I found a collection of links on getting older, links I am drawn to as I get older. Some of them are essential but depressing. Others affirm there are possibilities for new things as one reaches middle age and then old age. There are difficulties, including discrimination due to ageism: some of these articles can help deal with that.

• My middle-age dread | Books | The Guardian – many articles on middle-age are like this, sadly.
• Why do so many middle-aged men feel so lost? – for example
• I’m an energetic baby boomer. Why do so many people of my age seem old? – The Washington Post – on the other hand, the experience of being middle aged is not uniformly bleak. Some people still feel vital and young.
• Laid-off woman in her 50s learned to code, landed a new career – and some find it is possible to devlelop new careers in this stage of life
• Tackling Age Discrimination in Silicon Valley | WIRED – still, there is ageism to deal with
• Age Discrimination: Too Much Experience To Be Hired? Some Older Americans Face Bias : NPR – more on ageism here
• Why You Want to Hire Older People | Johanna Rothman, Management Consultant – if you think you are going to be dealing with ageism, this piece could help
• More Older People Are Finding Work, but What Kind? – NYTimes.com – if you are thinking of changing careers, this can give you a sense of what people your age are doing

I’ll conclude with two pieces on much older artists still capable of doing great things. One of the biggest problems of being middle-aged is succumbing to fatalism and a pessimistic belief that almost everything is behind you, and that you have nothing to live for or work towards. As you can see in these pieces below, that’s not always true. You should fight that belief, and live your days like you have many, while taking care to enjoy each day as you can. You need a vision to care you forward, a way to get off the track labelled Dead End and on to the one the continues forward. I hope these links can help achieve that vision:

• The 20 oldest living film directors | BFI
• 93-Year-Old Doctor-Sculptor Lionel M. Bernstein Gets His First Gallery Show: DCist

Finally, there is this: Seeing old age as a never ending adventure