Silent by the voice of one.

Subject: Silent by the voice of one.

One of the most difficult problems in life is coordinating your feelings, your likes, your interests, your passions when the people around are either not interested, not on the same wavelength, or simply see no reason to follow any example you might wish to promote since, through the passage of time there has been not only a diminution of the previously accepted modus  operandi but also of the personal respect you are held in and your own strength to keep reminding people who you are and why you believe in what you believe in.
It's said that these are your twilight years and the assumption is that whilst your light doesn't burn as bright, the glow still defines your presence.
The question of 'presence' is usually one of reciprocation and respect. It's a two way street, in which words are used to illuminate an idea but if the 'presence' carries the baggage of old age, and weakness becomes clearly evident in many ways, physical, and mental, and it becomes too easy to 'discount' the presence of the old.

But the fires which still burn deep and strong also demand a hearing in this clash of the old and the new. On the one side, the resentment of the old for not relinquishing, and on the other, of the new, for not understanding, which often brings out the most hostile conflict. 

The surety of youth and its new found 'experiential nirvana' often has the conviction of a 'religious revelation' and easily trounces the slightly tired observational basis which we all fall back on when we get older. The chasm is wide between 'dated experiences' and this new found surety and we do well to avoid mentioning it.
But if life is one of observation and reflection it's difficult to remain silent, in fact there is a responsibility, much as in a Remembrance Celebration, to remember  the old convictions which were the the tethering post for much of what we did.
If in the pursuit of peace and quiet you forget that these were hard won opinions and ways of dealing with the events in life and above all confirm the argument that usually an argument doesn't resolve the differences one iota. Rather draw back a little, into your shell, and dream of the day when all the issues you so willingly promote will eventually become silent, by the voice of one !