The possibilities are not endless anymore. There are limits-opportunity, economics, location, health-yah dee dah and on and on. It makes me not want to grow up. But I did.
And guess what? Because I did, I believe wiggle room is available to squeeze in projects that I didn’t think I could make happen when I was younger.
It’s not about doing a recreational ‘bucket list’, I don’t have money or time for that. I’m talking about projects and ideas that take roll up your sleeves work. It’s that artist thing, about making something out of something else because you really want to.
One of the blessing of age is believing that I can make something out of what I already have at hand. Everything I need is right in front of me. I’m doing it right now.
We can all do this. What’s in front of you? What do you want to be when you grow up?
I asked Joanna to write a brief post to introduce us to her journey with writing and creativity. What she wrote made me want to get out a fountain pen and write, climb a tree, and and and…you’ll see. To evoke beauty and meaning while inspiring others to discover their own process is a precious gift. Thank you, Joanna.
By Joanna Paterson
There is a fountain of youth: it is your mind, your talents, the creativity you bring to your life and the lives of people you love. When you learn to tap this source, you will truly have defeated age ~ Sophia Loren
Watching women start to write, to journal, to free their words, to share some small part of themselves I have also seen them:
- Smile more
- Laugh more
- Cry more
- Clamber up into a tree, pen and paper in hand
- Breathe out into the stretch of their own perfect skin
- Paint more
- Sing more
- Apologize less
- Stand up taller
- Listen with kindness to what others have to say
- Craft poems
- Tell stories
- Take photos
- Share a piece of their past
- Live louder
- Cry more
- Laugh more
- Smile
And if that’s not beauty, I don’t know what is.
Joanna Paterson is a journal and writing coach who helps people tap into the power of their own words. She shares creative ways to get through the middle of life at The Mid Life Journal. She has also started a Facebook Page.
Getting rid of stuff…
…the sunglasses are in, and Miss Kissi is in a snit. Part Two of the last vlog post.
Pink River-a gift by Julie Wagner
Flickr friend Julie Wagner‘s photographs of Marbles the Cat and her daughter Jordan were featured at the heart of Show Up for Yourself.
She turned around and dedicated this image to me, a beautiful photograph…thank you Julie for such a stunning gift.
”Being a Grandmother is like eating a delicious, sweet dessert…that doesn’t make you fat.” Sophie Lumen
Bananagrams, Raggedy Ann and new sunglasses
…and the sunglasses have little rhinestones on the sides 
With or Without Goats, Life Is Good-The Art of Aging
I found Carolyn Henderson through the Word Press community’s Show & Tell page, Freshly Pressed.
Actually, a detail of ‘Opalescent Sea’ (above) by her husband, artist Steve Henderson found me. I could write a sonnet about the way Steve works his blues.
Discovering Carolyn and her creative, witty blog MiddleAgedPlague was a happy bonus. Thank you Carolyn, for contributing to The Art of Aging.
Guest Post by Carolyn Henderson
My best friend from college wrote me once, “I’m content to be a fat, middle-aged woman milking goats. Life is good.”
My visceral reaction was to recoil against the word, “middle-aged.”
She can’t be!
Because if she is, so am I – and I am so NOT middle-aged.
That was a few years ago, and now, at 47, I can mentally double my age to get 94, which seems a pretty decent and reasonable amount of time to nag my kids, forget where I put the electric bill, and chop up celery for soup. My inner Babe may argue, but the mathematician in me is forced to admit that 47 more accurately depicts the middle of a lengthy life than it does the first trimester.
Perhaps we could come up with a different term to describe the middle of life, something not associated with the words crisis, syndrome, or plague.
Perhaps, also, we could ease up on our expectations to maintain tight, washboard abs, starting by admitting that many of us never had them in our twenties to begin with. We don’t have to embrace the wrinkles, but we can accept them as signs that we have laughed or frowned a lot – may it be the former. Grey hair can be inexpensively covered by the magical ingredients in boxes –or not.
I am beginning to see my friend’s wisdom: Life is good. Being middle aged is simply a statement of how long I have lived – nothing I can do about that. But How I live – ah, now that is something I can do something about!
Carolyn lives in Washington State and manages Steve Henderson Fine Art.http://middleagedplague.wordpress.com
http://norwegianartist.wordpress.com
Visit Steve’s Facebook Page
Saturday whaaat think
Your assumptions are your windows on the world. Scrub them off every once in a while, or the light won’t come in.
Alan Alda (1936-) Actor, Director, Screenwriter
I was in the car listening to ‘Got To Give It Up’ by Marvin Gaye. In an instant 3 or 92 eleven different things happened all at once:
Dozens of recent images from the Flickr community posted themselves on the inner visuals…
I remembered the upcoming anniversary of a friend’s death from cancer…
I thought of the effort it took for an almost-6-foot-tall young ballerina to learn how to dance on pointe shoes…
I felt a familiar feeling, a gritty sense of victory, like sliding into home plate. I call it the Survivors Edge.
Such is the mash that produced this little video.
Stick around for the end and you get to see the ballerina.
Please share it.
This is my how-to Flail Blog
My doctor asked me a couple of years ago if I was exercising on a regular basis.
“Oh, a few times a day I’ll get down on the floor and flail around, or flail around to disco music in my living room,” I said.
The doctor and her nurse laughed and laughed. But I was in the thick of bloated, hormonal, peri-menopausal insanity. Flailing was all I could manage.
Guy, I’m glad I’m over all that. But I still flail. It’s one of midlife’s best tricks. Here’s all you need to know:
1. Flailing is an ever-changing choreography of moving your body around in a spontaneous and interesting-to-you manner.
2. The purpose of flailing is to trick yourself into maybe burning calories, building your strength, and feeling better.
3. Flailing is your personalized version of the Hokey-Pokey; Put your right brain in, put your fanny out, put your _________ in, and you shake flail it all about.
4. It will only work if you like your chosen method of flailing.
So, feel the inspiration as I deliver a brief explanation for the Beauties at The Art of Aging FB Page, and demonstrate a few flail techniques. Please feel free to share yours.
And all things that stand at the door of my flesh
I asked the earth, I asked the sea & the deeps,
among the living animals, the things that creep. I asked the winds that blow,
I asked the heavens, the sun the moon, the stars
& all things that stand at the doors of my flesh…
My question was the gaze I turned to them.
Their answer was their beauty.
St. Augustine of Hippo (354-430)The Oprah Audition: No-Niches, ArtHeart and the Duck
Self to self: “Oh GO AHEAD and do it-you know you want to.” It’s true, I have a great idea for a show about No-Niches, ArtHeart and the Duck.
So I uploaded my audition tape to Oprah’s ‘ Host Your Own Show’ contest. Then proceeded to vote for my self about 42 times over the next week. Then started watching the competition.
Some people have great ideas. Some made me cringe. But what stayed with me is the hope beaming out of people’s faces. Pure, raw hope flashing all over the place.
“You block your dream when you allow your fear to grow bigger than your faith.” ~Mary Manin Morrissey
Oh GO AHEAD and audition, or sit back and watch the effort, awfulness and glory of it all.
And while you’re at it, vote for me.
