The Why, What, Where,  and How of “diyAgingINFO”

Why spend time looking into, studying, and chronicling our plunge into elderhood? And I answer with another question: ” Why not? ” Combined we have, as I write this,   156 years worth of experiences and thoughts, careers in education, science, music and entrepreneurship. We’ve raised a family we are immensely proud of – and our grandkids too. We’ve been active in the arts and many community affairs.

And now we are in this grand experiment of aging, full of transitions, surprises, joy and sorrow. So far we are enjoying the run! Why not chronical some of our and others experiences – from a more or less positive point of view? Why not talk about some of our do-it-yourself tendencies in an era where through advertising and “our own good” we are strongly counselled to hand over our selves over to the experts? Why not try to surmount our tendencies toward perfection which make it very difficult to press the “publish” button before we have achieved an impossible perfection?

WHY NOT!

We’ll start with some background of how I see my own stages of elderhood.

My stages of elderhood

At 60 I didn’t understand what this getting older was all about. I skied, I hiked, I romanced, I worked, I danced.

At 70, I still skied, and hiked, and danced, but everything at a bit slower pace. Many, especially male, friends started dying – a sad eye opener to my own mortality.

At 80  my knees limit my hiking, have stopped my skiing. Romancing is a lot of effort. There is a definite feeling of being older than most, and a feeling of appreciation when younger folks accept Susan and me in their activities as a peer instead of a relic.

At 90? I wonder. we know people in their 90’s who are active and enthusiastic. That’s where we hope to be. We also see the frailness of those in their 90’s, the need for help, even when their spirit of independence is soaring.

The grand aging experience experiment

I’m involved in this aging experiment. I find it fascinating, strangely satisfying and enjoyable, despite the many needed adaptations, and curious in my acceptance of the mystery of the future.
I find it inspiring to know, and to read about the many people who have and are living very active, fulfilling lives at far advanced ages.

Curiosity endures

If anything, my curiosity for “just knowing” has expanded as I stack up the years. Alexa and her access to the internet is a joy, my skill at researching topics with the vast amount of information available right from my desktop computer is a continuous source of satisfaction. I find sanctuary roaming the library, scanning the ever-changing magazines, picking a section in the reference area and just roaming through the books, browsing well-run bookstores and marvelling at their selections of enticing books. I know I can’t read them all, but I can scan many of them.

For years I have kept a log of my findings, my activities, my research into -whatever. It’s not a job, it’s a need. It’s like when a writer is asked why do you write? Many respond, “I write because I must.” Ditto for me and my “philo-research.”

I’m an Intransigent do-it-yourselfer

I’m also a do it-your-selfer. Over the years I and my especially supportive spouse, have engaged in many projects. We’ve designed and hand built two houses, we started and ran a local, well-respected business, now under our son’s tutelage which just celebrated 45 years of operation. We grow and process a lot of our own food. We both are active in our own are creative endeavours. We slow travel for a month or more in most years in our, by today’s standards, tiny Toyota Tacoma pickup camper. We designed and coordinated a Burning Man festival theme camp for a number of years. We like dancing and tend toward the diy freedoms of improvisation.

Shy but social

We’re socially active, but rather shy, which gives us the energy of groups without the need to conform to undesirable, to us, group norms.

Born to Frugality

We’re the last of the great depression era babies. We were born into an era of needed furgality. We continue a frugal, just enough, life style because it feels right to us.

And now, by any standard, we have joined, been thrust, to the ranks of elder-hood. As we look over this scene of elders we find their is a lot of research going on for those elders who have been struck by the ails of elder-hood. But not much for those of us who are still very active and wish to continue this way – till we can’t.

Let’s study the heroes of aging – the “paragons”

I have often wondered why the medical profession is so intent on studying those who are sick. Why not study those that are well? It seems gerontology, the study of aging, continues the spirit of studying and compiling statistics for those  in need without bothering to study those who seem to be doing well..

Why not, I wondered, promote the study of wellness in aging through my and Susan’s own experiences? We expect, we too, will succumb eventually to the scourges, debilitations, and indignities of truly old age, but till that happens we want to stay as active, lively, enthusiastic, and full of vigor, as possible.

Our chronicle of aging begins.

Why not chronicle our activities, our research, our joys, and our disappointments, our set backs and our accomplishments, in this most fascinating, individualized, experiment of a life time – aging.

We hope you find topics of interest,and expand upon them in the comments, and perhaps send us ideas, topics for research, or your own essays of your ideas and experiences.

James (the I in the writing)

and

Susan (the “us”, “we” and “our” in the writing)