Category Archives: Lifestyle

Legacy: Obesity & Poor Health, Or Vibrant Life?

In A Long Bright Future Laura Carstensen notes that a century ago people only had about a two week period of infirmity before they died, usually at home. Now it’s more common for people to have roughly a two year period of infirmity and to die in a hospital. People thus require more medical care and cost the insurance (including ... Read More »

Follow Your Bliss

This has been a big week for me. We left caring for the elderly relatives to our siblings and went to Nashville to celebrate 30 years of marriage and my husband’s 60th birthday. What a fantastic trip. We went to the Grand Ol’ Opry, a lifelong dream for me. We went to more bars and honkytonks than a non-drinking woman ... Read More »

Value & Purpose: Where Are They In Your Story On Aging?

In A Long Bright Future Laura Carstensen talks about rewriting the story of aging, making age a thing of value and purpose rather than something to be avoided. We all tell ourselves stories, and those stories shape our future behavior. “I don’t want to get old.” “Old is a matter of how you feel.” “I’ll never be an old lady. ... Read More »

Staying Connected to the World

Maybe I’m nuts (my family would say definitely), but when I was younger I thought it would be fun to be a hermit. Perhaps it would be nice to live like Henry David Thoreau at Walden Pond. I’d just commune with nature, float through life in sync with the universe but all by myself. I’ve discovered through the years, however, ... Read More »

Reflections On Life

Thirty six years ago I was a circus clown. At the time, I thought I’d found my calling in life. I was passionate about clowning, passionate about making people forget their troubles for awhile and laugh. Life on the road was hard, though, and I drifted into other realms. For the past two weeks the Big Apple Circus has been ... Read More »

Old Doesn’t Mean Useless

How often have you heard, or perhaps even said yourself, that old people are a drain on society? That they sit around drawing social security, draining the Medicare system, use up resources that others could benefit from? Actually, studies show that older people may be more productive than younger people. They’ve been found to be loyal, reliable, responsible employees. When ... Read More »

The Rest of Your Life

If you’re as old as I am you probably remember stores selling posters and other things that said, “Today’s the first day of the rest of your life.”  These 30 or 40 years later the saying is still true, but my goals have certainly changed. I’ve worked with older people and have become one of them myself. I don’t have ... Read More »

Life In The City?

I’m a boomer and happy to be one. I have to admit I’ve wondered if I should move from my suburban home to a more urban setting where I would have easy access to public transportation, entertainment, an intergenerational population, and more. A detached retina 13 years ago got me started thinking early about how to cope with challenges of ... Read More »

Where’s the Simple Life?

Find out what Boomers are finding more attractive in city living as opposed to suburban life: http://www.washingtonpost.com/local/the-kids-gone-aging-baby-boomers-opt-for-city-life/2013/08/05/1a21c1b2-fba7-11e2-a369-d1954abcb7e3_story.html?hpid=z3 Read More »