Ageing in literature: 'Old age isn’t about being unhappy... it’s about blossoming'

Emergence, a book of poetry and prose,  has been compiled by Dr Shane O’Hanlon and other medics working in geriatric medicine  to underline the positive aspects of ageing 

 Emergence, compiled by Dr Shane O’Hanlon (on left) includes pieces by Seamus Heaney and President Michael D Higgins.

When it comes to ageing, we live in a cultural paradox: youth is increasingly fetishised and worshipped in our media, even as our life expectancy and our chances of living to a ripe old age rises. For Dr Shane O’Hanlon, the evidence of this phenomenon is all around us. “We’re constantly hearing adverts for anti-aging treatments and serums and things, as though aging is something you need to spend your life trying to avoid,” O’Hanlon, a consultant in geriatric medicine at Dublin’s St Vincent’s Hospital, says.

In his work O’Hanlon is frequently reminded of the realities of aging. But many of these are not in line with the negative perceptions our culture seems to reflect.