open secret

I wonder to what extent old age is a bit like an unmarried status.

Married/partnered people (especially those with children) know a secret that single people simply cannot know or be reliably told. It is a secret, which, when discussed among those who are married becomes an instantaneous bore. It is important, but the importance cannot be verbally transmitted.

And the secret is this: Life is more interesting than you are.

Everything isn't all about you... sort of. This is a no-joke revelation that is incredibly expensive and entirely worth the price because it is simply true and the delusion that preceded the revelation is, well, just another delusion, no big deal. Also, discussing this secret, as for example here or anywhere else, is about as interesting as eating wet cardboard. It's just what happens, so ... how about them Yankees?!

Old age, when discussed among the aging or aged, is likewise what might be called an open, boring secret. Passing wisdom along is bullshit, though gossip is fun.

No elderly person could transmit to a younger one the slipping-away loss of "belongingness" that comes with the loss of muscle mass or health. Trying to do so boils down to whining and succeeding, as among peers, is once again a matter of eating wet cardboard.

Strange how secrets are not so secret at all and yet remain deeply secret.