On today's show, I'm speaking to the American photographer and filmmaker Sky Bergman.

She's the creator of the award winning film Lives well Lived that celebrates the incredible wit and wisdom of adults aged between 75 and 100 years old.

More recently, she's the author of the book Lives well Generations.

During our chat, we spoke about the importance of intergenerational discussions to combat ageism in society.

She also talks about how she sees aging and what she thinks are the damaging aspects of how we treat each other as we age.

And we touched on what motivates her in her 60s.

And we hear about her future film projects.

But before we get started, can I ask that you subscribe, follow and rate us on your podcast app and share it with friends if you like it.

Now, let's hear this week's podcast.

Welcome to Retirement rebel life after 60.

I'm your host, Siobhan Daniels.

Join me on a journey to meet inspiring rebels who've redefined retirement.

Together, we'll explore new passions, triumphs over challenges, and discover the vibrant possibilities of life after 60.

This is about living boldly, not just aging.

So are you ready to rebel?

My guest today is Sky Bergman.

One of the things I've been shouting about is intergenerational discussion and the importance of young and old, and I learned that from.

So I'm absolutely thrilled that you've come on the podcast for me today.

Can you just first of all, tell me what it means to you to be involved in the sort of the pro age movement?

Well, I mean, I never thought I would be in the pro age movement.

I think I stumbled on it by accident, really, because I was looking at approaching 50 and looking for positive role models of aging and just not finding them out there in the media.

I mean, everything was about all the things we could do to avoid aging, all the creams we could use, and everything that would make us look youthful.

And I wanted to own my age.

I'm 58 now, and I, you know, I had this wonderful role model of my grandmother who was turning 100, and I wanted to own that.

And let's face it, the one thing that we all have in common is that we age each and every day.

So why not embrace it and celebrate it rather than dread it?

And so that kind of got me into the pro aging movement, I think.

You know, I always tell my students, the more personal a project, the more universal.

And for me, this was something incredibly personal.

So I'm happy to be leading the charge in the pro aging movement.

How did it make you feel when you.

You saw all these negative images about aging?

Well, I think that it's depressing.

I mean, let's face it, that's not.

We don't want to have a depressing future in our.

Down the pike.

So we want to look.

Be able to look at something that's positive.

That's why I love what you're doing.

I mean, there's so many people that are showing the world what older age can look like.

And I think I am in the prime of my life in terms of the wisdom that I've gained, all the things that I've done.

I'm much more comfortable in my own skin, and the world is my oyster at this point.

I don't have the same heaviness that I had in terms of raising a family or having to work.

And I get to do the things I love to do.

So I'm embracing and enjoying this time of life.

And I love seeing other people out there like you, who are also showing the world what older age can look like and what we have to look forward to.

I just can't believe how excited I am about getting older and how much I'm enjoying life.

You know, I feel I definitely have found my voice.

I've found an incredible strength as I've got older that I didn't realize that I had all my life.

Now you made the film Lives well Lived.

How did that come about?

Because I watched it, and it's these incredible people who just talk so vibrantly about what it is to be old.

What was the original idea for it?

Well, the original idea came out of a personal quest because I, as I mentioned, was looking at approaching 50 and having this amazing role model.

My grandmother, who was 100 and still working out at the gym, I mean, she didn't start working out until she was 80.

So she was a great example of it's never too late to start something new, even if it's an exercise routine.

Oh, my God, there's hope for me yet.

There's hope for everyone.

And I remember I went to her 100th birthday party, and she was still working out at the gym.

I filmed her at the gym.

Cause I thought, oh, my goodness, nobody's gonna believe that my grandmother at 100 is still working out at the gym.

And just as a throwaway comment, I said, can you give me some words of wisdom?

And she said things like, live life to the limits and be kind and learn something new every day.

And I thought I came back from that trip and I put a Little one minute clip of my grandmother at the gym together and all the things that she had said.

And I thought, I wanna find other people out there like my grandmother.

I know they exist.

And So I spent four years interviewing 40 people that were 75 and older with a collective life experience of 3,000 years.

