Tuesday, January 29, 2013

News Roundup

"For the unlearned, old age is winter; for the learned, it is the season of harvest."-- Traditional saying from the Hasidim

Wow, the articles on various aspects of aging are proliferating, with the New York Times bringing forth quite a bouquet of them. I imagine this is a trend that will continue, because after all we are in the midst of an age wave, called even more poetically a silver tsunami.

Anyway, here are a few of the articles that have caught my attention recently.

Here's a delightful article on silver-haired women, some of whom flaunted their natural hair on a Silver Sisters Strut in Times Square. Silver hair is becoming more accepted, though we still have a way to go on that score. For a lot of women, and for men too, coloring their hair still seems like a necessary procedure.

There was another wonderful article in the New York Times. It is the story of a late life romance. Beautifully written, touching and well worth the read.

The San Francisco Chronicle ran a review of The Quartet, one of several new films about aging.
The Quartet appears to be much more lively than Amour, whose focus is the decline and death of a beloved wife. I want to see both of these movies, which are jam-packed with great actors and thoughtful material.

Back to the New York Times and an opinion piece by Tim Kreider. Kreider explores our jaunty way of facing aging, avoiding sadness. I love this quote from the piece.

"Segregating the old and the sick enables a fantasy, as baseless as the fantasy of capitalism’s endless expansion, of youth and health as eternal, in which old age can seem to be an inexplicably bad lifestyle choice, like eating junk food or buying a minivan, that you can avoid if you’re well-educated or hip enough."

Finally, a touching article from the New York Times New Old Age blog about a group of long time friends and how they chose to support one friend as she developed Alzheimer's. It is wonderful to read some of these positive articles about aging and how people are responding to it.

Paradigm shift! It's happening and it's about time!





3 comments:

  1. I do like this post! Especially like the quote, "For the unlearned, old age is winter; for the learned, it is the season of harvest."-- barbara

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  2. When I opted to let my hair go natural at around 60, I did it because dying wasn't really as flattering. It never looked right. Then with long hair it seemed weird to color it as though I was trying to fool people about my age. When I see other long-haired women with white, silver or gray hair, it's like there is a sisterhood and we often smile at each other. I see a lot of it in Oregon, less in Arizona when I was down there.

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  3. I don't remember when I let my hair turn its natural silver color. Sometime in my 50s....When I look back at photos with my hair colored, I agree Rain, it seemed quite unnatural. I love seeing women with long silver hair--and yes, there are many in Oregon.

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