During the course of our research, we have conversed with over one hundred women who are demonstrating a remarkable capacity to use whatever life brings their way as an opportunity for personal growth.   Defying stereotypes of aging, both individually and as a group, women in their fifties, sixties and beyond are achieving psychological and spiritual mastery in multiple areas of their lives.  Along the way, there is the growing sense that as a generation, we are reinventing expectations about the quality of our futures, not only for ourselves but for those to come.  We are, in fact, becoming wise.

This spontaneous attunement is so palpable, the two of us emerged from our research calling this the early signs of a grassroots movement that holds the potential not only for personal but for societal transformation.  We are, after all, the generation who rose up against the mythology that defined the perfect woman of the 1950's, birthing the women's liberation movement.  As young adults, we took on a wide array of traditional institutions, including politics and religion.  Most recently, we transformed hot flashes into power surges.  Now, as we are turning the next page on our Our Generation's Search for Meaning and mastery, we are challenging our parents' notion of aging, simultaneously waking up to both the need and the potential to take charge of our destinies.

Outdated Notions

The notion of aging that our parent's generation bought into was one of a world in which a depressing decline was inevitable.  Theirs was a generation where people were old at 50.  They looked old.  They acted old. 

Historians teach us that our parents' concept of old age finds its roots in the years immediately following World War II. Women and older people who had been playing a vital role in keeping the country running while the men were away were prevailed upon to patriotically step aside at war's end to make room for the returning heroes.  Those who failed to cooperate were labeled as cranky, eccentric or even senile.  Stereotypes die hard.   And so it is that for each of us, there comes a moment--be it a milestone birthday, the loss of a job, a child leaving home, an illness or a death--when we find ourselves faced with a hostile landscape largely populated by news reports, advertisements and advisers eager to frighten us with breathless reports of hidden dangers and troubles ahead.

The news is not that these messengers of ill tidings continue to buy into the stereotypes of aging.  Rather, the scoop is that so many of the women of our generation are simultaneously questioning the premise that aging is a problem and the future something to fear.  The fact is that no one has ever before been our age at this moment of history, so nobody really knows what's in store for us, now or further down the road.  This is particularly pertinent for our generation, considering that in 1900, not long before many of our own mothers were born, the average American woman lived to be only 47.3 years of age.  Today, many of us will have five decades or more of quality life ahead of us, not only living longer, but healthier and more vitally.  Taking advantage of medical and technological breakthroughs, it is as if we've been instinctively pacing ourselves for the longer life spans that are now the norm rather than the exception.  The fact is that given the size of our demographic, there are more of us capable of making a bigger impact on our society today and in the coming decades than any other gender or age group in the population, economically, politically and socially.  Moreover, when viewed through the lens of developmental theory, the fact of our magnitude coupled with the aggregate length of our lives creates the potential for an unprecedented number of us to simultaneously scale the heights of personal growth to achieve an advanced stage of life mastery achievable only through the honing of many seasons of experience.

The Silver Pearl

 Is it any wonder, given our history and potential, that we are transcending outdated expectations to determine a meaningful and creative experience of life for ourselves, at once both practical and visionary?  The answer is found in the pages ahead, as we use the metaphor of the silver pearl to describe the peak of the developmental pyramid, a synthesis of advanced psychological and spiritual attainment. 

 In the course of our research for this book, we conversed with women in our generation who have achieved this heightened stage of wisdom and life mastery in one or more areas of their lives.  What is more remarkable is that they are doing so even while caretaking declining parents, preparing for the future or any of the ten top issues that emerged from our research.  As a generation, we quite simply don't relate to what many theorists refer to as "the problems of aging."  Rather, our research indicates that we continue to be interested in addressing the same concerns that have always captured our generation's attention:  how to find meaning, be productive, establish healthy relationships, reduce stress, make a contribution to society and relish the fully-lived life. 

As the two of us turn from research to writing, we find ourselves eager to communicate what we are learning with others who are also noticing that something extraordinary is happening with our generation of women.  Even more importantly, we look forward to continuing our conversation with those of us who are actually living the experience. 

We feel blessed to have the opportunity to share what we have learned with you as together, our journey to the silver pearl unfolds!