Dr. Carol Orsborn has written 36 books translated into fifteen languages on quality of life, spirituality and aging.
Coming December, 2024
Spiritual Aging, Weekly Reflections for Embracing Life
New book by Carol Orsborn, Ph.D. to be published December, 2024 by Inner Traditions. Foreword by Harry R. Moody, Ph.D.
PRE-ORDER LINKS
“Once again, Carol Orsborn stirs the reader to reflect upon aging as an opportunity for depth and expansion, and week by week to experience that which abides through life’s changes.”
James Hollis, Finding Meaning in the Second Half of Life
Many of us navigating the years beyond midlife report high levels of self-acceptance, freedom, and joy, but there can also be bouts of second-guessing and regret as well as the occasional longing to be reminded that you’re not in this alone. Walking readers through the most uplifting, passionate, as well as dangerous passages on the path of aging consciously, Carol Orsborn, Ph.D.’s new book Spiritual Aging, Weekly Reflections for Embracing Life, points the way forward through every conceivable mood, opportunity, and stumbling block that may arise on the journey through the second half of life.
Designed to be read weekly in two-year cycles, the 120 timeless readings focus on the issues and concerns that arise among those who view aging as a path to spiritual culmination. From transforming loneliness to solitude, loss of identity to freedom, anger to self-protection, fear to faith, and envy to love, Dr. Orsborn’s wise and compassionate insights are seasoned by quotes and stories by and about mystics, sages, and old souls from ancient through contemporary times who illuminate the path to living a full life while embracing old age. The connecting thread is the reminder that you have what it takes to shift from fear-driven reactivity to the challenges of aging, to instead accept them in a spirit of gratitude as they help you grow not just old, but whole.
At once unflinching and triumphant, the readings are both archetypal and personal, reminding readers of how far they’ve come and that, regardless of their circumstances, aging can be a lifestage with spiritual meaning and purpose of its own.
Carol Orsborn’s Classic: Older, Wiser, Fiercer
Carol Orsborn’s critically-acclaimed book Older, Wiser, Fiercer: The Wisdom Collection is available in both paperback and Kindle ebook. To order, click HERE.
About Older, Wiser, Fiercer: The Wisdom Collection
Inspired by timeless wisdom, spirituality and aging expert Carol Orsborn speaks to a new generation coming into age with honesty, passion and grace. Hailed as a classic in the conscious aging genre, this fierce book of essays serves as both a record and instigator of profound spiritual growth.
Seeking to make personal meaning out of the perils and promises of growing older in challenging times, Orsborn found her inspiration in the wisdom of elders from a wide spectrum of eras and traditions like Florida Scott-Maxwell, Joan Chittister, Parker J. Palmer, Ram Dass, Richard Rohr, James Hollis, Zalman Schachter-Shalomi and many more.
Older, Wiser, Fiercer: The Wisdom Collection, is the result: a creative act that is part interpretive jazz, part Midrash and above all, as honest an accounting of her own life as possible as she shows us the way to grow courageously into a new season of life.
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WHAT THE REVIEWERS ARE SAYING:
“Like all the great voyagers, Carol Orsborn has brought back to us, not a story of her travels, but a gift which can belong to us if only we summon the courage to follow in her footsteps. Carol Orsborn has written a remarkable classic. It is an unbelievable privilege to engage with what she’s given here to the world.”
— Harry R. Moody, Ph.D., author of The Five Stages of the Soul.
“Older, Wiser, Fiercer gets that aging is neither fairytale nor curse, but instead a parable, journey and ultimate awakening. Filled with short, easy-to-digest subjects on all the relevant topics of age, the author catalogs the changing landscape of aging in ways that make it worth living. Work your way slowly and reverently through this timely book and you will find the transformational gems of your own enlightenment. Older, Wiser, Fiercer is a gift basket of insight and wisdom.”
