Free time fun for young & old
Can you imagine a serious film with Didi Hallervorden? No, of course not. And yet there is: "His Last Race", premiered in September 2013 in Hamburg. In it, Didi plays the former Olympic marathon runner Paul Averhoff, who sits in an old people's home and makes little chestnut men - well aware that one day he will "make himself dead" here, as he says himself. The film ends on a positive note, because Paul breaks out of the home's daily routine, starts running again and successfully takes part in the Berlin Marathon - which means he finishes last, but he has managed the whole distance. Pure happy ending.
The little back story has a relevance to this article, because if you're reading this right now, I'm assuming you don't want to spend your days crafting. On the contrary. You're looking for things to enrich your time in the silver age, but in a way that stands out from the average. Of course, there's a forest or a city park near you. But I'm not sending you there now to go for walks and then trying to sell that to you as the last word in wisdom. I think we understand each other here.
Enough of the dramatic introduction. The core of my article is to present leisure activities that are particularly well suited to bringing young and old together. I am convinced that the combination of two or three generations creates a dynamic from which all participants can benefit.
Why young and old together?
Do you know this? Are you organised in a community or a club? Do you sometimes go to the nearest football field for a little game of football? That's how I often experienced it when I was young: the young playing against the old. Even though we youngsters ran all over the field and would have beaten any of the old guys in a 100-metre sprint, the old guys always won. It was the same picture every time: the old ones managed their forces better, they had more overview, more experience and less ego to be powdered. That's why they were able to play together much more cleverly, and easily give us youngsters a slap.
In many things - in leisure activities or serious projects - it is worthwhile for young people if they can benefit from the experience of the retired generation. Conversely, it is natural and helpful for the older generation to seek proximity to the younger generation. The old among us have usually experienced and learned things that the young can hardly imagine. Nevertheless, the upcoming generation has grown up in a world that is often difficult for the older ones to comprehend.
Exchange experiences in both directions
Our entire country is built on qualities that seem rather antiquated to the younger generation: Discipline, diligence, punctuality or even righteousness. The virtues taught today tend to be speed, adaptability and opportunism. And yet the example of the football match old against young shows that the principles that may seem old-fashioned to some people still have great value in today's fast-moving times, and that it is well worth passing them on to the next generation. Conversely, the old-timers are often disconnected from the whole world of online networking, smartphones and social media. They, in turn, can learn a lot from the young. This exchange only has winners, no losers.
Sport
Team sports are a good place to start. All sports clubs have so-called "old men's" teams and of course the equivalent for women. However, the name is deceptive. These teams are by no means only made up of people who are too old to take part in regular games. Rather, those club members who cannot reliably and regularly participate in training for professional or family reasons gather there. AH teams offer the opportunity to simply come and play when they feel like it. It is not unusual to find players from three generations there. And everyone benefits from each other.
Games
Parlour games are one of the next big topics. Currently undiscovered by the media machine, modern board and card games have long attracted large followings. New games are released weekly and many of them are intelligent and challenging; even ingenious at times. The luck of the dice rarely plays a role anymore; instead, thinking outside the box is usually required. And again, old and young approach the task in completely different ways. This creates a dynamic that makes a games evening really interesting.
Patience as an outgoing aspect
A piano maker recently told me a story about a project to copy an antique piano 1:1. Every piece of wood, every metal plate, every nail and every screw must be individually copied. The time required for such a project is estimated at over 15 months. Only a few would even have this patience. He told me that this is the reason why Germans have been known for centuries for good pianos, while Italy has mainly produced good violin makers. Thanks to these differences, Germans and Austrians can be proud of their Steinways, Bechsteins and Bösendorfer pianos, but without Italian hotshots we would have no Amatis and no Stradivaris.
This story can be well applied to the old and the young today. When we talk about creative or fine arts - both music and instrument making may be counted among them - then the comparison becomes apparent. The image of the old instrument maker with white hair is quite true, because the calmness and patience of the older generation are important ingredients. It is the same with many of the classical arts, such as sculpture, painting or composition. At the same time, representatives of the younger generation are producing spectacular video effects, composing techno tracks and creating sensational computer graphics. In art, too, young and old should therefore be together and learn from each other.
Whether playing sports or relaxing in the forest or city park, whether on holiday or at work: whenever the young join forces with the old, the scene becomes interesting. That is the plea in this article. I'll be happy to go into detail in other articles about the things that are on offer for you. Excursions into the world of art, sport and nature. It will always be my suggestion to take the young along, to stimulate and expand their thinking, but at the same time to let ourselves be carried away and inspired by the speed, the changeability of our youth today.
No matter what we do to occupy ourselves meaningfully in old age - in all cases it is good and helpful when the different generations sit together at the table - or stand on the sports field.
