Issue
#25, November, 2009
Welcome
to the November 2009 issue of the Elderwoman Newsletter
- an e-zine for
21st century elderwomen committed to radical aliveness.
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As I sit
down to write this, with my steaming hot cup of green tea in my hand,
the wind is raging outside and I feel, as always, a deep gratitude for
the warmth and shelter of our cosy little cottage. Glad,
too, in view of
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the flood
warnings on the news, that we are positioned half way up a hillside and
even if the little river at the bottom of our lane were to burst its
banks we would be safely out of the reach of any floodwaters.
I've had an
exciting few months, the highlight of which was - as it always is
- the vacation we took with our family in New England. This
year we went to Martha's Vineyard, off the coast of Massachusetts, and
the photo above was taken at one of the loveliest spots on the island -
Gay Head - in the rich, warm light of a beautiful sunset.
The other
highlight for me was Crones Counsel - the first one I have been to in
three years - and you'll see a report of that below.
Now,
as our northern days shrink, it is time to batten down for the
winter. And with several writing projects to complete I am sure it will
be a busy - and I hope satisfying - time. I hope yours will be equally
satisfying. Best wishes to everyone for the festive days ahead. And for
those of you 'down south' already experiencing a
hotter-than-usual
November, I wish you cooling breezes, drought-breaking rains
and a
safe, fire-free summer.
Blessings,
Marian
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| FEATURE
ARTICLE |
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Steve
Gurney’s Experiment
In February, 43-year-old Steve Gurney
experienced firsthand what it is like to move into a senior living
option by taking up temporary residence at an independent and assisted
living community.
While Steve has been regarded as an
expert in the field of senior housing and eldercare, he came to the
realization that he had not experienced the transition that he has
advised thousands of people to take in his 20-year career. He states, “This
has been the most enlightening and thought-provoking experience that I
have been engaged in throughout my career. I am at amazed at the
perspective I have gained, and how much it has reinvigorated my passion
for innovative solutions.”
Steve also learned just how
dependent he is on the automobile, living in a suburban neighborhood.
He says: “I came to the realization that without a car, I
would be completely disconnected from my purposes in life, no matter my
age.” This revelation prompted him to see the
benefits of an urban or walk-able location at any age which he will
gain with the move to the retirement community located in downtown Washington,
DC.
“By inserting myself into this age-segmented
environment, I hope that I am getting people to realize that everyone
is aging, not just those with AARP cards.”
Steve has been documenting his
experiences through a blog at www.everyoneisaging.com that has served as a vehicle for discussion
and creative thoughts on aging and eldercare.
About Steve Gurney
Steve
Gurney is the founder and publisher of Guide to Retirement Living
SourceBook, a comprehensive resource he founded 20 years ago. He speaks
regularly on a variety of topics and has assisted hundreds of
senior-serving organizations in reaching solutions to their challenges.
Steve is a graduate of the innovative Masters of Management in Aging
Services Program at University of Maryland,
Baltimore County
(UMBC).
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| LINKED
ARTICLES |
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Rehearsing
for Death
"Death
is a democratic inevitability for every one of us. In my opinion,
there’s something worse than death and that is never having fully lived.
"
Click here for a thoughtful and
thought-provoking blog post by Jane Fonda.
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Aging Consciously: The Pilates Way
"As
we age, many of us allow ourselves to slow down, accepting this as a
fact of growing older. Yet, there is no reason that we should act a
certain way when we get to be a specific age. The fact is, there is
nothing prohibiting us from pursuing the things that interest us, if
our bodies are in good physical and mental health."
Click
here for
an inspiring
article by Pilates trainer Phyllis Douglas from Los Angeles.
