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Senior Citizen or Elder?
Since the coining of the term "senior citizen" I have always wondered why our culture has not used the term "elder" instead. The American Heritage Dictionary defines senior citizen as:
"A person of or over the age of retirement."
That's it. That's all. Nothing more. Not much to that definition. Rather bland and nondescript. Does that mean that if the age of retirement is raised to 70 years one will not be a senior citizen until 70 years old? What about those fortunate enough to retire at 60 or 50? And what if someone chooses never to retire? The term senior citizen does not tell us of the years of experience or wisdom older adults have accumulated that are of benefit to society. It does not convey the sense of tradition and learning that older adults can offer.The term "elder" is much richer and more meaningful. Elder, when used as an adjective is defined as:
- Greater than another in age or seniority.
- Superior to another or others, as in rank.
When the word is used as a noun elder means:
- An older person. An older, influential member of a family, tribe, or community.
- One of the governing officers of a church, often having pastoral or teaching functions.
Elder is respectful. Elder gives deference to the years of accumulated knowledge and wisdom that comes from living. As we mature from our "youth culture" we have an opportunity to build a strong foundation based upon the wisdom of age. Being an elder invokes a sense of strength and tradition. Throughout history elders have been the conveyers of tradition, culture and values. It is the elder who teaches about who we are, where we come from and what the mistakes of the past have been. It is the elder council that has traditionally been the source of stability and decision making in more "primitive" cultures. The elders had a place of honor, a status that was recognized as important to the healthy functioning of the family and community.
In our culture growing old has been equated to being weak, ineffectual, "in the way" or to be "put away." I am always amazed at what I learn from even the frailest of elders. Only in the last 50 years or so have the old been treated as useless. We will all be old, if we are fortunate, and we will carry with us the lessons of our lifetime.
Rabbi Zalman Schachter had this to say in defining elders: "An elder is a person who is still growing, still a learner, still with potential and whose life continues to have within it promise for, and connection to, the future. An elder is still in pursuit of happiness, joy, and pleasure, and her or his birthright to these remains intact. Moreover, an elder is a person who deserves respect and honor and whose work it is to synthesize wisdom from long life experience and formulate this into a legacy for future generations." (Schachter: From Age-ing to Sage-ing, Pg. 271)
life is a garden,
not a road
we enter and exit
through the same gate
wandering,
where we go matters less
than what we notice
- Bokonon
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GENERATIONS LEARNING TOGETHER
In my brief lifetime (seventy-three years) I have touched upon whole epochs of human history, from the old folks of my childhood who remembered the world soon after the U.S. Civil War to the young men who conquered it all in WW II; from the joy of one decade to the agony of the next, from the fear of one decade to the fantasy of the next; 30s, 40s, 50s, 60s, and so on. I have witnessed the crawl of civilization. I have seen the ashes of what once mattered and shared the dream of what might be.
I am alive and evolving at the same time the planet is alive and evolving, at the same time you (and everyone else) are alive and evolving; personal history, family history, cultural history, biological history, they merge and emerge. We are all on the same ride at different times, in different places at the same time. We live with our questions and try to inhabit our inadequate answers. And we continue to fear each other because of our intense need for each other, not only for love, but also for hate.
At this moment in our culture’s history, when science and technology have granted us a greater than ever before capacity for planetary destruction, our primal tendencies toward violent resolution have made us both stupendously vulnerable and stupendously lethal. As we unconsciously succumb to the ancient antagonisms of race and religion, and the profits of war continue to influence political decisions, we increasingly invite the possibility of our own annihilation.
Now, in this early 21st century, we are also faced with an historically unique compression of consciousness. Due to the recent acceleration of ever more rapidly changing technologies, each generation has had its coming of age in a substantially different world. This has created generational gaps of new and unknown proportions. And, as we adapt and change to the tune of successive world views, the habits and language of preceding generations become antiquated almost as soon as established. We are so deluged with the products and mind-sets of a technologically driven, worldwide consumer culture, that we hardly have time to consider the ramifications of what is happening to us.
There was a time when my grandparents could maintain and repair their daily technologies mostly on their own, when the knowledge and skill sets they lived by were of practical value to their children and grandchildren. These skill sets were usually passed on within meaningful family relationships and often could even lead to gainful employment for the young. For most societies in the developed world however (and many third world countries as well), this is no longer the case. Even though personal family relationships are still based on traditional roles and assumptions, the tools and toys of accelerated technology have profoundly widened the gap between generations.
