March 2024 Events and Opportunities

 

                Happy Belated Birthday, Dr. Harry “Rick” Moody!

Excerpted from Values in Human Aging Newsletter, March, 2024

Rembrandt painted his self-portrait more often than any artist in history. In visual terms he told the story of aging for all times. See Rembrandt by Rembrandt: The Self-Portraits, by Pascal Bonafoux (Harry Abrams, 2019).

 

“This past month was my 79th birthday (don’t send cards; it’s over now). The same day I got a message from a group promoting positive aging (my word) greeting me as someone “in midlife."  I replied that I am now 79 years old, so maybe they got things wrong about me.

 

Oh well. We’re all subject to denial, including gerontologists. There is a moment in the 1981 film "On Golden Pond" when Henry Fonda's character is talking with Katherine Hepburn and she says "We're just middle-aged."  With skepticism Fonda replies: "People don't live to be a hundred and fifty."  She responds: "Well, we're at the far edge of middle-age. That's all."  He replies in turn: "We're not, you know. We're not middle-aged. You're old, and I'm ancient!”

 

Maybe there's a reason why "The Modern Elder Academy" is now called, simply, MEA. It is a wisdom academy and that’s a good thing. Maybe the “Elders” are somebody else.  There’s a travel group once called "Elderhostel" which has a different name now. It's called “Road Scholar.” I know that well, because I used to be the Chairman of the Board of Elderhostel (before the name was changed). Both MEA and Road Scholar are great programs for the second half of life, whatever name we use:”

 

https://www.roadscholar.org/

 

In January, I took my fifth Road Scholar trip to Palm Springs! It provides travel opportunities at all fitness levels for persons aged fifty and over. Check it out! Dr. Jan, the AgeDoc

 

