Ryan BrideauJan 8, 2023
Dr. Brandy Schillace
Listen, if you are feeling like it’s too late to follow your dreams or to change things, recall that the very first LIFE ON EARTH film by David Attenborough came out in the 70s when David was 53. Think of every amazing thing he has done since to change the world and promote the environment; these happened in his 50s, 60s, 70s, 80s, and now at 96 he is working on a new documentary in Scotland. I’m 45. It’s like I haven’t been born yet in David years. #nature #environment #aging #hope
Jan 8, 2023 at 1:52pmMastodon for iOS
Show threadBonnieJan 8, 2023
@bschillace
I finished my masters at 50. In some ways I feel like I'm just getting started. Definitely never too late to forge a new path and make an impact. In some ways I'm just figuring it out.
Show threadDr. Brandy SchillaceJan 8, 2023
@BatsInLavender you are just gathering skills for your David years!
Show threadllewellyJan 8, 2023

@bschillace
I suspect I agree with the point you're trying to make, but ...

... is Attebourough really a good example of this? He was host of most of the Zoo Quest serieses in mid 1950s to early 1960, and then he was involved in BBC administration for a number of ears, all before Life On Earth. Also, he started life with a ton of privileges. What worked out for him probably wouldn't for most people.

Show threadDr. Brandy SchillaceJan 8, 2023
@llewelly he is a great example, because he could have retired comfortably from BBC at 60ish. His books talk a lot about the choices made to keep going and why, and that he really hit his groove for environmental change later in life. None of us are ‘done’ in our 50s/60s. We can be just beginning. It may be a new job or a new hobby, a new passion. Certainly we won’t all become celebrities. But neither must we assume our first career is our only one.
Show threadDr. Brandy SchillaceJan 8, 2023
@llewelly (replace career with passion, that’s possibly closer). It will look different for everyone, depending on needs, abilities, privileges (and the reverse). But all of us can continue to find new paths, no matter our age.
Show threadLadyTJan 9, 2023
@llewelly no he isn't a good example
Show threadJohn Caveney woke is me🛠️Jan 8, 2023
@bschillace excellent toot! 💪🏼
Show threadVicki KyriakakisJan 8, 2023
@bschillace @MorpheusB This is exactly what I needed to hear. Am turning 50 this year and had expected to have a book published by now and it hasn’t happened yet. Been struggling with feeling like the opportunities to achieve my dreams are slipping away. So I needed this reminder. Thank you. 🙏🏾
Show threadApocryphiliacJan 8, 2023
@bschillace That’s amazing. What an inspiration! Thank you.
Show threadDom PatesJan 8, 2023
@bschillace That’s actually a pretty amazing point - a whole lifetime’s work still to go!
Show threadMark AsserJan 8, 2023
@bschillace I'm 52. I'd better get a move on.
Show threadDr. Brandy SchillaceJan 8, 2023
@MarkAsser 🤣
Show threadFemme MalheureuseJan 9, 2023

@bschillace I think of Grandma Moses often when I think of age and creativity. She didn't start painting until in her late 70s.

In Hawaiian culture they referred to women seers as haka, but they didn't believe they could truly be haka until after they stopped bleeding. Goddess knows one can think about so many more things when one isn't worried about pregnancy or menstrual cycle, or anemic from blood loss, or fatigued from chasing children and addressing their needs.

Show threadDr. Brandy SchillaceJan 9, 2023
@femme_mal I recall learning about a South American tribe where women in menopause were given a status akin to men (not the same but it always stuck with me)
Show threadFemme MalheureuseJan 9, 2023
@bschillace In Hawaiian culture -- at least in Ka'u on the Big Island -- women would be obligated to separate from the rest of the family and stay in a hale pa'e during menstruation while the rest of the family stayed in their hale noa. In this respect women definitely didn't have the same status as men, but menopause would lift the kapu (taboo) obligating the separation.
Show threadAlasdairJan 9, 2023
@bschillace But he was well known long before that. He gets referenced in a Goon Show in 1955, as you can see from the script at https://bit.ly/3ZdMoE6 which was broadcast on November 29, 1955. So at the age of 29, Attenborough was already well-known enough to be casually referenced in a popular radio comedy program. (He also gets impersonated in at least one other Goon Show.)
The Goon Show Site - Script - The Sale of Manhattan (The Lost Colony) (Series 6, Episode 11)

