In the Wilds: 10/12/17

Our generation did everything in our power to gain control over our circumstances, individual as well as societal. Is this true of every generation? If so, the old have been, are and will always be doomed to fall short.  But disappointment, as it turns out, can provide rich ground for surprises.

In this, a moment of reckoning, I am finding layers of trial and error, some thin as egg shell, others weighted with crust, crumbling away.  Showing through is the wild spirit I once was, who over the decades had ample time to add on various layers of personas offering protective cover. In the shadows, I figured out who I could be that would cause the least friction with others while allowing maximum room to gestate if not the whole, at least the core of my authentic self.

Now that I am old, the imprudent core is once again bursting through. I am glimpsing what it is to go all in on who I really am, but this time, finding it more durable than I had previously understood.  I am not being careful. I am saying words that should have been spoken years ago; creating without concern for “commercial viability”; facing old wounds and harsh realities with courage rather than fear; quitting whatever it is I’ve outgrown.  All the while, I’m leaving lots of room for improvisation, proving nothing to nobody. I am, in short, growing not just old—but wild.

In the wilds, there are not only the charred trunks of that which we’re leaving behind, but the surprise of new life. Our young view something of what we attempted over the course of our tenure—perhaps see more than we’d intended–and feel compelled to try something different. To us, their experiments often feel reckless, driven more by instinct than deliberation. We’d prefer for them to be careful, not to injure themselves or others, and to refrain from pecking away at any more of our illusions about ourselves and our legacies than necessary. Soon enough, they will be piling on eggshells of their own, leading us to wonder: Will they do better at mastering both individual and societal circumstances than did we?

There is plenty of room in this for forgiveness and compassion. Yes, it is true that we can’t control the bad things that happen to us and to those for whom we care.  But we can’t stop good things from happening, either—often when we least expect it.  We do what we can, try our best, rectify the rest and in the wisdom of time, we hope that some greater good will come about from whatever wreckage we have left behind.

Society and its generations move on, sometimes lurching forward, sometimes falling backwards. But invariably, in some dark, quiet corner, under brush, in a cave, nestled in the highest knot of a tree, something wild once again unfurls its wings.

 

________________________________

For a free subscription to Older, Wiser, Fiercer, click HERE

To read About the Blog, click HERE

To subscribe to our sister site Fierce with Age: The Free Digest of Boomer Wisdom, Inspiration and Spirituality, click HERE

_______________________________

TO COMMENT: You are encouraged to share your thoughts with me and our community about this entry and your own journey to becoming older, wiser, fiercer in the comment section at the bottom of this and each blog as it is posted at CarolOrsborn.com. 


Feel free to share this providing proper credit to Carol Orsborn
and a link to CarolOrsborn.com.

About Carol Orsborn

Carol Orsborn, Ph.D. has written over 30 books including her critically-acclaimed Older, Wiser, Fiercer: The Wisdom Collection and The Spirituality of Age: A Seeker’s Guide to Growing Older with Dr. Robert L. Weber, which was awarded Gold in the Nautilus Book Awards in the category of Aging Consciously. She is founder and curator of Fierce with Age: The Archives of Boomer Wisdom, Inspiration and Spirituality housed at CarolOrsborn.com. She is host of the 2 leading book clubs in the field of conscious aging: Sage-ing International's live, virtual The Sage-ing Book Club and the in-person Conscious Aging Book Club, sponsored by Parnassus Books, Nashville. She received her doctorate in the History and Critical Theory of Religion from Vanderbilt University with specialization in the areas of adult spiritual development and ritual studies.