Growing Old with Curiosity, Wonder, and Laughter

As I move toward my 80th year, one thing stands out: curiosity and wonder have never left me. They were my companions in youth and remain so now. Even as life narrows in some ways, curiosity keeps the mind wide open. Wonder allows me to look at the world , no matter how familiar , with fresh eyes.

What comforts me most about growing old gracefully is discovering the power of laughter. There’s a big difference between the laughter of a sage and that of a preacher. The sage laughs deeply, with joy in the belly. The preacher, when he laughs at all, does so stiffly, from the corner of the mouth. If aging has taught me anything, it’s that a good laugh is both wisdom and medicine.

My ideals have shifted too. In youth, I had causes, convictions, even ideologies I tried to pass along to others. I wanted to persuade, to convert, to fix. Now, I no longer feel that urge. I don’t need to convince anyone. I don’t feel superior because others see the world differently. With age, I’ve learned that life is too vast, too mysterious, to be squeezed into neat categories of “isms” or principles. These days, my ideal is freedom , freedom from ideals themselves.

That doesn’t mean apathy. It means acceptance. Life is the ocean we swim in; we can’t control its currents, but we can learn to move with them. Some days are calm, others stormy, but the sea itself is still beautiful. And while we may not change human foolishness, one can fight evil, but stupidity often wins the day , we can choose not to let it sour our spirits.

When I look back, I see moments of tragedy, foolishness, and disappointment, but I also see resilience. I’ve learned that the person who takes themselves too seriously is setting themselves up for misery. Humor, humility, and perspective are far lighter companions.

In the end, life itself is not the problem. It is the gift, the ocean in which we swim. The real challenge is to live without polluting those waters, without dimming the spirit that animates us. For a creative person, perhaps the hardest task is simply to stop trying to remake the world in their image, and instead, to embrace people as they are , good, bad, or indifferent.

So, as I step into 80, I carry with me curiosity, wonder, laughter, and acceptance. They are lighter than ideals, stronger than certainty, and far more joyful to share. And maybe that’s what makes this milestone something to celebrate after all.

To my children and grandchildren: if you take one lesson from me, let it be this , never lose your sense of curiosity or your sense of wonder. They’ll serve you better than any rulebook or ideology. And laugh, often and deeply. Life is never perfect, but it is always precious. May you find joy in it every single day, at whatever age you find yourself.