From Mumbai airport to Bradley International Airport in Hartford, Connecticut in the USA, The Economist is my reading material. Its articles challenge my mind and support my belief in the brain’s plasticity through exercise. The pages roll tightly; bound by a rubber band, they fit in my backpack or the plane’s seat pocket.
Waiting to board a flight from Mumbai to Copenhagen (my first time renewing my six-month visa in Denmark), I thumbed my July 6, 2017 copy to see where to begin reading—and stopped, excited. Sir Mick Jagger, the now seventy-three-year-old front man of the Rolling Stones, was pictured with the title, “The New Old: Getting to Grips with Longevity.” My interest reading began high but dwindled as I realized the focus was on the economics of aging, but a seed had been was planted. A year later, it would produce my story: “The Young Old”—what have the activities of my seventies been so far, and what changes might come? Before I had entered my thoughts for a blog, I received an email from Candy, a friend of over forty years, listing what three friends from the same town we had all once lived in were doing now. A key comment by one stood out—aim to have three things to do every day.
The combined activities included: singing, pottery classes, exercise, a knitting group meeting at a restaurant, university history and politics courses, discussion, book and monthly luncheon groups, and luncheon with a daughter—rare due to her being an active mom. For me, rather than having “three activities a day” (that would be meal preparation [and clean up], laundry, and service to others), I have “options and intentions.” At home, I have a Scrabble board (I play alone but its future use is for two), a keyboard with John Thompson’s Modern Course for the Piano: First Grade Book and Second and sheet music for the Swingin’ Shepherd Blues, Babbel Spanish, plus exercise equipment: a Melt roller and balls, bosu ball, handweights, and Melt, Feldenkrais, and Somatic Exercise CDs. High on my intended activity list is visiting family and friends in America, more horseback lessons there, and watching a daughter’s running of the Boston Marathon and the Capital City Marathon in Olympia, Washington again, building my record of cheering from the sideline.
My realization is, “Opportunity begins with inspiration, with ever-changing definitions of age, ability, and a willingness to step into what is new.”
* The Economist is an English-language newspaper in magazine format with a global emphasis and scope whose majority of staff journalists are located in London. https://www.economist.com/special-report/2017/07/06/getting-to-grips-with-longevity