By Stu Whitley
Bio
This is the third in a three-part series.
I
read somewhere that good decision-making—indeed, good relations—
depends upon a virtuous cycle of respect, trust and candour (which
takes some time to establish, but which can easily be interrupted).
Attitude, after all, is everything. Perhaps that last statement needs a
bit of refinement: the ethical
attitude is everything. By that I mean the determination
I had a great conversation this past weekend with my son Clarke. We were talking about the differences between ‘his generation’ and ‘my generation’ (the Boomers), and he shared a perspective I thought was extraordinary and which made me realize our two age groups advocate two very different interpretations of reality.
He believes that one of the biggest problems his generation faces is themselves—because they have grown up in a time in which they have been constantly bombarded with the
By Vincent DiBianca
Bio
Another
friend who is a prominent bio-chemist and clinical physiologist says
the impact of synthetics has a major impact on compromising the immune
system. (He contends that contrary to some reports, leaching from
microwave cooking has been proven to occur in virtually all plastics
and whether the plastic touches the food or not). Ugh!
Personally,
I give little credence to much of the mainstream position on health and
well-being. Unfortunately, doubting our ‘authorities’
By Shae Hadden
Bio
I was struck by the sweet irony of life.
In
the midst of this season of new beginnings, some of my older women
friends are facing mid-life and end-of-life challenges. Seasons ago,
they ‘planted’ themselves in particular locations, lifestyles and ways
of thinking about things. And now the challenges they face are like
none they have experienced before. In a way, they are being offered
opportunities to let go, to ‘re-plant’ themselves,
The word transformation came into vogue as a personal and social phenomenon in the 1970s principally through the success and notoriety of Werner Erhard, a friend I have admired and worked with for a decade. His est training touched the lives of hundreds of thousands of people and generated numerous books and a couple of films. The ‘training’ was a four-day intensive immersion into a smorgasbord of experiential exercises and intense lectures punctuated with engaging ‘coaching’ conversations
I am thinking about all the things older people told me over the
years—don’t worry, relax, smell the roses, live life in the moment,
learn from your mistakes, and, above all, love other people and
yourself. Much of my life hasn’t been spent practicing these gems from
my predecessors. It’s been about struggling to do it right, doing it my
way, resisting anything I didn’t like, and (in one way or another)
controlling myself and other people.
Love,
when it appeared, was like a fleeting
A friend was asking me why I’m so keen to change our
conversation about aging—to transform the culture of aging from one of
decline to one of possibility. One answer is self-interest, insofar as
I am growing older and experiencing more and more of the symptoms of a
culture that objectifies me and wants me to follow its prescription for
“growing old gracefully” (which means ‘slow down’, step aside, play
golf, enjoy my grandchildren, be
Think about the positive attributes of growing older, and ‘wisdom’
will always appear near the top of the list. Until recently, I had
assumed ‘wisdom’ was a kind of ‘right knowledge’. Every time someone
says the Serenity Prayer, I am reminded of this attribute again.
“God grant me the serenity to accept the things I
cannot change, the courage to change the things that I can, and the
wisdom to know the difference.”
By Vincent DiBianca
Bio
Regarding aging, health and well-being—I find myself interacting
with people who live in two worlds. Many of my friends take medication
(particularly antibiotics for loads of ailments), undergo surgery, eat
what they want, rarely exercise and several smoke. Other friends
(although fewer in number) believe that the body can heal itself inside
out, eat nutritionally (organic foods, vegan or vegetarian), meditate
and exercise regularly,
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