HOW WE AGE, Growing OLD, A JOURNEY THAT BEGINS WITH BIRTH

Last night I attended, along with a large crowd of my local brothers and sisters, a new documentary film called OLD.  It was the creation of a woman new to filming (she’d been  an orthopedic pediatric nurse, so this is a new adventure) and her editor, a kindred spirit who had recently lost her husband to death. It is clearly a labor of love to be a witness to many perspectives, from toddlers to a woman in her centurion years,  on what it means to be old.

   The producer chose to follow her intuition in creating this film, with no agenda, no script at  the start on  how it would play out.   As we watch we become part of the journey too, from young kids who see a Grandma in her 50’s as old  to a remarkable older lady who hears in her dreams the name of a man she hasn’t seen for 70 years; she discovers on the internet his wife has died, and when she calls him, he asks for her to come see him in New York.  She flies from the West coast to be with him, rekindling a  deep friendship forgotten  for decades, and stays with him until  he dies of a heart attack with her as his companion.  So moving, so touching, with scenes of people in every stage of living, reflecting on what it means for them to be growing older.

   It is a magical work of art, filmed mostly in the Rogue Valley.  For many of us, we knew personally several of the folks in the story.  The children were mostly grandkids of the director and  editor, and they gave us the precise perspective of innocence. There is a grace to filming like this, with no set intention but to share in such an open  and genuine way what we experience as we grow older, and  care for those we love as they too age in their own unique ways.  This is a film to see again and again, for it is rich in the wisdom of its multigenerational perspectives.  You can see it at the Ashland Independent Film Festival, and it is my hunch it will touch people  everywhere who have a chance to see it.

    How we choose to age reflects how we choose to live.  There will be losses, regrets, changes we wish we’d handled differently.  And there will be peace where we can accept our own changing bodies and minds, and learn to go with the flow and mystery as it unfolds.  It touched me in a deep way, especially seeing elders who still love their work, and keep on reinventing themselves as their circumstances change, and old ways no longer serve them.  It was a film of hope and inspiration, of how important our connections are with our friends and families.  Many scenes were outdoors, quietly honoring how important nature is for so many of us.  I do hope you get a chance to see this remarkable documentary too!