Medicare and Other Facts of Long Life
© 2012 by Joyce Mason
All Rights Reserved
Lately, I do more readings
for people fifty, sixty and beyond than any other age group. There’s more to
it than all those baby boomers reaching Social Security age at once. There’s
the gift of extra time.
One of the top concerns of
these individuals, often their main question, is what to do with the rest of
their lives. What’s the next leg of my
journey? How do I express my passions and purpose? Most of them no longer
have a “regular” job, and they now have time for other pursuits like never
before. They don’t know quite what to do with themselves because we’re the
first wave of pioneers with the privilege of an extended lifespan. There are few
models for this exciting elongation of a single incarnation, especially if you're looking for not just anything to do but the thing you were most meant to do.
Nearly all these young-at-hearts, like me, have Pluto in Leo. The majority are baby boomers. We’re living up to our long history
of personal redesign and rebirth in dramatic ways. We’re the generation whose
images of family life, from children to early adults, spanned Ozzie
and Harriet to Meathead
and Gloria. We’re “off our rockers” and onto doing something meaningful
with our golden years.
Past generations, if they
were lucky, lived to retire, collect Social Security, rock a little in their
chairs or hammocks, play golf or pursue a few hobbies. Then, in a few years, it
was ashes to ashes. Today—not! The average life expectancy of the typical
American has increased to 78.7 years [1], and that’s just the middle of the
bell curve. I have relatives on both sides of my biological family who have
lived well into their 80s and 90s, and one who almost made it to 100. And if
you aren’t an American, you’re probably even luckier! A most interesting
publication from the Central Intelligence Agency [2], of all sources, says that
the US is only #50 in life expectancy. Monaco is #1 at 89.68 years. Apparently, it pays to
gamble—or live in a country where it’s the primary industry. (Who knew the CIA
was spying on old people? When doing surveillance in Monaco, did they take bets on when folks would finally
keel over?)
When I turn 65 this month, I can say I’ve lived and dived into the banquet of life, as advocated by my heroine, Auntie Mame. I have no intention of stopping.
The Maturity Transits
Just a few generations
ago, people were lucky to live a bit beyond their second Saturn Return at
approximately 60. The Uranus Return at 84 was a rarity. Now, living to 100 is
happening with increased regularity. It’s clear that 100 is next “normal,” if
we take decent care of ourselves.
This is a reference to the
obesity epidemic in America and all its costs. The first generation of
children in the U.S. is growing up now that may not outlive their parents due to diabetes,
heart disease and other fallout from fast food—fries and being a couch potato.
What we’re reaching for, then, is for the Second Chiron Return to become
commonplace, if we have the common sense to overcome food addictions, lack of
exercise, and other habits that could throw a monkey wrench into this longevity
evolution.
Before I go on, I thought
it would be interesting to look at current and future possible “saging”
transits. Could be, at some point, that the Chiron Return and the Second Saturn
Return aren’t even considered marks of advanced maturity but rather the new midlife
transits. [3] Clearly, if you live to 100, the first Chiron Return at 50 is
literally right in the middle of your lifespan.
The Transits of Saging, Current and Evolving
50 - Chiron Return60 – 2nd Saturn Return84 – Uranus Return90 – 3rd Saturn Return100 – 2nd Chiron Return120 – 4th Saturn Return126 – 2nd Uranus Opposition150 – 5th Saturn Return3rd Chiron Return165 – Neptune Return (for extreme optimists)
168 - 2nd Uranus Return (wizened and wired)
248 – Pluto Return (for those with way too many fixed signs)
(Did I forget any?) Apparently,
we have to repeat Saturn, Chiron and Uranus major transits a lot before we can move onto Neptune and ultimately Pluto at age 248.
I certainly can state unequivocally; I’m not ready for that!
From where I sit, anything
beyond a 4th Saturn Return (120) seems too mind-blowing to
contemplate, though I can’t say how I’ll feel after my next birthday. It
reminds me of the time I attended a UFO conference where I experienced so much strange,
negative energy; one of my friends can’t stop laughing that I finally found
something that was “even too weird for me.” Living to 165+ feels like that, an
alien congress and concept I’m not yet sure is friendly.
