In anticipation of turning 60 (today), I recently queried some people I respect about their experience with awareness, particularly as they get older. As you might expect, there was a variety of responses, which probably reinforces the point here. Which is this — one of the greater opportunities we have as we age is the increasing capacity we have for awareness. For one thing, it is obviously evident that the longer you live, the more you've likely experienced.
One might assume, as a result, that experience would translate to more understanding, which in turn would increase overall awareness. The problem is, however, it doesn't always seem to work that way. And, from certain points-of-view, it might look more and more like it rarely does. I guess it depends on who you hang around with. For example, it's not hard to notice that many older people seem to become more narrow, less able to tolerate difference or change, more in favor of something they thought they once knew than of things that are now less familiar.
But, as we age and certain aspects of our existence wane, other things seem like they accumulate, if nothing more than the simple function of more time and exposure to life. What seems more conspicuous, though, is what we do with this opportunity (of accumulating experience). Does it provide something beyond knowledge and understanding? Does wisdom emerge? For the healthy, it seems to or, at least, it can. Mitigating factors aside, we have an opportunity, both individually and collectively, to expand our imagination for all is going on as we age. Whether or not we take the opportunity is another thing. And, we could think about why we do (or don't)...become more wise about life and reality.
As I mentioned above, and like many other things, it would appear that a lot about awareness is related to social factors. Values of groups of people obviously impact not only awareness in general, but also what people in a particular group are sensitive to. And, people who isolate themselves may not have as much awareness as those who don't.
I feel much more aware of many things than when I was younger. Besides the obvious, this also seems like a choice. In other words, I chose to become more aware (rather than do the opposite). Of course, not all of this was a direct choice on my part. In many cases, I was forced to choose this. Some of it was self-protection (don't want to go through that again, etc.). And, some of it was due to the attraction I had to certain people, a way about them that seemed consistent with the more beautiful parts of the world.
I'm not claiming to have arrived anywhere on some kind of awareness scale. I'm just aware that so much of the way I relate to things is a function of what I do with my surroundings and my experiences. They inform me. Awareness can enable me to relate to them in increasingly constructive ways. As I head into the age of decline in many ways, I also enter into something else that has an opportunity to only grow — imagination for what is actually happening (despite what the populist version seems to describe), especially the good.
Many people seem to define their existence in terms of loss...finish here.
