Many of us assume that once we hit a certain age, our best years are behind us. In fact, there are plenty of examples of folk throughout history (and right up to the present day) who only really hit their stride and celebrate their greatest triumphs much later in life.
Indeed, type into Google ‘famous accomplishments made late in life’ and you’ll be bombarded with names: renowned American folk artist Grandma Moses who first came to public attention at age 80; Rachel Carson who was 55 when she published Silent Spring, a landmark tome in the history of the environment movement; Claude Monet who was still painting like a genius in his 70s and 80s, and as we speak, powerhouse Hilary Rodham Clinton who will be 69 years old if she win’s the 2016 US Presidential election.
Nevertheless, what writer and medical sociologist Anne Karpf calls a sort of ‘gerontophobia’ has blossomed in our society, whereby “ageing has become so toxic and demonised and so associated with lots of negative things like frailty and dependency,” that she felt compelled to write her latest book How to Age in an attempt to rebut these very unhelpful stereotypes. Karpf, who is being interviewed here argues that instead we need to learn to celebrate our ageing selves, to get into the habit of saying “‘old and beautiful, not ‘old but beautiful.’”
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Category(s):Aging & Geriatric Issues
Source material from Think
