07_08_2020

The Tasks of Eldering

In keeping with the theme of my Blog – Still Evolving, I have been diving into online course offerings that in some way touch on my interest in continuing to evolve and grow.  Enrolling in online offerings is evidence of my own evolution.  Prior to the social distancing restrictions now in place to help control the spread of the virus, I was accustomed to attending such events in person.

A friend sent me a link to an online workshop led by Jean Shinoda Bolen, an author I was introduced to several years back through her book, Goddesses in Older Women: Archetypes in Women Over 50.  Fortunately, the online session only lasted for a couple of hours, which gave me a “soft” introduction to online work.

And, I have discovered that once you get connected through one of these organizations with online offerings, you begin receiving notices about other related work that you can pursue online.  The organization, https://charterforcompassion.org/,  is a good starting place if you want to begin learning about what offerings are available that might be of interest to you.

As I was exploring the above website, I found a four-week online course that I am now enrolled in.  The course title, “Growing Whole, Not Old: Aging Wisely in the Pandemic Age,” caught my attention.  The course materials included a brief outline of the topics that would be covered in each of the four weeks.  The price is very reasonable as I was able to enroll for the small fee of $40.00.

A lot of the course content appears to be based on the work of Zalman Schachter-Shalomi, and because I am a glutton for diving into topics that interest me, I ordered his book, From AGE-ING to SAGE-ING: A Revolutionary Approach to Growing Older.  I love thinking about and learning more about broadening my understanding of the aging process.  Like most of us, I have not had the gift of wise elders in my life who could serve as positive role models and as guides in the aging process.

From other readings and work I have done, I am finding a common theme in much of the work that is exploring what we can look forward to in the later stages of our lives.  In my graduate studies, I had the good fortune to take several courses on Human Development, and I was introduced to the work of Eric H. Erickson.  His book, The Life Cycle Completed, lays out the progressive stages of human development.  I find his premise that we are able to circle back to earlier stages of our development and address issues that were unresolved at those stages so that we can more fully participate and enjoy our current stage of life.

I find Erickson’s description of each stage of the life cycle interesting and apropos, and I am particularly drawn to his later stages that focus on Generativity and Integrity.  These stages offer us as we age the opportunity to commit to a life review.  I am actually teaching courses designed to assist myself and others in completing a life review.  I refer to the process as Composing Your Own Narrative.  The course involves identifying themes in your life that lead to creating your narrative arc, an overarching theme that ties together and gives meaning to your life.

This work is ongoing as once the process is begun, more insights begin to surface and add depth to the composite picture of your life.  Two other authors who come to similar conclusions as Erickson include Richard Rohr who wrote Falling Upward: A Spirituality for the Two Halves of Life and David Brooks’ work, The Second Mountain: The Quest for a Moral Life.

I find it interesting that these insights about aging all contain some reference to ideas that can be incorporated into the phrase spirituality-seeking.  The work in the second half of our lives has more to do with searching for meaning and reflecting on why our lives matter.  Zalman’s approach as I am learning in the online course – and I am only in the second week of lessons – coins the phrase “spiritual eldering.”

He defines this concept as one that deals with developing contemplative skills, harvesting one’s life, leaving a legacy for the future, and preparing for death.  Zalman shies away from using the term – senior, as he sees it as a static state.  By use of the gerund “eldering” instead, we gain a sense that we have the ability to continue to grow and evolve even as we age.

Later stages of our lives offer us many opportunities to shed beliefs and practices and the ways we spend our time that do not serve us well.  Access to gaining greater insights begins with activities that increase our consciousness and awareness.  Practices like meditation, yoga, walking, mindfulness work, along with other activities that let us experience a level of quietness so that insights might surface.

Zalman offers a great quote that captures the keystone of spiritual eldering:  “When extended life span is not matched with extended awareness, the booster rocket of consciousness doesn’t propel the space capsule into orbit around the Earth.”   Spiritual eldering provides the booster rocket for consciousness.

We are fortunate to live in these times when there is increasing awareness of ways in which we can meaningfully engage in the later years of our life.  And we are at a time in our country’s evolution when we are desperately in need of the wisdom of wise and thoughtful elders.  I am continuing to read columnists that I respect write about how our country has lost its soul.  “Today a growing number of people are dedicating their elder years to the task of spiritual unfoldment….As the idea catches on, this work promises to restore older adults to positions of reverence and authority as we seed our culture with prototypes of the ‘possible sage.’ At this critical time in the history of our planet, we can scarcely imagine the benefits that spiritual eldering holds for healing the family, renewing political life, and restoring the Earth to ecological health.” (Zalman, p.51)

If you are worried that you do not have meaningful work to engage you as you age, may I suggest that you do some exploring of the writers’ works referenced herein.  Erikson named the later stages of life well: GENERATIVITY, defined as a concern for people besides self and family that usually develops later in life: a need to nurture and guide younger people and contribute to the next generation.

This meaningful work opens one’s life to wonderful opportunities to deepen connections and experience the resonance of lasting joy.