Stephen Jenkinson (part 1 of 7) Elderhood in a Time of Trouble

Important correction brought to our attention by a viewer: the "Middle Passage" refers to the horrific slave trade from Africa, not to the flight of the Puritans from Europe.
Stephen Jenkinson, MSW, MTS is an author, teacher, farmer, and founder of the Orphan Wisdom School in Ontario, Canada. A former counseling director of palliative care at a major Canadian hospital, Stephen has earned renown for his speaking and writing on the subject of death and dying. In fact, the breadth of his thought and work extends far beyond the death trade, touching on many aspects of culture, notably language and etymology, money, agriculture, and the ‘unauthorized history of Western civilization.’
We interviewed Stephen in February 2019, after he delivered a Reading & Reportage on his latest book, COME OF AGE: The Case for Elderhood in a Time of Trouble (North Atlantic, 2018) in Los Angeles. The event was the first offering from The BirdHouse Wisdom Series.
The BirdHouse is a fiscally sponsored project of the 501(c)3 Dignity of Man Foundation, serving as a hub of exchange in Hollywood for those attracted to caring for the land and each other, through arts and ecology. The Wisdom Series is a program of invited guest speakers and thought leaders addressing issues of environment, culture, and regenerative living.
The BirdHouse: www.atthebirdho...
Orphan Wisdom: www.orphanwisdo...

[@blairarchbold3224]

I was watching this and thinking, "These are the most powerful words I've heard spoken out loud."

[@marymichell2329]

I am literally blown apart...perhaps I can be put back together with humility. Thank you

[@juliejordy4529]

Is it serendipity that brings someone like Stephen into my orbit?

[@aracelikopiloff1791]

I moved to Mexico and it is night and day. Elders are honored, respected, loved. Yet another reason which I felt so out of place in N. America. I was raised to respect and hold elders at the highest level. NOTE: In English, it is said "how old are you". That does not exist in Spanish! It is not how "old" are you, it is ¿Cuántos años tienes? Translating to: How many years do you have?

[@almagirimai8931]

Sometimes your words Stephen (may I call you that?) touch me in places I didn't know were there, like a light shone into a tiny crack in "the hole" where my soul ought to be - and there within is a perfect, untouched but always whole truth. And the scintillation is an exquisite moment of recognition. I have struggled existentially with that unarticulated truth, the relationship between grief and love and how they birth one another and live within one another and I see how they have been (unknown to me) weaving the raft of my life. This culture does not facilitate or accommodate such inner revelations. It is a lonely journey.

[@gcousins888]

Beautifully stated.

[@ruthellenfaverty7020]

Thank you too Almagiri Mai! Taking us too into our clarity. Beautiful!

[@skyesturgeon3249]

Leonard Cohen- "There's a crack in everything. That's how the Light gets in."

[@timmanion2197]

“……taking a knee, rather than taking more of what you “need”….” Yes. Yes. Yes. Thank you.

[@MellowWind]

Saw Stephen and the band last night. BRILLIANT.

[@joycecalvitti6964]

deeply deeply jealous... in the very best way possible :)

[@CharlesGorrie]

The bitter sweetness

[@mmick66]

The words between 9.50 and 10.30 are simply amazing... Please listen again!

[@keithk8275]

I did the first time and went back to listen again. So true.

[@tzmythos]

My lord, that is so right: Love is a form of grieving! Yes. And when you love, grief hangs in the shadows because you know you just know that sometime, many times, they will be hurt, they will be lost, they will not love you back or resent you or blame you, and you will lose them. No wonder we have nightmare after nightmare of our children suffering or of losing them, or lovers turning against us, and are so deliriously glad when love is warm and strong between you. I had not thought of love and grief being so entwined, but yes, they are.

[@gcousins888]

....and you are so unbearably vulnerable, but helpless to decline

[@CharlesGorrie]

I’m currently loving it

[@MrRyanmcmahon]

Brilliant and authentic.

[@restorian3324]

Capital A .

[@m.t.bushcraft2677]

Wonderful !

[@joannegray8139]

Thank you for this! Stephen Jenkinson's words are profound!

[@jamesshowers]

Beautiful, Stephen. Thank you. James Showers

[@debsdevries_ageless_vitality]

My favourite kind of trouble too, Stephen.

[@Mr.Buttermaker]

Looking forward to parts 5, 6 & 7. Great interview

[@neilking4534]

Complex Deep Insightful. Stephen has Obviously had a lot of time to think. Thank you for sharing Jai Sat Chit Anand Neil

[@pujaridickson8053]

Thank you so much for your sharing . ❤️🎶🌍⚡️

[@robgoodsight6216]

Kind and wise words...right at the moment where I need them.

[@atthebirdhouse]

So glad you found it helpful.

[@katfromicca]

Incredible!! Thank you!

[@meemaflowers9446]

It's so awful and sad. I can't stop crying. Stephen has the gift of long seeing. 1 in 4 Gen Xers have decided their parents are to blame for their problems so they have canceled them. 4 pages of Estranged Grandparents on FB, who have not seen their adult children in years and have grandchildren they have never seen.

[@binathere2574]

Sounds like a case of unaccountability to me.

[@68ossau]

With all respect to Stephen, the "Middle Passage" refers to the horrific slave trade from Africa, not to the flight of the Puritans from Europe.

[@atthebirdhouse]

Noted. Thank you for this important correction. We will note it in the video description.

[@JourneyofBella331]

Absolutely i was very taken aback and almost offended because what he described about us disavowing own culture was a result of cruelty for our loyalty to it. Cutting off hair, putting razor sharp contraptions in our mouth so we wouldnt speak our native language, rape, murder, beating, beyond cruelty and the intended act of not recording us on records properly so we can not trace our lineage. I assure you this was not a disavowing. We kept what we could hide affectively

[@binathere2574]

Yes that confused me. I wonder why he said that. I'm Australian but I do know basic American history.

[@eddieash1669]

​@@binathere2574he's talking about forced migration from the British Isles to North America, he makes that clear from the start. He used the wrong phrase but we all know what he meant.

[@treesagreen4191]

I think this all applies to the current society, post-agricultural, post- industrial revolution. In the UK we have no food culture, we adopt what we eat from our colonies, or cultures we admire. Ironically Italy, France and Spain, whose food we replicate regularly, has a food culture very close to the earth and peasantry that the aspirational middle classes of the British are actually trying to reject

[@atthebirdhouse]

Thanks for your input!

[@The_Brew_Dog]

I’ve never looked at my kids and felt sorrow for taking part in their creation and therefor their death. It’s not beyond me that they will die, of course, but I feel zero “sorrow”. The only time I feel sorrow is when I think hypothetically about not being here, about never being born.

[@The_Brew_Dog]

I’ve never looked at my kids and felt sorrow for taking part in their creation and therefor their death. It’s not beyond me that they will die, of course, but I feel zero “sorrow”. The only time I feel sorrow is when I think hypothetically about them not being here, about them never being born or taken from this life early.

[@SavageStephen]

this is a really smart person

[@judithsmorti4306]

❤️🙏

[@riciaa1]

😢❤️💆

[@SharonMcCue]

If you are watching this... get yourself a pen and notebook... Thank you!

[@atthebirdhouse]

Thanks!

[@joethi4981]

Read Job in the Bible. Same wisdom.