The health of any culture is revealed in its imagination, especially its vitality to dream. Unbeknownst to them, our youth are assigned the DNA-driven task to not only live into their dreams but incubate them as humus for the culture’s future.

Equally, the mission of the Elder is to accompany and nurture those dreams, (and dreamers) with yielding-curiosity, tenderness and regard. In such a process an exchange often occurs where the Elder’s past dreams are revealed as the youth bring forth their poignant dreams that feed the culture’s assurances for a tomorrow.

But living in a cultural-impoverishment, we have not yet embraced the distinctions between ‘olders’ versus Elders. We carry no current expectations of ourselves to become Elders. Rather many of us travel the road to just becoming old, keeping us disenfranchised and disenchanted as olders, those that know the mere decay of aging. The role of the Elder is both collaborative with our ancestor's robust fulfillment and the recognition that our youth need us to witness all their vitality.

Eldership awaits us as our journey of life has collected all the experiences into a potential quiet-wisdom of generosity.

Eldership recognizes it does not mean having all the answers of the world. But more importantly to partner with the young as they nourish their incubated dreams that must be known and delivered to the awaiting world.

These dreams are nothing less than the plethora of our collective imagination, looking to serve and take their vital place at the table-of-life.

Having had a long journey through life we collect many experiences into a potentially quiet wisdom. Assuming a role of an Elder, does not mean having all the answers. But rather it means bring our accumulated wisdom to nurture and partner with the youth as they incubate their vital dreams. Such a relationship between youth and Elder carries the curative medicine so many seek. Meaningfulness through this relationship becomes the antidote to the Elder’s fears of mortality.

We Westerners must learn such medicinal healing stems not-from-words nor information, but from the inherent wisdom of the relationship that intrinsically honors both young and old.