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Living Long and Feeling Good
(Many
thanks to subscriber Gloria Heard for sending me this article)
At the age of 97 years and 4 months,
Shigeaki Hinohara is one of the world's longest-serving physicians and
educators. Hinohara's magic touch is legendary: Since 1941 he has been
healing patients at St. Luke's International Hospital in Tokyo and
teaching at St. Luke's College of Nursing. After World War II, he
envisioned a world-class hospital and college springing from the ruins
of Tokyo; thanks to his pioneering spirit and business savvy, the
doctor turned these institutions into the nation's
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top
medical facility and nursing school. Today he serves as chairman of the
board of trustees at both organizations. Always willing to try new
things, he has published around 150 books since his 75th birthday,
including one "Living Long, Living Good" that has sold more than 1.2
million copies. As the founder of the New Elderly Movement, Hinohara
encourages others to live a long and happy life, a quest in which no
role model is better than the doctor himself. Click here to
read what he has to say.
REPORTS/NEWS/BITS & PIECES
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RESEARCH: Invitation for You to Participate in Wellbeing Research |
Researchers
have devoted decades to understanding what leads
some people to be healthier than others. However,
most people have only studied disease and disorder
and failed to also address strengths and wellbeing.
In this study, we want to look at what is going
wrong and what is going right in different people from around the
world, and in all age groups. We want to capture the entire picture of
what it means to be healthy and most importantly, track people to
understand how they change over time. This is the first study of its
kind to look in depth at people's wellbeing from around the world. If
you chose to participate, you'll be helping us to answer some of the
most tantalizing questions that our society faces today!
If you are interested, please sign up through the study web address: http://www.wellbeingstudy.com
The study is open every third month (the next intake period is the
month of December, then March etc). Participation requires completing
around 30 minutes of questions every three months for a year (five
times in total).
Many thanks in advance! Aaron Jarden, Head of Department -
Psychology
School of Information and Social Sciences
The Open Polytechnic of New Zealand
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This item came to you by
courtesy of the Positive Aging Newsletter
This is an excellent newsletter, with lots of interesting items and I
encourage you to subscribe. Subscriptions are entirely free. |
An art exhibition by
Helen Redman:
Nov. 6 - Dec. 5, 2009, in San Diego CA.
To celebrate the nearly fifty-year career of
the artist Helen Redman, the Women's History Museum and Education
Center in San Diego is hosting Tensions in the Journey: From Child
to Crone,
an exhibition of selected works from the 1960s-2000s. The exhibition
runs from Nov 6 - December 5, 2009.
"For
nearly a half century, Helen Redman has been making art. Her stunning
portraits and evocative mixed media works track events, both momentous
and ordinary, in women’s life cycle.
Much more than a visual account of one woman’s
perspective on life, her works illuminate something transcendent: they
compose a visual memoir of the flux and flow of embodiment and identity
across a woman’s life cycle, a memory-laden landscape of time’s passing
in a life lived through a certain era and in a particular body."
-- Kathleen B Jones, Ph.D.
The exhibition is also part
of the celebration of the 40th anniversary of women's studies at San Diego
State
University.
Helen
invites you to join her for a salon
talk on her exhibition at the Women's History Museum,
November 21 from 2-4 pm.
She
will be doing a walk through reflecting
on the different eras and issues for women at the time the pieces were
created. An
interactive discussion will follow.
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A New Book, A New Approach to Career Review
and Life Transition
Just released, Harvest the Bounty of Your Career
by Deborah F. Windrum, is a unique guide for the inner
journey often precipitated in the second half of life as a result of
career transition, life change, or simply the process of becoming
'ageful.' |
View your career—and life—through the lens
of evocative metaphoric imagery to:
~ see life transitions as “autumns” of life
with bounty to reap and transmute.
~ observe the nature and symbolism of trees
to gain renewed perspective on work and life and
experience a tree metaphor to explore your own of roots, branches,
fruits and seeds.
~ notice how the four seasons bring
traditional models of a woman’s life cycle into alignment with
today’s extended opportunities.
The book’s central tree metaphor is
exquisitely translated into original art by Michele Renée Ledoux. The
book features 19 full-color, full-page works of art, a soft cover,
lay-flat binding, and a back cover flap that includes a beautiful
tear-off bookmark. The 7” x 8” format of the book imparts a personal
and intimate feel.
