The Art of Aging: Part VI – Religious Practice

BLUE MOSQUE, Istanbul, Turkey

Have life’s batters and challenges left you abandoning religious faith all together? Years of experiences and trials leave you questioning the reality of an ultimate deity who cares about us, who truly loves us, who guides and protects us? Or, are you engaged in religious practice now more than ever before?

Maybe you’re in the process of deciding whether or not to adopt religious conviction. As we age, it’s natural to reflect upon our religious beliefs, and upon religion in general. Research says being religiously active is good for us! Time to buy in?

The Art of Aging – Part V: Friends

A Friend In Need

Cassius Marcellus Coolidge 1903

Friends come, they go, and they stay. There are instant friends—you know, the ones you click with on first meeting. There are passing friends—the ones you connect with on an overseas trip or special work project, and even though you stay in touch via technology, the friendship link soon dissipates. Maintaining long-distance friendships is difficult at the best of times. One also can’t ignore that with aging comes changes in our friendships.

Friendship … is born at the moment when one says to another “What! You too? I thought that no one but myself . . .”  ― C. S. Lewis, The Four Loves

And, there are the friends that some people have that become part of their forever life.

The Art of Aging – Part IV: Our Past, Our Stories

Do we go gently “into that good night”, or are we raging, “raging, raging against the dying of the light”? (Dylan Thomas) Either way, our past rises up to haunt us, endorse us, renew us. What’s interesting about its power is that we continue to try to control it, not realizing that we’re doing so until it’s too late.

What is it about our past that we hang on to? That we indulge in? That we nurture? That we use to make conversation? That we depend on for our identity? Is the past our story?

THE ART OF AGING – Part III: CHANGE

 

CHANGE… one word that pretty much describes aging—physical change, mental change, emotional change, location change, career change, spiritual change, relationship change… Even our goals change as we journey through the later years of our lives.

Aging often entails the need to make changes, and that the types of changes older people must consider are particularly pressing.[i]

Some of us handle change well, and some of us don’t. Why is that? Can managing change in a wholesome manner be learned? Can change be avoided?

THE ART OF AGING – Part 2: Old Women Wear Pigtails!

Sculptor Unknown

I love wearing pigtails. Some trend experts say mature women shouldn’t wear them, while others say we can and should.

One old aunt thinks that mature women wearing pigtails are trying to look younger. An even older aunt who’s approaching ninety, thinks pigtails are cool, that we’ve earned the right to wear them as we wish. So, what’s the big deal about mature women wearing or not wearing pigtails?

Before jumping in, let’s clarify. By old, I mean… let me put it this way—when I was taking piano lessons at age 8, I remember thinking my teacher was old. She might have been all of 40. I believe age is a perspective, differing from one point of view to another.

Therefore, for the sake of this discussion, we’ll go with Merriam Webster who says that old means advanced in years or age and showing the characteristics of age, which, according to Mayo Clinic, includes wrinkles and grey hair. ‘Nuf said.

Pigtails are associated with…

… childhood, schoolgirls, whimsical, frivolity… Are we older women not supposed to feel those things, or at least look like we feel them???