characteristic of ideological politics and winning elections can be superseded. Since the elder part of us accepts the inevitability of death, decisions that truly serve the future become more possible.

Genuine wisdom relaxes hostility, settles common fears and makes inner balance and longer vision more possible. When older folks fail to recommit to the great ideals that sustain the deepest values of human life, they tend to feel more fearful and anxious while also becoming more cynical and self-involved. When older folks act with genuine courage and vision, young people feel encouraged to find and follow their dreams.

Another old idea suggests that a culture falls apart when the dreams of its youth are rejected and the visions of its elders are neglected. This country is moving closer to the kind of lack of vision and lack of wisdom that precipitates such a fall.

I am going to have this played at my funeral. ENJOY!!

Hat Tip: Ronni Bennett at Time Goes By (http://www.timegoesby.net/)
If anyone doubted it, here’s proof that some things definitely improve with age. Sixty-four-year-old Joni Mitchell’s voice is deeper now, more resonant. This new arrangement of an old favorite is richer, smoother and the passing years have invested the lyrics with a new kind of poignancy. [7:17 minutes]

.I've Looked At Both Sides Now by Joni Mitchell


Rows and floes of angel hair
And ice cream castles in the air
And feather canyons evrywhere
Ive looked at clouds that way

But now they only block the sun
They rain and snow on evryone
So many things I would have done
But clouds got in my way
Ive looked at clouds from both sides now
From up and down, and still somehow
Its cloud illusions I recall
I really dont know clouds at all

Moons and junes and ferris wheels
The dizzy dancing way you feel
As evry fairy tale comes real
Ive looked at love that way

But now its just another show
You leave em laughing when you go
And if you care, dont let them know
Dont give yourself away

Ive looked at love from both sides now
From give and take, and still somehow
Its loves illusions I recall
I really dont know love at all

Tears and fears and feeling proud
To say I love you right out loud
Dreams and schemes and circus crowds
Ive looked at life that way

But now old friends are acting strange
They shake their heads, they say Ive changed
Well somethings lost, but somethings gained
In living evry day

Ive looked at life from both sides now
From win and lose and still somehow
Its lifes illusions I recall
I really dont know life at all
Ive looked at life from both sides now
From up and down, and still somehow
Its lifes illusions I recall
I really dont know life at all


This is her 1970 version of the same song.
Listen to the difference in her inflections.

CA and I *Discussing* Politics!!!

The "Fog of Aging"

Monday, February 25, 2008

The Fog of Aging

(The term "fog of war" refers to the uncertainty that descends over a battlefield once fighting begins.) I have two very good friends who recently have had new/different/strange health episodes...that ending up sending them to the emergency room. Now they are being put through a list of medical test....and have entered what I have come to call "The Fog of Aging".....where no one know what went wrong, why, or what to do about it.....an uncertainty has descended over the medical field once their age was taken into consideration. 

In researching their problems I came across David Solie's wonderful blog Aging Parents Insight this week called:Brain Aging

In his blog entry he talks about a new book by Dr. Peter Whitehouse entitled Myth of Alzheimer's: What You Aren't Being Told About Today's Most Dreaded Diagnosis

Apparently, he feels strongly about how the concept of  “normal brain aging” is being abused:

1. It has once again made aging, the natural changes that are programmed into the human life span, a pathological event. The shame of aging has been intensified by the shame of anything less than perfect brain function. There is no middle ground. We are summoned to a war against poor brain behavior at almost any cost. It is a fear that might convince us to “pre-medicate” the normal drift of forgetting names or reduced multi-tasking as a containment strategy.

2. It has created a twenty-first century “leper syndrome” at a time when 125,000,000 adults are struggling to get through the second half of life. Once the first “mental lesion” a change in brain function is detected, the outcast process begins. A flurry of scans, exams, and lab test mark the official entry into the dementia colony.
There are several other good topic's on David Solie's blog: Check It Out.
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Willie Nelson - 1997 - Funny How Time Slips Away

Radiant Texas Storyteller: My GRANDAD

I am going through some old photograps and came across this one of my Grandad.