WEB SITES TO SEE   HOW OLD ARE YOU?  “The Puzzling Gap Between How Old You Are and How Old You Think You Are” by Jennifer Senior. There are good reasons you always feel 20 percent younger than your actual age. To find out see: https://www.theatlantic.com/magazine/archive/2023/04/subjective-age-how-old-you-feel-difference/673086/     MODERNITY & THE AGING BRAIN. There Is lot to say about brain health. But maybe the most important is that, if you’re reading these words, then you’re living in the wrong place and wrong time: “The Modern World Is Aging Your Brain” at: https://www.wired.com/story/aging-brain-volume/?utm_source=pocket-newtab   MOBILIZING WISDOM.  References and resources on positive aging, at: https://mobilisingwisdom.com/  For a recent interview with Ashton Applewhite, see: https://mobilisingwisdom.com/f/ashton-applewhite-on-how-far-we-have-come-in-fight-to-end-ageism   AGING WELL. “Senior Trade” is devoted to the business of aging well: https://www.seniortrade.com/so/8dOsa_7Wl  including the “Glowing Older” podcasts at: https://www.glowingolder.com/     March 2024 ~ COMING EVENTS   LEGACY: “Women's Lives, Women's Legacies” (Mar. 6, 13, and 20, 2024, virtual). A 3-part series with author and family therapist Rachael Freed helps women commemorate their lives. Sponsored by AARP-New York. The events can be attended separately.  For details and registration visit: https://states.aarp.org/new-york/celebrate-womens-lives-and-legacies-and-yours   SYMPOSIUM. Aging and the Habits of the Heart (March 6-8, 2024, Milwaukee, WI).  Saint John’s on the Lake, 7th Annual Symposium on Aging. Details at: https://www.saintjohnsmilw.org/2024-symposium/   JAPAN: Active Aging. ACAP Study Tour on Fukuoka-Care Challenges (March 10-15, 2024, Fukuoka, Japan). Led by Dr. Takeo Ogawa, founder of the Active Aging Consortium in Aging Pacific, assisted by Cullen T. Hayashida, PhD, Sociology Department, University of Hawaii Honolulu, Hawaii. More details at:    https://manoa.hawaii.edu/acap/executive-committee/   TURNING POINTS (Mar. 12, 2024, 8:30 am PT). Interview with Raghu Ananthanarayanan by Sufi teacher Jamal Rahman. Video podcast link will be sent out with registration by Mar. 12, 2024. For more details see: https://myemail.constantcontact.com/Turning-Points---an-Interview-with-Jamal-Rahman.html?soid=1105697167603&aid=lWBmV_VmXus   OLD SOULS. “Gathering of Old Souls”  (Mar. 12, 2024, 1:30 pm EST). Bi-monthly online conversation for women led by Carol Orsborn, Ph.D. Hosted by Spirit of Sophia. The subject for the March discussion: “The Paradox of Relatedness: Individuation and the dynamic tension between wanting to belong and the desire for solitude.” For details and registration see:   https://spiritofsophia.org/a-gathering-of-old-souls/   WISE WOMEN: Learning to Love Ones Inner Crone (Mar.14-17, 2024 at Wild Rice Retreat, Bayfield, WI). Sponsored by Women Over 70: Aging Reimagined.  Details and registration at: https://wetooshallpass.com/wise-women/   MEETING THE SHADOWS OF AGE (March 15, 4:00-5:30 PST). "Shifting from Role to Soul" with Connie Zweig, hosted by Nashville Jung Circle. Registration: https://www.nashvillejungcircle.org/events-1#!event/2024/3/15/dr-connie-zweig-quot-meeting-the-shadows-of-age-shifting-from-role-to-soul-quot   A TASTE OF CONSCIOUS AGING (Mar. 17, 2024, 11 am, Pacific). Free one-hour webinar on Zoom.  Hosted by Marc Blesoff and Aging With Intention. Details and registration at:   http://www.courageus.org   GRIEF: Soulful Grieving: The Healing Power of Love (Mar. 19, 2024, 11 am to 12:30 pm ET). Sponsored by Sage-ing International.  Details and registration at: https://myemail.constantcontact.com/Soulful-Grieving--The-Healing-Power-of-Love-.html?soid=1105697167603&aid=sQRCyJjXnSA   DREAMS: Dream Workshop. (Mar. 20, 2024, 4 pm Pacific). Exploring dreams as a creative, contemplative, & liberatory practice. Sponsored by What A Shrink Thinks. Group meets Wednesday evenings at 4:00 Pacific time, for one hour sessions over 10 weeks.  For details and registration see: https://www.whatashrinkthinks.com/dream-workshop For more on this group, see: https://www.whatashrinkthinks.com/return-to-the-root-retreat   CAREGIVING: Caring for the Caregiver (Mar. 20, 2024, 1 pm, PDT). Webinar on ‘The 'Fireside Wisdom with Childless Elderwomen’ webinar.  Free, live and recorded, with questions invited beforehand. Details and registration at: https://us02web.zoom.us/webinar/register/WN_fR02SGiqSCGZoAxKIm4SMQ   PURPOSE: Cultivating Purpose (Mar. 25-30, 2024, Baja California, Mexico). Sponsored by the Modern Elder Academy (MEA).  Details and registration at: https://www.meawisdom.com/workshop/cultivating-purpose-with-jeff-hamaoui-3    POSITIVE AGING. Lunch meeting (Mar. 26, 2024, 12 noon Pacific). Optional (no-cost) event during Conference of American Society on Aging. Open to all interested in issues the “Human Values in Aging” newsletter. Hosted by H.R. Moody at a restaurant near the San Francisco Hilton. For details and registration, contact hrmoody@yahoo.com   AGING & CLIMATE ADVOCACY. Lunch meeting (Mar. 27, 2024, 12 noon Pacific). Optional (no-cost) event during Conference of American Society on Aging. Open to all interested in the “Climate Change in an Aging Society” newsletter. Hosted by H.R. Moody at a restaurant near the San Francisco Hilton. For details and registration, contact hrmoody@yahoo.com   SURPRISING AGING: “Reflections on The Strange, Surprising and Shiny Years of Aging” (Mar. 26, 2024, 12:00 noon EST).  This 4th Tuesday Revolutionize your Retirement Interview with Experts Series features Andrea Carlisle, author of There Was an Old Woman: Reflections on These Strange, Surprising, Shiny Years. Andrea Carlisle has taught fiction and nonfiction, and her work has been published in literary journals, newspapers, magazines, anthologies, and independent presses. “Go Ask Alice…When She's 94,” her popular blog about her mother, brought attention to aging and caregiving before they were subjects of national interest. Sign-up for the interview begins March 19 at www.revolutionizeretirement.com. Participants will receive a recording link after the call. Direct questions to Dori Mintzer at: dorianmintzer@gmail.com   CHOOSING CONSCIOUS ELDERHOOD (Sept. 11-17, 2024, Sli an Chroi Retreat Centre, St. Patrick’s College, Kiltegan, Wicklow, Ireland). Sponsored by the Center for Conscious Eldering. Details and registration at: https://www.centerforconsciouseldering.com/events/

 

"The Afternoon knows what the Morning never expected."                                                                                -Robert Frost