Making the Celebration of Aging a Part of Our Life

Life has many transitions -- pre-natal to newborn, toddler to child, youth to responsibility, marriage to parent. These transitions are identifiable and often come with ceremonies or activities to mark that a change is occurring and to give more meaning to the next stage.

As I went through my own transition to Aging, and especially as I connected with more people in the Aging stage of life, I realized that the transition from Adulthood to Aging usually "just happens", with no ceremony or creation of a vision of what we want our life to be like in Aging. Often this results in a person feeling "lost" -- having left a world they had been in for a long time such as their working life, they now find themselves in a completely new and unfamiliar world such as retirement. This is particular painful for an Aging person who feels their life no longer has any meaning, and very much feels this difference from what their life has been.

The transition to Aging begins with a person realizing that a transition is going to take place, imagining/envisioning what they want their life to be during Aging, and setting what they want the transition itself to be. This resource shows one person's experience with what the transition to Aging can be like and how it can help us with what our life is like once we're there, and encourages each person to reimagine their own Aging for themself. This approach is for anyone, and cultural and religious influences may affect how each person does it. This resource shows the approach within a Jewish framework, and each person can reimagine Aging within the framework they choose.