ABSTRACT
This chapter describes some of the distinctive characteristics of the aging process. Whether physical or cognitive or emotional, there are inevitable alterations and disruptions to our previously taken-for-granted level of functioning in the world. Time accelerates, and losses accumulate. But there may be welcome compensations: fewer responsibilities, a sharpened sense of what really matters, greater freedom to be yourself. If we take the approach of anthropologists and adopt an attitude of curiosity about this time of life, we can dispel some of the negativity that surrounds aging.
