Of ageing , and life..

 

Age - just a number ...or is it????

    Why is it, that we are so afraid of growing old?
In this world of admiring endless youth, we are desperately trying to hide even the smallest of wrinkles and grey hair.

This is the case especially with women , and the reason lies on this twisted views on aging..

When a man has grey hair, he is a charismatic silver fox.
When a woman has a grey hair, in the eyes of society, she has expired.

And when it comes to working world , a woman is almost always on a wrong age to be hired.
First she is too young with too little experience . Then she is at the age , that the employers think she is about to start a family ( whether that is the case or not)..
Then she is at the age, that the kids are small and always sick and of course it is the mom, who stays at home to nurture them 🙄...

Then , finally...there might be few good years in the eyes of employers, that a woman might actually be worth of hiring...
Well ladies - enjoy it while it lasts, because it ain't gonna last long!

  Depending of the field of work, your " expiration date" might come, before you hit even that big   five - o.....
And it most certainly hits , after you have reach the milestone of 55 years....or somewhere in between.
It is illegal to discriminate by age too, so you may as well get used to hearing the most creative lame excuses for not to be hired...
Of course, every now and then, there are people, that are better suited for that job you applied for,   that comes without saying...
It is not only women that gets discriminated by age, men too get their share of it, although not so much.

  About aging in general.....there are cultures, that respect their elderly people and they are highly valued citizens - they are heard, their wisdom is deeply appreciated , and their " silent knowledge" on so many things are treasured.

However, I am deeply concerned, how our society sees the senior citizens : as a liability and a big cost to the governments and municipalities...and that makes me sick of my stomach.
The way elderly people are seen as this one big homogenic mass of people without really paying attention to them as individuals , is not  very fertile nor it is socially sustainable.

We should not divide people, we should unite them. We shouldn't build these massive day-care centres and schools and elderly homes , that all just  reminds more of factories .

We should bring people of different ages, cultural backgrounds etc together  , not separate them to some " granny-kennels" or lock a huge group of kids with a small age difference on these paethetic concrete houses of miseries, that are otherwise known as schools. We need to tear down these mass- facilities and not build new ones. ..scaling down is a way to go , making inviting  spaces , that bring people together , from every ages , from every cultures - come as you are , you are valued 🙏❤️

Back to the start..is age just a number...
We can't stop the time, we can not stop the process, we all get older..all the time - IF we are lucky and blessed...
So let's cherish it - let's highlight those annual rings , treat them with kindness and value all those experiences ,what we have gained on our path of life.