Aging well
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Another Year: Thoughts on a Milestone Birthday
“Every birthday is a gift. Every day is a gift.” — Aretha Franklin A friend jokingly refers to the first week of August as my “birthday week” because I usually take full advantage of the opportunities to celebrate. This time around, however, I’m feeling a bit less celebratory and a lot more reflective. My driver’s license proves that I’ve landed on one of those milestone birthdays — the kind that inspires black balloons from the party store and bad jokes about seniority. For the past two years, I’ve facilitated a monthly workshop/discussion group titled “Aging with Grace & Courage” at a local library. Thanks to this group of thoughtful women,…
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Summer sunsets
“Sunsets, like childhood, are viewed with wonder not just because they are beautiful, but because they are fleeting.” ~Richard Paul Evans One of my favorite summer rituals is watching the sun set on Lake Michigan. To fully appreciate a sunset, you have to pause on the beach to admire the fiery color show — and stay long enough to see the sun disappear below the horizon. Sunsets inspire all of us to be fully present, to savor the moment. As other beachcombers gather to watch and applaud the spectacle, there’s a brief but lovely sense of community. Sometimes I’m moved to tears. As today’s quote reminds us, summertime passes quickly.…
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Summer memories: “The Art of Collecting Beach Stones”
“Everything good, everything magical happens between the months of June and August.” ~Jenny Han, The Summer I Turned Pretty Summer is in full swing and Fourth of July celebrations are gearing up. Some of you will be heading for the beach or hitting the highway for a road trip. With that in mind, I’ll revisit a few previously published posts and articles with a summer theme over the next week. Here’s a favorite essay I wrote for Michigan Blue magazine on the art of collecting beach stones. To read it online, please click here. Wherever you live, I hope the sun is shining! ~CL
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Embrace your age
“Every year brings you closer to expressing your whole and healed self. I celebrate that. Honor it. Hold it in reverence. And I’m grateful for every age I’m blessed to become.” ~Oprah Winfrey The key phrase in today’s quote from Oprah is “your whole and healed self.” All of us suffer deep emotional wounds throughout our lives. Nobody leaves this world unscratched. One of the gifts of aging is the informed perspective we earn from years of experience. And how well we age depends on our attitude as well as the choices we make. We can dwell on the past and rehash our list of regrets; or we can move…
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No regrets
“Life is a lot more fragile than we think. So you should treat others in a way that leaves no regrets. Fairly, and if possible, sincerely.” ~Haruki Murakami At dinner last night, a neighbor texted to tell me that the husband of a former neighbor had died suddenly. The man was only in his sixties, and his death was one of several losses in our neighborhood over the past year. We’re reminded, at times like these, to treat each other with care, sensitivity, and respect. And no matter how old we are, we can start by setting aside our pride (or grievances) and telling our loved ones how much they…