And that's what I did.

That was my personal quest, was to meet other people like my grandmother, who were living life to the limits, who were doing things, giving back in some way, learning something new every day, who were really fully engaged, who could be my role models.

And what a wonderful gift that was to give myself four years to really fully immerse in that process and to meet these wonderful people, many of whom have become very dear friends.

I always like to say my grandmother left me the greatest gift, which was the gift of 40 new grandparents.

Oh, that's wonderful.

I mean, that's the vital thing, isn't it?

There are loads of people out there living vibrant lives, but we're just not seeing them, they're not being showcased.

So we don't have the role models.

You've got the role models, haven't you, in this film?

Absolutely.

I mean, not only that, but in my own life, I grew up not just with my grandparents, but my great grandmother was alive.

So I grew up in a four generational household.

Now, I know that that's not the norm, but I was certainly lucky enough to have that.

And I think that it's so important to have people around us of all different ages.

I think that that really makes our life much richer and fuller.

And there can be examples at both age groups and like younger and older and what a wonderful world it is when we all come together.

What was your childhood like?

Like you say you lived with lots of different generations.

How did that impact on you growing up?

And what did you think about getting old and older people?

Well, I.

Because I was around older people my whole life, I mean, I never really thought about it.

I thought of older age as something to enjoy.

I saw these people having a great time and enjoying life.

And so I thought of it as something to really fully embrace.

And I think that all the people that I grew up around, like my grandparents and their friends that would come over and relatives and things like that, they all were doing really interesting things.

You know, maybe they had finished their day job or their, you know, like regular work job and retired, but they were all still active and engaged and doing things and giving back in some way.

And I think that that was certainly an inspiration and shaped the way That I felt about my own life and what was possible.

So I feel very lucky.

And I think that really the film has resonated with so many because of that.

Because people see people that I interviewed for the film that went through some really traumatic times, but came through it and still remained positive.

And I think, you know, my book Lives well Lived Generations.

The tagline is purpose, positivity and resilience at every age.

And I think that we can learn at every age from other people what that looks like.

And in the book, we certainly give some helpful tips on how you can take those things that I learned from the film and from interviewing all those people and use them in your own, which I think is really important.

And I think that's why the film resonates with people.

What did you learn from the film?

I learned three key things that everybody had in common, which was we all need a sense of purpose no matter what age we are, and that our sense of purpose can change over time.

I think that when we retire from our regular career, a lot of times people don't know.

They lose their sense of purpose.

They lose a little bit of our identity is kind of tied to that.

And so I think that that is a time where people kind of struggle a little bit.

And so I.

That having that sense of purpose and letting it be flexible so that it changes is really important.

I think the second thing is that, and this has been proven in studies, that we need a sense of community, a sense of people around us that support us, whether it's friends or family.

I mean, the surgeon general here in the United States found there was a study that it actually shortens our life more by loneliness than by smoking cigarettes, which I found to be amazing.

Right.

So we, you know, there's a loneliness.

We talk about this loneliness epidemic.

So what can we do to form a good support group of family or friends?

That's incredible, isn't it?

Yeah, it's amazing.

I mean, you know, we hear about the loneliness epidemic, but really friends are a little bit of work.

You know, they're not just gonna come to you.

You have to figure out how you're gonna create your support group.

And there's so many ways to do that.

But I think being around people that are positive, that are like minded, certainly really helps us in terms of our lifespan and just in terms of having a good life, I think we are much happier when we are surround.

And then lastly, I think was this sense of positivity and resilience going kind of hand in hand.

And I'M often reminded of two people in the film.

One is Lucky Louie, who was my favorite.

I know you're not supposed to have favorites, but he was a pediatrician turned mozzarella maker.

Yeah, I remember him.

Yeah, he used to make mozzarellas for his daughter's deli.

Every morning he'd get up at 5 in the morning and work out at the gym and then come back and make fresh mozzarella.

Which if any of you have ever done that, that is a workout in and of itself.

But he had a saying.

