LIFE’S Observations…

“Aging is an extraordinary process where you become the person you always should have been”. This very thoughtful and astute musing was said by performance artist, David Bowie. He said that in an interview in 2002. He died of liver cancer in 2016, at 69 years old.

I have to admit, I wrote him off as the poster child for sex, drugs, and rock and roll before I had even graduated from high school, but I knew he deserved a closer look when our editor selected the above quote for further thought and discussion. So. I spent a lot of the month of March learning more about the man, his music and his life. About forty years ago, he figured out that maintaining the Rock Star life style was neither easy nor smart. In my world, I imagine that his frenetic life was akin to rounding up a bunch of heifers while riding a unicycle through the sage brush, wearing shorts and flip flops. Every day! It just didn't make sense. So Bowie changed his course and got away from the distractions that were clouding the pursuit of his true passion. With the effects of drugs and alcohol in his rear view mirror, he got busy transforming the world of live performances. What used to be “a bunch of guys on a stage with big amplifiers” has morphed into the total immersion spectaculars of today. What's more, we have come to expect this level of extravagance in exchange for a very expensive concert ticket, and it seems to be working.

As an example, his Glass Spider World Tour was comprised of 43 truckloads of stuff and bus loads of musicians and dancers and backup singers (who occasionally needed someone to hand them a tissue when they got the sniffles). Add to that group, the people who disassembled and reassembled a traveling circus every day or so, and moved it to another city far away.

Certainly, Bowie couldn't keep track of every detail, but he provided fascinating jobs to the people who could. Think on that for a minute. Would you have been excited and challenged to have been a part of a concert tour in your younger days? In your life so far, are you still fueled and rewarded by the daily challenges of your own particular pursuit of happiness?

I think it is safe to assume that the readers of this little magazine are primarily of retirement age. I think that we can see the validity in Bowie's quote, “Aging is an extraordinary process where you become the person you always should have been”. So, with aging in mind, I don't think there is any difference between the energetic octogenarian organizing volunteers for an annual gala or the retired cook who delights in alphabetically organizing the tins in her spice cabinet. Be comfortable with who you are.

When a life is in balance, or even leaning positively toward that goal, one's thoughts and deeds can extend outwards to others and not just be consumed in the furnace of the self. With no scientific basis, I have a strong hunch that a hardening of the attitudes can lead to hardening of the arteries, so stay flexible. Be around a variety of people of all ages. Using the privilege of age, be the first to say, “Hello” when you enter a roomful of strangers. They won't be strangers for long.

Be an active part of your community, as much as you can, for as long as you can. Be reasonable in your expectations of yourself and those around you, and you might find that you have “become the person you always should have been”.