Carol's Reflections

Journal of a Solitude

Ask me about the meaning of life, and I’ll have tons to say. Ask me if I’ve come to terms with mortality, and you’ll get a thoughtful answer complete with sub-texts. But the other day, someone asked me something that left me speechless. “Are you happy?” I wish I could

My Next Breath: Blog and Discussion

Hello Fierce Ones, Fall is seriously underway—the cycle of seasons providing a natural opportunity for introspection. For those of us who value turning inward, we find inspiration in what Socrates once said, “The unexamined life is not worth living.” But at our age and stage in life, it is also

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

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

Growing Through Life Together

For Dan on His Birthday My husband Dan and I have been together since we were twenty-one. That’s a lot of years and a lot of growing through life side by side. We have stood together through all manner of life stage, from building careers, raising children and welcoming grandchildren,

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

Homecoming 10/16/17

What happens to us after we die? I’m fairly certain that personal ego is not in the picture–that one will be rewarded for one’s special goodness; that one is uniquely qualified to co-pilot with God and the like. Lately, I’ve been having intimations of a more humble but dependable possibility. These