What can we expect as the
Uranus Return, 3rd Saturn Return, and Second Chiron Return
ultimately define the transits that make us elders in our tribes? In her book on midlife transits, The Liquid Light of Sex, Barbara Hand
Clow talks about what an ideal time 84 is to leave the body, to pass on, helped
by the rising kundalini at the completion of the Uranus cycle. Reminds me of
the title of the Ray Bradbury’s short story collection, I Sing the Body Electric, and the song is Om Sweet Home.
What if we don’t stop
there? What if we keep on having brilliant breakthroughs, recharging our minds
and bodies, and learning at new levels? This will also apply to medicine and
healing, too, allowing greater longevity.
I’m sure it’s no coincidence that my first novel is about a longevity organization and people who look 20 years younger than their actual ages and easily live to 100. As a natal Sun square Uranus, I have a close resonance to changing currents.
Do You Really Want to Live to 100?
I wrote a thoughtful post
on this topic on my other blog, Hot
Flashbacks/Cool Insights, a few
years ago. Certain aspects of being a diehard have changed for me in their
appeal over the years, but one part of it is certain. As long as I can enjoy
reasonable heath and a functioning mind, I’m “in” for the long haul. As long as
I can feel useful and have fun, I’ll continue to love being a Triple Earth on Earth.
Depending on the quality
of your previous outerplanetary transits to themselves, you might have varying degrees of
enthusiasm about reprising some of them several times each. One thing I’m sure of. As
long as you keep learning, the transits get easier and more rewarding with
every pass. They aren’t always fun in the process, but in retrospect, I’m
thankful to each archetype for moving me along the ever-spiraling Stairway to
Heaven.
I can honestly say I
wouldn’t give up an iota of the wisdom I’ve gained in six decades of living for
the beauty and other physical perks of youth. However, if I were redesigning
how life works, I might opt for the unusual characteristic of Mearth, Mork & Mindy’s son, played by Jonathan Winters. He aged backwards—started old,
and grew young.
Scratch that. I think I’d
rather hotrod around in one of those motorized wheelchairs than look forward to diapers, rattles and a lot of
kitchy-coo in my face. Or cheeks pinched. I hated that.
A Few Pearls
from My Lunar Sage
In my Summer Cardinal
Quarterly newsletter (see top of sidebar if you don’t already subscribe), I
talked about navigating the sometimes choppy waters of the Uranus-Pluto square
on your own S.S. Pluto-Uranus. I suggested people rename and christen their
imaginary vehicle for cruising through these changing times. I decided to call
mine the S.S. Lunar Sage because of the conjunction of T-Pluto to my Capricorn Moon
at the apex of a transitory T-square. Pluto is helping me like never before to
overcome issues with unhealthy habits, to trust my intuition, and generally
speaking, to rebirth myself at a primal level.
No matter what our ages, we’re all trying to figure out the same thing: how to live so well on Earth, it feels like Heaven. Then the Ultimate Return Transit will hardly feel like a change. I’d like to share what I’ve learned about being “senior,” so far. I’ll limit myself to seven insights, one for every decade plus one for good measure.
Seven Insights on the Cusp of 651. Love is still the only answer to every question. To love and be loved has always been the best thing on Earth. Expressing love beyond the personal, in creations and sharing talents, completes the circle to make us part of something bigger than ourselves. Experiencing love in all these forms is my proudest accomplishment and greatest joy.
