tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3721195264044846056.post6659344549263436437..comments2010-09-23T10:22:18.991-07:00Comments on Enjoy The Journey: Aging in Isolationguruhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02824795782773270011noreply@blogger.comBlogger1125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3721195264044846056.post-13841816126402104502010-05-26T03:09:27.302-07:002010-05-26T03:09:27.302-07:00I was really touched by this post, Guru.
It rem...I was really touched by this post, Guru. <br /><br />It reminded me of what's happening in my country, Bulgaria, in the past 20 years of Democracy - the cities grow as young people move there in search for work and better life opportunities, and thus small towns and villages become depopulated, with the old people left to struggle alone. <br /><br />Old age is just the least of their problems. The lack of services and social interaction takes its toll on elderly people. Winters in the mountain can be harsh, and since most provincial houses are usually old too, people can't afford to have proper heating or abundance of goods and food. They are left on their own devices, and their traditional lifestyle fails them.<br /><br />On personal level, the relatives of old people living away in the cities are often too busy to visit or help, and connections are severed.<br /><br />It's a sad situation. <br /><br />This isolation is a syndrome of how the modern world has changed. Businesses and services are now almost a 100% oriented to young and able people, and life has become too fast for old people to keep up. Technology, media and social tendencies exclude old people, and even the idea of being old is frowned upon. As if modern day humans want to be forever young! Just look at the celebrity culture...<br /><br />I can remember the times when I was a child, and it wasn't too long ago. I believe that my generation is really the last to actually have some genuine connection to their grandparents. The generational gap was bigger, yet we managed to travel to the country every summer and spend three months in the wild.<br /><br />What I'm getting at is that most city children nowadays don't even know how a sheep looks like. It's probably not a big deal, but I feel that the connection with Nature is being lost in modern days. And that's because TRADITION is being lost. Old people are not just old, they have the life experience of different times - those of hand made bed linen and soap, or compotes and garden tomatoes, of crafts and arts, and mainly - beliefs. Superstition and wisdom, and even magic are almost completely obsolete because old people's heritage is being ignored and marginalized. <br /><br />I agree - isolating old people is a cultural mistake. That's why it's important to keep trying to collect as much as we can of the memories, experiences and knowledge of old people around the world - you do it in images, and I do it with words - and to attempt to preserve what's left of their traditions.Bobby Pfeifferhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/08400993170581752735noreply@blogger.com