Essay

An anti-aging elixir

By Maria Bromley

On Jan. 14, many young Japanese people celebrated Coming of Age Day. I remember when we first moved to Japan in January 2006, we were thrilled to see the kimono-clad parade of debutantes and beaus entering adulthood. They seemed full of energy and beauty, looking forward to all life has to offer.

With Coming of Age Day behind us, and our own coming of age even further behind us, I thought it would be a good time to reflect on aging, or rather our desire not to age and how to avoid aging if possible.

While there are many books written on the topic of aging, I am going to suggest one anti-aging trick you may not have thought of -- it's not drinking acai juice or green drinks -- although that also may help. It's not complicated but it does require some effort.

I think one of the secrets to staying young is keeping up with technology.

Technology changes at the speed of light and if we don't do a little exercise every day we can get left behind. Very quickly. I've noticed it with myself and other family members. I especially noticed it with my 90-year-old mother who did try to keep up and was Skyping and emailing until the end. It kept her in touch with her grandchildren and kept her relevant. She even had us set up a Facebook account for her. She didn't have many "Facebook friends," as none of her peers were on the social media network, but her desire to continue to learn new things kept her current and her mind active.

I try to keep up with the latest social media sites, but I spend too much of my time texting, blogging, tweeting and pinning photos on Pinterest. But I do feel I'm better able to understand many current events because of it. I am also better able to communicate with my teenage daughter. However, I am still behind at updating my Mac, and syncing my iPhone and iPad. Apparently, I missed a few upgrades on my computer and am now light-years behind. My computer concierge recommended a new computer rather than trying to bring this 5-year-old dinosaur up to standard.

I love the way technology keeps making our lives easier. I click on a date in an email and it gets entered on my calendar, with the location mapped. It is seamless.

But I see how it can get overwhelming. It can seem like it's spiraling out of control. The home computer, the smartphone, the television, the camera -- everything gets more and more complex. How many passwords do we need?

Technology is like music. You have your classics, your favorites, but you learn to appreciate the new stuff. I love classic rock, but I realized there is some good new music, when I accidentally synced my iPhone with my daughter's music library, much to her dismay.

So, enjoy your classics but keep up with technology's new "music" and perhaps you'll recapture some of that energy and beauty of your own coming of age.

Shukan ST: JANUARY 18, 2013

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