Aligning with the Rhythms of the Earth: Imbolc

The Shaman Woman in me keeps a very detailed calendar to mark (and ritualize/celebrate) the seasons that represent the natural rhythms of the earth. I also record the Moon cycles in my 'Goddess Book of Moons' that keep me touch with the phases of the Moon, my female body and my *Moon Magic*. As a Virgo, Calendaring also keeps me in touch with my love of Astrology........ which I will share about in another post.
Coming from one of the most fertile valleys of our country, the Imperial Valley in California, , it is only natural that I am very sensitive to the seasons of the year. Where I grew up, our lives were oriented around the rhythms of the year.... as farmers follow the cyclic pattern of planting, tending and harvesting. It was not until my fifties that I began to get back in touch the rhythms of nature. I came to realize how important it is to align with the energy of the seasons aand the moon: it helped me to reconnect with the earth, the stars, and the universe..... and with myself. Although it seems like a simple idea, it has a profound and transformation effect.

For most people this this weekend will mark the playing of the Superbowl!...but perhaps it is just our modern way to celebrate Imbolic (or Candlemas) one of the great cross-quarter days which make up the wheel of the year. Imbolic falls midway between the winter solstice and the spring equinox and in many traditions is considered the beginning of spring.

There are many ways to talk about Imbolc. But I was completly "blown away" by a post describing Imbolc posted by Rain on Rainy day thoughts that I want to share this morning.
She "says it all" and her personal pictures are breathtaking. I hope you will visit her bog and see her work.

From Rain........
Saturday, February 02, 2008
Imbolc
Today is one of four, seasonal Celtic festivals-- Beltane, Lammas,
Samhain, and Imbolc. Typical of our culture to downgrade its
meaning, most know Imbolc better as Groundhog's Day. The
early Christian church renamed it Candelmas (representing
40 days after Jesus's birth, the purification of Mary, and the
presentation of Christ to the temple). Imbolc is also known
as the festival of waxing light-- meaning the days are growing
longer.

It's midway between Winter Solstice and the Spring Equinox.
This is the season where we all look toward the branches to
see if the buds are starting to swell-- or we would if it wasn't
snowing or freezing rain outside. Some call this day Brigid's
Day for the ancient Celtic goddess of water and fire.
**(See:Owl's Wings for more on Bridid's Day)
She [Brigid] presided over smithcraft, poetry and healing--
all forms of sacred fire, inspiration. Her holy flame at Kildare
was tended by nineteen vestals.

"Later, when the worship of the Goddess was disguised as
the worship of the Saint, her priestesses were replaced by nuns."
by Starhawk 2007 and in We'Moon '08.

Basically it is a day for us to think about justice, about what
we want the growing light to bring to our world. One way
to celebrate it is with water and fire. If I was a wiccan,
which I am not, I might gather together with others who had
a desire to see justice and healing grow throughout the world,
and we would bring our water, light the fire and say words
that had meaning to us.My heritage is French Celtic,
something I discovered in the family ancestry many years
after I felt it in my heart.

I have long been drawn to Celtic music and simple rituals,
using natural elements, which add symbolic meaning to my
own intentions both for my personal life and for what I hope
to see manifested in the world. Many of the so-called pagan
ways, have more depth than what some today consider to be
religious but instead seem to be empty of any meaningful
symbols to help us focus on what we most need for ourselves
and others."One by one, in tiny increments, candle by candle,
gesture by effort, wish by prayer, concern by care, we feed
the life-fires of the soul and light the infinite universe, little
by little from within." by Donna Henes 2003 in We'Moon '08

So sometime soon, it's not so important what day (Imbolc can
officially be between January 31st to February 3rd), gather
the water of life and light the fire of intention for change
in the coming year-- meaningful change that makes our own
life and that of others on this earth better-- even though
it might be bit by bit.

Posted by Rain
**(Be sure and go to her site Rainy day thoughts
and see her wonderful personal pictures.)

I hope you have meaningful Imbolc.......and your team wins at the
Super Bowl!
And The Beat Goes On....................................