On ageing

Last year Zuleika Books published Older, a day by day journal of my 91st year. The reason for mentioning it is that often people say to me, ‘I am old!’ and I reply, ‘No: you are older.’ The word ‘old’ with its final ‘d’ is like a heavy door slamming, whereas the word ‘older’ more accurately reminds us that life is a journey of continual learning. As T.S. Eliot wrote (and had he been writing in prose he would also have added ‘women’) ‘Old men should be explorers still.’

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5 thoughts on “On ageing”

  1. Thanks you James. I like ‘older’! It creeps up on you I find and takes you by surprise. One day you look in the mirror and there is a 77 year old face looking back! In my later years I have found the inner journey of exploration through meditation and contemplation more interesting, enlivening and sustaining than my younger adventures in living. All good wishes
    Peter

    1. DEAR PETER, THANK YOU FOR YOUR MESSAGE- I AT THE AGE OF 95, IN TWO MÓNTHS AT LEAST! AM WORKIJG ON SOMETHING ENTITLED #THE CONTINUING JOURNEY’ ONE NOT ONLY MAKES DISCOVERIES AS ONE GETS OLDER BUT ONE LEARNS ALSO TO SHED! DO TELL ME A LITTLE ABOUT YOURSELF,. MY E MAIL IS@ j.rooseevans@btinternet.com

      with warm greetings, James

  2. Looking back at life, I find that many of the things that seemed like slammed doors, have had the the opposite unexpected effect
    and lead me to a different door which is open full of surprising blessings and new insights. I so agree James! exploration goes on, and the realisation and encouragement of its expansive view beckons.
    With Love
    Diana

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