What’s
next for you? The answers lie within. Here are
personalized experiences that will reveal them. Immerse
yourself in Harvest’s
insightful questions, inspiriting
quotations, and deeply stirring art. Resurface revitalized to
embark upon your next, perhaps best, season of life.
For more details, a glimpse
inside the book and to order, please visit Deborah ‘Deb’ Windrum’s
website: http://www.HarvestTheBounty.com
(NB
from Marian: Deb is a member of our Elderwomanspace
Network, so those of you who are members of the Network might
want to log on and congratulate her on the publication of this
beautiful book.)
Best Blogs for Boomer Health.
If
you are in the 'Baby Boomer' age bracket, this item might interest you.
Writer
Adrienne Carlson contacted me recently to announce that she had just
posted this list on the Nurse Practitioner website.
http://nursepractitionerprogram.com:80/100-best-blogs-for-boomer-health/
It
looks like a very comprehensive and useful list. It is also a long list. I confess I have not been
through it myself to make sure that none of the blogs Adrienne has
included favour the sort of ageist, ‘forever young’ language that
Boomers sometimes lapse into - and which I dislike so much
- but if you happen to find any that do, then I’m sure you
will pass them by! (Or take those bloggers to task on it if you feel
like a spot of anti-ageist activism!!)
Sharp Minds
Many studies have suggested
that cognitive function declines in old age, but a new study led by a
Ryerson University researcher shows that this is not always the case.
In the study, Dr. Lixia Yang of Ryerson University and her
co-author, Ralf Krampe of the Max Planck Institute for Human
Development, Germany,
found that seniors were able to retain 50 per cent of concepts they
learned almost a year ago.
“This finding was astonishing. We always assumed that seniors would
have great difficulty in grasping new concepts and maintaining what
they’ve learned. But our research demonstrates this is not always the
case,” Yang said.
47 seniors in their 70s and 80s completed a series of tests that
measured three areas that normally decline with age: reasoning,
processing speed and visual attention.
They then repeated the same tests eight months later in a follow-up
study. For example, to test the older adults’ visual attention, one
test involved finding ‘target’ letters, like the letter ‘D’ with dots
above and below, among other letters with similar patterns as fast as
possible.
“This study suggests that seniors’ minds are still sharp,” Yang said.
The study was published in the August 2009 issue of the Journal of
Gerontology: Psychological Sciences.
(Thanks to the Queen of
Elderbloggers, Ronni Bennett of Time Goes By ,for linking to this report in the ‘Times
of India’)
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| CRONES COUNSEL 2009 |
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Crones Counsel, this year,
was held in Atlanta, Georgia, at the beautiful Simpsonwood Retreat
Center, in amongst the trees.
It
was the first such gathering I had been able to attend for several
years, as I am trying to cut down on flying, for ecological reasons.
This time, as the gathering was so much closer to the East coast, I was
at last able to attend again. I was so happy to be there, re-connecting
with many old friends and making some new ones. |
To anyone
who has never attended one of these gatherings, let me say
that there is nowhere I know of in the world that will make you so
happy and comfortable about being who you are and about being the age
you are.
I
feel privileged to be a member of the global 'tribe of crones' and to
be able, from time to time, to spend a few days hanging out
with
this remarkable group of women who are living their 'third
age' so
consciously, so joyfully and so zestfully.
Next year's gathering is in Albuquerque, New Mexico.
All details will be on the Crones Counsel website in due
course.
My New Book
As you may recall, in the last newsletter I
told you all about my new novel, 'The Bird Menders'.
(Click here
to go back to that item) Readers so far have all reported that they
enjoyed the book.
I am hoping to sell lots more copies and raise
a lot of money for the cause to which the royalties are pledged. If you
would like a copy, please click on the above link. And please, if you
like the book, it would be marvellous if you posted a customer review
on Amazon.
