aging well

Book Report: A Book For My Age

/ nagneberg48 / 4 Comments

A growing area of my garret bookshelves is books about aging, about living as an elder.

The book I return to over and over is Joan Chittister’s The Gift of Years, Growing Older Gracefully, and another ongoing favorite is The Grace in Aging, Awaken As You Grow Older by Kathleen Dowling Singh. Both are rich and, in fact, offer even more riches as I grow further into elderhood, but lately I have been immersed in a 2021 book, The Inner Work of Age, Shifting from Role to Soul by Connie Zweig.

Here’s what is written on the back cover:

With extended longevity comes the opportunity for extended personal growth and spiritual development. You now have the chance to become an Elder, to leave behind past roles, shift from work in the outer world to inner work with the soul, ad become authentically who you are. This book is a guide to help get past the inner obstacles and embrace the hidden spiritual gifts of age.

The author, Connie Zweig, PH.D, is a retired psychotherapist who is known as the “Shadow Expert.” Many years ago I read her now classic work, Romancing the Shadow, Illuminating the Dark Side of the Soul (1997).

I am reading this new book slowly, taking time to respond to questions she offers for reflection, along with the guided meditations and other spiritual practices presented at the end of each chapter. The chapter that has resonated with me the most so far is “Retirement as a Divine Messenger,” but this morning I finished reading “Life-Changing Illness as a Divine Messenger,” a rich preparation for when illness enters my own life.

I am hesitant to say much more about this book, except that it feels momentous to me. The right book at the right time–both opening me to new thoughts and information, too, as well as reinforcing what seems to be unfolding in my own aging process. I am certain this will not be the last time you will find references to this book in my posts. Stay tuned.

An Invitation: If you are an elder or approaching that time of your life, what books do you recommend to support and enhance this Third Chapter state. I would love to know.

Crossing The Threshold

/ nagneberg48 / 7 Comments

Welcome to my new blog!

For years I posted on my blog, Clearing the Space, One Woman’s Spirituality in the Wisdom Years (www.clearingthespace.blogspot.com), but this summer I encountered a technical difficulty I was unable to solve, and I decided to take a sabbatical from the blog. My goal over the summer was to revise the current revision of my spiritual memoir, and figuring out what to do with the blog seemed like just too much. Instead, I took the Scarlet O’Hara “I’ll think about it tomorrow” approach.

At the end of summer, revised memoir in hand, I tackled the next issue: a new laptop. I was living on borrowed time with my ten year old laptop. I considered hiring someone to help me select my next laptop, but then I remembered how I had purchased my first computer from Radio Shack in the 80’s all by myself and later a Dell and after that a Mac. Of course, I could do this on my own once again, and off I went to Best Buy.

My new MacBook Air is now perched on my desk in the garret, but, of course, that has meant learning the in’s and out’s of my new office companion. New skills. In addition, I purchased WORD for the first time–more new skills to learn.

At the same time I agreed to present an adult forum on “sacred space” at my church. I enjoy preparing for and giving forums, and this topic is one that interests me and is especially relevant right now because our congregation is undergoing a renovation of our sanctuary space. Because of COVID, the forum was offered in a hybrid fashion–both in-person (wearing masks, of course) and also via Zoom. How grateful I was that others figured out how to make that work, but presenting content and attempting to relate to two different audiences at the same time was challenging. New skills.

So here I am now figuring out how to post on this new site–and how to bring along you, my faithful readers, and how to reach out to new followers, as well. All I really want to do is write and reflect and respond to your thoughts. I could be quite content without the need to learn these new skills, couldn’t I? I guess my answer is “no,” or I wouldn’t be watching YouTube videos about how to blog on WordPress. Nor would I be preparing for the next stage of writing the memoir–a stage that includes writing a book proposal and researching potential publishers. A scary and challenging stage and something I have never done before. A stage that will require developing and using new skills; even perhaps unused parts of myself.

Walking life’s labyrinth involves opening to new perspectives, meeting new challenges, and developing new skills.

One step at a time.

An Invitation: What new skills are challenging you right now? I would love to know