Straying away from my search for tech toys that can help us get through the aging process as comfortably as possible, I thought I would wish you all a happy 4th of July and spend a few moments on what it really means to be a senior in the United States of America in 2009.
I believe that if you made a list of what 'seniors' need to have a happy and productive Third Age, that it would look remarkably similar to a list of what everybody needs: Being part of a family, a community, a network of friends. Being free from continuous worry about finances or health. Being free from chronic pain, and free from dependence on others. Feeling productive, like someone who contributes to the greater society. Feeling that what you know is of some value to the lives of others. And perhaps most important, having someone to love in your life, and feeling that someone loves you.
There isn't a child, a teenager or younger adult that wouldn't check these off a list of important things to have. So why should we expect seniors to be different? Are there important things I didn't mention? (Tell me in the comments...)
If not, if that's really the list of big things, then the only thing that makes seniors different is that seniors need a little extra help in getting some of those things done. Seniors are not (all) handicapped, but there's a lesson they can learn from those who are challenged by disabilities. Nobody thought worse of John Wayne or Clint Eastwood because they used a stirrup to help them mount a horse. They used one tool to help them use another tool.
That's one reason I enjoy bringing you reports of new tools that can help. Because that's what makes human society different from ants and bees--what we do differently is try new tools and new arrangements and hang on to what works, sometimes discarding older ways of doing things as part of the process.
Seniors have something that is in very short supply in this modern world, and it is something that is greatly needed, if not always recognised. Seniors have experienced change. If you look at the resumes of CEOs and job listings for senior executives, experience of managing change (which basically means going through change and surviving it) is a key criterion for success in this world. And seniors by definition have done it in spades.
It might seem a bit cartoonish to picture yourself as a specialist who requires specialist tools to bring your experience to bear on solving the important problems of life. But from the outside perspective of someone who hopes to be a productive senior in the not-too-distant future, it doesn't seem that far from the truth.
Happy 4th to you all.
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