Instead of looking at life as a narrowing funnel, we can see it ever widening to choose the things we want to do, to take the wisdom we’ve learned and create something.

Carpenter contrasts two metaphors for aging and life course: a “narrowing funnel” suggests diminishing options, shrinking horizons, and a gradual closing-in of possibility. Reframing life as “ever widening” rejects that narrative, proposing that experience can expand agency—especially later in life—by clarifying values and sharpening judgment. The line emphasizes selective freedom: not doing everything, but choosing what matters, using accumulated “wisdom” as raw material for new work. It’s an argument for creative, purposeful reinvention and for treating maturity as a resource rather than a limitation.