Ted's interview
“My son Joe gave me a birthday card that described me as a smart, witty, adorable old lady,” says Houston Robertson. “I’ve adopted that as my job title and look forward to my family’s annual performance evaluation."
She’s launched an “Aging as Renaissance” campaign based on both personal discoveries and research. For example: in middle age, people develop competitive values, but seniors can shelve those and opt for community service that helps them reclaim a playful spirit and feelings of self-worth, maintains Robertson, who describes herself as 70-plus.
“You know, older adults are America’s only growing natural resource,” she says. “We aren’t going to bankrupt the nation; we’re enriching it. Think of the volunteer hours, childcare, and advice we provide, plus our taxes and spending on goods and services.”
Her predictions include significant impacts from older adults in the workplace who value purpose and community more than success. The baby boomers’ encore careers will become vital as well. An elder culture will replace the youth culture most marketing people target today.
“Stereotypes of older adults will change as they develop more playful spirits, provide increasing help to their communities, and impart their wisdom to younger generations,” Robertson says. With longer life spans “You are free to reclaim the person residing in your heart, and value yourself for who you are, not for what you did or failed to do.”
In addition to the job description her son provided, she tells audiences, “I am also a good neighbor, a funny lady, a sexy woman and a political animal.” This “job” description, as she likes to call it, didn’t come easily. As the daughter of a Nebraska minister, then the wife of a college professor, “I believed I was a failure in the real world,” she says. After her divorce, she felt humiliation in finding work in San Francisco with only P.T.A., kitchen chores, and some community leadership experience for credentials. She passed a typing test and worked for a bank in the economics department.
“At the age of 47 I quit work and became Ribbons the Clown on the streets of San Francisco,” she says. The career change freed her inhibitions and opened doors for the performance activity she now favors. She re-entered the workplace and handled employee and benefit assignments for a publishing house until retiring in 2001.
Formerly Barbara H. Robertson, she began using her middle name professionally ten years ago when she trained for voiceover acting. That fizzled, but she kept Houston for her first name. “I hope it makes me unforgettable as an aging for renaissance advocate.”
“I’d given some talks at my Toastmasters Club on aging and my experience of it,” she says. “It dawned on me that I’d developed enough material to become a public advocate.” She’s presenting her message to forums, senior centers, women’s clubs, and classes for Diablo Valley College’s Emeritus College. Cathie Ramey, a program specialist for the Walnut Creek Seniors Club, says, “The members love her.”
Her web site, http://AgingAsRenaissance.blogspot.com includes her favorite saying: “Model your life after the oak tree. It s most productive years begin at age 50.”
Comments