Vladimir Yakovlev, "The Age of Happiness": content. Vladimir Egorovich Yakovlev: biography and creativity

2024 Author: Leah Sherlock | [email protected]. Last modified: 2023-12-17 05:25

Someone is afraid of old age, someone accepts it as inevitable, but for someone it is a great time when you can fulfill your any dreams and do what you want.

Vladimir Yakovlev, a Russian journalist and businessman, admitted that in his youth he perceived the age of 50 as a milestone, after which nothing interesting could happen in life.

When he himself turned 50, he decided to find out if a person can feel happy, be happy and feel the fullness of life brighter than even in his youth.

Biography of Vladimir Yakovlev

Vladimir Yakovlev was born in Moscow on March 08, 1959. Behind him is studying at the Moscow State University at the Faculty of Journalism and working in such newspapers as Sobesednik, Sovetskaya Rossiya, and in the Rabotnitsa magazine.

In 1987, Yakovlev became his own correspondent for Ogonyok magazine. From 1988 to 1990, he organized the Fact information cooperative (1988) and the Post Factum agency (1989-1990). Vladimir Yegorovich Yakovlev - editor of Kommersant (1989-1992), founder of the Kommersant publishing house (1994), one of the founders of NSN, in 1999, having sold his shares, he leaves for the USA.

Since 2007, he has been a member of the board of directors of such companies as Stream Content and Mass Media System. In 2008, Vladimir Yakovlev became one of the founders of the Zhivi media group and the editor-in-chief of the Snob magazine.

Since 2012, Vladimir has been organizing a project about the possibilities of people in old age called "The Age of Happiness". It is carried out both in Russian and English and covers the lives of people whose age limit has exceeded half a century and even a century.

Happy age

Vladimir Yakovlev, whose age has crossed the fifty-year line, became interested in what exactly people do after retirement and why they categorically do not want to grow old and live out their lives near the TV.

In the post-Soviet space, people of retirement age are called old people and are often considered an obsolete generation that has only one road left - to the cemetery. The pensioners themselves call themselves old people, respectively, they behave like an old man - they grunt, get sick, complain and die early.

The book "The Age of Happiness" (Vladimir Yakovlev) destroys people's idea of old age. It turns out that for many people in different countries this is exactly the period of life when you can devote your time entirely to yourself, because the children have grown up, the work is left behind, and the unfulfilled dreams of youth are allstill waiting for their implementation.

The book not only reveals the stories of the older generation, but also conveys their appearance through the author's photographs. Vladimir Egorovich Yakovlev is a wonderful master of words, but also a very talented photographer who conveys both events or images, and the emotions that accompany them.

Heroes of the book "The Age of Happiness"

The heroes of Vladimir Yakovlev are completely different people, not only in age, but also in social, financial and professional status.

Among them there are very successful and we althy people, and there are those who "pull" from pension to pension, or live on welfare.

The goal that determined the project of Vladimir Yakovlev and all his research is the search for the "elixir" of youth and happiness for people who are far from 50, 60 and even 100 years old. But as reality shows, this topic turned out to be important for people of all ages, as there are too many young "old people" who, apart from home, work and TV, are not interested in anything in life.

Here are some conclusions from which you can understand what is not an elixir of happiness at any age:

• Firstly, the amount of money is completely out of proportion to the amount of happiness. It often happens quite the opposite - there is money, there is no happiness.
• Secondly, it is not the opinion of others that creates a person. A person's dependence on what others say or think about him en titles him to life imprisonment in slavery to other people's ideas about him.
• Third, wasting time on activities or work that do not bring pleasure anddrive, shortens life.

As the author himself notes, it is not external attributes that make older people happy, but the fact that they do only what gives them joy.

Andrey Chirkov

The example of Andrei Chirkov, the hero of Vladimir Yakovlev's book "The Age of Happiness", is one of the most understandable and indicative for the inhabitants of the post-Soviet space. He was 52 years old when, drinking with American colleagues and not quite understanding what he was doing, he promised one of them to run the Moscow marathon together.

Since the promise, although drunk, was given, Andrey Chirkov decided to fulfill it without fail. For a hundred days he went out for morning runs, thinking that this would help him overcome the distance of 42 km. Although the American friend could not come to the marathon, the hero of the book nevertheless went to the distance, at the end of which he was restored by ambulance doctors.

