Dr. Bill Thomas, ChangingAging.org
Baby News
Thought I would put out the word to the Changingaging family, Kavan Peterson and his lovely wife Sarah are the proud parents of a beautiful and healthy brand new baby boy.
Being witness to the endless and deeply loving turning of the generations is one of the best parts of being human.
So welcome to the world little human— life is good!
On the Road Again
This is what I call, “The Busy Time.” Spring is in the air and so am I. We are getting ready for the Eden International Conference in Grand Rapids at the end of the month. We are getting ready for the premier of my new play… “Play What’s Not There” at the Guthrie Theater in [...]
Life In The Shire
One of the most interesting things about fiction is that, for the most part, it is really just life— artfully arranged. Almost all of the scenes, incidents and characters we read about in novels can also be found in real life, in fact most of them are based on living people and actual situations. It is the same for “Tribes of Eden.” When I was writing the book I drew heavily from my own life experiences. Continue reading →
Wondering About Yoga
I have been reading about core strength and the role that Yoga might playing in helping people maintain core strength after adutlhood.
I saw this, and thought that it was pretty solid common sense advice:
‘Shared Lives’ Transforms Lives
Shared Lives is one of the Blogstreams newest contributors, hailing from the UK. I have to admit, I love these guys. They are imaginative and gutsy and I think they have a big part of the answer we need. When we run into hard limits on our access to financial capital the smart move is to leverage social capital and that is exactly what Shared Lives does. I had dinner with Shared Lives CEO Alex Fox the last time I was in London. He is on fire with the idea of placing older adults with younger families as a sort of foster-elder (as opposed to foster-child).
She’s Real Fine (my 409)
Transportation is the biggest and least “sexy” issue facing aging today.
People live in “CAR WORLD” and when they can’t drive any more they drop off the edge of the world.
One solution — the Independent Transportation Network.
The Magic of Magical Realism
When I am writing fiction, my taste runs toward something called “magical realism.” I admit to being fascinated with the idea that the most magical things are often those that are the most real and the firmest grip on “reality” often includes things that are just plain magical.
I Need Help
Just got off the phone with a family friend she told me the news that her partner has just been diagnosed with Alzheimers at age 52.
She is, of course, devastated and she is starting to realize that most of the support networks and services are geared to older people with AD.
So I am asking my readers for HELP.
Fierce With Age
Here is somebody who isn’t willing to take ageism lying down… Straight out of HuffPo Carol Orsborn, CEO of FierceWithAge, says, “With a recent issue of AARP The Magazine featuring Diane Keaton over the headline ‘How She Stays Forever Young,’ the message surrounding aging is emblazoned on our consciousness: Young is good, old is bad.” [...]
An F In Penmanship
I recently did an email interview where I was asked “What do you wish people in their 20s and 30s knew about life?” The answer was pretty clear to me. The younger we are, the less likely we are to understand what our strengths are, to know matters and what doesn’t matter.
Ending The War on Aging
War? What is it good for? Well, on a metaphorical level it names an enemy and endows that enemy with a powerfully negative image. We have “wars” on drugs, cancer, heart disease, AIDS and obesity. There is also a “war” on aging.
Just Like in the Tribes of Eden
Another cool case of life mirroring art. Golden Letters would fit right into the Shire. All they need is a young woman and a crazy wild horse.
The Enthusiasts
A website that bills itself as having the “biggest little list” of oxymorons on the internet offers all of the usual suspects including “enormously small,” a “genuine fake,” and “paid volunteer.” It also reveals our culture’s bias against aging. We find “active retirement,” a “young sixty” and “healthy aging” listed as oxymorons. It should come as no surprise then that the words “enthusiast” and “aging” just don’t seem to go together. All though it remains small and it is hidden in the shadows of society, there is a sub-culture that actually embraces and even celebrates the normal changes associated with normal human aging.
These are the Enthusiasts.
Living Off the GRID
For about 18 years Jude and I lived off the GRID on a horse/wind/sun powered farm we called Summer Hill. Living off the GRID for that long teaches you lessons that are hard to forget. We used as little power as we could, we watched the weather and we enjoyed the feeling that came with a windy day (lots of power from the wind generator) and a sunny day (lots of power from the solar panels). The worst were the dark February days when there seemed to be no sun or wind.
Strawberry Pop Tarts
At a recent meeting of our local county legislature a report was given on disaster preparedness.
Very nice.
The presenter concluded with the observation that, whenever, disaster threatened to strike our area, the number one selling item at the local Wal-Mart was…
Readers of Tribes of Eden will no doubt guess this right away.
Mentors are Intergenerational Heroes
Nora O’Brien-Suric is Senior Program Officer at the John A. Hartford Foundatin and she is a brand new blogger.
Her first post is about mentorship and it features an interview with the legendary Rose Dobroff.
Nora writes:
Mirror Mirror On the Wall
I’ve been thinking about how I used to be a maniacal newspaper reader. Maniacal. But, in the past few years, I’ve let go of that habit. Part of it has to do with the corporatization of the newspaper business and part of it is due to that fact that I now reads dozens of blogs [...]
Alive Inside
Last summer Al Power called me to tell me about a film maker who wanted to explore the connection between life, art, music and aging. I jumped at the chance to to meet up with them at St. John’s and we spent a day there talking about ideas and doing some taping.
The film maker’s name is Michael Rossato-Bennett and his production company, Ximotion Media, had undertaken the challenge of explaining how and why access to music could help people come “Alive Inside.”
A clip from this film was posted on YouTube and has gone absolutely viral in the past 24 hours with nearly 3 million views and counting. Continue reading to watch.
Beauty by Way of Software
Boo Lunt sent me this link to a video SPOOF.
It tackles the unreality of the images that are held up as the standard of beauty for American women.
Love the culture jamming aspect to this… Take the flashy image of beauty and subvert it with the truth.
Click HERE to get the picture
There I was…
This is a great example of the power and insight that blogging has to offer — Robin Korth’s blog, “On Aging” is very well written with the bonus of being both honest and insightful.
“The idea or seed for Insights On Aging was born over the last years as I have moved well into my 50s and have my 60th year in my sights. I don’t feel old. I feel more alive and energetic than ever. I have come through many adventures, sorrows, joys, and defeats. There is some history now. There is also the humility of having failed. And, the inner strength of having picked myself up and moved on.”
