Is There a Right Way to Think About Growing Old?

Abstract

Abstract There is no question that the process of growing old is being radically reimagined. Rather than decline, there is development, or at least the possibility of it. Rather than deterioration, there is new growth. Rather than an inexorable slide into the ostensibly dismal reality of death, there are new horizons laced with opportunity. On balance, this reimagining is surely a good thing: In opening up regions of experience and narrative that may have heretofore been seen as foreclosed, it has also opened up the very space of the aging process. At the same time, obdurate realities remain, and, for some, such positivity may run counter to the challenges posed by experience itself. Navigating prevailing cultural narratives, along with the realities of aging, thus presents significant challenges both for narrative gerontology and for aging persons themselves.

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