Tomorrow, the Japanese observe Keiro No Hi, a holiday that celebrates the wisdom of age. While I love the idea of Keiro No Hi, I propose adding a different holiday to our calendar—one where we commit to embracing and celebrating generational differences. Let’s call it Generational Sharing Day!
Welcome to week 35 of The Sunday Spark, a series with weekly thoughts and highlights, nuggets of learning, and a sustainable living tip for the week. In addition to how generational differences enrich our lives, this week I look at a new eco-friendly building material, rising Arctic temperatures, fascinating animal migration facts, and thrift store shopping.
The Sunday Spark – Week 35
On my mind this week: Why don’t we celebrate generational differences?
On the third Monday in September, the Japanese celebrate Keiro No Hi. The expression loosely translates to “Respect for the aged day”.
Living in youth-obsessed North America, where advertisers, media, and society at large, present an unflattering image of older people, I love the idea of a day to celebrate the wisdom of age. But this celebration only looks at one side of the equation. I’d prefer to add a different holiday to our calendar…one where we embrace generational differences and acknowledge that each of us has an opportunity to learn from people older and younger than us. Let’s call it Generational Sharing Day!
A tale as old as time…
It’s a tale as old as time. Every generation thinks they travelled a much more difficult path than today’s young people. As an apprentice electrician, my daughter works with mostly older white men. Rarely a day—or hour—goes by where she doesn’t hear “The problem with you young people is…” or the extremely ill-informed “You have it way easier than I did at your age!”
At the other end of the spectrum, as a boomer I hear comments in the workplace about inflexible “old people” who are stuck in their ways, can’t learn new things, and just need to retire.
Why do we do this? Why is it so difficult to look at generational differences as a positive?
We can all learn from each other…
As a younger worker, my daughter recognizes she has a lot to learn from her older co-workers. At the same time, she sees how the workplace culture would improve if these men could let go of their old-school ways and embrace the ideas and perspectives younger people bring to their workplaces.
As an older worker, I learn so much from the perspective of my younger co-workers. My boss is 20 years younger than me, and I learn something from every conversation with him. Similarly, my younger colleagues help me see things from their point of view, and most of them seek my opinion on things. On the other hand, I have worked with some younger coworkers who think they know it all and couldn’t possibly learn anything from an old fossil like me. It pains me to see mistakes happen simply because someone didn’t bother to tap into the wisdom that’s right in front of them.
Clearly, older and younger people need to take equal responsibility for the current “us versus them” mentality that doesn’t serve anyone well.
…but we need to be willing to listen
Interestingly, the book I’m reading right now is You Can’t Google It! The Compelling Case for Cross Generational Conversation at Work by Phyllis Weiss Haserot. In the book, Weiss Haserot suggests “meaningful conversations in a non-threatening environment hold the best promise for solutions” to our generational divide.
It’s time to let go of our biases and start talking, and more importantly listening, to each other. Employers could do more to encourage a spirit of collaboration across generations, but ultimately it falls to each individual to be open to the idea that they might learn something.
In my mind, we have very little to lose by doing this…and everything to gain! Happy Generational Sharing Day!
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Three highlights of the week
It’s important to celebrate big milestones and simple pleasures in life. Keeping the trend going, here are three highlights and simple pleasures of the week gone by:
- Last weekend, we hosted a wonderful get-together with some of my high school friends. I made vegetarian lasagna for the first time, and it turned out great.
- Each of my two pepper plants yielded only one fruit, but they were delicious. Is there a trick to getting more than one pepper from a plant? I’d love to hear your tips.
- We’ve had fun at work this week with a team scavenger hunt that had us mimicking statues, making origami creations, recreating iconic pop culture images, and more.
Three things I learned this week
Life is all about learning. Here are three things I learned this week:
Hempcrete shows promise as a sustainable building material
Could hempcrete be the building material of the future? This eco-friendly alternative to traditional building materials is made from the inner woody core of the hemp plant and a lime-based binder.
A new 12-story hotel constructed entirely from hempcrete is set to open in Cape Town, South Africa in 2024.
In addition to being environmentally friendly, hempcrete offers superior insulation, increased fire protection, and improved indoor air quality. And, hemp is fast growing and requires less water and pesticides than traditional building materials.
