The Artistry of Aging
“The author of this true story is a dear friend of mine who lives in eastern Canada near to Toronto. He is in his early 60’s, and says about himself, “Brian Alger is a musician, writer, educator, and retired entrepreneur passionate about creativity”
“The intention of silence and solitude for six days was entered into with a great letting go on January 1, 2023. Little did I know it was to be taken apart. Until then the seeming lengthening of available time in the day, coupled with the freedom to simply be present to each moment, was enhanced by a personal decision to ban all digital or electronic means of connecting or communication.
And then everything changed 2 days later when I happened to check my email…..”
“I do understand why silence is challenging for many people. We are surrounded by the tumult of sounds, mostly man made, that are constantly around us or that we choose to have around us. What would happen if all that was gone?
We might suddenly be confronted with ourselves amidst the vacuum of no stimulation. A space where you are asked to let go, accept, befriend ourselves and forgive…..”
“…. want to be light and frolicsome.
I want to be improbable beautiful and afraid of nothing,
as though I had wings.” Mary Oliver
“As we come very close to ending this year of 2022 perhaps it is a time to reflect on whether we are living our lives fully. Not only having a positive impact on others lives and the natural world, but more importantly to living a free life on our own terms…..”
“Yes I hear people say you need to know yourself to bring that into a marriage, and I am sure that is true. To me it feels slightly different. It is more the willingness to find ourselves in the marriage. That feels a little more forgiving and a bit more allowing. Let this relationship change me in whatever way seems natural in the interaction between us.” ~ Antony Osler”
: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.”
“The holiday season is often filled with excess and consumerism. I wonder what it would be like to offer a gift of kindness to each other or to strangers out there who you pass by every day.
Every time I go out into the world there is a practice I attend to most days. I do at least one act of kindness and share laughter with someone. When I saw the post on Good News Network about Captain Sir Thomas Moore I thought it was a great gift to give to you the reader, especially during the holidays.”
“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…..”