Christian Living Communities continues our commitment to disrupting ageism. CLC President & CEO Jill Vitale-Aussem recently hosted a live discussion with Penny Cook from the Pioneer Network to talk more about the importance of community and citizenship in combating ageist practices and beliefs.
Ageism is all around us – just look at your neighborhood greeting card aisle. Shifting from the ageist practices and beliefs we are taught growing up takes time. It starts with each of us first shifting our internal dialogue, and then shifting our expectations and how we operate in our lives.
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One way to combat ageist beliefs, such as older adults have less to contribute and aren’t as valued, is to create a strong sense of community and citizenship for yourself. Community can be your neighborhood, your interest group, your friends, your family or a senior living community – it really is open for interpretation. What is important is to create or seek out community; somewhere you belong, are expected and are celebrated.
Once you have your sense of community then practice good citizenship, contribute to the greater good, create self-purpose. This doesn’t have to be something as grand as serving on a leadership counsel or volunteering at the local school, although both are great, it can be as simple as sharing your simple gifts. For one CLC resident it is as simple as sharing her passion for baking rum cakes. Yup, rum cakes. Jean makes delicious rum cakes. She contributes to her community by baking cakes and donating them to fundraising efforts, to recognize an employee for an outstand achievement, to give to a neighbor who is feeling blue. This act of citizenship gives Jean purpose, she is very appreciated for her contribution to her community.
Some links to , articles, books, and resources that may be helpful:
https://christianlivingcommunities.org/blog/openly-gray-fighting-ageism-starts-with-us/
https://www.pioneernetwork.net/resource-categories/ageism/
https://www.amazon.com/Ageism-Unmasked-Exploring-Age-Bias/dp/1586423223