The new and ageing !

The differ stages of flowering to flowers ready to fade away are visible in the garden. 

That represents the continuum of life from the new to the ageing process of flowers!

When I watched the ageing flowers with the petals showing signs of dullness and dryness, it occurred to me that they are about to fade away after having been swaying in the wind and staying vibrant and colourful. 

The last  photo is striking. The ageing flower is accompanied by two flowers in their opening stages. 

That symbolises the transitions in life! The young becomes older; the new arrives to continue the flowering!

In the book, The making of a modern elder, wisdom at work, Stay Relevant in the Second Half of Your career,  the author Chip Conley quotes Cicero (106-43 BC) : 'It is not by muscle, speed, or physical dexterity that great things are achieved, but by reflection, force of character and judgement; in these qualities old age is usually not only not poorer, but it is even richer"!

In the section on What's your vintage on page 3 of the book,  he builds an argument in favour of modern elders as those 'growing whole rather than growing old' (p7). 

"May be the elder's role is to accelerate the process of self awareness in younger generations as power is bering thrust on them so quickly, before they are fully baked. Rather than older generations being less valuable due to lack of specialised knowledge with an ever increasing speed of obsolesce, may be older generations are more valuable because they can help balance that narrow speciality thinking with the ability to see the bigger picture"(p9).

" And yet, it is the perfect time for elders to make a come back, thanks to thier ability to synthesise wise, empathetic solutions that no robot could ever imagine. In an era of machine intelligence, emotional intelligence and empathy-something older people have in spades- are more valuable than ever. The more high-tech we become, the more high touch we desire" (p11).

The ageing flowers appear to be ready to fade away, but what they remind us is the full life they lived ! Their presence, having been ornamental in a garden,  is an authentic history ! 

Now Chip Conley is proposing a new role for elders- to bring wholeness, emotional intelligence and empathy at work place. He attributes Good judgement, Unvarnished insight, Emotional intelligence, Holistic thinking and Stewardship as the gifts an elder can bring at work place (p 16-18). 

The quote he has from Edith Wharton in page I9 on, How you become a modern elder,  is worth pondering upon: " In spite of illness, in spite even of the arch-enemy, sorrow, one can remain alive long past the usual date of disintegration, if one is unafraid of change, insatiable in intellectual curiosity, interested in big things, and happy in small ways". 

Yes, the rose flowers now ageing and about to fade away, were present in the garden vibrant and colour for a season!  

A modern elder is such a person with a history and biography that would still resonate in human hearts because he or she lived to show the way for others to walk in to continue !

M.C.Mathew ( text and photo)