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| QUOTES
Quotes on Aging – collected
by
The Aging Adventurer, Emily Kimball (sign up for her newsletter
if you haven’t already)
"Americans have an
almost insatiable appetite for staying young...Millions struggle in
some way to resist, delay, deny, outwit or camouflage the dreaded
enemy-aging...But youth has been oversold and aging has value that we
as a culture haven't acknowledged."
~ Connie Goldman, author, Secrets
of Becoming a Late Bloomer and The
Ageless Spirit.
"It is the old
apple trees that are decked with the loveliest blossoms. It is the
ancient redwoods that rise to majestic heights. It is the old violins
that produce the richest tones. It is the aged wine that tastes the
sweetest. It is ancient blessings of age and the wisdom, patience and
maturity that go with it. Old is wonderful."
~Sister Mary
Gemma Brunke
"Old age, I've
decided is a gift. I am now, probably for the first time in my life,
the person I have always wanted to be."
~Anonymous, from
Second Journey, Itineraries, Spring 2009.
"There is more
money being spent on breast implants and Viagra today than on
Alzheimer's research. This means that by 2040, there should be a large
elderly population with perky boobs and huge erections and absolutely
no recollection of what to do with them."
~Anonymous
(Internet)
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CALL
FOR SUBMISSIONS
Contributions
for this newsletter are
eagerly sought. Please send in your writings, your thoughts, your
poetry, a book or website you have found, an announcement or news item
that you think would be interesting to others, a comment on one of
these articles, a subject you'd like to see, an anecdote, something
that moved you - whatever snippet you want to share. Don't be
shy. You do NOT have to be a professional writer, artist or
photographer to send pictures or pieces of your writing to this
newsletter. I look forward to hearing from you. |
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LAST
LAUGH
AMA weighs in....
Apparently the American Medical Association has weighed in
on the new Health Care Initiatives from the Obama Administration ...
The Allergists voted to scratch it,
But the Dermatologists advised not to make any rash moves.
The Gastroenterologists had sort of a gut feeling about it,
But the Neurologists thought the Administration had a lot of nerve.
The Obstetricians felt they were all laboring under a misconception.
Ophthalmologists considered the idea shortsighted.
Pathologists yelled, "Over my dead body!"
While the Pediatricians said, 'Oh, Grow up!'
Oncologists fear it's malignant, while Osteopaths see it as holistic.
The Psychiatrists thought the whole idea was madness,
While the Radiologists could see right through it.
Surgeons decided to wash their hands of the whole thing.
The Internists thought it was a bitter pill to swallow,
And the Plastic Surgeons said, "This puts a whole new face on the matter."
The Podiatrists thought it was a step forward,
But the Urologists were pissed off at the whole idea.
The Anesthesiologists thought the whole idea was a gas,
And the Cardiologists didn't have the heart to say no.
In the end, the Proctologists won out,
Leaving the entire decision up to the as***les in Washington.
| SOME NEW DRUGS FOR WOMEN |
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DAMNITOL
Take 2 and the rest of the world can go to hell for up to 8 full hours. |
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EMPTYNESTROGEN
Suppository that eliminates melancholy and loneliness by reminding you of how awful they were as
teenagers and how you couldn't wait till they
moved out. |
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MENICILLIN
Potent anti-boy-otic for older women. Increases resistance to such lethal lines as, "You make me want
to be a better person. " |
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BUYAGRA
Injectable stimulant taken prior to shopping Increases potency, duration, and credit limit of
spending spree. |
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ANTITALKSIDENT
A spray you can carry in your purse, to be used on anyone too
eager to share their life stories with
total strangers in elevators. |
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The
Elderwoman Newsletter by Marian Van Eyk McCain, November 2009
The Elderwoman website: http://www.elderwoman.org
Marian's e-mail: marian(at)elderwoman.org
NB: replace 'at' with the @ sign, and please
remember to
insert OKEM in the subject line to make sure you get through my three
layers of spam filtering!
Unfortunately,
the filters are a necessity to stop
my in-box flooding with spam.
- oh and when you write to me, please remember that my name
is spelt MARIAN
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