The Wisdom of Age

Image by Bob Archbold

“Make your interests gradually wider and more impersonal, until bit by bit the walls of the ego recede, and your life becomes increasingly merged in the universal life. An individual human existence should be like a river — small at first, narrowly contained within its banks, and rushing passionately past rocks and over waterfalls. Gradually the river grows wider, the banks recede, the waters flow more quietly, and in the end, without any visible break, they become merged in the sea, and painlessly lose their individual being…The man who, in old age, can see his life in this way, will not suffer from the fear of death, since the things he cares for will continue. And if, with the decay of vitality, weariness increases, the thought of rest will not be unwelcome. I should wish to die while still at work, knowing that others will carry on what I can no longer do and content in the thought that what was possible has been done.” — Bertrand Russell

Respect for elders is “True in all Indigenous cultures, including western Indigenous cultures that are still somewhat intact. It is time to learn from intergenerational people and trans-lineal knowledge. The severed western mind broke the systems of the world; they are not capable of leading us home, we need Indigenous leadership from every corner of the globe. People who knew how to live in place for over 10,000 years without trashing everything have vast amounts to teach…