And now, with the addition of thirty plus years of life expectancy in just the past century, concurrent with an astonishing increase in the number of aging citizens, we are essentially extending another whole generation into the mix. This could move us toward a surprisingly new and more meaningful "completion" of the human life course, on a scale never before imagined. And what this will mean to generational interaction remains to be seen. I choose to believe it will have a profoundly positive affect on the whole spectrum of life stage development, redefining and remodeling all the generations at the same time. Nevertheless, even though this will open the door to greater intergenerational understanding, habits of the past will still leave us with a long way to go.
Elders make the mistake of assuming the young know little because of their lack of experience, unaware that youthful brilliance sees the world exactly as it is, through a clear lens of possibility unencumbered by the judgments of past experience. Youth makes the mistake of assuming that the past experience of elders is trivial and irrelevant because of their lack of knowledge about current trends and technologies, unaware of the wisdom gained through years of problem solving and painful learning. Imagine bringing the strength of both these generations together as they discover the possibility of actually learning something from one another.
"We are not what we know,
but what we are willing to learn."The above quote, from Mary Catherine Bateson (daughter of Margaret Mead and Gregory Bateson), expresses the essential spirit of the“Intergenerational Learning Community” I have been trying to promote at the local level. A further statement of hers brings the point home: “We are convening a new reality when we invite the generations to sit down together and apply their collective intelligence to issues of common concern.”
My proposal is to bring generations together - high school, college, professional, middle aged, elder - in open and honest (but respectful and compassionate) group discussions on a variety of current issues. I believe that such conversations, open to the divergent and necessary viewpoints of different generations, will yield amazing results. I also believe it is the gift of each generation to have a more coherent view of another generation’s shadow, with profoundly useful insights just waiting to be heard. The challenge of course will be in a willingness to listen.
As idealistic as all this may sound, consider the possibility of discovering a truly holistic human perspective, where the viewpoints of every generation, the “collective intelligence,” are equally validated and included. Historically, elders were not only the repositories of wealth and wisdom, but were also responsible for the continuity of tradition and cultural values. Regardless of enormous practical advantages since the Industrial Revolution, how does a species grounded in the authority of generational relationships deal with the gradual disintegration of this long standing traditional system?
Like it or not, we are now engaged in an automatic, unconscious and mysterious process of evolving major new adjustments, if not a whole new order. The challenge now is to bring this process into greater consciousness, from the point of view of all generations, so that we may explore and influence the future for the benefit of all concerned.
With Care, Rabon Saip
Contact Me
INTERGENERATIONAL PLAYDAY IN THE PARK
Although few of us seem to know about it, the first Sunday in October has been officially designated as Intergeneration Day. Since learning about this, my imagination has focused on a possible event here in Sonoma County that continues to hold my attention: an Intergenerational PlayDay In The Park; a celebration for all generations; a time for children and elders to explore and enjoy common ground; a time for food, music, games and stories; a time for our sense of family to extend beyond those we already know.
So now I would like to cordially invite your imagination. It will take a lot of energy, but I think we’ll want to slowly and "organically" grow this day, allowing ample time for the message to spread and those who want to be involved to organize their participation. We’ll be looking for musicians, story tellers, elders with memories of old fashioned fun and games; teachers, elders and school children who might want to perform - anyone who desires to participate with grandparents, parents and children in celebration of our belonging together in wholesome community.
“Creating an age-integrated community leads to a healthy community, where the strengths of one generation meet the needs of another. An appreciation for cultural heritages, traditions, histories and values would be evident. Age-integration also increases community awareness about issues that affect each generation. There is a rising intergeneration revolution happening in our culture. Increased recognition of how age-integration can help solve some of the serious social problems our children are facing is growing steadily. Intentional intergenerational connections are being made and are combating the segregation and isolation of different generations.” ---From the IG Day Web Site - Link Below
National Intergeneration Day -
Information about National Intergeneration Day.
Generations United -
Provides resources and networking for US
organizations promoting intergenerational
strategies, programs, and policies.
Generations Together -
Seeks to promote intergenerational activity as a
positive force in society, as a professional field,
and as a rewarding area of academic inquiry.
A program of the University of Pittsburg.
Generations Incorporated -
Nonprofit organization committed to
intergenerational awareness through clubs,
after school and other programs.
Intergenerational Programs and Aging -
Program developed at Penn State aims to
increase cooperation, interaction, or exchange
between any two generations.
Creating an Intergenerational Ripple
Around the World
A Project of The Shambhala Institute
for Authentic Leadership
Intergenerational Communication
Guidelines for The Process of Getting Acquainted
Assessing Intergenerational Inquiry:
Content and Impact
A Project of Imagine Chicago, a Nonprofit
organization working with individuals
and community groups for civic improvement.
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