(Source: HappyEcoNews)
Rising Arctic temperatures threaten wildlife
It’s no secret that Arctic temperatures have been steadily rising, but I was shocked this week to learn that summer temperatures can reach 38 degrees Celsius, melting sea ice at alarming rates. This threatens the survival of many species, including our beloved polar bears who must now hunt their prey from water—a much more difficult task than hunting on ice. Interestingly, polar bears can smell their prey from 30 kilometres away. (Source: Our Planet II, Netflix)
Fascinating animal migration facts
I’m always amazed to hear of birds and animals migrating thousands of kilometres in search of food. The first episode of Our Planet II, the latest David Attenborough series on Netflix, provided these fascinating animal migration facts.
- A locust swarm can travel up to 100 kilometres a day.
- Newly hatched Murrelet chicks in British Columbia travel to sea on foot, and then paddle 70 kilometres before they eat their first meal.
- The Laysan Albatross lives 60 years and flies millions of kilometres, unless the sharks get them first.
- Polar bears roam thousands of kilometres in search of food.
- By far the best migration story comes from the Sooty Shearwater who travel 65,000 kilometres from New Zealand to Alaska, flying 1,000 kilometres a day.
Sustainable living tip: Give your local thrift store a try
It’s Second Hand September, an annual campaign that encourages people to buy only second hand clothing for a month.
If you’re in search of new clothing this month, give your local thrift store or charity shop a try before heading to the mall. Visit 6 great reasons to love thrift shops to learn why thrifting is good for you…and the planet.
I’d love to hear what you think about any of this week’s topics. Drop me a comment below and let me know your thoughts and ideas.
I’m all in for Generational Sharing Day! Excellent points, Michelle. And an albatross lives to 60? Wow!
Yes! We can all learn so much from each other if we just keep an open mind. I think the blogging community is an excellent example of that. When I started blogging, I was amazed at how many young people were writing insightful and educational blogs.
I must find that Attenborough programme. I often find younger colleagues think they know everything and make mistakes because they don’t take notice of us older ones. I learn from them a lot, especially regarding technology.
I love Sir David Attenborough. He’s such an inspiring fellow. You’re right that a lot of younger colleagues think they know it all. The ones who are successful, though, are those who recognize they can learn from others.
When I started my job as project manager coming from HR management, a mentor was assigned to me. We are the same age, but it might’ve happen that I would be assigned a younger colleague. Actually life is a matter of learning, and learning from each other shouldn’t depend on the age.
As regards hemp, in Europe we produce also cosmetics and clothes. I guess we should use this wonderful plant for more and more purposes because, as you said, it needs less water also than cotton.
I agree. If we’re open to learning, we realize it can come from anywhere and anyone. If we close ourselves off because of biases and assumptions, we will lose out in the long run.
Hemp really is a versatile plant. I even put hemp seeds in my smoothies!
Thank you for another thought provoking (and sad — being reminded of how the warming poles of our planet will impact so many fellow beings and crucial ecosystems) blog post. Listening to others takes time and patience and empathy. Your plea for intergenerational listening/learning made me think of stories about how some communities/cultures used to (and maybe still do…) sit and discuss and listen and think together about how a decision might ripple out for seven generations into the future. Doesn’t seem to be enough of those kinds of conversations happening these days — especially at immensely powerful companies driven by a few people’s vision/ego + quarterly earning reports… Deep breath in. Deep breath out. On a much smaller note, recently I was able to find exactly what I was looking for (a pair of 32 x32 black jeans) at a used clothing store within walking distance of my home. Very satisfying!
Yes! One of the things I love about Indigenous cultures is looking seven generations to the past and considering the implications of what we’re doing for seven generations in the future. Imagine what a different world we’d have if everyone did that! Sadly, massive egos and corporate greed get in the way of what’s right most of the time.
And YEAH on the used clothing find. I found a lovely scarf at the thrift store yesterday.
…”meaningful conversations in a non-threatening environment”. Gosh, what a point. Yes – and wouldn’t that be an excellent prescription for improving relationships of all sorts. Thanks, Michelle! 😉
You’re right, Vicki. Meaningful non-defensive conversations could solve so many problems, yet it’s so difficult to do. Have a wonderful Sunday.
You, too Michelle! 😘