Joyce as Virgo - August 2012
2. No matter how feisty you are, I have to agree with Bette Davis, “Old age is no place for sissies.” There are aches and pains, sagging, wrinkling and creaking. There may be significant health challenges. These things force you to reorder your priorities, especially about being beautiful from the inside out. Inner beauty has always been the only kind that counts in the end, anyway. If that rude Arthur comes calling, as my mother used to refer to her arthritis, it’s a reminder that a bit of stiffness in the body is nothing compared to rigidity of the mind and spirit. The latter must be avoided at all costs to enjoy this trip.3. Maintenance of a senior body takes a lot of time—but it’s worth it. Accept it, decide to make the commitment, or suffer the consequences. I’d say I spend at least 40% of a typical week on exercise classes, cooking whole foods, yoga, qigong, meditation and visits to the chiropractor, doctors and acupuncturist, as needed. I try not to whine, considering the fact that I used to spend much more than that at a “regular job.” Not only that, but the 60% I have left is high quality because I’m willing to put self-care first.4. Fight for what you believe in, right injustices, but the longer I live, the fewer things I feel are worthy of getting my knickers in a knot. Someone sent me an email recently that catalogs all the changes that have taken place in a typical baby boomer’s lifetime. It almost blew my circuits to contemplate. If I haven’t seen it all, damn near! I’ve seen that the more the world changes, the more people are the same at heart. We might email instead of writing letters, life may be a lot faster on its way to transpiring at light speed. We grow and adjust and those who care just keep getting better. We find new ways to cope with old problems, and karma keeps taking care of those who have the misguidance to harm others. When I was in my twenties, a man I knew used to refer my current state of mind as “mellowing,” almost as if it were a bad thing or a weakness. I actually think it’s one of the best things that has ever happened to me.5. A bad day or two—or even a bad year or two—doesn’t constitute a bad lifetime or any reason to give up. If astrology teaches us anything, it’s that things are constantly shifting. We live on a moving planet.6. Given the powerful nature of the transits of Saturn through Pluto to themselves and how they keep honing us to be better versions of ourselves, I actually welcome more of them. With the 1st Chiron Return as the new midlife point, we can get a glimmer of what wholeness is, what our holes are that need filling, what blocks and parts of ourselves we’ve denied that we still need to integrate. We get to move onto do just that with half of our life left to live. It’s like a mid-term report card and review on what subjects we need to better apply ourselves, as well as which one’s we’re acing.7. Laughter is still the best medicine. We’ve heard it, we know it—but how many times have you laughed today? Probably too few. I’ve always loved the metaphysical double entendre, Lighten Up.
Something I learned
writing my novel. The longer we live, the more we become our own future
generation. When we play Earth for keeps, as long as a century, we’ll treat it
and ourselves differently. What we do matters more, because we’ll reap the
consequences of our own deeds, often for decades to come.
So I don’t sound too pie
in the sky and Jupiterian to a fault, I will say that if it’s in the cards that
I live the average lifespan or less, I will be pissed—at least temporarily. I
have too much left to do. Fortunately, my Vedic astrologer told me I’m good for
at least a couple more decades. I hope he’s right.
Whatever day my number’s
up, I hope it will be one of a long line of days of laughing, loving and
learning. I hope my memorial is a big party where people remember me with delight—what
we learned together, how we supported each other, and how we laughed. I will
die, if there’s not laughter at my funeral!
But I’m also OK with
tears. As my wise husband Tim often says (we’re the same age), we’re lucky when
we’ve loved someone so much, we miss them when they’re gone.
I’d write more, but I’m on
the way to the chiropractor—or the Pop Doc, as one of Tim’s 57 first cousins is
known, who happens to be a member of that profession. I’m glad I’m going. It
gives me an opportunity for one last metaphor.
The transits of aging (I
prefer to say saging) are simply Great Chiropractors, realigning us until the
day we no longer need bodies or the spine it takes to live on Earth. My first
teacher used to say that no matter how hard it can be sometimes Down Here,
souls learn so much on Earth, they’re lined up to get a crack at another
lifetime with all its rich learning opportunities.
That’s one crack I’m
grateful for—to the Big Pop Doc in the Sky.
~~~
Photo Credits:
65 - ©
style-photography.de | Fotolia.com;
With Age Comes Wisdom © Rinderart |Dreamstime.com
Owl Moon - © matamu |
Fotolia.com
Joyce as Virgo - © Barbara Hadley-Crow. Taken at NCGR-Sacramento Area open house in August 2012. Not as young as she looked (age 22) dressed up as a Virgo on the left side of the Radical Virgo logo, but not bad for a sextilegenarian.
Joyce as Virgo - © Barbara Hadley-Crow. Taken at NCGR-Sacramento Area open house in August 2012. Not as young as she looked (age 22) dressed up as a Virgo on the left side of the Radical Virgo logo, but not bad for a sextilegenarian.
Notes:
1. Health Beat: Average
American Life Expectancy Has Increased http://abclocal.go.com/wls/story?section=news/health&id=8499474
2. CIA: The World
Factbook, Country Comparisons on Life Expectancy https://www.cia.gov/library/publications/the-world-factbook/rankorder/2102rank.html
3. Currently, the midlife
transits, which occur from approximately 37-47 are considered to be transiting Pluto
square natal Pluto, transiting Neptune square natal Neptune, and transiting Uranus opposite natal Uranus. Some astrologers also
include transiting Saturn opposite natal Saturn—the halfway mark between the
First and Second Saturn Returns.
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