As We Age - We React to Life's Challenges Differently

Agism is described by the American Psychological Association as the last acceptable prejudice. They say Ageism is a stubborn prejudice. 

"People of all ages show bias against older adults, though the way they express it changes over the lifespan".

I enjoy making products and creating artworks that express jokes because this practice makes it so much easier to fight back against against prejudice in a non-confrontational way. 

Older people who have a wealth of experience have so much to offer. 

I like this joke, (one of the jokes provided for us by RedBubble) because it captures how fruitful the wisdom of old age can be. I created the cartoon in DreamUp and enhanced it in Photoshop  

Bourdieu liked to talk about HABITUS and by this he meant the way a person of a particular background perceives and reacts to the world.

Some people also call this sphere of influence a 'field'.  We can't always control who we have to work with, or who we associate with, but we can control our reaction to whatever comes our way. 

Some people like to call older people 'lovey' and 'lovely' (among other things). Sometimes older people perceive this as friendly and other times it comes across as patronising. 

Language which refers to people unknown to you in terms of endearment ('My dear', 'Darling', 'Love', and 'Dear' when used in speech) is patronising, condescending and promotes trivialisation. These forms should not be used unless the interlocutor has a close relationship with the speaker. (European Institute for Gender Equality, 2024) How I deal with this phenomenon is to keep my mind set firmly on my goals. I can even laugh inside and imagine myself off on my Grey Nomad travels, knowing that the people patronising me won't be going on those jaunts anytime soon. 

But what should you say when someone says, “You’re old”? 

Hasidism is a mystical Jewish movement founded in Poland in the 18th century in reaction to the rigid academicism of rabbinical Judaism. 

I like this quote because it reflects how I think about my life thus far. I have gotten to a stage in the road where I can retire out and turn to art.

Artistic creation is not just a way to make a living, and a way to look back into life's events it is a nomadic venture that can come with me as I travel as a grey nomad. 

Leaning back on my artistic education I am getting ready to enjoy thetime of harvest.

It has come to my attention that Charles Darwin didn't actually say "The one who is best able to adapt survives". 

Instead it was Leon Megginson, a prolific author of textbooks and a prominent teacher in management studies,‘I learned a lot of good things from Leon Megginson’s classes. One of the most valuable things I heard him say went something like this: Charles Darwin didn’t say that only the strong survive. What he said was that those who survive are the ones who most accurately perceive their environment and successfully adapt to it.’

Megginson had an interest in the theories of evolution through ‘mutual aid’ advocated by the Russian zoologist Karl Kessler, and his statements about Darwin clearly reflect that.

This is not a controversy, it does seem that people who are able to accurately perceive their environment and successfully adapt to it are going to have a healthy view when aging. 

Successful aging is multidimensional, encompassing the avoidance of disease and disability, the maintenance of high physical and cognitive function, and sustained engagement in social and productive activities. Research has identified factors predictive of success in these critical domains. The stage is set for intervention studies to enhance the proportion of our population aging successfully. 

There are two artists who have influenced me throughout my artistic career. 

Georgia O'Keeffe and Frida Kahlo.

When I have my next exhibition you will see that I have emulated both women in a variety of ways. 

 Like Frida Kahlo, I am taking a good hard look at life. Not just the good bits, and the fluffy selfies but the hard bits, the hot bits and the "hang on 'til you get through this stage' bits. 

But as well, like Georgia O'Keeffe, I want to take a close up look at nature.

I am interested in the healing properties of plants, and in studying the interactions and interdependencies of organic gardening.

 What does docile mean? That is the first question.

At times old age can bring with it fear and timidity. The definition of docile means "ready to accept control or instruction; submissive". (Oxford Languages). 

Older people can be marginalised, but probably nomads because they want to be. Over the next few years I will be looking at the process of aging and journaling my own choices over that period of time with regards freedom, empowerment and marginality.

I hope you can join me on that journey.

COTA Australia (2024) Ageism and Discrimination.  

Darwin Correspondence Project. The evolution of a misquotation. Accessed Mar, 2024.

Murphy.J. (2024) Clitoria Ternatea is Called the Blue Butterfly and Darwin-Pea

Rowe JW, Kahn RL. Successful aging. Gerontologist. 1997 Aug;37(4):433-40. doi: 10.1093/geront/37.4.433. PMID: 9279031.

Vemuri. C. (2008) Foucault-Lyricism of marginality. Accessed March 2

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