Aging—what it is and how it happens—is one of today’s most pressing topics. Most people are either curious or concerned about growing older and how to do it successfully. We need to better understand how to navigate the second half of life in ways that are productive and satisfying, and Jungian psychology, with its focus on the discovery of meaning and continuous development of the personality is especially helpful for addressing the concerns of aging.
In March 2012, the Library of Congress and the Jung Society of Washington convened the first Jung and Aging Symposium. Sponsored by the AARP Foundation, the symposium brought together depth psychologists and specialists in gerontology and spirituality to explore the second half of life in light of current best practices in the field of aging. Featuring essays by James Hollis and Lionel Corbett, this volume presents the results of the day’s discussion, with supplementary perspectives from additional experts, and suggests some practical tools for optimizing the second half of life.
James Hollis offers a challenging perspective on self-examination in chapter 12, “For Every Tatter in Our Mortal Dress: Stayin’ Alive at the Front of the Mortal Parade.” Starting with a quote from Yeats, he focuses on five paradoxes about the “problematics of aging”: the fullness of life versus the necessity of loss, our inability to fully imagine the future as an aging person, our desire to retain youth and health, our inability to live in the face of our mortality, and the role of the “fool” in old age. He then offers some ideas about aging: embracing curiosity, asking the right questions, and recovering “personal authority.” He concludes with important questions that, when asked, enlarge our perspective and help redefine meaning.
