Composing a Further Life

transition into Adulthood II, searching for the next step. 8 Adulthood II will eventually give way to old age and is marked by the consciousness of mortality, but for many it is a time of new beginnings or for the revival of earlier interests.
    My hope is that this book will challenge individuals not only to thoughtful discernment and creativity in composing a further life but to greater engagement. We need the members of the grandparent generation—those in Adulthood II—to restore a dimension of long-term thinking to our decision making. For the great irony of our time is that, even as we are living longer, we are thinking shorter. We live in a society where working adults are experiencing ever-increasing stress and striving. Members of the parent generation are straining to meet next week’s and next month’s deadlines, quarterly reports, and a fast-recurring election cycle. Most women and many men are working two shifts. Under pressure, horizons are shortened.
    We tend to assume that the old, because they have fewer years ahead of them, are less concerned with the future than younger adults, but in fact the group best equipped to advocate for the future are thoughtful older adults—those in Adulthood II—who have time and perspective for reflection combined with the willingness to consider new ideas and acquire new skills; who can speak up about issues that will affect future generations, particularly issues of the environment, and engage in bringing that future to pass. They are not ready to sit on the sidelines. Older adults are concerned about the future of their children, grandchildren, nieces and nephews, as well as students and the children of friends and neighbors, who will live in that future but cannot yet influence it. There is a potential for alliance between concerned young people and their grandparents, working together to protect the future. It is worth remembering that the environmental movement of today was once dismissed as consisting only of “little old ladies in tennis shoes.”
    Older adults have seen a lot of change and learned a lot about how to adapt through good times and bad, how to acquire new skills, and how to distinguish positive from negative change. Yet ironically the message that older adults receive from politicians and advertisers and even from each other is to be concerned primarily with their own comfort. Individuals coming up to retirement at this point in history are beginning to reimagine the shape of lives and escape from stereotypes. Ageism is pervasive, affecting young and old alike, slowing this process of discovery by shaping the way older adults look at others of the same age, making them hesitant to work together to influence the future.
    Nevertheless, there are significant efforts to ensure that those who live longer can continue to contribute to society, including the work being pioneered by Marc Freedman in the areas of civic engagement and encore careers, and research supported by the Sloan Foundation on how workplaces and jobs need to be structured to optimize the contributions of older adults. 9 The movement of women into the workforce created gaps in child care and community life, which are partially being filled by retirees, and many industries are concerned about future shortages of skilled workers. There is already widespread interest in ways of reengaging retirees, either through flexible arrangements for paid work or as volunteers. The possibility of productive work lasting an additional decade will do more than supplement the workforce and can lead us to rethink the values and meaning of work. Freud famously said that what gives meaning to life is to love and to work—
lieben und arbeiten
—and these are the keys to understanding the restless searches of today’s older adults.
    Each of the liberation movements of the twentieth century has had to struggle against internalized prejudices and negative images of the self or of other members of the same group, which had to be overcome in order to embrace a different vision and believe that it could be achieved. In each such transition there have been risks—risks of excessive radicalization and acting out and risks of backlash. Yet beginning with the civil rights movement at mid-century and proceeding through the feminist movement, the disability rights movement, and the gay liberation movement, group after group that was excluded from full and equal participation has stepped forward, moving from a