With so much content out there, so much static and so many messages vying for your attention, I am very appreciative of you reading my work. I don’t take it for granted. Which is why I’m starting a series this week highlighting “pieces my readers should read.” My hope is that you’ll find my curation helpful in cutting through the noise rather than adding to it, as you reimagine your next chapter.
Today’s offerings focus on getting older, from three different perspectives:
- Retirement. I’m increasingly not a fan, at least in its traditional forms. It makes us sick, is often unaffordable, can be existentially jarring and strikes me as often shockingly self-serving. Have a look at this article from The Walrus — it covers a lot of territory and I’d be interested in hearing what you think.
- Sadly, the Washington Post is a subscription-based service, but if you can access it, I’d highly recommend Anne Lamott’s op-ed pieces on getting older. She is definitely my favourite 70-year-old white woman with dreadlocks. Her reflections on the mundane joys and humbling moments of aging are wise, gentle and often hilarious.
- And if an anti-ageism rant is more your style, then do me a favour and don’t click on this link because it’s not worth reading. I am still shocked by Indeed.com’s characterization of workers aged 55+ as being in “decline” — and by the persistence of the idea that our work life is so linear that it unfolds in five predictable stages. The article suggests these stages help to “differentiate your goals throughout your professional life” — I can assure you ‘decline’ is not on my list of professional goals! Is this what job seekers of today need to hear?
These pieces clearly aren’t just relevant to those of us “of a certain age.”
They say aging is better than the alternative. Let’s make sure that’s true.