He had a lot of sayings.

I used to call them his Lewisms.

But the one that really resonated with me is happiness is a state of mind.

You can be happy with what you have or miserable with what you don't have.

You decide.

And I think that hearkens onto something that Evie Justison also said from the film, which is really, there's so many times in our lives where we can't control the things that are happening around us.

But what we can control is the attitude of how we deal with those things.

And I would add to that also how we reflect back on the things that have happened to us.

I think that's equally as important moving forward.

And so that resilience and positivity really are key, I think, in living a well lived life and being happy, really.

But I also think you have to have a sort of resilience because society has already got preconceived ideas about A what you're gonna look like when you get old and B, what the heck you're gonna do.

And it seems to be often if you deviate from what they decide you should be doing, then you're a bit of an eccentric or abnormal.

And actually that's not true, is it?

And your film's showing that.

I think that that is the case because, you know, we think that maybe the media has led us to believe that.

But I think that in showcasing people that are doing amazing things that are of every age, I think that's what's really important.

And, you know, made the film.

There weren't as now there's a lot more in the media about older adults doing amazing things.

But when I started this, there really wasn't.

And it was also very important to me that it was everyday people, that it wasn't, you know, it could be your neighbor, your aunt, your uncle, your grandparents.

It was everyday people that I was interviewing.

Because I would venture to say that everyone has an amazing story to tell.

If we just take the time to listen.

I think that that's really the key is that we don't often do that.

There's so many amazing people out there.

And, you know, it was wonderful adventure and journey to be able to meet all these people and to share their really positive stories.

And that's one of the reasons why I decided that I wanted to do Retirement rebel Life after 60 was because I know there are loads of people out there living these kind of lives and just everyday ordinary people.

And we just seem to be bombarded with celebrities all the time.

Everything has to be celebrity led as if once they've done it, then it's a bonafide thing.

And I wanted to just show that everyday people, we're doing it all the time.

This is how we are aging now.

Exactly.

I spoke to you, what, a couple of years ago now?

We've been friends for a few years when your film came out, because it came on my radar as it was just like a breath of fresh air to watch your film and see all these people doing that.

Oh, I so appreciate that.

And you know, it's amazing that the film has been out as long as it has and public broadcasting here in the US just renewed the license for it for another four years.

So it obviously has struck a chord.

I think that's why I had so many people say, please write a book about your experiences and what you learned along the way.

And I will also say that when I was writing the book, I was a fellow for Cogenerate, which is all about connecting generations.

And I realized that a really important thing for me and any of the work that I do moving forward is all going to be about connecting generations.

Because I do feel like one of the reasons that ageism exists is that we live in such an age segregated world and whatever we can do to bring generations together is very important.

And so I spent the last two years interviewing people around the globe who are doing just amazing work connecting generations, whether it's through an intergenerational symphony or climate change, or voting rights, all different ways that generations are coming together.

And it was amazing to meet these really remarkable forces of nature in this intergenerational work.

And now, of course, it's becoming a buzzword.

It wasn't when I started working on this, but I think more are jumping on that bandwagon and that's wonderful.

I love seeing that.

So I'm super excited to showcase all these people.

You were one of the first people that flagged up to me the importance of intergeneration.

I'd been What I would class myself as a pro age campaigner for sort of about four years.

When I first got chatting to you and when you said to me about intergenerational dialogue and conversations being very important, it made me realize that that's something that I need to investigate, I needed to look at.

And it really has impacted me on how I'm behaving, how I'm championing now.

And I'm actually saying I want to do intergenerational dinner parties.

But it was definitely being influenced by you.

And I've read your book now.

I've just finished it.

Lives well lived generations.

And it just screams to me.

It's just so logical, all the things that you say in there.

The young people, you know, it's so important cause they can change things for the future, for when.

And they're the older people of the future, can't they?

Absolutely.

And I think that we need to also remember that ageism exists in both directions, so it's directed at young people.

We tend to think about it just as being directed at older people.

But certainly there's ageism in both directions.

And so I think that when the intergenerational projects that work the best are when people are coming together for a common goal, whether it's like a symphony where you produce music together, or climate change where you're really trying to make a difference in the world.

That's where I see generations coming together to make a really positive impact.

And in the doing something together, they get to know people from other generations.

And all of a sudden the age doesn't really matter of who people are.

You know, it's just about people.

And I think that that's what I love, when we stop labeling all the generations and we just come together as people for a common cause.

But I think one of the problems that I've been highlighting when I've been giving my talks around the country is that we have ageism and bullying in the workplace, particularly for older people.

And one of the problems is the younger women in the workplace see it happening, but they daredn't call it out because they think it's going to impact their career progression.

And the older women, they now in England can't get their pensions till they're nearly 70.

And so they're hanging on with their fingernails to a job in a toxic environment because they're scared they're gonna lose their job and they'll find it difficult as an older woman to find another job.

So I'm saying to people, you know, that importance of what I learned from you, that intergenerational conversation to support one another, to call it out.

If an older person sees ageism for somebody younger, and if they see it for somebody older.

Is that the same situation that you have in America?

I would say it's similar.

And I think that, you know, it is definitely more difficult for women in particular when they reach a certain age.

Sometimes in the.

I was lucky that I didn't have that because I'm in an educational institution.

And so I didn't really feel that personally myself.

But I have seen that with friends and other people and other industries where you kind of age out at a certain point, especially being in California, we're in a tech society.

So you really.

I mean, you see that even my.

I have a brother who's almost 20 years younger than I am, and he's feeling like he's an old man now in the tech world and kind of wondering if he's going to be aging out.

And so I think that there are some really interesting programs that are happening.

Like Land O Lakes, that's a company here in the US does something called reverse mentoring, which I love, where they bring older and younger people together for mentoring, but it's the young people that are mentoring the older people.

It really is going in both directions.

But it is.

I think a lot of times when we think of mentor, we think of an older person mentoring a younger person.

And I think it's nice to flip that and change that dynamic.

I think when we do more of that, we're gonna see less ageism in the workplace.

When we have programs that bring generations together and make it a more level playing field, we're gonna see a better workplace.

And I.

You know, one of my favorite quotes is, and I think this is especially true for people as they're aging, they can kind of pass the torch.

Pass the knowledge is a candle loses nothing by lighting another candle.

And we both are bright.

Oh, I like that.

And I think that if we can do more of that.

I love that metaphor.

What a beautiful world it could become.

But I do think it starts with some commonalities and bringing people together so that, you know, you mentioned about having dinner parties and you bring people together over food, breaking bread, everybody eats.

You bring people together over food, and it just lightens the mood.

And all of a sudden you can go into deeper conversations because you're coming together over something that we all do, which is eat together.

Everyone loves food.

One of the things that I have done in my own life, because I was in my 40s and not feeling like I had enough friends.

So I started doing a women's dinner every.

The first Monday of every month.

And I have women.

I've been doing it for over 10 years.

And I have women from the ages of 20 to in their 90s that come to this dinner.

And it's just a wonderful way to support each other and to come together.

I think it's incredible.

I may have even got the idea from you mentioning that when we've chatted.

I don't know.

But I'm gonna run with it and go forward with it.

What I'd like to do is get the younger women three questions for the older women.

The older women three questions for the younger women.

Chuck them in a jar.

And as you're breaking bread and eating and just relaxing through the evening, ask each other questions and find out what we're really thinking.

Because I think there is this big problem here, but none of us are talking about it.

And we really do need to get the conversation going, don't we?

Absolutely.

Yes.

I think that that's super important.

Yeah.

And I think too often, though, I want the younger generation involved.

But what I do feel is you can't talk for the older generation until they've walked the walk, really.

Till they've been there.

That feeling of being marginalized and feeling bullied and feeling voiceless is so damaging to you as a woman that I think you just can't comprehend it till you're there.

So I think to be able to explain to the younger women that that is a profound problem, and to say to them, you could get to this stage and be like that, what are you gonna do to change it is very important.

Absolutely.

I couldn't agree more.

So how are you being received when you're trying to introduce intergenerational dialogue?

Are people receptive to it?

Yeah, I think people are very receptive.

And, you know, I would say that one of the things.

One of the ways that I also do it is in my filmmaking.

I'm working on two new films that have an intergenerational twist to them.

And I think that storytelling is always a nice way to bring in this idea of connecting generations.

So the first film is called the Primetime Band, and it's about musicians who.

Well, they played, like, in junior high and high school when they were younger, put away their instruments, and now are coming back to music later in life.

And they're made.

It's about 75 people that are in their 60s, 70s, 80s, and 90s, primarily.

Yay.

That's amazing.

Yeah.

I mean, it's like all the things that I loved about Lives Are Lived is showing up in this new film that I'm doing, which is, you know, this sense of purpose, getting together to make music together, this sense of resilience.

Because many of the people in the band, they have ailments in the way that they used to.

So, I mean, there's one woman who plays a flute.

She can't hold it horizontally anymore.

She figured out a way to get a headstock so she could play it vertically, like.

Amazing.

Oh, amazing.

It's incredible.

And a number of these people are also part of a group called the Music Van that goes into elementary schools in third grade here, which is around eight years old, and introduces those students to music, many of whom who would never have the opportunity to pick up an instrument in their lives.

And I love this cycle of older people coming back to music later in life and then paying it forward, introducing it to young children early in life.

And you never know what that might spark.

I mean, the joy that these kids have when they pick up a trombone or a French horn or a violin is palpable.

It's so, so wonderful.

It's just been a blast to work on that one.

I just love the idea of all these old school friends getting together and not being able to play the instruments quite the way they did with all the rakes and pains.

I just think it sounds like a ball.

It is a ball.

And it's really a sense of community.

I mean, they take care of one another.

If somebody's.

They send them food, they send cards.

I mean, it's just such a wonderful, wonderful community.

And I was a band geek.

I played flute, clarinet and bassoon when I was in high school, and I still play flute and guitar.

So I have sat in with them playing my flute a couple of times, and it's just a blast.

I love the camaraderie and that feeling of, you know, when you make music together, you let go of yourself a little bit and you're part of something bigger than yourself.

And that is a wonderful feeling to be part of.

So.

So I have immensely enjoyed working on that project.

So when can we expect to see that film?

I am hoping that that film will be out in film festival starting in 2025.

So I'm gonna hopefully premiere it at the Santa Barbara International Film Festival.

Cause the band is from Santa Barbara and they're celebrating their 30th anniversary next year.

So I'm hoping to launch it with their 30th anniversary.

That would be a blast.

What's the other film that you're doing?

It's a Japanese film.

Is it?

Yeah.

The other film is called Mochisuki.

And if you haven't heard of what that is, Mochi Suki quite literally is making mochi.

That's what it means.

And it's a Japanese tradition of making mochi to bring in the new year and as a sign of hope and good luck for the new year.

And mochi is literally steamed rice that is then pounded until it gets to this consistency that's kind of like bread dough and very smooth.

So you don't see any of the rice in it at all.

And then they form these round mochi balls.

What I love about that, I think.

Cause I grew up on my grandmother's kitchen, so that was where the wisdom and the love and the laughter all came while we were cooking together.

And I love seeing generations come together through food.

And I would venture to guess that anybody that's listening right now can think back in their own memories of something that your family or your friends all gather to do on a regular basis around food.

And so we're back to food again, bringing people together.

But that's been a really wonderful project.

And that is gonna air on PBS Public broadcasting here in the US in May of 2025 for Asian American Pacific Islander Month.

But we also have a sneak preview of it up on our website right now.

Just a 20 minute sneak preview.

So if you're interested, you can check it out there.

But what's that got to do with sort of aging and positive aging?

Well, I think that it's not necessarily about positive aging, but it's about generations coming together.

And I think for me, anything that I do going forward is going to have some twist where it's about connecting generations.

So it's very much about the older adults that are passing down their wisdom and their knowledge.

I mean, this is a ceremony that you have to learn how to do it.

There's a whole ritual of how you do this thing.

And so it's wonderful to see the elder adults and the kids and everybody interacting.

And so.

And I think in Japanese society, older adults or elders are more revered than they are in many other cultures.

And you definitely, when you're watching the film, you see that and you can feel that and how important it is to keep that tradition alive and have that passed down from one generation to the next.

Do you think we've forgotten to respect our elders and we've forgotten to realize the importance of the wisdom that they have to pass down to us.

I do think there is a little bit of that because we are not living with our elders.

I mean, I was lucky, like I said, that I lived with my grandparents and even great grandmother, Remember, sitting on the ottoman while she was teaching me to knit and crochet, and she only spoke in Italian and I only spoke to her in English.

But we had this, you know, I had a reverence of my great grandmother.

I mean, it's just I loved listening to her stories.

And I don't.

I think that I had that experience, but I don't think a lot of people do have that experience.

And that is really why I've been pushing so hard for these intergenerational connections that happen.

And, in fact, we've been doing that with the Lives Will Live film for almost a decade at this point, where we show the film to older adults and students and pair them up.

And they use the questions that I came up with when I was interviewing all the people in the film to get to know each other as a framework to get to know each other.

And it is remarkable to see the relationships that are formed that never would have happened otherwise, because we don't move out of our comfort zone and necessarily seek out people of other ages to be our friends.

And so it's wonderful to have this in kind of the context of a classroom.

So the students have to do this project, and then they love it, and then they seek out other older adults because they've done it once, and it opens the door and the floodgates for that to happen.

Would you like to see your book Lives well Lived Generations being read in schools?

I would love that.

And in fact, I mean, one of the wonderful things that's happened with the film is public broadcasting has a learning media channel here in the US I think.

I'm not sure if it's available in the uk, but it's.

We did a whole learning module that's available for educators in elementary schools to use, and there's free clips from the film, and there's core standards that they can just plug into a classroom.

So I'm really proud of that and excited that that's available, but I would love to see something like this happen on a much wider scale.

Absolutely.

Because I feel that one of the solutions to the problem of ageism and the problem of how we're not allowing people to age the way that they are aging in society is, is, you know, the younger generation are being taught that they're almost Being brainwashed into negative thoughts and images about aging.

They're fearful of aging and I think we need to get in there early, teach them about aging well and kindness.

Just be kind to one another.

Absolutely.

And there's been studies that have shown that ageism starts at the age of 4 years old, that people, that kids already have ageist beliefs at the age.

Of 4 years old.

I firmly believe that's because of the media and because of what people are seeing.

We're barraged by images, we're barraged by ads all the time.

And it's amazing that a 4 year old has already developed some of those ageist beliefs.

I mean think about in the US and I don't know what it's like in the UK they have this project in elementary schools which is terrible.

On the hundredth day of class they have kids dress up like what they think 100 year old would look like and they end up with like, yeah, with like walkers and you know, the whole every stereotype you can think about.

I pose the question, why not use the lives will live film and really see what a hundred year old can look like rather than looking at the worst possible negative stereotype.

And you know, these stereotypes happen in birthday cards, they happen in ads, they happen in.

Even in our own language, we really need to think about the own words that we use to describe older adults and ourselves as we're aging.

And I think that words matter.

We need to think about that because as we're talking to other people and in particular younger generations, we are passing that down to.

So we need to be very careful about how we talk about aging and what words we use and what stereotypes we say.

And like you were saying about in the workplace, you know, we can stop some of that if we have discussions and dialogue and we have conversation.

I think the more that we talk about it, the better off we all are.

But I think it's this fear.

It's like in the cosmetic industry they tap into our fear about getting old and then people subscribe to whatever it is they have to offer us thinking that it's going change and it's not going to change how we age at all.

Really.

It really isn't.

And I think that people spend a lot of time, energy and money trying to stay more youthful rather than enjoying and embracing what they have.

I mean I have never been happier than I am right now.

There is that U shaped curve of happiness and I definitely feel like I'm on that end of it where the happiness is quotient is Going way up.

And I, I think that if I had been trying to chase looking youthful, those kind of things, I wouldn't be happy.

You know, the media kind of keeps us from being happy at a time where really we should be at our happiest.

We have the least responsibilities.

We probably, if we've been lucky, we had a good job and we've saved and we can enjoy life in a way that we couldn't before.

And I know for me, I am not worried about what anyone else thinks about the way that I am in the world.

I know I live my best life and I'm kind to everyone and I do things the way that I want, but I am okay with being the odd person.

I don't really care what people think anymore.

And that's so liberating to be in that spot where you, you know, I think when we're younger, we really care about what other people think, whether it's because we're worried about our job or having friends or whatever the reason.

And I think at least for me and I, I know for a lot of my friends that are my same age group, that is gone.

We just care about being happy and cherishing our friendships and doing the things that we love doing and giving back in some.

Those are the things that become important and what a wonderful time in our lives that is.

So why not look forward to it?

Oh my goodness, you are absolutely singing from the same hymn sheet as me.

I mean, I've been talking recently at loads of festivals about my book.

And the majority of people I've been meeting have been in their sort of late 50s, 60s and 70s, just having a ball.

We're all up there at the front of the dance floor jumping around and having a great time.

And those that haven't got the energy or the ride arthritic or whatever and they can't do it.

They're sat on the chairs, you know, shaking their arms, having a good time.

Because we don't care what anybody thinks.

We're determined to age the best way possible.

Now, your book lives well lived generations.

What are the main messages that you're giving to people in both the younger generation and the older generation from that book?

What do you want them to take away from it?

Yeah, that's a really good question.

I think, you know, the first half of the book is really all about lessons that I learned along the way of making the film.

So you even just being a first time filmmaker, how do you fund a film?

How do you make something?

How do you make your Dream come true.

I mean, really, for me, this was a dream come true.

And then all the lessons about resilience, positivity, and purpose, I think that's also part of it.

And people can really, hopefully take some of those messages away and bring them into their own lives.

And then the second half of the book, I hope to inspire people to connect generations.

And that's why I highlighted 40 people around the globe that are doing incredible things that are connecting generations.

So maybe you reach about one of those organizations and you think, oh, I want to be involved in that.

Or you think, wow, what can I do on my end to have a friend from another generation?

It could be as simple as that.

But I hope that people start looking at making connections with other generations and what we can do to make this world less divided and more cohesive and embracing.

Do you think that things will change?

I think they already are.

I mean, I am really very heartened by the fact that I am seeing.

Seeing more about intergenerational work coming to light.

And that, like I said, wasn't the case maybe five years ago, but I see a lot more things that are happening that are highlighting how generations are coming together.

I also see a lot more in the media about older adults that are doing amazing things.

And that was just not there at all either.

And so I do think that things are changing.

And that really is heartwarming to me because I've been working on this, in this space, as you said, for so long, that to start seeing some of these positive changes is remarkable.

It is great to see, having known you a few years, to see that it's all sort of really taking a momentum now and you're finding your tribe and people are listening.

I'm absolutely thrilled for you.

But when you were younger and you thought about reaching 60, 60, did you envisage that you'd feel and see and, you know, life the way it is now, or did you think it would be something completely different, approaching 60?

Well, that's a good question.

And I think that I've had some amazing role models in my great grandmother, my grandmother and my mom.

I mean, my mom moved out onto a sailboat when she turned 50 and sailed for 20 years.

So I think that I had some incredible role models in my own life of what it could look like as I aged.

And so I don't think I ever really dreaded aging.

I was always looking forward to it because I had these strong women role models in my life who bucked the system at every turn.

I mean, at that Point.

When my mom went sailing, there were no cell phones.

There was no way that she was gonna get ahold of us, but off she went.

And how cool was that?

I need to talk to your mum on this podcast.

Absolutely.

So, you know, I'm not sure what I envisioned for when I was going to be older, but I always knew that I was gonna retire in my mid-50s.

That's when my grandmother retired and my mom was already living on a sailboat at 50.

And so I just always had this vision that I was gonna do something different when I was in my 50s.

And that's kind of what I did.

I retired at 56.

I think I hung on one more year cause of the pandemic teaching.

But I have never looked back.

I've really enjoyed.

It's given me the space and the time to do all these things that I really am passionate.

And I realized that I am an educator in many other ways.

Even though I might not be in the classroom, I am educating in so many other different ways.

And so for me, I think it's maybe better than what I envisioned, if that's possible.

That's a good thing, right?

Yeah, it certainly is for me.

I'm living life.

I'm loving it now.

I'm a retirement rebel.

A self confessed retirement rebel.

And so I ask all my guests one question.

When was the last time that you did anything rebellious or felt rebellious?

Wow.

For me, like making a film and writing a book, I'm dyslexic, so the fact that I wrote a book is like, I guess that's my way of being rebellious.

Or I think it's more fearless, like overcoming my fear.

And I have another quote that I'm hanging over my desk, which is that your decisions should be made not based on your fear, but on your curiosity.

And I think that, you know, that is something like I've always tried to follow my curiosity.

It's led me into places that, oh my goodness, like making a film or writing a book.

Never would have thought those things would happen.

So I think that would be my rebellious thing is like being almost rebellious against my own nature, which would be I'm an introvert.

And so for me, it's like getting out there, putting myself out there, doing the things that I love, even though I have no clue of how to do them.

I think that's my rebellious streak.

That sounds rebellious enough for me.

You're in my tribe.

You're in the rebellious rebellion.

I love it.

I love that.

One last thing.

If you had to give one message about ageism and the damage that it has to people in life.

What would you say to.

Well, I think that you shouldn't judge somebody based on a number.

I mean, I think that we tend to look at a number and think about and have these stereotypes in our minds of what that means that person is capable of or is not capable of.

And I think everyone is individual and you need to know each person on an individual level and not make decisions based on age.

That's lovely.

Thank you so much, guy, for joining me tonight.

I mean, I'm just thrilled that you're gonna be on my podcast and sort of lead the start of my next series.

I love it.

I hope that you enjoyed that conversation with Sky Bergman as much as I did.

I wanted to take a moment, though, to reflect on it and share with you what I'm going to take away from chatting with Sky.

I learned that this obsession with anti aging is a worldwide problem and it really is impacting women and we need to do more to showcase the realities of aging.

I feel strongly that the crux of the issue is teaching youngsters not to fear getting old, but to embrace the positives and things that can come with ageing and not to subscribe to the ageist stereotypes.

Like Sky, I want to change this.

And like her, I'll continue to shout from the rooftops that we can actually look at life differently, think outside the box and allow everyone, everyone to age the way that best suits them.

I feel that there's a sea change coming though, but it's very gradual and we need to build up more momentum if we're ever truly going to embrace the positive aging message.

Next week I'll be speaking to Alex Rotas, who's a renowned photographer who challenges stereotypes about aging through her incredible photographs and films.

She travels the world, photograph and speaking about older people.

She's also produced a powerful film called Older and more recently a documentary called Younger.

I hope you enjoy listening to our chat.

Thank you so much for joining me on today's retirement rebel life after 60.

I'm truly grateful for your time and your willingness to embark on this journey with me.

If today's conversation sparks something within you, or if you've your own Rebel story to share, I'd love to hear from you.

Please reach out through our social media channels or email and let's keep the conversation going.

Email us on podcastetirementrebel.co.uk and remember, if you found value in our time together today, consider sharing this episode with a friend who might also enjoy and benefit from our Retirement Rebel community.

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All of our details can be found on RetirementRebel.co.uk Retirement Rebel Life After 60 is written and hosted by me, Siobhan Daniels, and produced by the incredibly talented Matt Cheney.

Join me again next week for another episode.

Until then, keep embracing your inner Rebel and living life to the fullest.

Bye for now.