–John C. Robinson, Ph.D., author of The Divine Human
To purchase Older, Wiser, Fiercer: The Complete Wisdom Collection in eBook or paperback editions, click HERE.
Carol Orsborn’s Most Recent Book: The Making of an Old Soul
The Making of an Old Soul: Aging as the Fulfillment of Life’s Promise is the healing vision of a woman who is a scholar in the fields of adult and spiritual development as well as a lifelong seeker. Based on a mystical experience that sheds light on the entire arc of life, Orsborn’s latest work revisions age not as diminishment but as the fulfillment of life’s promise. Bursting through the stereotypes into a world of old souls, Orsborn shows you how to embrace the luminous spirit within that beats steadily beyond the wounds of childhood, beyond the unintended consequences of your best-intentions, beyond the twists and turns of fate over which even at the peak of the developmental pyramid you have no control. This gem of a book affirms that hope is merited and that seekers of all ages and circumstances have what it takes to grow not just old, but old souls.
About the Book
Carol Orsborn’s new book is a tour de force—heartfelt, honest, helpful, and healing.
—Andy Achenbaum, Old Age in the New Land: The American Experience since 1790
What is an “old soul,” but someone who has observed, explored, reflected, and seen the deeper patterns beneath the surfaces of life. In The Making of an Old SoulCarol Orsborn shares her story of continuity amid change, and depth amid the daily detritus. Her shared insights will stir the reader to similarly reflect on what abides amid changes, and what brings depth and dignity to our life.
—James Hollis, Living Between Worlds and Prisms: Reflections on this Journey We Call Life.
Age and wisdom are not synonymous. Age and liberation are not synonymous. But they could be, and Carol Orsborn’s Making of an Old Soul shows you how. This book offers both a vision of what aging has to offer and a roadmap for getting there.
—Rabbi Rami Shapiro, Surrendered: Shattering the Illusion of Control and Falling Into Grace with 12-Step Spirituality.
Her latest book is available on Amazon. To order, click HERE
The Spirituality of Age: A Seeker’s Guide to Growing Older
(Coauthor Robert L. Weber, Ph.D./Inner Traditions, 10/15) was recently awarded a Gold Nautilus Book Award in the category of Consciously Aging.
The Art of Resilience:
100 Paths to Wisdom and Strength in an Uncertain World
Random House, 1997
“A wonderful new book about remembering the most important thing in life—love.”
–Gerald G. Jampolsky, M.D., author of “Love is Letting Go of Fear”
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Fierce with Age: Chasing God and Squirrels in Brooklyn
In her 2012 memoir, Fierce with Age: Chasing God and Squirrels in Brooklyn, Carol Orsborn relates the ups and downs of a tumultuous year spent facing, busting and ultimately triumphing over the stereotypes of aging. Along the way, she nurtures a love-starved friend through a doomed affair with a younger man, wrestles with the meaning of an exploding fish and regains her passion for life at the side of her squirrel-crazed dog, Lucky.
The message is as deep as it is engaging. In Carol’s own words: “Plummet into aging, stare mortality in the eye, surrender everything and what else is there left to fear? The way is perilous, danger on all sides. But we can be part of a generation no longer afraid of age. We are becoming, instead, a generation fierce with age.”
ANGELICA’S LAST BREATH
“Try to live with the part of your soul which understands eternity, which is not afraid of death. And that part of your soul is love.”
–Leo Tolstoy
In the span of her final breath, a celebrated self-help guru confronts, absolves and ultimately transcends the disappointments and shortcomings in herself, her life story and her relationship with God.
Inspired by The Death of Ivan Ilyich, Leo Tolstoy’s 1886 masterpiece, Angelica’s Last Breath, a novel by Carol Orsborn, is as honest as it is spiritual, leading to a deeper understanding of life, death and the true meaning of love.