A timely drip saved Andrey from a heart attack, but he didn't stop running. Today he is 72 years old, and behind him is not only participation in many marathons, but also 2 published books about running, many stories and participation in a TV show.

Thanks to running, Andrey Chirkov made a lot of new friends of his age, who, like him, radically changed their lives after 60 years or even later.

Fauja Singh

An elderly Indian who moved from a remote Indian village to London to live with his son also became the subject of the book "Age of Happiness". Vladimir Yakovlev drew attention to the age when an elderly Indian became interested in running and became a marathon runner - 82 years old.

A person who is accustomed to alllife to work on the ground, made the only right decision, which obviously extended his life - if you do not move, you can get sick and become depressed. So he started running.

At 89, he took part in the London Marathon and completed it in almost 7 hours. This was a record for him, which he easily broke 4 years later, when he ran a marathon distance in less than 6 hours. This time he became the record holder for the whole world in the category of those who are over 90 years old.

Today he is 104 years old, and behind him not only 8 marathons, on which he earned money for charitable organizations, but also participation in an Adidas commercial. As the hero himself says, apparently God wanted him to become the oldest marathon runner on the planet and admits that only when he started running did real life begin for him.

Lynn Ruth Miller

It's not so common for women aged 77 who could light up a huge hall with their jokes, participate in TV shows, compete in talent shows along with young people, and even reach the finals.

She became the heroine of the book "The Age of Happiness" by Vladimir Yakovlev. The fact that she had a comic talent, Lynn realized at 70, and striptease at 77 years old. And he does all this with brilliance, with a "light" in his eyes, recklessly and clearly enjoying the process itself.

As the heroine herself says, she is pleased with aging. It was her advanced age that freed her from stereotypes about old age, filled her with energy andallowed me to do only what I want.

Pat and Alicia

Vladimir Yakovlev, whose books “The Age of Happiness”, “Rules of Happiness”, “Wanted and Could” are dedicated to amazing people, could not help but pay attention to an elderly couple who spend most of their time traveling and jumping from parachute.

Pat Moorhead, 81, and his wife Alicia, 66, have been together for 27 years devoting their passion to travel and heights.

The difference between a traveler and a tourist is that the former never goes the specified route. Pat and Alicia travel more than 200 days a year, and when they return to their homeland, they also do not sit at home. Pat teaches skydiving lessons and runs the club, and for those over 60 years old, he is the main assistant in mastering the sport.

Being poor people, they are forced to fly the cheapest airlines, live in inexpensive hotels, but nevertheless they have already visited 180 countries. At the same time, they met a huge number of people and got into a variety of "trouble" - from street fights to uprisings.

As the characters of the book themselves say, maybe later, when they grow old, they will sit at home and write their memoirs.

Tao Pochon-Lynch

Another bright heroine of Vladimir Yakovlev is Tao, who, thanks to heavy snowfall, began to dance at the age of 84.

Yoga coach, she never thought that she would dance every day, but when neither her nor the ballroom dance teachers came to class, they decideddance tango, which was the beginning of her passion.

Today Tao is 95 years old, she still gives yoga lessons 3 hours a day, and she also dances 2 hours a day with her young dance partners.

When she broke her hip and wrist a couple of years ago, the doctor said she would never be able to do a handstand again because she had pins put in. This did not stop Tao, and a few months later she again performed all the asanas, as before.

Tao finds she feels young because of the energy she gets from doing what she loves.

Formula of Happiness

As Vladimir Yakovlev found out, the formula of happiness really exists, and age is not an obstacle for it. The elixir contains the following ingredients:

• Daily exercise keeps muscles toned and gives energy for the whole day.
• Learning, thinking, writing all help keep the brain young.
• Be charged with positive, smile not only to others, but also to yourself.
• Enjoying the process without being tied to a specific result.
• Accepting yourself and the world as it is.
• Be cheerful and active.

As the author notes, all his characters eat a variety of foods, do not adhere to diets, but there is one principle that unites them - moderation in food. They either don't eat meat at all or very little.

But the main product of this elixir is the fullness of life, the enjoyment ofwhat you do and enjoy every day.

Other works by the author

All of his books are about happiness, he alth and fulfillment of human life. The heroes of his works are real living people who change not just their lives, but the worldview of many people. Their examples inspire and help you take the first step on the path to happiness.