WILDLY FREE ELDER
The Artistry of Aging
Tag: Aging
Day 23: Elder Muse – The Grace of Receiving
:In nature…and in life….receiving is reciprocal and woven with giving. What I didn’t grasp in the past is that I was always receiving when I was giving. Yet what would it be like to completely receive without being compelled to give back. Thankfully in my elder years I have surrendered into that experience.”
Day 21: Elder Muse – Solstice Offering
“Thus my offering this darkest day of the year (Northern Hemisphere) and lightest day of the year (Southern Hemisphere – save it for July!) is a magical Winter Solstice story for children. I have to say that I was enchanted…..”
Day 20: Elder Muse – Carpe Diem
“Being an Elder is not defined by age, but rather Elders are recognized because they have earned the respect of their community through wisdom and actions or their teachings; through the vibrancy that radiates out from their presence and the unique artistry that only they can bring into the world.
Let us return to acknowledging elders in the fullest sense of the powerful presence they can be and are becoming. Respecting the life artistry that has been necessary to bring them to where they are today.”
Day 19: Elder Muse – A Penquin Kind of Day
“Exploring the natural world has been a lifelong passion for me and has fueled endless curiosity. As I layer clothing this morning to keep warm outside my attention goes to Winter, the Solstice only two days away
So today I am sharing some footage of a penguin colony focusing on one very small baby, the last to hatch. The social structure not so different from ours, and coming of age having it’s ups and downs too.”
Day 17: Elder Muse – Breath of Joy
“There is a very old Chinese saying that says, “One who half breathes, half lives.” When you are feeling fatigue, lethargy, slight depression, or inability to focus have you ever taken a Breath Break?
You may find that your breathing has some restrictions. The good news is that you can choose to change that in any given moment. Shallow, upper chest, or restricted breathing represents so many things. It is a pattern not in alignment with well being, but instead restriction, limitation, and shutting down on life – YOUR LIFE!”
Day 15: Elder Muse – Eldering Magic Within Nature
“Have you ever been so immersed in nature that you truly flet you had becme one with it? A conceptual collaborative photography project between Finnish and Norwegian artists Riitta Ikonen and Karoline Hjorth started off as a riff on traditional Nordic folklore….and then transformed to individual elders all over the world communing with nature in a way they had most probably never imagined. Becoming the center point – celebrated, valued and seen. …”
Day 14: Elder Muse -The Wild Divinity of “Home”
“Have you ever found yourself wondering what “home” means to you personally? The mystics say it resides inside and I agree with this. Yet, there is much more to this journey to reflect upon, let go into…. and be present to.
Perhaps this is a quest we are on our entire lives…..”
Day 13: Elder Muse – The Wisdom of Elders
“Living into and embracing our own aging is an art. I can’t say that I have perfected it but I can say I am aware that every day is an opportunity to explore, discover, be curious, accept the challenges and learn from them.”
Day 11: Elder Muse – The Peace of Wild Things
“There is much to despair of in this world and if attended too frequently can cause us to lose our way. In this poem Wendell Berry brings us the antidote …..”
Day 7: Elder Muse – Embracing Moments
“As I took in the poem I realized that instead of expanding awareness in that moment it felt like a spiritual admonishment of sorts. Glancing over at the plant stand in my bedroom I spied a bumper sticker that I keep there which says “Don’t Postpone Joy”.
The use of “do not” makes me feel a little like a child that is being told to please wake up and listen or tend to the moment more fully. That I simply wasn’t adhering to the precepts for Conscious Life 101, especially as a supposedly wiser elder.”