To Buy Angelica’s Last Breath in Kindle or Paperback Version, click HERE
To read About the Book, click HERE
To Read an Excerpt of the book, click HERE
For the Biography of the Author, click HERE
To Access the Reader’s Guide, click HERE
1969: Are You Still Listening Stories and Essays
1969 Are You Still Listening? Stories & Essays was named a 2019 winner in the 13th Annual National Indie Excellence Awards.
“Author Brent Green is joined by seven professional authors, each with a well-honed memory of an aspect of tumultuous 1969… Of particular note is the entry by Carol Orsborn, Ph.D, who writes, ‘At 70… I find myself feeling gratitude for the 20 year old who, above all, committed to living life to the full, come what may’”
–Judith Wolf Mandell
65 Things to Do When You Retire: 65 Notable Achievers on How to Make the Most of the Rest of Your Life
With Mark Evan Chimsky, Jimmy Carter, Gloria Steinem. Named Best Book 2019 for Age 65, Washington Post “100 Books for the Ages.” Sellers Publishing, 2012
Solved by Sunset:
How to Resolve Whatever’s Bothering You in Seven Hours or Less
Random House, 1995
Boom:
Marketing to the Ultimate Power Consumer–the Baby Boomer Woman
Mary Brown and Carol Orsborn, Ph.D. Amacom Books, October, 2006
How Would Confucius Ask for a Raise:
100 Enlightened Solutions to Tough Business Problems
William Morrow & Company, 1994 and Avon Books
“Supremely useful…fresh and funny and spiritual…an easily accessible guide for helping us live fuller lives.”
John Naisbitt, author of Global Paradox
“A reference book to keep and use again and again for many years to come. The questions it answers will never change, and its wisdom is timeless.”
James Autry, author of Love & Work
Speak the Language of Healing
Conari Press
“Each of us gets our share and kind of suffering as an inevitable part of being human: what happens in us as a result makes all the difference to the psyche…This is what these authors found separately, and then in reading each others’ stories, were moved to tears with a realization of the paradox: We are alone here, and yet at a profound level, we are not alone.”
Jean Shinoda Bolen, author of Close to the Bone
The Year I Saved My (downsized) Soul:
A Boomer Woman’s Search for Meaning…and a Job
Vibrant Nation Books, October, 2009
“With humility, humor and courageous honesty, Carol Orsborn invites us along on her journey from paralyzing fear through surrender top wisdom.” Patti Breitman, author of “How to Say No Without Feeling Guilty”
The Silver Pearl:
Our Generation’s Journey to Wisdom
By Drs. Smull/Orsborn, Ampersand, 2005 www.TheSilverPearl.com
“ This excellent book is about women who defied cultural stereotypes about aging to attain full physical, psychological and spiritual potential. Their stories empower all readers, regardless of age or gender.” Stanley Krippner, co-author of “Personal Mythology and the Mythic Path”
Nothing Left Unsaid:
Words to Help You and Your Loved Ones Through the Hardest Times
Conari Press
“This is the book I give to everybody in my congregation who is suffering a loss.” Rev. Mary Beth Speer
Trust, Inc.:
Guide to the Alignment of Values, Organizational Goals and Success
Judith Rogala and Carol Orsborn, Ph.D., 2004 Excerpt at www.TrustIncTheBook.com
“Finally…a book that gets to the very core of leadership.” Bill Catlette, co-author of “Contented Cows Give Better Milk”
Vibrant Nation:
What Boomer Women 50+ Know, Think, Do and Buy
Stephen Reily and Carol Orsborn, Ph.D. VN Books, October, 2010.
“Anybody who wants to know about the dual, converging trends of the longevity revolution and the increasing power of women should read this book…Kudos to our colleagues Carol Orsborn and Stephen Reily.” Ken Dychtwald and Maddy Dychtwald, “Age Wave”
For Additional Books by Carol Orsborn, click HERE
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SUGGESTED READING: CLASSICS IN THE FIELD OF CONSCIOUS AGING
Prisms: Reflections on this Journey We Call Life by James Hollis
“Late essays” about the second half of life by James Hollis, Ph. D., leading Jungian Analyst and author of sixteen books including the classics Finding Meaning in the Second Half of Life: How to Finally, Really Grow Up and What Matters Most: Living a More Considered Life. This culminating work suggests that instead of being driven by the search for happiness, one asks the seminal question: “What wants to enter the world through me?
