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If old age brings wisdom, then how might that be so?
I remember years ago, in my callow, less-organized years, when I would stand at a bus stop having missed a bus for something I thought I very much wanted to attend. Oh no! Gloom, despair! And after a while, I would remember a different bus, complete with transfer, that I could take. But that “a while” meant it was too late. And as my mind whirled, as I paced at my bus stop, too stubborn to go home, hoping against hope… eventually I would remember yet another bus route!—but “eventually” always took ju-u-u-st long enough that I would have missed the time window for that bus too.
How horrible, to be “missing” several busses in one day!
Maybe I missed that first bus for ordinary reasons: By accident, by being disorganized, by being lazy or being too much of a spoiled brat to leave on time—Maybe. Since this was decades ago, I have no way of knowing: What if I had secretly missed that first bus as a way of procrastination? Maybe I only thought I wanted to go to something, but my subconscious, being my “better judgement,” had protected me? And maybe some strange, protective slowing down of my brain was why I would realize other possible busses… only after they were safely too late.
I am reminded of the time I popped into a group home on some personal errand, and the young woman on shift was stuck for ideas on where to safely take a client who had challenging behaviours, and I came up with an idea, and then another, and then another. She groaned, and despaired at how I could come up with ideas, but she couldn’t.
I remonstrated, “Vir-gin-ia, it’s not my shift! My brain is not squished down with responsibilities the way yours is. If I was the one working here, then you could come in and give me ideas.” Actually, I was the more experienced staff, but I think my reasoning was sound.
We senior citizens can see things because, having certain life paths removed, we no longer have to protect our egos. “That bus has left the station.” We see paths for others, and advice simply pops in, advice we wouldn’t have pondered in our younger years. Maybe having our brains un-squished is how we can offer some nice wisdom.
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Sean Crawford
At the Calgary C-Space building
August
2023
