How old are you?
Or, shall I ask, “How young are you?”
Does it matter how I ask the question?
Should I even ask this question?

Conversation with our Awakin Call speaker Ashton Applewhite brought up a question that is thought provoking – why do you discriminate against the group, when you are part of it as well?

WE ALL ARE GETTING OLDER.

SO ...WE ALL ARE AGING… :)

Welcome to the club!



Conversation brought up a number of ideas and questions:

- When do we become old? Or, do we become old? We definitely are getting older.

- When we stop contributing towards economic goals, does that make us old? How has capitalism colored our view on getting older?

- Why is someone’s age shifting opinion or perspective about him/her?

- Are you wise because you are old? Slightly different question … are you wiser because you are older?

- Do you feel stigma for getting older?

- Should you be considered less important, or less productive, or less attractive, or less "mainstream", or less relevant because you are getting older?

- Should you be regarded in higher esteem, should you be respected more because you are getting older?

- What are marketers missing out while focusing on people younger than 35?

- There is so much progress with integration different cultural backgrounds and ethnicity, and also gender. We have learned to value diversity. Why not think of age variation as an element of diversity? It will bring a new mindset and awareness to appreciate age (or process of getting older).

- You never say your kid is aging. If that feeling is strange, why do you not feel the same way to say that for someone that is older than you? They both are getting older after all… :)




- What is wrong in calling someone older than 65 a senior? Are people younger than 65 junior, since they aren’t senior?

- As you age, do you fear the death more because you are getting closer to it? The stories, experiences and analysis actually points in the other direction.

- How do older people manage to stay in the moments more effectively and live life more fully? What is the secret to that? Off course, when you were a young kid, you stayed in moments because you didn’t know any other way.


Age ... and aging... has its connotations, perceptions, stereotype labels, sometimes stigma… and it is impacting lives of people all over the world. Ashton is touching on a number of psychological, socio economic issues that I think are so germane to all of us. More importantly I think the conversation and Ashton’s work is enlightening us all with more awareness and more openness about steering away from ageism.

Learn more about it here on Awakin call page for Ashton Applewhite.