It’s been said a lot of different ways that life is not a destination, but a journey. A lot of homespun wisdom and formal philosophy attempts to clarify ‘the purpose of life’ or various other questions about what we’re doing with our lives and why we do it. A good friend was recently seeking my advice about his relationship to money. He was somewhere between perplexed and depressed that he hasn’t been able to produce the financial results in his business that he wanted. This man is a
Monthly Archives: November 2007
Experiencing New Things
I am always a little amazed and delighted when I discover something that I didn’t even know existed. The older I become, the more delighted I seem to be. For example, this week I’ve been having a vacation at home. Basically that means playing the tourist in the city where I live, going to new restaurants and generally wandering around. Someone recommended a new movie called “Across the Universe”—a musical about the 1960s written round the music of the Beatles. I never heard of the director,
Gender & Age Disparities in Healthcare
It’s extremely important for families to discuss healthcare and aggressive treatments before a crisis occurs. Recent research on gender and age disparities in healthcare published last week by the Canadian Medical Journal Association reveals that women, especially older women, are 20% more likely to die in an ICU and are 33% less likely to receive the life-supporting treatments they need than men. These
Listening & Learning
Life happens while we are having conversations with ourselves and other people.
Not learning from others may have a lot to do with not truly ‘listening’ to what others say. Listening is the context that makes life intelligible, allows anything to have meaning, and forms the basis for all communication (both written and spoken). It is a whole lot more than just ‘hearing’ the words that are spoken. I’m always listening, always bringing a prior interpretation or understanding of my world
Explainers Anonymous™ – II
By Charles E. Smith |Bio
=&0=& is for people who can’t help explaining they are dedicated victims of circumstance.Explaining,
like taking a drink, need not be not a problem. Telling a story to
entertain or teach is wonderful. Sometimes explanations are really
useful (such as in telling the doctor why your hand is bleeding) or
when they warn you of something (such as in looking both ways before
crossing the street because you might get killed). Sometimes they are
useful as long as everyone understands it’s an explanation—and only one
out of a hundred thousand possibilities.
It’s
Scientist Searching for God in the Brain
Recent research by neuroscientist Mario Beauregard of the University of Montreal attempts to pinpoint what happens in the brain during a ‘mystical experience’. Dubbed ‘neurotheology’ or ‘spiritual neuroscience’, this new line of inquiry may marry religion in a science in a way that could make it possible to make people’s lives "happier, healthier and better able to concentrate". Read the full Scientific American article, Searching
Zoomers
I got an advertisement in an enewsletter the other day. It proclaimed the ‘Zoomer’ as a person who has the body of a 65-year-old, the mind of a 45-year-old, the libido of a 25-year-old and the heart of a teenager. Bottom line is that a Zoomer is a Boomer with zip!
Well, I pass the first hurdle. My body is definitely 65 years old, although I am not sure how that is measured. I am certainly in better shape than many (and not as fit as many others) so it seems to me that the body’s age is relative.
Philanthropy Day
Yesterday was Philanthropy Day. I went to a luncheon for 1,300 people in San Francisco hosted by one of my favorite ‘causes’, the Pachamama Alliance. The organization was founded 12 years ago by Bill and Lynne Twist as a partnership between the indigenous peoples of the Rainforest and the modern world. They prefer to say the Alliance found them. The purpose of the Alliance is to create a world that is “environmentally sustainable, spiritually fulfilling and socially just”. It would seem
Deep Age and Life’s Leftovers
I reconnected with an old friend this week online—Dr. Laurie Ford. She has just started a new blog, Chute Me Through Deep Age. It has what seems to be a fairly unique perspective on a theme I had not thought too much about, but which makes a lot of sense. She has focused on the breakdowns associated with late-life aging—specifically, any of the dozens of conditions that can either severely handicap us including everything from
It’s the ’60s Again…
By Don Arnoudse | Bio
My wife and I recently visited seacoast New Hampshire to celebrate our wedding anniversary. After leaving historic Union Chapel, the scene of our wedding 26 years ago, we were in a nostalgic mood as we drove into the center of Portsmouth. As we left the car to stroll through the town center, we heard quite a ruckus. To my surprise, the cause of all the commotion was a crowd of white-haired people holding signs in the town square and loudly shouting slogans in protest of the Iraq war.I
was immediately transported to those days in the late ‘60s when I was
marching with my classmates in protest of the Vietnam War. We closed
down Michigan State University in the spring of 1970 and spent our time
in tents on the campus lawn engaged in intense discussions about
politics and war. We sang protest songs along with Joan Baez and Bob
Dylan. We erupted in fear and rage when a blood-covered young man ran
into our Tent City