Lloyd Khan on "deep old age:" "Old people get weak more from lack of activity than from ticking of the clock"

Lloyd Khan runs Shelter Publications and was the shelter editor for The Whole Earth Catalog. At 82, he is quite active, as a skateboarder, paddler, home remodeler, and hiker. In a recent blog post, he reflects on 84-year-old author Philip Roth's observation that "…in just a matter of months I'll depart old age to enter deep old age — easing ever deeper daily into the redoubtable Valley of the Shadow…"

There was something about turnng 80 that I relished. It's so o-l-d. I'm still upright.

Some things I've learned:

  • Old people get weak more from lack of activity than from ticking of the clock.
  • I'm so interested in my work these days, I don't get out as much as I should. BUT each time I go for a hike, or paddle, or jump under a cold waterfall, I feel invigorated, alive, inspired.
  • Bob Anderson says, "You never hear anyone saying, 'I'm sorry I just worked out.'"
  • What I learned in those years, from those guys, was the value of staying fit.
  • I work on posture every time I think of it. If I see as person with good or bad posture, it's a reminder. Shoulders back, down, relax.
  • If you don't use it, you are gonna lose it fer shure.

So this is a reminder to myself to get my ass away from the keyboard more often. Mind and body are not separate entities.

Here's Lloyd's home gym:

And here's Lloyd going through The Whole Earth Catalog: