Perennial vs Millennial
We’ve all heard the saying “age is just a number”, but so often it is seen as a defi ning factor. Now, a new movement is challenging the norm, celebrating living fully and vibrantly no matter your age. The “perennial mindset” invites individuals to transcend generational labels and stereotypes, embracing a way of life that prioritises authenticity and self-expression. This liberating philosophy proves age really is just a number and societal norms need not dictate our potential or happiness.
The age of agelessness
We’ve all attended parties where someone has reached a “milestone” age. Whether it is “fabulous at 40” or “the big 50”, we’ve been programmed to think that there is an inherent meaning attached to this chronological progression. Our life is on a timeline from cradle to coffi n. By and large, people fear getting older, not merely because, as time marches on, we are inevitably closer to the end rather than the beginning of life, but because we feel the pressure of what growing older really means. For many, it signals the loss of choice and even the loss of self-determination.
When you’re a “perennial”, milestones don’t matter. Society often pressures us to achieve age-appropriate goals, constantly confronting us with age relativism such as when we should buy a house, settle down or abandon dreams for a “serious” job. While there are, of course, practical considerations, many feel compelled to “act their age”.
A 60-year-old can’t be sexy and a 70-year-old who has chosen to live “on the road” on a permanent gap year should be pitied or deemed as a failure by conventional success markers. But what if that septuagenarian has spent their life travelling the world, working odd jobs, studying philosophy and doing acrobatics to stay fi t and healthy, bucking the trend of conventional ageing? What if they are living life on their terms and have no interest in the alleged precepts of growing old? Is that failing?
Forget millennial, get perennial
The “perennial mindset” is one that is not defined by the arbitrary ideas foisted upon us by society or by societal conventions. Perennials scoff at the term “should” and instead form independent ways of thinking based on their values, lifestyle objectives, passions, pursuits, and personal expression. They are not pigeonholed by demographics but rather sit within a paradigm that is now regarded as the post-generational era.
In 1964, French writer and style guru Genevieve Antoine Dariaux wrote A Guide To Elegance: For Every Woman Who Wants To Be Well And Properly Dressed On All Occasions. To this day, French fashion maintains the unspoken rule that women of a “certain age” should cut their hair short, typically by 50. However,Dariaux argued that women should trim their locks by age 20, writing: “After that age, you should adopt a neat and simple style: either short, or pinned up in a French roll or chignon; but never in any case long, glamorous tresses hanging down to your shoulders.” Although intended to be a timeless guide to chic fashion, it disappointingly perpetuates a form of ageism, particularly against women.
In contrast, just half a century later, Mauro F Guillén, vice dean at Wharton University, wrote The Perennials: The Megatrends Creating a Postgenerational Society. Lauded by critics and sociologists, it promotes a radical shift in our thinking about ageing, debunking the notion of a prescribed timeline where events happen in sequence from kindergarten to cremation, and encouraging people of all ages to dispel these time-honoured expectations of what it means to come of age.
The new coming of age
In this ground-breaking discussion, Guillén, a sociologist, political economist and management expert, dismisses the relevance of generational terminology such as millennials, gen X and baby boomers, labelling these terms as confi ning and unhelpful. He argues that if workplaces employ people based not on age and experience but on potential and propensity, they can achieve more productive
and creative outcomes. This attitudinal shift dispels preconceived perceptions, rendering them redundant. A 16-year-old can be a perennial just as much as a 60-year-old. It is the mindset that matters.
He writes: “If people could liberate themselves from the tyranny of ‘age-appropriate’ activities, if they could become perennials, they might be able to pursue not just one career, occupation or profession, but several, fi nding different kinds of personal fulfilment in each. Most importantly, people in their teens and 20s will be able to plan and make decisions for multiple transitions in life, not just one from study to work, and another from work to retirement.”
Effectively, when we move into the mindset of perennialism, we invite innovation and greater adaptability. The timeline is no longer linear but circular.
Perennial programming
In 2015, emerging streaming service Netfl ix premiered a situation comedy about two female septuagenarian who discover their respective husbands have left them – for each other! The show, named after its female characters, Grace and Frankie, follows the women as they rediscover life by defying the norms and precepts of growing old. In their 70s, they launch two start-up businesses, get married and divorced and take on life with brio and unabashed courage (and Frankie wears her tresses long with streaks of fabulous grey!).
The last time mainstream television made retirement-aged women the stars of a show was The Golden Girls back in the ‘80s. For the interim 30 years, women of “a certain age” were mostly relegated to portraying the funny grandmother, the annoying ex-wife or the grumpy middle-management boss as media moved to fetishising youth and beauty in the dawn of the new century. There was no room for an older woman to be donning a red one-piece swimsuit alongside Pamela Anderson in Baywatch.
There was a yawning 30-year timespan between these two timeless comedies, but both television programmes spoke to women who refused to be defined by their age. Grace and Frankie fi nd life after marital death and embody the proposition that age can be ageless. Thanks to a plethora of streaming services, we are now seeing more depictions, particularly female characters who are breaking the mould of what it means to be desirable, relevant and “age-appropriate”.
If the upside of ageing is living longer, then surely you’re never too old to be young. Conversely, you’re never too young to be old. Now this is not a case of age dysphoria where you intrinsically feel a different age than your chronological one, often resulting in a state of deep dissatisfaction and even depression. What these characters depict is an embracing of their age without being defined by it. Age is finite but the possibilities are infinite.
The perennial paradox of anti-ageing
In 2016, Gina Pell, tech entrepreneur and founder of style and culture website Splendora, delivered a lecture at Berkeley University in California, USA, in which she coined the term “perennial”. She described this neologism to her young audience as age being more a mindset rather than an age categorisation. She argued that demographical terms such as baby boomer, gen X and millennial can be limiting because they immediately ring-fence people by age not attitude. A perennial, as she described, transcends all expectations of age-appropriate behaviour.
She said: “Perennials are ever-blooming, relevant people of all ages who know what’s happening in the world, stay current with technology and have friends of all ages. We get involved, stay curious, mentor others and are passionate, compassionate, creative, confi dent and global-minded risk takers who understand that age is not a limiting factor. We comprise an inclusive, enduring mindset, not a divisive demographic. Millennials can be perennials. Octogenarians can be perennials. Even children can be perennials. It’s all about mindset and no longer about a one-dimensional timeline that runs from birth to death.”
Being a perennial is not about disowning or rejecting your age, but rather refusing to being defi ned by it. With age comes wisdom and experience and that shouldn’t be discounted, but instead it should be aggregated so we can honour what we have collected over the years while remaining totally relevant and curious about life in the moment. The perennial mindset is about ageing agelessly.
We used to say that 40 is the new 30, 50 is the new 40, and 60 is the new 50. The idea or goal behind this thinking about remaining youthful and integral to this precept was the honouring of youth. This way of thinking is not the perennial mindset. If a perennial can be a 15-year-old as well as an 85-year-old, this proposition of chasing youth is voided or rejected. This means that at any time of life, we can do or be what captures our imagination — and that is truly liberating. We are not limited to the timeline of life. In fact, if we all were perennial, inter-generational conflict or division would be replaced by multi-generational appreciation and co-operation.
Guillén discusses the social and economic benefi ts of this way of thinking in his book: “If instead of compartmentalising learning, work and leisure by age, we enable people to choose the mix of activities they desire at each stage of life, we might be able as a society to help people achieve financial security, fulfilment and equity.”
The perennial mindset represents a profound shift, heralding a post-generational era where age and demographics no longer defi ne our potential. It’s an exciting departure from traditional constraints, freeing us from the limiting beliefs associated with ageing. But, like any movement or technological advancement, there are early adopters and those hesitant to break from stereotypes. The prospect of ageing can still breed self-doubt, with phrases such as “I’m too old for that” or “I’ve missed my chance” lingering in our minds. Fear can strip away confi dence, but the perennial mindset off ers liberation. It enables us to transcend such thinking and declare confi dently, “I get to do this now”.
Age is arbitrary
Some flowers are called perennials because they regrow every spring from the same root base — so they don’t actually die like their counterparts, annuals, which require replanting every season. In the same way, we can also continue to grow and regenerate, sprouting new ideas and approaches to life.
Being perennial means that while we cannot avoid the inevitable, we don’t need to be defi ned by it. Age really is just a number and not a lifelong sentence. So resprout and grow!