On the Brink of Everything by Parker J. Palmer
Visionary educator and octegenarian Parker J. Palmer has just published his tenth book On the Brink of Everything: Grace, Gravity and Getting Old.
“Age brings diminishments, but more than a few come with benefits. I’ve lost the capacity for multitasking, but I’ve discovered the joy of doing one thing at a time. My thinking has slowed down a bit, but experience has made it deeper and richer. I’m done with big and complex projects, but more aware of the loveliness of simple things: a talk with a friend, a walk in the woods, sunsets and sunrises, a night of good sleep.”
To access the conversation, click HERE
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The Grace in Aging by Kathleen Dowling Singh
Kathleen Dowling Singh’s The Grace in Aging: Awaken As You Grow Older. Singh, of blessed memory, is a Dharma practitioner and psychotherapist, who understands how and why we fall for letting our wounds define us. Then she’s written a whole book about what can come next, if we’re willing to do the courageous work of truth-telling, humility, forgiveness and radical leaps of faith that true spirituality asks of us. It is, as Dowling puts it, a matter of awakening—even from the dream of our own serious and well-intentioned introspection.
To access the conversation, click HERE
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The Force of Character, James Hillman
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Aging: An Apprenticeship by Nan Narboe
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Living Between Worlds, Finding Personal Resilience in Changing Times by Dr. James Hollis.
This important and timely book guides us to consider just how did we get to this crossroads in history? And will we make it through―individually and as a species? Dr. Hollis points the way to grow large enough to contain what threatens to destroy us. James Hollis, Ph. D. is Executive Director of the Jung Center of Houston, TX, a practicing Jungian Analyst and author of eleven books including the classics Finding Meaning in the Second Half of Life: How to Finally, Really Grow Up and What Matters Most: Living a More Considered Life.
For Carol Orsborn’s blog inspired by the book and to join the virtual book club conversation, click HERE
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John C. Robinson’s Mystical Activism: Transforming a World in Crisis. Covid-19 is but a wake-up call for sweeping social, political and spiritual changes as our generation of elders are being called to a radical transformation of consciousness.
For provocative questions , Click HERE
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Still Here by Ram Dass.
Beloved spiritual teacher Ram Dass’ stroke forced him to face his worst fears. But while there were painful losses, there were also unexpected gifts. In Still Here: Embracing Aging, Changing, and Dying he teaches that the greatest blessing was the wearing away of the effects of his Ego—the attachment to how others perceived him, to expectations about what kind of life he deserved, even to what we had thought was the meaning of life, itself.
As Ram Dass describes it: “Behind the machinations of our brilliant, undependable minds is an essence that is not conditional, a being that aging does not alter, to which nothing can be added, from which nothing is taken away…This is not an abstract concept; it is as real as the breath moving in and out of your body, and real as the spirit that animates you. The greater your mindfulness, the more you will come to know this truth, and to rest in it when painful thoughts threaten to hide it from view.” (p. 49.)
To access the conversation, click HERE
Please support our local independent book stores, and to order your book club books from Parnassus Books, click HERE
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Please support our local independent book stores, and to order your book club books from Parnassus Books, click HERE
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ADDITIONAL BOOK SUGGESTIONS POSTED IN OUR ARCHIVES
Journal of a Solitude, May Sarton
Are You Still Listening? 1969 Stories and Essays, Brent Green and 8 authors including Carol Orsborn
The Three Secrets of Aging, John C. Robinson
The Gift of Years, Joan Chittister
The December Project, Sara Davidson
Living an Examined Life, James Hollis
The Spirituality of Age, Robert L. Weber and Carol Orsborn
Upstream Mary Oliver
