Reflections

A time to reflect on life from the perspective of a senior citizen. I have been told many times to not admit age or allow ‘the old man’ to enter my conscious life. But if I barred the ‘old man’ I would be dishonest. I am an old man and getting older. Changes have occurred which have changed how I live life daily. Here are some examples.

1.      I sleep 8 hours each night most of the time. If not, then 7.5 or near that. This does not include daytime naps lasting 30 to 70 minutes. Those naps are anticipated and enjoyed.

2.      The weather means less and less. I am indoors most of the time. Even going on errands is mostly indoors – indoor heated garage on the first floor of our building; drive out into the weather to an indoor parking garage and then into an attached building. Or drive to a store for curbside pickup of a grocery order made online. They even place the goods in the car for us!

3.      Changing seasons is a pastime watched daily. I still favor summer months when green dominates our landscape. Flowers splash their joyful color liberally, too. In fall the green fades replaced by glorious colors of autumn. Slowly the trees become bare while we await the first snowfall. Once snow enters our experience, we note the changing landscape from color to shades of grey, black and white. Tracery of dormant plant life is suddenly gorgeous, even more so after an ice storm. Spring is the change from drab to hints of green, red, and yellow buds. The greening of the landscape marks the full cycle of Mother Nature’s sensory banquet. Watched. Anticipated. Yearned for, too. Sometimes fearful of storms and violence. But always something of beauty and wonder.

4.      Reading more. Fiction returns to my experience. Somehow the storylines instruct me on issues new and old and how they intersect lives of real people. Books read 15 years ago suddenly take on new meaning and weight. Viewed differently. Meanings shifted. A fresh exploration of reality through the eyes of fiction. Fun!

5.      Watching more documentaries. Understanding the world in all its complexity. I have time to explore these real world issues. It is a luxury well-earned and valued.

6.      Noticing aches and pains of an aging body. Limitations, too, of movement, stamina, and planning activities. Spontaneity is more mindful than it once was. Movement is less spontaneous but thinking remains momentary and richly free to discover context freshly seen.

OK. Nothing new here except personal discovery. The skin sags, hair is lost and finally the beginning of graying hair. Overweight but who cares? Time to think, feel and be. Challenges yes, but freedom to just be.

Focus on what is important. It is surprising what those focal points are these days!

March 26, 2021