Carol's Reflections

From Peter Pan to Sergeant Pepper: Revisiting 1969

Hello Fierce Ones! My blog today is an excerpt from the recently published Are You Still Listening? 1969 Stories & Essays by eight of us who were witnesses to this transformative year and who survived to tell the tale. Below is an excerpt of my contribution to the book. To

Personal Note: 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 Dear Friends of Older, Wiser, Fiercer, Over the past few years, many of you have given me valuable feedback on several of

Moses–Benched

When I speak before audiences, I often ask them to picture an old woman sitting alone on a park bench. Then I ask them to share the first image/thought/impulse that pops into their mind. The younger the audience, the more likely they are to feel sorry for the lonely woman

“The Measure of My Days”

“As we age we are more alive than seems likely, convenient or even bearable.” –Florida Scott-Maxwell, The Measure of My Days : Conscious Aging Book Club Selection May On the eve of my 70thyear I found more than a guide to hold my hand across the threshold—I found a soul

Time for Us to Face(book) the Music?

For 14 years, our generation has stuck with Facebook: invested our hearts and souls in it–while younger generations have largely bailed. For many of us as we’ve aged, Facebook has increasingly become a lifeline to the world. At a stage in our lives when our work and social communities are

Beside the Point

The gang from Zumba class were trying out a new restaurant for my seventieth birthday. Service was slow and we were overly hungry. It was a spectacularly unlucky case of timing that just when I finally decided to start unwrapping my birthday presents, the long-absent waiter suddenly showed up with

At the Gates

The soul “judges itself by choosing, in accord with the character formed during its life on earth, which sort of an afterlife it shall have.” –Aldous Huxley The old woman stood before the guarding angel, so many tears welling in her eyes that she could not read the letters

Stumbling towards Thanks 11/21/17

In light of the relentless parade of daily headlines, this passing year has been one of disappointment, regret, revelation, righteous indignation and painful moments of truth. And yet, here comes Thanksgiving again, making seemingly impossible demands on us this time around. At least, unlike last year, this time there isn’t

In the Wilds: 10/12/17

Our generation did everything in our power to gain control over our circumstances, individual as well as societal. Is this true of every generation? If so, the old have been, are and will always be doomed to fall short. But disappointment, as it turns out, can provide rich ground for

Another Way to Torture a Boomer: Legacy Dysfunction

Boomers, by many standards the best-educated, wealthiest and healthiest generation in history, should be poised to harvest the bounty of a ripe old age. While some studies show that Boomers are, indeed, self-reporting getting happier as we age, http://www.economist.com/node/17722567 , my direct observation is that somewhere on the scale between