Show threadDr. Brandy SchillaceJan 9, 2023
@amca01 oh of course! I’m not talking here about levels of success, but about not packing it in when you turn 50 (or 60 or 70 or 80 or 90). What I love about Attenborough (and there are other examples) is that he has almost lived an entire second life after 50. And that’s what I want for us all—to realize we are not ‘done’ just because society stops tends to privilege youth.
Show threadAlasdairJan 9, 2023
@bschillace Actually, the most amazing thing about David Attenborough is that he has never lost his curiosity and his passion for the natural world, nor of exploring it with his viewers. From youth to now very old age he has always had the same wide-eyed child-like sense of wonder, which is both incredibly endearing, and incredibly rare. Would that we could all maintain that sense of wonder into our 80s and our 90s! I love him for it.
Show threadMy Florida Native GardenJan 9, 2023
@bschillace
Today is the first day of class of my master’s degree.
I’m 52!
Show threadDr. Brandy SchillaceJan 9, 2023
@nathaliaassaad huzzah!
Show threadGurtbeef RobeJan 9, 2023
@bschillace he was probably paying off his student loans until age 53 and couldn’t do anything until they were done
Show threadDr. Brandy SchillaceJan 9, 2023
@twitterreject is there a laugh but also bitter tears emoji? I did get mine paid off before 50, but it’s rare ain’t it
Show threadGurtbeef RobeJan 9, 2023
@bschillace I’ve nearly paid the amount I originally borrowed over last 16 years. Bc of compounding interest, I still owe nearly double the amount I borrowed and have 22 more years of payments. They are private loans so I don’t qualify for any of perks of federal loans, but I can’t include them in bankruptcy bc they are still backed by federal govt.
Show threadSarahVJan 9, 2023
@bschillace It's my first day of school today and at 40 I am nervous about it. Reading this really helped put that into perspective for me. Thank you!
Show threadIsobel Tuliptree  Jan 9, 2023
@bschillace Thank you. I am 54 and very seriously considering a major change in my life, i.e. going back to school and learning a new career. I'm a little scared but very excited. This just helped to boost my mood.
Show threadDr. Brandy SchillaceJan 9, 2023
@isobeltuliptree 🙌
Show threadLadyTJan 9, 2023
@bschillace errrm but he came from a privileged background with hoards of influential contacts. Not the same opportunities for a single mum on benefits living in social housing
Show threadDr. Brandy SchillaceJan 9, 2023
@LadyT if you have a peek at one of my earlier replies, what I want to highlight about David is not his success/career but his continued enthusiasm for new things—that is, at 50, or 60, 70+ still looking forward and not thinking your time has past. It might be the decision to start a new hobby, or to learn a new fact, or to make new relationships. Everything you do has meaning, and age is no limit.
Show threadLadyTJan 9, 2023
@bschillace if you come from a privileged background with people around you who can open doors for you it's easy to have enthusiasm. If you are a single parent in social housing with no money to feed your children, mould creeping up the walls and not a friend in the world your enthusiasm is somewhat blunted and victim blaming by pointing to a privileged man doesn't help
Show threadDr. Brandy SchillaceJan 9, 2023
@LadyT I don’t know what here you interpret as victim blaming, but again, you are entitled to your opinions and feelings. You are not alone. I meant to cheer those who feel they are being limited by age, and a number of those who are 50+ found it so—but you do not have to find it cheering, yourself. Probably this message just isn’t for you; but I do care, and I’m sorry things are so hard out there.
Show threadLadyTJan 9, 2023
@bschillace you really don't understand poor people or their lives if you think it's just that simple
Show threadDr. Brandy SchillaceJan 9, 2023
@LadyT you are of course entitled to your opinion. But please do not make assumptions. You don’t know anything about my background, my socioeconomic upbringing, or my disability.
Show threadsofticecreamlesleyJan 9, 2023
@bschillace Mae West didn’t have a hit film until she was 40.
Show threadDr. Brandy SchillaceJan 9, 2023
@softicecreamlesley and there is Grandma Moses, too—who started in her 70s, I think!
Show threadsofticecreamlesleyJan 9, 2023
@bschillace One of my mentors didn't start her company until she was 37 and wrote her first textbook series when she was over 60. Another award winning textbook series I worked on had a main author in her 70s.
Show threadSchroedingerJan 9, 2023
@bschillace I can't remember how old he was, but Roald Dahl had his first publishing success very late. In his 50's I think - at least with childrens books. All of his well known works were written late in his life, after he had been moderately successful in his military work.
Show threadDr. Brandy SchillaceJan 9, 2023
@SteveClough that’s right! There are many examples. But really it’s less about specific success, and more about the continuing to look ahead, to be enthusiastic about things, to not believe you are ‘done’ at a specific age.
Show threadChris Alemany 🇺🇦🇨🇦🇪🇸 🌱Jan 9, 2023
@bschillace thanks for this!
Show threadShaterri (he/him)Jan 9, 2023
@bschillace OT1H, absolutely yes; there is no such thing as 'too late'. OTOH, given that Attenborough was already hosting BBC programs in the mid 50s and spent the next twenty years before that first LIFE ON EARTH as a producer and such, I'm not sure he's really the best example here...
Show threadDr. Brandy SchillaceJan 9, 2023
@shaterri I’ve answered this point a bunch already—it’s starting to feel like an attack (I know you aren’t! But it’s enough to make me wanna delete the thing, even if it’s just a few people being mean). I really just find him a hopeful figure full of life. I’m sure there are plenty of other hopeful examples one can use. He is mine.
Show threadTim RichardsJan 11, 2023
@bschillace @Lilysea I became a travel writer in the year I turned 40. You don’t have to do all your best stuff early on.
Show threadMichael Valiant ✅ ⚔️🚀📚Jan 15, 2023
@bschillace thank you for sharing this message :)
Show threadkonosocioJan 15, 2023
@bschillace words to live by!
Show threadleraJul 27, 2023
@bschillace more reasons to wear this gift from a friend!
Show threadDr. Brandy SchillaceJul 27, 2023
@leramiles love it