Aging Boot Camp

By Nancy M. Hall

My musings are from several events which I attended recently. As is my  custom, I usually try to find a way to see that there is a connection. You see, I have decided that  one of my “things” is connecting ideas, people, people with resources. The first event was viewing a video by Ken Dychtwarld of AGE WAVE, fame. The video was about Transforming retirement: Timing, Roles, Funding , Challenges, Opportunities and New Purpose. I won’t try to recapture all of it, however. We are familiar with Erik Erickson’s psychosocial development stages. Here Ken talks about the stages of retirement. First, imagination which usually starts about 15 years out. So baby boomers , have you started yet? AARP has named one of its programs “Re-image”. Secondly, there is anticipation, usually a happiness thing. Thirdly, there is liberation, on retirement day. We see all types  of office parties  It is perhaps the fourth and fifth stage which may cause more anst-re-orientation. Who do I want to be now? It is time for have fun again, to open a new chapter in life, to  learn, create. It is not just a time to not just live longer and watch tv. A flexible retirement is the new ideal. The fifth stage is time is reconciliation, a time to build a legacy.1

The other event is an Aging Boot Camp for new persons in the field of services to seniors.  When we think of boot camp, we usually think of recruits being given the works, even as in the military, an attempt to drub out those who cannot make the grade. I don’t think the intent of the aging boot camp was to get rid of anyone. My role was to inform people of what my experiences had been  in the field and how I had been advocating. Of course I brought in the subject of encouraging seniors to be creative as an outlet. My thinking now is that there is no one model for how one deals with aging. As the Eriksons reached their 80′s they realized that the developmental scheme they had put together did not include those tasks which they were facing. So it was Joan who completed the ninth stage after her husband died. Joan used weaving as a medium for pulling together her life experiences, making sense of them and finding peace. At my age, I realize that I may be facing some new tasks. Stay tuned. I hope that something in this edition has given you leeway to feel and think about your own aging. What stage are you in? What developmental tasks do you believe you still need to deal with? Let’s talk. People hesitate to discuss their own aging; I believe it is something we need to do which would be beneficial to us.

I am nancappy@msn.com

1 Video by Ken Dychtwald(See title above)