There has never been a time when I haven’t needed a wise friend in my life. For listening without interrupting, for giving sage advice, for helping me know when to stand my ground and when to cool my jets. And ultimately for putting my pain and struggle into perspective.
I can’t think of a time we need our elders more than now.
They have seen more, heard more, witnessed and endured more. And learned to find their way through—to be here now. Years on the planet matter. Lived experience matters. Living through 70, 80, or 90+ years of history matters. We need their voices, their opinions, their perspective, their wisdom.
I don’t think I have to say out loud that our culture doesn’t generally seek out or value the opinions of those in this age bracket. Unless of course you’re a white man of great wealth and power. Otherwise, they are cursed at on the roads, overlooked, under-appreciated and often, discarded. Considered spent and past their prime. We herd them into “care homes” where there is often very little care at all.
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I’ve often wondered how a society that discards their wisest members without a second glance can hope to succeed or thrive. Who are our wisdom keepers? Where do they sit in council to make our communities decisions, to listen deeply and help those in need. Is it the influencers on social platforms, the loud and lucrative billionaires, or the media star of the moment?
Maybe we need to reset and re-wire what we think of as wisdom. Because in my humble opinion there is no wisdom channel in our mainstream culture.
But have hope friends, because right here in our Valley is our very own source of cultivated wisdom!
(Drumroll please….) Welcome to “Live Well. Be Wise” Deb Pobst and Theresa D-Litzenberger of the Elder Speak program.
Today we learn that an elder isn’t necessarily about age, but about how one has distilled their life experience to find personal value and wisdom. And it isn’t always something that naturally occurs with age, even though cultural myths may have us believing that it does.
At Elder Speak, they take a small group of older adults each Fall and meet for 9-months, to begin this wisdom distillation. Guiding them into and through the process of reflecting on their lives and making meaning. They begin by sitting down for a two hour filming of their life story, told from beginning to end. They build relationships to themselves and each other, as they hone their wisdom, and the grand finale is sharing their wisdom story to the community at a live event!
Deb tells about how working with the indigenous peoples of the Lummi Reservation brought her in touch with a culture that honors and respects and cares for their elders. This model inspired her deeply to know what could be possible for all elders in the culture at large.
Theresa says in her family there was the belief that people weren’t worthwhile when they are old—they had no value, or purpose. This led her to deeply fear and dread her own aging and she knew she wanted to change that inner narrative.
We are so honored to share this deep and fun conversation with you, so you can be informed about what good programs there are in our community, be involved if you would like, mark your calendar for this years “Elder Speak program” and maybe even nominate an elder in your life.
Resources:
1. Elder Speak Community Event:
This year’s community events are October 15th with the Wenatchee Valley Museum from 6:00 pm to 8:00 pm and October 25th at Snowy Owl Theater in Leavenworth from 2:00pm to 4:00pm.
2. More on the program: Ripple Foundation & Elder Speak
