Trending: Disrupting Aging and Ageism, Part 1
As I continue exploring ideas for The Relevancy Project, and researching ways and examples of how we Baby Boomers can “live a full life our whole lives,” I am starting to see more and more out there about “disrupting” aging and ageism. Clearly, Boomers are not going quietly into retirement and then their golden years, but instead are finding ways to fight society’s negative perceptions of aging and any attempt to pigeonhole us as geezers in decline, whose worth and vitality is waning. But…would you have expected anything less from Our Generation?
Here is a great example:
#Disrupt Aging, from AARP
In an earlier blog I mentioned I was a bit put off when I returned from celebrating my 50th birthday in Vegas, to find the AARP card waiting for me in the held mail. I guess I had my own unflattering notions about AARP, like it was an unwelcome sign that I was getting old and all that implied. How wrong I was. I LOVE AARP! I love their philosophy and the great benefits of membership, and especially all the resources on the site. #DisruptAging is one of my latest findings.
According to the description at AARP:
DisruptAging.aarp is a place to have a new conversation — often funny, sometimes raw, always honest — about how we want to live and age.
We will celebrate all those who own their age. We will hold a mirror up to the ageist beliefs around us. We will feature new ways of living and aging, and the products and solutions that make this possible.We will partner with companies and communities to create new solutions that work for all of us at any age. And we will get this story — our story — out there. It’s time to change the conversation.
Disrupt Aging is also the name of the book written by AARP CEO Jo Ann Jenkins and you owe it to yourself to read it cover to cover. It embodies a movement that speaks to the best of our generation. There is so much ahead, if you are open to the possibilities and just go exploring a little bit. Why should we retire and rest (unless we really want to)? Author Jenkins lays out concepts to retool your life, from thinking differently about aging and realizing all that is possible, and then practical advice for making it happen such as taking control of your health and finances and using your vast store of life and work experiences to make your retooled dreams a reality. She talks about a “New Vision for Living and Aging in America.” A new vision. Doesn’t that sound wonderful?
If you follow the link to the website and hit the tab Join Us, you will find 4 options to participate. 1 enables you to join the conversation by sharing your own story and read about how other are disrupting aging—like the 89-year-old Holocaust survivor singing the National Anthem for her favorite team, the Detroit Tigers. 2 is the sign-up for the newsletter and e-mail list so you will be kept updated on this latest AARP project. 3 is Get Advice: yes, practical info on how to “disrupt” your own aging. (Tip #1: Own Your Age)….And 4 allows you to follow all social media, filled with stories and conversation.
And this is a conversation worth joining. Are you a disruptor?
Next: Trending: Disrupting Aging and Ageism, Part 2: Dr. Bill Thomas Age of Disruption Tour
By Cherie R. Blazer
Cherie is a late bloomer Boomer, born at the tail end of the Boomer generation. She was playing with Barbies while her older sisters marched on Washington and fought for equal rights, but watched and learned. Now she is an empty nester with a whole new future to explore and share at www.BoomerConnections.com! As “Philosopher in Chief” Cherie merely wants to change the world with this blog: to encourage those of us in the midst of our “second act” to look at life with new eyes, open to a life filled with new beginnings rather than endings, and to apply all we have learned to a way of living that is more meaningful and profound. There is SO much to live for, up until the very end.
If we are blessed we are all going to age, but we all do not have to become “old”. Life is about change and perspective. In other words how we embrace our changes as well as how we fight to keep others from defining us. Great blog!
Thank you Deborah! You have summarized our philosophy here at Boomer Connections!