Carol's Reflections

The Grace in Aging

Getting lost in your emotional reactivity isn’t where you want to be. –Ram Dass I want to apologize, right off the bat, for all those years and years of lunches, phone conversations and long walks in parks together in which I complained endlessly about my mother. When she passed, my

On the Brink of Everything

Ten years ago, at the age of 63 when I was fraught with the challenges of growing old in our ageist, dysfunctional society, I vowed to transform myself from victim to explorer. I viewed the far side of midlife as wild territory, full of dangerous unknowns, and saw that my

The Gift of Years: Blog and Discussion

Hello Fierce Ones, I’m pleased to announce the next selection of the Conscious Aging Book Club: The Gift of Years: Growing Older Gracefully by Joan Chittister. The discussion board opens today in the comment section below and culminates September 6 both online and in-person at 10:30 a.m., Parnassus Books, Nashville.

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

Seventy is Different*

Seventy is different than the sixties. How do I know? Because just two months ago, at the tender age of 69, the outcome I’m about to describe would have been very different. And the young nursing student who had been eavesdropping on my conversation with old friends at lunch may

The Tethered Boat

A few years ago, Dan and I bought a little houseboat. Dan sees it as a vehicle for adventure, captain of the high seas, although with an old engine that burns hot, we don’t go far from shore. Because of the boat, we have transformed Nashville’s humid summers from something

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

On Turning 70

Older, Wiser, Fiercer: 1/30/2018 Over the years, I’ve come to embrace aging as a gift and privilege: the growing freedom, the welcomed lessening of ego, the early signs of wisdom. Then turning 70 snuck up on me. Things began simply enough, making plans to celebrate my milestone birthday. But it

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