Spring has come to Ontario this 2016.
I wonder if it makes you feel rejuvenated to have another spring pop up if you are 80 years old, or do you feel a little fearful and ambivalent. I am in the early stages of putting together a documentary on Aging. I have already sent the idea to myself and it sits in a sealed envelope somewhere, just in case somebody was thinking, hey...I will invest my time in somebody else s idea and I am going out tonight to buy the camera and sound equipment.
Doing research for this film has brought me down an interesting road. It's incredibly relevant for me personally to figure out how people are handling their old age, how they are handling it emotionally, physically, and what their suggestions are on how someone like myself can handle it when it arrives. (Actually, it's not really about my future at all)
One of the gentlemen that I am going to be filming was talking to me about Age Regression....This guy is 80 and still trains athletes in the gym, and is telling me that it is possible to go in the other direction. What a breath of fresh air this guy is.
I have come across some powerful quotes...one of my favorites is by Thoreau...
"None are so old as those who have outlived enthusiasm."
Isn't that part of it...When we get older, we lose our enthusiasm...we lose our passion...we lose our taste for excitement and the unknown. We don't seek out new friendships and ideas with the same vigor we did in our youth.
(However, I believe I can look forward to talking about the weather alot and also being part of many conversations about people who have a new ache and pain..)
Aging is one third Genetic and two thirds lifestyle apparently..There is lots to the subject and I am feeling lucky to be immersed in it. The advice that I read is actually more likely to be used by people in their early 50s to really make a difference for them going forward.. Some of it is fairly obvious...exercise 30 minutes a day...eat sparingly and mostly a plant based or Mediterranean type diet...spend an hour a day doing something you love...
THE QUESTION REMAINS: HOW DO SENIOR CITIZENS REKINDLE THEIR ENTHUSIASM AND PASSION FOR LIFE? How do they turn around the tendency to be complacent and to awfulize the short future that awaits. How do they come to grips with the meaning that their life has held or not held? How do they handle all their friends passing away in grotesque fashion over the years?
Scientists have isolated something called TALOMERES which are the tips of your DNA molecules...These things get a little smaller as you age and thats why we go down hill.. There are also many new breakthroughs on the horizon in this area, and it is very possible that we will be able to live well past 125 years.....in the near future..
I will explore some of these ideas in my film THE AGE GAME... I am fascinated with the subject and now I hope that I can do it some justice...I still dont have any answer to the question about the loss of enthusiasm though...Maybe trick the mind just a bit? Teach an old dog new tricks? NEVER SURRENDER?
I write this tonight from a cottage where I have a full week to meditate, cleanse my body with nutrition and watch all the old foreign films I want, without anybody around me to tell me differently.
Oh and I enjoy photographing nature whenever I can...damn right...
Rick
