Indigenous Well-being

I’ve been writing away. Trying to put into words, the awesomeness of this moment, in our (humans) evolutionary history. The number of us old people, combined with the world-wide longevity revolution, has altered the flow of Life. Giving what’s due to the changes in old age, and the flow of evolution, is probably beyond my writing capability. But, the momentousness of all of this is making me try. Along the way, I’ve discovered that trying to describe something that has previously been un-described is hard. Doing so means inventing words. This results in coining a phrase that didn’t exist before, or that has another meaning. This piece is about one of the attributes of old age that I had to name. I call it “indigenous well-being.”

Earlier I reported that I had to give a name to the transition period between adulthood and elderhood. This period seemed much like adolescence, only a lot more ignored, and complex. I ended up referring to this period as grandolescence, because I wanted to draw attention to it, and I wanted to underscore the benefits arising as one goes through this initiatory period of life.

As I reflected upon the incredible shift that is happening now, I have been awed by Nature’s part in it. This has affected a gradual enlarging of my viewpoint. Evolution, in my mind, is working some species magic at this moment. It is changing us. Growing our perspective. Just now, when we have done a really good job of digging ourselves into a really deep hole, it is unilaterally changing our awareness.

Oh, this isn’t happening uniformly, with everyone. True elders, the one’s beginning to feel it, are in a minority. Nature, in Her pragmatism, has taken time to cultivate a complex new awareness — in those who have been around a long time, and who have suffered life’s vagaries with style.

It is this fit — that some old folks seem at home in these times, in this place — that has captured my attention and made me wonder. Is this just happy obliviousness, an elderly form of denial, or dementia, or do these folks have something else going for them? After paying attention for a long time I’ve arrived at an unexpected conclusion. These few old folks have arrived at being comfortable in their own skin. What’s special about them, and about the state of mind they occupy, is that their skin extends outward to include what is. This isn’t their intention necessarily, it’s a development, which is a result of living in this time and place — it is the product of being ripened by Life.          

I call this state of ripeness, where awareness of the sorrows of the world exists side-by-side with awareness of the miraculousness of the world, indigenous well-being. It isn’t a well-being created by we humans, it is created by Life having its way with some of us.

The idea came from the combination of two different sources, and what I’ve been learning as I steep myself in the awareness emerging through a bunch of unsuspecting old folks. I learned that Martine Prechtel, a Guatamalen-trained teacher, has referred to all humans hailing from one home, Earth, having an indigenous soul. I also recently heard Dr. Michael Pratkin, a palliative care specialist, who has attended many deaths, say that, he was impressed by how many people died more “well.”

I realized this is what happens with some old people. As they get older, they grow less inclined to change things, and end up taking in more of what is.  They learn to fit in, not to human culture, but to the ways of Life. They exhibit what I now call “indigenous well-being.” They have not only arrived at being comfortable in their own skin (one of what I believe is a uniquely elder developmental achievement) but they are also comfortable within Life.

If, it is true, like I think, that some old folks are more at home, in a way rarely available before, then I think that fact is amazing and hopeful. I also think, that the awareness they embody could do a lot for the rest of us. For instance, a lot of the young suffer because they don’t know that Life gets better, and a lot of the rest of us don’t know, that growing older can be one of the best things that ever happened to us. Those who have come to experience a kind of indigenous wellness, represent what is possible for us humans. They reveal something that needs to be known about human potential. And finally, their presence, in this dark age, reminds us, that Life is still acting on our behalf.

It is that final note that keeps me writing, and that has me focusing as intently as I do, upon the movement of evolution. It is happening now, with the new old. Greying and diminishment are only the surfacy, shallow part of the story. There is much more, an exquisite depth, and its coming right through us.