Golda Meir once compared old age to a plane flying in a storm. "Once you're aboard, there's nothing you can do."
Golda got it wrong. Although our culture suffers from ageism and tends to promote a declinist model of aging, today's baby boomers are the first generation to move toward elderhood with the awareness that they are likely to have twenty years or more of vitality and good health after their lives are no longer driven by building careers and nurturing families.
Our upcoming book Wise Aging: Living with Joy, Resilience, and Spirit can help anyone explore what its authors call "a well-seasoned life," taking into account both the joys and losses that confront us as we age. With warmth, humor, and wisdom Rabbi Rachel Cowan and Dr. Linda Thal explore a wide range of issues, including:
- Relationships with adult children and spouses
- Body image
- Romance and sexuality
- Living with loss
- Cultivating well-being
- Legacy and stewardship
Yes, we all age. The message of Wise Aging is that we can establish practices for ourselves that create a consciousness about the way we approach aging.
Wise Aging: Living with Joy, Resilience, and Spirit will be available in June 2015, but you can take a look inside here.
In addition, Wise Aging peer groups will be forming in many communities. Training workshops for those who wish to become Wise Aging facilitators and start groups in their communties are taking place through the Institute for Jewish Spirituality (IJS). Workshops are currently scheduled for December 7-8 in Los Angeles, February 9-10 in Kansas City, and May 3-4 in Washington DC. If you would like to find out more about establishing a Wise Aging peer group in your community, please contact the IJS here.
