When we talk about getting older in our culture, the conversation typically revolves around what we're losing – youth, vitality, relevance. Anti-aging creams crowd pharmacy shelves, and social media floods us with "tips and tricks" to look younger. But what if we're asking the wrong questions? What if, instead of fighting age, we could grow into it with purpose and grace?
Enter the concept of "saging" – a conscious approach to growing older that focuses not on what we're losing, but on what we're gaining through experience. While aging simply happens to us, saging is something we choose. It's about recognizing that the later chapters of our lives aren't an epilogue but rather the culmination of a story that keeps getting richer.
Think about wine for a moment. We don't say a fine wine is "aging" in the cellar; we say it's "developing complexity" or "coming into its full expression." Why don't we view human development the same way? Just as wine develops deeper notes and subtle undertones with time, humans have the capacity to develop deeper wisdom, richer understanding, and more nuanced ways of being in the world.
This isn't about denying the real challenges that come with getting older. Rather, it's about expanding our vision to include the unique gifts that can only come with time: the ability to see patterns in life's chaos, the capacity to hold multiple perspectives at once, the wisdom to know which battles are worth fighting, and the deep understanding that comes from having weathered life's storms.
In the coming blogs, I'll explore various aspects of this journey from aging to saging – drawing on wisdom traditions from around the world, examining practical ways to cultivate wisdom, and discovering how this shift in perspective can transform not just our own lives but our contributions to the broader community.
For now, consider this question: What if the later chapters of your life aren't about staying young, but about becoming wise? What possibilities might that open up?
*I'm indebted to the following works for introducing me to this concept:
Zalmon Schachter-Shalomi's From Age-ing to Sage-ing: A Revolutionary Approach to Growing Older, 2014
Ron Pevny's Conscious Living, Conscious Aging: Claiming the Gifts of Elderhood, 2014
William Martin's The Sage's Tao Te Ching: Ancient Advice for the Second Half of Life, 2020
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