Why do organizations, companies and government offer seniors
discounts? Next spring, according to the airlines and almost every
other organization that gives perks to folks 65 and older, I will
officially be considered a ‘senior’. I will have to wait at least an
additional 10 months to qualify for the Everest of aging — Social
Security. Why they make this distinction at age 65 is a bit of a
mystery to me.
I
suppose it is based on the assumption that many of us with gray hair
are
My friend Carole is a crusader. About 25 years ago, she had a distant relative die in a nursing home. When she looked into it, she found that the doctor who looked after the patients wasn’t licensed, rarely made rounds, the State inspectors overlooked or didn’t look at dozens of flagrant violations of regulations, and there was a cozy relationship between the healthcare industry, government and nursing home operators—lots of folks were making lots of money from nursing homes at the expense
Was talking to a friend the other night and she came up with one of
those semi-profound things that sticks in your head and gets more and
more interesting the more you think about it. She said: “Without limits in life, you have nothing”.
So
was she saying that living without limits is not such a good idea
(since limits define what is possible)? Or was she saying that living
without limits is good (since once you realize you have nothing, you
have everything)? This was
I can’t remember who said “Growing Old isn’t for Sissies”, but the
phrase shows up frequently in conversations and workshops on growing
older. It is one of those ‘true/cute’ maxims that makes you want to
laugh and cry at the same time. This blog is about enrolling everyone
in the idea that older age is something to look forward to and not fear
or resist. So it is probably worth spending some moments reflecting on
this phrase. It suggests that we need to have courage as we grow older.
Yes,
By Elizabeth Russell
Bio
Interesting being asked for my comments on aging by Jim at a time
when I am engaged in thinking about it myself. A year ago, I moved into
a Seniors Retirement Center and I have been wondering about the wisdom
of that choice ever since. It has seemed to me that the people living
here are primarily finding ways to “spend” time while waiting for that
big event. My response has been to find things to do in San Francisco
and take myself
This is probably the last post before heading North and another change of season. The hardest thing about this kind of long-distance travel is trying to balance winter/summer wardrobes. Thank goodness for big suitcases. I am coming to the conclusion that an “Urban Lifestyle” is my preferred option in coming years.
I already mentioned that there doesn’t seem to be much of a conversation in Argentina about age at all. I used to share with my students that human beings are different from the
Being in denial is like having a blind spot in your car—you need a
rearview mirror and some competence to use it or you’ll end up having a
million accidents that are always someone else’s fault (usually the
person driving behind you!).
Too
many of us are growing older and thinking that age happens ‘to us’. I
think we need a rearview mirror that shows us our blind spots around
age and aging.
For ‘who we are’ doesn’t get any older—even when our bodies change.
More on rearview mirrors
Being objective about yourself is extremely difficult and rare.
That’s why denial is normal, even inevitable. The real problem happens
when you deny that you are in denial. That’s when you can begin to
believe your own point of view, which can lead to a terrible case of
self-righteousness. So how do you know you are in denial when you are in denial?
I’ve
learned through my own experience with various ‘isms’ that there is
only one possible way of knowing… and that is to
Since I starting blogging a couple of months ago, I find myself
waking up in the middle of the night with something inside me screaming
to be said. Tonight it is cynical ambition. What I mean by that is the
kind of “Do anything for power — or money, or sex, or fame”. You can
fill in the ‘it’ that people will do anything to have.
I
have spent most of my life trying to be positive, to stand for
something, to leave the world a bit better than I found it. Sometimes I
have
I am in Buenos Aires for a couple of weeks. I come a few times a year to work with clients and I have a kind of love affair with the Latin energy and enthusiasm for life one can feel here. This trip I am paying particular attention to the scene from the point-of-view of getting older and my enthusiasm for this blog and our project to transform the culture of aging.
It is interesting how we always see what we are looking for. In the past, I was focused on the numbers of young, good-looking and