Friday, November 21, 2025 (DRAFT)
Thoughts About Community
In my last post, I wrote about what it feels like to live in my mid-80s with health, clarity, and purpose—something I never imagined experiencing decades ago. The more I reflect on this unexpected stage of life, the more I notice something important: people my age are living through a transition that no generation before us has experienced.
We are healthy longer.
We are active longer.
We are present in the world longer.
And yet, it seems that almost no one talks about what this actually feels like.
A Missing Conversation
In recent months, I’ve noticed how often folks around my age quietly share stories with me that echo my own:
- being underestimated because of age
- feeling “out of sync” with stereotypes
- balancing independence with shifting social expectations
- managing losses while also discovering new energy
- feeling invisible and visible at the same time
These conversations usually happen in corners—in my retail job while speaking with customers, or spontaneously during errands or in spaces between tasks. They’re brief, spontaneous exchanges that end with, “I’m glad we talked about this.”
I’ve been wondering why there isn’t a regular place for people in their 70+ years to have such deeper conversations openly. Not about illnesses or medications—that’s already been done. I mean about the life side of aging: identity, purpose, invisibility, curiosity, grief, reinvention, and the strange thrill of still being very much here.
A Thought That Keeps Returning
What if there were a small group that gathered—say, weekly or monthly—simply to talk about what it’s like to live in these later years with awareness and vitality? That would be creating a setting where age isn’t the topic so much as the lens.
This could be a group that sees aging not as retreat, but as a frontier.
This idea isn’t about therapy or advice-giving. It’s more like a conversation circle—thoughtful, warm, respectful, and open. A place where people who are navigating this unfamiliar terrain can compare notes, share insights, and feel understood.
But Here’s the Truth
The thought of organizing such a group overwhelms me a bit. Maybe that’s because it feels larger than one person. It feels like something that should grow naturally, not through pressure or obligation.
Yet the need keeps nudging me. It’s as if something in our culture is waiting to be named—and conversation is often how naming begins.
Maybe the Group Begins Here
So for now, I’m simply writing about it—opening the idea—to the air—to see if it wants to take a shape and what that might be like. Perhaps others will feel the same pull, and maybe a few voices will gather. Maybe such a group will form itself, slowly and organically, the way meaningful things often do.
I’m not ready to declare myself the leader of anything. But I am ready to acknowledge that many of us—living longer, living differently—are hungry—for a place to speak, to listen, and to understand this unexpected chapter together.
This post is simply a beginning.
A seed.
A space held open.
And we’ll see what grows from it.
— Diana
Diana's Morning Blog 