WILDLY FREE ELDER
The Artistry of Aging
Tag: Elder Wisdom
Embracing Life’s Unpredictability
“I am asking myself a lot these days this question. What is it to be fully human???
Tears roll down my face more often right now whether it be that my heart is touched by beauty or the song of a bird; I am watching a video of a child in a wheelchair handing a flower to a monk on the Walk for Peace; hearing the story of someone who just lost their dog of many years to cancer; reading about the formation of Singing Resistance communities in the U.S. – peaceful protests protecting and supporting the immigrant population here; feeling, hearing about, and coming in personal contact with the great need of so many to connect, belong somehow, and find some sense of inner peace in a world that seems to have gone crazy.”
Ripening
“What would it feel like to know that aging can simply be resilient ripening. Ripening into a completeness within from where peace and acceptance is generated. No longer using life energy to compete for attention, but instead radiating presence even in the most challenging of circumstances and in our inevitable moments of suffering.”
Audacious Aliveness
“A book came into my life this week that speaks to “Kokoro” – heart mindfulness. Living from an intelligent heart and feeling mind. A bit of Japanese cultural wisdom to actively live within.
What I am also calling audacious aliveness – fearlessly free, courageous nourishment, embodied wildness, intimate relationship with nature, and at times daring to create our own language free of fear and anxiety, all while cultivating stillness even among great uncertainty.”
The Four Natural Sanctuaries
“How often do we choose stillness over the endless call to do. It may surprise you to find a gift wrapped in the calm and peace of simply being present. Something you left by the wayside when you put on your human agendas and expectations.
Caught in a whirlwind of doing, surrender into stillness. “
The Ancient One
“How about self care as a revolutionary act? Our nervous system doesn’t think in pieces. The fear, the rage, the anxiety and uncertainty — isn’t just intellectual. It’s physiological. Our bodies are absorbing this era in our tightened shoulders, our sleepless nights, our frayed tempers.
There are ways to unplug from all of this…..”
Just Stop Running
“I sometimes wonder what my life would have been like if I hadn’t spent so much time trying to control the events of it. If I had stopped running away and instead ran towards the center of my being trusting life’s unfolding and synchronicity, and my own unique style of expression. If so much attention hadn’t given such importance to others opinions, demands and expectations….”
The Wisdom of Not Knowing
“As this year soon comes to an end we enter the holidays – a time of year that is ripe for magic, connection, laughter and play. If we could only let go of needing to “know”, embrace a genuine sense of uncertainty, and see through the eyes and perceptions of a child – or a dog….”
Pure Absolute Joy
“Adversity and the exquisite vulnerability of being human is a reminder to extend compassion and kindness. To return to a conscious relationship with a natural world that gives us life. To participate fully in our lives even within the inevitable challenges.”
When We Look – Paying Attention
“Paying attention can be devastating, especially now with the world as fractured as it is. We would rather look away from the things that break our heart or the challenges that may have life threatening or altering effects. Or even from paying full attention to someone we love and care about, both of us being uncomfortable that we may be fully seen….”
Elder Muse/Day 31: Being The Spark
“This morning the video that you will find below inspired me to complete this series of Elder Muse postings on “Being the Spark”. Being the spark no matter what age you are.
I believe that as elders we have decades of experiences and wisdom to become the spark that could potentially ignite something as Payton McGriff did with SHE (Style Her Empowered).”
WILDLY FREE ELDER 