Appreciation

   By Lauren Selman | Bio

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Dad, I love you.

Your daughter[Read More]

Written by eldering at Fearless Aging

Tagged with: love

Appreciation

   By Lauren Selman | Bio

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Dad, I love you.

Your daughter[Read More]

Written by eldering at Fearless Aging

Tagged with: love

Fireworks 5000 for the Future

   By Lauren Selman | Bio

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10-9-8-7-6-5-4-3-2-1, GO!!! At midnight, on July 3rd, over nine hundred runners started off on a midnight fourth of July run in Seattle. Among the runners were my uncle and I. As I stood in the crowd waiting to start, I saw runners of all ages. From nine-year-olds to 85-year-olds, all of us were crazy enough to be standing in Seattle at midnight in short shorts and tank tops. It go me thinking. Here we were, all humans of different ages, gathering around to run.

[Read More]

Written by eldering at Fearless Aging

Tagged with: ages commitment community generations inspiration integrity sports

Being 21 in the 21st Century

   By Lauren Selman | Bio

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I was walking through beautiful San Francisco yesterday, humming to myself and thinking, "Wow, I'm 21 in the 21st century." And then I thought:

• What does it mean to be aging with time?
• What does it mean to be getting older with each century that passes?
• How am I part of the "next generation" as well as being a witness to the upcoming generation?
• What is it like to be a teacher and a student?

As I pondered on where to start, I, like Alice in her mysterious Wonderland, began at the beginning. What does it mean to be 21?

[Read More]

Written by eldering at Fearless Aging

Tagged with: aging fear generation growth transition

Does Getting Older Mean Getting Wiser?

   By Lauren Selman | Bio

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I recently watched one of my favorite shows, "Sex in the City." This show features four protagonists that constantly prove that 30 is the new 20 and uncovers their relationships in the city of New York. In this particular episode, the older women were poignantly juxtaposed against young starlettes to emphasis they're "getting older". The plot circulated around the question about aging that Carrie posed at the top of the episode: "Does getting older mean getting wiser?" I feel that, in the discussion of aging, the concepts of "getting older" are synonymous with "getting wiser." But is this really the case?

[Read More]

Written by eldering at Fearless Aging

Tagged with: culture eldering older wisdom wiser

How Old Would You Be...?

  
By Lauren Selman
Bio

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When do you start to get older? After reading the comments about aging, I ask, “When does aging begin?” Aging is placed in the context of those entering their thirties and beyond, but for me, I believe the process of aging began the day I was born. When I was a little girl, I was asked what I wanted to be when I grew up and I simply responded, "I don't want to grow up." But the truth was I was growing up as I was saying those words. I was resisting aging from the moment I could answer such a question and the fairies of Neverland dusted me with fairy dust. But the wonderful thing about Neverland is that everyone is there. The older pirates and the youthful lost boys.

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Written by eldering at Fearless Aging

Tagged with: age aging elders growing older young

Lauren Selman

My daughter’s self-introduction below speaks pretty much for itself and who she is. We can all learn from our children. Perhaps our willingness to learn is the basis for working together to create a better world, what I call Eldering. In my relationship with Lauren, I not only learn, but am constantly inspired and a little bit in awe of her commitment to making a difference, her humanity and her love for people. I am proud to present my daughter here at Serene Ambition….

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"I slept and dreamt that life was joy. I awoke and found that life was service. I acted and, behold, service was joy."

These words of Rabindranath Tagore epitomize the direction of my life.

Ever since I was child, I have always immersed myself in the most diverse and delicious tastes of what life has to offer. As I grew up, social pressure insisted I specify my direction. From medicine to politics, the arts and space travel, my life has twisted along many paths and I have come out  on the world's great stage as a global citizen. Some young people believe growing up means abandoning their ideals. But I have learned that it means learning how to live our ideals, every day, on the Earth.

My current project involves REEL GREENING!, a concept that emerged from my senior thesis research project at Berkeley and that focuses on bringing environmental consciousness to the events and entertainment industry. As a simultaneous degree honors graduate (with a BS in Conservation Resource Studies and a BA in Theater Performance Studies), I have merged my passion for the environment and entertainment to form Reel Green Media.

My interest in the environment was sparked while I was studying the effects of petroleum development in Ecuador’s Amazon rainforest, where I witnessed both environmental and humanitarian injustices. Back in California, I made a commitment to make my academic work be a stepping-stone for the future—instead of collecting dust on a shelf—and so I began a two-year study entitled titled "Lights, Camera, Eco-Action!" that investigated the environmental impact of the film industry.

I recently attended the EMA Awards in Los Angeles and during the summer I spoke at the Association of Film Commissioners International Conference on "Going Green." I was also recently published in Traction Magazine, a magazine for and by women in the "industry". I am currently consulting with Julia Butterfly Hill's team on the greening of the film LUNA, directed by Deepa Metha, supervising the outstanding youth production team at The Green Screen, writing a handbook for the widely attended Hollywood Goes Green conference and consulting on a variety of independent projects. My philosophy is that with creativity and innovation, we can ‘green’ the movies together.

With every waking day, I hope to continue to live a life of service and social transformation and be the change that I want to see. If the passion, creativity and commitment of people can be liberated for the common good, we can change the world. As youth today, we stand in a powerful place, at a threshold of opportunity: the choices we make can transform the future and do something about the suffering that is taking place in the world. But I believe we can only do this if we combine our passion, creativity and commitment with the wisdom of the generations before us.

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Written by eldering at Fearless Aging

Tagged with: bio