Evolution

 I have a new writing project. Its intended to be a book-length manuscript called, The Evolving Elder. I’m excited about it. Writing about elders, and the challenges of growth that come with old age, is unusual. That alone has special gratification. The more unusual part, that I’m most excited about, is the ‘evolution’ part.

I don’t think many people consider the possibility that some kind of natural change might be taking place right now. I have found, as I have delved deeper into the lives of old people, that there seems to be a force that pushes growth, insight, remembrance, creativity and development.

The idea that there might be a natural agent at work, shaping human experience, especially near the end, is incredibly interesting. Is evolution interested in the way we humans integrate our lives? Is there some evolutionary wind aiding us? I think so. I plan on using this report to reflect upon that possibility.

I believe that a significant component of later life is about integration. I think the more organized we are, within our selves, the more we have to offer Life. I don’t mean organized in the sense of having a clear will, or an advanced directive. I mean organized around life’s purpose. Where meaning thrives.

I also have reason to believe (through observation) that there is an integrative force that operates during the later life of humans. This isn’t a surface force, it operates deeper down, within. To me, this force isn’t palpable on the outside. I believe this is one of the main reasons this part of our human nature is ignored.

Evolution has an interest in seeing that the Universe keeps expanding. And, expand it does, I would submit, right through us. I actually believe that we humans develop as we do, gaining a more nuanced consciousness over time, as a result of evolution running through our being. If that thought has some truth to it, then the thought that humankind is somehow separate from Nature is erroneous. Pardon me, I digress.

Life, it appears to me, is not an accident. At least it doesn’t seem to operate that way now. There is a widespread belief that all of what we are confronting is random. My experience tells me otherwise. It seems to me that each of us is provided the means to know something closer to the truth, through our own aging process. Aging has been given a really bad rap. I would like to see people come to the realization that old people’s happiness reflects more than a positive attitude, good healthcare, and longer life expectancy.

Something major is surfacing. Yes, it is happening because of a big change in the old. That, by itself, constitutes good news. But, the news contains more. Evolution is becoming more apparent. Nature herself is showing, in an utterly unexpected way. Humanity is being changed from within. The change is inexorably slow. It may not overtake the pace of self-destruction we have set, but it is manifesting. This change is revealing human nature includes options now, options that didn’t exist in our ancestor’s (this includes ancestor species) behavioral menu. The new old are just that, new. Evolution is, once again, changing the nature of the game.

Why is this possibility important? It is relatively easy to say that evolution is happening. But it is a lot harder to explain this moment. Evolution trumps assumptions that have contributed to us getting off track, spoiling our nest, and misjudging our own existence.

Human existence isn’t an on-going accident. Evolutionary change might return us to wondering about our presence as a part of what’s going on here. I hope so. Life actually matters, more than the bottom line. This kind of development (evolution) could mean the human experiment is relevant to some larger processes in the Universe. There may be, other, greater forces at work here.

Evolution has been going on for a long time. The assumption is, from the beginning. If it’s true that evolution was a beginning condition. Then it follows that the life of the moment, which elder’s are so good at, is relevant to the whole endeavor. I notice I really want to align my life to the thrust of Life, the greenest expression of evolution I know. I think others do too. So, for me, the idea that evolution might be becoming more obvious now, and is changing our species around, fills me with awe and life inspiration.