MEA CULPA!
Wednesday, July 8, 2020
In my recent blog post titled “scared and pissed off”, I misattributed a quote from the movie ‘Alive Inside’. It was spoken by the director, Michael Rossato-Bennett, not by Dr. Bill Thomas. I apologize to Michael Rossato-Bennett and for any confusion that may have resulted.
read morescared and pissed off
Monday, June 29, 2020
“There is a touch that takes a lifetime to achieve. Locking this touch away is like stripping from ourselves part of being human.”
Michael Rossato-Bennett, from the movie Alive Inside
A few weeks ago, the Wabi Sabi Film Festival presented a free digital screening of the movie Alive Inside. It was a… read more
APPRECIATE WHAT WE’VE TAKEN FOR GRANTED.
Sunday, May 10, 2020
APPRECIATE WHAT WE'VE TAKEN FOR GRANTED.
The external conditions of pandemic, along with the natural process of aging, have caused many of us to gain some insight into and appreciation for what we’ve taken for granted, large and very small. I woke up thinking about the lyrics to “Big Yellow Taxi”,… read more
NEVER TOO LATE FOR A GOOD SHAVE
Saturday, May 2, 2020
“When we are no longer able to change a situation, we are challenged to change ourselves.”
Viktor Frankl
Last week I noticed I was running low on shaving cream. In the old days – and I don’t mean the 60’s – I would have tucked that away in the back of… read more
GOING WITHIN AS WE AGE by Evalina Everidge
Tuesday, March 31, 2020
The revered spiritual teacher Ram Dass, who recently died at age 88, observed that people have no difficulty being called an old soul but do not want to be called an old person. What a paradox! Accrual of wisdom is viewed as a positive attribute, yet aging is denied and… read more
RE-SHAPE TOMORROW
Sunday, March 29, 2020
“What happens next depends largely on us—our government, politicians, health institutions and, in particular, 328 million inhabitants of this country—all making tiny decisions on a daily basis with outsize consequences for our collective future.”
Washington Post
‘How we conduct ourselves in the next several months will impact our children, our neighbors, our… read more
Thoughts on COVID-19
Friday, March 13, 2020
We can no longer take for granted what we used to take for granted. This has been true for some time, but the COVID-19 pandemic brings it into sharp focus.
Hugging someone hello. Shaking hands. Picking up our grandchildren from school. Feeling invincible. March Madness. Worshipping with others. All this and… read more
Self-Compassion
Sunday, March 1, 2020
If self-criticism were a disease, it would likely dwarf other epidemics.
The Fetzer Institute
The Jefferson Airplane sang “life is change…”. Wabi sabi is about appreciating the beauty of impermanence.
Embracing the inevitable changes of our continued living can be a hard row to hoe. One of the cruelest forms of internalized… read more
SEEING WHAT IS MOST REAL IN THE MIDST OF WHAT IS MOST FAMILIAR
Saturday, February 1, 2020
SEEING WHAT IS MOST REAL IN THE MIDST OF WHAT IS MOST FAMILIAR
(This column was recently posted as a blog on the Institute Of Noetic Sciences (IONS) website)
I’m reading a book written by David Brooks titled The Second Mountain. In it, Brooks discusses the difference between a career and a… read more
The Conversation
Saturday, December 14, 2019
This is the time of year when many of us engage in family conversations - sometimes about grandchildren, sometimes politics, sometimes previous generations and who knows what else. Sometimes around the dining room table, sometimes in the living room and, I suppose, maybe even online.
There’s a couple of topics that… read more
AGING IS INHERENTLY NOETIC
Sunday, November 24, 2019
I’ve been a pretty good athlete for most of my life. I played organized varsity level sports through college, and I’ve stayed active over the ensuing 50 years. To this day, I remember specific amazing plays or passes or throws I made, and I can still feel my own immediate… read more
Seeing Aging from a Different Perspective by Evalina Everidge
Monday, August 12, 2019
Recently, I moved into a wonderful historic building which has been converted into affordable apartments for older people. It has been a pleasure meeting other residents – our ages spanning five decades.
One day I shared the elevator with a petite octogenarian who was holding onto a walker and sporting wispy… read more
Embracing Our Lives
Saturday, August 3, 2019
"A self that goes on changing is a self that goes on living." Virginia Woolf
Whether we realize it or not, most of us hold the view that in our aging and dying we are trying to make the best of a bad situation. This deeply ingrained view is based upon… read more
Age Equity
Friday, July 26, 2019
“Don’t ask what the world needs. Ask what makes you come alive, and go do it. Because what the world needs is people who have come alive.” ― Howard Thurman
Over the past year there has been a lot of talk in our towns about equity. And rightfully so. The documentary “America… read more
Local Dementia Friendly
Wednesday, April 3, 2019
Last week I participated in a dementia exposure exercise at River Forest Village Hall. This program was another step in the Dementia Friendly River Forest process. The program took about 30 minutes. I experienced some managed sensory alteration. It was powerful, undeniable and humbling.
Even though I knew the training experience… read more
The Dakini Speaks by Jennifer Welwood
Sunday, January 13, 2019
The Dakini Speaks
My friends, let’s grow up.
Let’s stop pretending we don’t know the deal here.
Or if we truly haven’t noticed, let’s wake up and notice.
Look: Everything that can be lost, will be lost.
It’s simple — how could we have missed it for so long?
Let’s grieve our losses fully, like ripe… read more
Tear A Hole
Thursday, December 27, 2018
The other night I watched the movie The Matrix. I hadn’t seen it since it first came out in 1999, when the Wachowskis were still brothers. That’s 20 years ago. I liked it then, and I still do.
I don’t watch movies at home very often. I don’t even have a… read more
The Wall
Thursday, December 6, 2018
The Wall: How the Arts Can Improve Aging from Aroha Philanthropies on Vimeo.
read moreHouses of Our Youth
Wednesday, November 7, 2018
The other day I caught a glimpse of myself as I passed the hallway mirror. I stopped and backed up a few steps for a longer gaze. What grabbed my attention was a flap of skin. I know I had seen it before, just under my chin and above my… read more
Wabi-sabi
Tuesday, October 2, 2018
From The Book of The Garden by Richard Wehrman
The Garden releases its last
radiance, not as something failed,
but as its full reason for being: to give
continually, to its last bit of energetic being.
Its giving is its beauty. It is a smile,
it is the heart of love.
So… read more
