Guy O’Donnell asked Leslie Herman Jones to reflect on her experience as a 3^rd Age Critic, considering what it has meant to her and what she feels she’s contributed.

Reflecting is an interesting process. While I was at it for this, I found myself also reflecting on the act of reflection itself, which is defined as ‘thinking usefully towards a deeper understanding of life and to the fullness of wisdom’ (Ratnaguna, The Art of Reflection, Windhorse Publications, 2010).  So, when this proverbial can of worms opened, it promptly turned back in on itself, and in the spirit of a BYGOF, lucky readers, you’ve bought one reflection and you’re getting some free! And though it is believed that it is rarely a good thing to open a can of worms, the process could prove to be cathartic, so I heeded the warning and carried on reflecting regardless.

In my youth I was fiercely individual. Fierce, here, means determined not aggressive – big difference. I didn’t boast or brag or anything, I didn’t even think about it -- I just got on with my work and my life, and I rarely cared what other people thought. (That probably is the difference – the fiercer you are the less aggressive you have to be.) So, on reflection, the only time I seem to care about what other people think is nowadays when I’m asked to reflect on something and, in this instance, my reflections have got me thinking what other people think of 3^rd Age Critics.

As I wonder, I wonder further: how sincere is this wondering? Do I really care what people think or am I using this to avoid getting down to work? Or, is it a justifiable part of the organic process – so that I will have several points of reference stacked up for a more purposeful, organised and richer reflection of my own thoughts?

Hmmmm. I don’t really know. Either way, before embarking on my own reflection, I did wonder what others thought: How do other people perceive the 3^rd Age Critic? Do they wonder: ‘Who are these people anyway? Is he or she a dinosaur who’s done nothing, or did they have careers in the arts? Does their criticism really matter?’ I guess it would depend on which phase of the life cycle that person was in, but my gut reaction is a sense that there’s a stigma attached to it. Like, ‘they’re not real critics they’re just older people having a go; awwwwww, sweet, love them.’ To put an end to all this wondering, here I ask you to take a moment to reflect on your own perception of the 3^rd Age Critic -- ‘cos that’s how we’ll nail it, for sure -- and comment below. Thanks.

The word ­­­age is in its name, so it’s hard not to reflect on age. The 3^rd Age is associated with people who are 50 plus, and it certainly is true for me that, at this stage in my life, I am keen to ensure an age-defying relevance, and am prepared to put in the work. Nearly three years before (2.74 years before to be precise), my actuarial brother provided me with a 1000-day-countdown-to-turning-50, which gave lift-off to an it’s-now-or-never urgency. I used those two-and-three-quarter years to take stock and to decide what my priorities were which are intrinsically connected to my return to the arts and to participating in 3^rd Age Critics.

Stock wise, I’m from an arts background, and it is where I belong. I’ve been and done other things and I’ve justified my positions outside of the creative sector with absurd comments like this, for example, from an application for an admin job: ‘Coming from an arts background, I approach all my work as creatively as possible, and find the challenges, as well as the day-to-day tasks of administration rewarding.’  I actually do, but it sounds ludicrous.

Priorities wise, I intend to realise my creative potential; to continue to use my knowledge and skills in arts and educational environments; and I would like to help others realise their potential by sharing my age-earned wisdom.  I am especially pleased to be part of the 3^rd Age Critics at a time when the critics’ voice is being recognised as playing a significant role in supporting and promoting the creative industries, and in a wider context, creative tourism.

Without realising their uber-relevance, my thoughts turned to Jane Fonda. Fonda is a woman I have always admired. Gorgeous, sexy, and now 77 years old, she has radiated beauty throughout her seven decades. A talented actress; an impressive activist; an inspirational speaker; a pioneering fitness guru; and someone I was undeniably inspired by. In 1982, she brought out her first fitness video when I was a 20-something performing arts student with a strong fitness bent. In 1983, I brought aerobics to Cardiff. 

Fly poster, circulated in Cardiff, circa 1983

Thoughts invariably turn to Google searches. This one led me to Fonda’s TED talk, in which she speaks about the Longevity Revolution:  ‘We are now living, on average, 34 years longer than our grandparents. That’s an entire second adulthood that has been added to our lifespan.’ She refers to a host of progressive thinkers in many different fields and industries looking at, what she calls, the ‘Third Act – these last three decades – as a new developmental stage of life with its own significance, as different to midlife as it is to adolescence’.

She raises the questions: ‘How do we use this time? How do we live it significantly? And she compares the old paradigm of ‘age as pathology’ which views our lifespan as an arch (we’re born, we peak at midlife, we die) to her new vision of the lifespan: ‘the staircase where, as we age, we travel in an upward ascension towards wisdom, wholeness and authenticity’, and calls it ‘age as potential’. I love you, Jane.

Watch the whole 11 minutes: TED Talks - Jane Fonda: Life's Third Act

To sum up, Fonda concludes with as much relevance as I could possibly want for the purposes of this piece, and for a 50-something in general: ‘It’s not having experiences that makes us wise, it’s reflecting on the experiences that we’ve had that makes us wise’.

I propose that we change the name of the 3^rd Age Critics to the 3^rd Act Critics, in recognition of the wisdom of Jane Fonda’s message (and in her honour); in order to dissolve any stigma that might come attached to its current age-laden name, and especially because it is so relevant to what we do.

Comments, please.

Leslie Herman Jones

Leslie is from the ‘Kids from Fame’ era: a performing arts student from NYC, she came to Wales to study at the Welsh College of Music and Drama. When she first came to Cardiff from New York City in 1979, this is what Youth looked like:

Spillers Records, Cardiff 1979

In the early 80s she became a Jane Fonda follower and a Jones around the same time. She reputedly brought aerobics to Cardiff teaching classes in The Sherman dance studio and at Jackson's health club on Westgate Street.

In the 80s and throughout the 90s she worked in radio, theatre, television and film as Media and PR Manager, Writer, Researcher, Director, and Producer.

Trained in shiatsu and qualified in Swedish massage, she pioneered massage in the workplace, and did a stint as a Personal Shopper for a major department store, which led to TV presenting and corporate styling.

More recently she has been an associate of the Gwanwyn Festival of Arts and Creativity for Older People in Wales (gwanwyn.org.uk); a mentor for the Wales Government Dynamo Project; a member of the Adamsdown Communities First Project management ; a trustee for The Touch Trust, and has participated in the CEWN series of research projects led by University of South Wales. She also owned and operated a local business, BEERRUNNER, until 2011.

Today she is a freelance writer, critic, and creative producer and project manager, with interests in the US and in Wales. She has two short films in the can (It Could Be You, shortlisted for the Celtic Film Festival Shorts award; Boo!, shortlisted for Wales International Film Festival Shorts award) and actively seeks collaborations.