Children and grandchildren often lived either with or in the proximity of their parents and grandparents, and in traditional societies still do, giving the younger generations access to older people they can trust, and who can guide them because they’ve “been there done that.”
Nowadays we don’t always have access to that elder wisdom because parents and grandparents often live far away or perhaps we have excluded them from our lives because we were so busy.
But we all need mentors, guides, counselors, people who help us navigate our complex world that is going through huge changes. The world is changing faster than ever. Often the grandparent generation, even if around, is not keeping up with technology and social changes and is thus unable to help because they may feel lost themselves.
Heck, parents are often lost and their teens flounder and resort to drugs, alcohol, and the virtual screen world because they lack emotional support and wise guidance. Between climate change, environmental calamities, changing economic paradigms and social structures, the refugee crises, and violence and terrorism seemingly popping up anywhere and everywhere we have a lot to chew on.
We need very special elders to guide us through these intense times so we don’t get lost in despair, anguish, or aloofness. They are around, I know some of them. Intergenerational communication is more important than ever.
