Turning grey is not a black-and-white experience: A phenomenological study on the lived experience of old age among Dutch Franciscan friars

Abstract

The lack of constructive cultural narratives of old age impedes older people from giving meaning to any difficult circumstances related to aging in which they might find themselves. In this study, we attempted to shed a different light on experiences of meaning in older age to contribute to sources for constructive counter narratives by gaining insight into (the experience of) meaning in old age of Dutch Franciscan friars. The research was a phenomenological in-depth interview study among twelve friars (mean age 80.6 years) following a reflective lifeworld design. The three main themes that emerged from the analysis were (i) ‘brotherhood’, illustrating a strong, axiomatic sense of connectedness, (ii) ‘finitude’, illustrating individual and relational confrontations with daily and existential finitude, and (iii) ‘dynamic’, illustrating opportunities for new possibilities, personal growth and being able to be receptive of the ‘good’ in daily life. Our findings showed that aging is a multidimensional process that is not exclusively characterized by decline and loss, but also offers substantial opportunities to experience (new) meaning. Occasionally, meaning seemed to arise as a result of (physical) decline. Our results illustrated that under circumstances of connectedness and togetherness, frailty and dependency do not necessarily form a threat to one's autonomy. Connectedness also showed itself to be a source for authenticity, which reinforced the Franciscans as autonomous moral agents.