WILL AGEING BE A PRIVILEGE?

Like any other self aware 21 year old, when the going gets tough and the tough gets going I always turn towards the nostalgic  sanctuary of  Disney movies, one always discovers or realizes a new thing during every re watch. This time tangled made me realize that the witch kept Rapunzel locked in that tower all those years just because she was afraid of ageing and getting old (maybe a severe case of Gerascophobia), Rapunzel was her only key to remaining young forever. Getting older has always been associated as something that should be hidden or not acknowledged, courtesy every movie and advertisement's depiction of old age in this world, where it is shown as our future will be grumpy and ineffectual.

About three months ago I was also the human embodiment of that witch, but those were the thoughts during a halcyonic past. Now that we are living in an anomaly, our ships completely deviated from their destined paths, I've started looking at older people in a completely different light maybe even some envy, envious of the way they experienced life with normal problems like a job, house or getting a seat in the train , in case we survive we too will face these but for us these will be the least of our problems, amidst a collapsing economy and eminent death looming around like we're in a minefield, fearing if we touched the wrong person.

 As our world's paradigm slowly changes, everyday  people are dying, young and old all the same for several different reasons. It was never a guarantee that we all are going to be over the hill and cross it, but the current circumstances just hammer the fact a little harder on us and life seems even more uncertain and fickle.

Not everyone gets to age. The death of so many people close to me is a constant reminder that life is a privilege. We were always fed the narratives of the fear of growing older, that crow feet are ugly and wrinkles are bad, but they show the passage of time. The immediate concerns now are that, will we even get a chance to be old, to wrinkle, to sag, to have laugh lines, to slow down and have an armada of experiences to share. Moreover, even if we do will our time ever be truly happy again? 

The french have a word  'Raison D'etre' meaning the most important reason or purpose for someone's or something's existence, what if our raison d'etre become to do just that- exist, waiting for the armageddon.