Age is a staircase, leading to possibilities: Jane Fonda

Jane Fonda begins her speech by saying how we are living 30-35 years longer than those before us and yet "our culture has not come to terms with what this means".

Actor Jane Fonda has always led by example, such as when she recently protested against climate change. The world cheered in support when she was arrested. We bring you this video that provides a context for her indefatigable spirit.

She begins her speech by saying how we are living 30-35 years longer than those before us and yet “our culture has not come to terms with what this means. We are still living with the old paradigm of age as an arch.” The actor questions how we can use this time. “How do we live it successfully? What is the appropriate new metaphor for ageing?” she asks.

She shares that she has spent researching and writing on this and has come up with a more apt metaphor for ageing. “A staircase,” she says. “The upward ascension of human spirit, bringing us into wisdom, wholeness and authenticity.” In such a scenario, age presents possibilities, it becomes a potential and does not reek of sickness and disease. Backing up her claim, she points out that most people above 50 feel better and less anxious.

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Even though she maintains that she is not romanticising ageing, but speaking for herself, she remarks that age has served her well. It has enabled her to understand herself better, look back with more clarity. She quotes Picasso and says, “It takes a long time to be young.” She insists that once we make peace with our past, “we can go back and alter our relationships…and maintain positive feelings,” it affects our very being.

“It’s not having experiences that make us wise. It is reflecting on the experiences that we have had that makes us wise and that helps us become whole.”

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