In 30 Years

In this morning’s paper, financial advisor Jean Chatzky suggested planning for the distant future. To inspire yourself to save for that day, you can generate an image of yrself as much older.

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The current photo is the little one in the corner.  I had to go 30 years in future AND imagine I was a drug addict to get this aged.  Projecting 20 yrs into the future, or 30 yrs while healthy, didn’t look all that different from now.  :-0    This image seems somewhat realistic, but I actually think my hair will be all white. And I only hope I’m that thin. (An option where the drug of choice is Swiss chocolate with hazelnuts wasn’t offered.)

It’s fun to think intergenerationally about yourself!  The change from being a newborn to a strapping adult and then, if we’re lucky, to an elder, is so common we don’t really notice it but when we really think about it, it’s breathtaking. Caterpillars change into butterflies quickly, but every being on this planet also dramatically transforms. Even mountains turn into canyons eventually and boulders grind down to pebbles; ocean floors rise to become mountainsides as the continents shift; sunny meadows eventually become thick old forests as species succeed one another in a given area. Panta Rei, as Heraclitis said – everything changes. It’s just a question of time scale.

For the full range, here’s an image of myself a number of years back – age 3, happy with an animal and a stack of books. Nothing important has changed! Maybe it never will.

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To try prematurely aging yourself, go to in20years.com.  If you’re appalled by the idea of aging thusly, remember what the old folks say: it sure beats the alternative.

I’ve been working on moving my elderly dad and his wife out here to Colorado, where I now live. Although in their 90s, they have been living on their own until now and remain vibrant and full of excitement about this new adventure. Thinking of the enormous changes they’ve seen over the years, and how they and their lives have changed many times, can confer some equanimity for our own futures.

I sincerely hope to see you all 30 years hence in realtime. We can show what happened to our tattoos.