YouTube can lead us down unexpected avenues. Sometimes there are tailored algorithms at play that determine which channel suggestions will appear in our right-hand columns. Frequently, this is our route to previously unexplored sites.
This is how I happened to come across a 77 year old American fellow called Robert. Over at his channel called "Robert's Active Retirement" there are currently 82 videos that mostly address issues around retirement and old age.
This is a pretty short video that Robert posted three days ago...
As you can see, Robert has a friendly, folksy style. He is not a medical person or a trained counsellor. His thoughts and bits of advice are very much based on lived experience. He's not trying to ram ideas down our necks - he is just telling us how he sees things in a pleasant, genial manner
In years gone by, I would never have imagined myself displaying the slightest interest in videos about old age and retirement but we all move on. To every time there is a season.
Aging can be a pretty lonesome and fretful phase so it's quite nice to have someone like Robert confirming that we are in fact not alone. The worries and doubts older people might be going through will not be entirely unique. Somebody else has been there before.
And as for being 77 - I am just over five years short of that line - a little way behind Robert... assuming I make it of course. Limited time to realise a few more dreams, walk some more paths, weave more golden threads into the tapestry of my life before I exit this stage.
I just saw this same list on a different video. It wasn't one of Robert's though. It made me chuckle.
ReplyDeleteYeah - I had the idea that Robert was commenting on somebody else's ideas for this video.
DeleteGetting old is not for sissies! I have a nice group of high school girlfriends and we get together once a month for brunch. We all turn 75 this year and it is nice to share our health worries, our laughs, our family stories. We have a lot in common.
ReplyDeleteHow lovely that you maintain that special link with women you have known for over sixty years. Growing old together. Beautiful.
DeleteI first saw this guy on my instagram just yesterday and now you are talking about him. How interesting. I guess my algorithm thinks I'm old or something
ReplyDeleteTo me you are just a young lass Kylie! Do you still go to school?
DeleteKeep a happy thought!
ReplyDeleteI will indeed even though I don't know what you mean!
DeleteOh damn, there you go again. May I remind you, YP, that I am over 85 now and going stern, er, I meant storm, no I mean going stiff, no that's not it. Let me get back to you.
ReplyDeleteYou could have your own YouTube site on senior living... "Way Beyond Robert".
DeleteSounds interesting and probably helps to make sense of some of our doubts and fears. Our CBC radio has had a very interesting series on aging.
ReplyDeleteIt's nice to know you are not alone.
DeleteAll you get in life is happiness, so hold onto it as long as you can.
ReplyDeleteThat sucker is far too slippery.
DeleteI listened and giggled a bit, but got annoyed at the spelling mistakes.
ReplyDeleteYou have to forgive Robert - he's 77 you know!
Deletefor me getting old includes being less squeamish.... old age seems so visceral...... having to talk to young ladies about whether my bowels are open or not seems to confirm i am definitely on the train, if not already arrived!!
ReplyDeleteI am already nearing Hull on the death train... while you are just coming into Goole.
DeleteOld age is a privilege denied to many.
ReplyDeleteMy late father and my brothers Paul and Simon can testify to that David.
DeleteIf I end up in a old folks home. I don't want to listen to Vera Lynn playing. It's will have to be some Kansas or Thin Lizzy and plenty of Prog Rock.
ReplyDeleteThere will be a Democratic vote so you will be listening to Cliff RIchard and Tom Jones till God decides to send you to heaven.
DeleteWhere's he from -- does he say?
ReplyDeleteHe's American so my guess is that he is from America.
DeleteNever had the time to deal with a**holes when I was younger, what makes anyone think that I'll deal with them now that I have less time? When my father was my age he'd been dead for three years.
ReplyDeleteWill Jay
To deal with a**holes you may sometimes need a soothing cream such as "Sudocrem".
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