As I begin my seventh decade in this life, two things seem clear: 1) Old people have lots to say. 2) Nobody really wants to listen. So I'm hoping that by putting my thoughts down in this form, I can satisfy both. I'll get it out of my system and no one needs to feel obligated to pay attention. Kind of the twenty-first century version of writing one's worries on a piece of paper and tying it to a helium balloon.
Erik Erikson called the seventh of our stages of psychosocial development "Generativity vs. Stagnation". It happens to us sometime between 45 and 65 and amounts to trying to find some way to stay relevant or productive in the world as our capabilities and capacities fade. Usually by trying to share what we've learned or help others navagate the waters we've already experienced.
So here we go. Life through the eyes of a sexegenarian who, after stumbling through the "Peace, Love & Brotherhood of Man" Sixties, the "Looking Out For Number One" Seventies and the "Greed Is Good" Eighties, looks around himself and asks (perplexed), "How did we end up HERE?"
