I don’t know about you, but I’m wrung out with pandemic fear and fatigue, terrified about the election, saturated with the news, and dread the shorter days and the impending cold. There is way too much to worry about these days. Having said that, I still fight the urge to doom scroll in spite of my better instincts. All of this worry just creates more anxiety which ends up as ruminating thoughts and questions swirling around in my head. What’s the future of our democracy? How do I stay safe and keep my family safe? What’s this winter going to look like?
Congratulations to the 2020 Silver Pen Winners!
Writing Prompt: Invite Your Emotions to Tea
The Guest House by Rumi
This being human is a guest house.
Every morning a new arrival.
A joy, a depression, a meanness,
some momentary awareness comes
as an unexpected visitor.
Welcome and entertain them all! . . .
. . . Right now, I invite you to welcome whatever emotion you are feeling at the moment into your “home” as a guest, whether it be anxiety, fear, grief, sadness, anger, frustration, or helplessness (the list goes on).
Settling in for the Long Haul by Debbie Leaman
While I vacillate between stretches of calm and momentary bursts of panic, it’s taken an earthquake in Salt Lake City, on top of a global pandemic to wake me up. The message for me now, more than ever, is to be “in the moment.”
While the earthquake put us all on edge (understatement of the year), it was a huge lesson: I can’t predict what’s going to happen today, tomorrow or a month from now. With a few aftershocks fresh in my mind, I can’t predict what’s going to happen five minutes from now. I need to just remember to breathe and remain in the present moment.
Online Dating For Seniors by Karen Hayes
At age seventy, I signed up with a matchmaking website for seniors. If you haven’t tried online dating (and it was all new to me), the first hurdle for a woman ‘over a certain age’ is to get past the idea that meeting someone online is too much of a fringe thing, and that goes against everything our generation was warned about.
But if you decide to give it a try, here are some things to consider. First, you’ll need a ‘handle’ for your profile. Remember the days of truckers on their CB radios using nicknames like GoodBuddy and RubberDuck? ’ Well, a dating site is like that. So how do you choose a name for yourself that gets attention without being . . . what? . . . too coy, as in Needaknight? Too suggestive, like Sweet&Low? Too anything?
Silver Pen Award Winners!
Silver Pen Writing Award Partners, Salt Lake County Aging & Adult Services and the SLCC Community Writing Center, invited all older adults to participate in the 2019 Silver Pen Writing Contest by writing and submitting their own essay or poetry based on: ""A Story I Haven't Told You . . . "
To read the winning essays and poems, click here.
On Teaching Writing Through Grief by Debbie Leaman (modernloss.com)
I teach others how to tell their saddest stories. But when it came to my own brother’s loss, the words wouldn’t come — until they did.
After my brother Rob sustained a traumatic brain injury while riding his bicycle — yes, he was wearing a helmet — I was asked to teach a course called “Writing Through Grief.” I politely declined. It had only been a few months since he’d died, and I couldn’t deal with my own feelings of ambivalence and loss — let alone guide others who had been in a similarly dark place. Read more . . .
Reluctant Planning By Debbie Leaman
Writing Prompt #4
Aging—Who Me? By Pat Clay
For each of us aging will be different. For me, the revelation that I was aging was stunning. I say revelation because I had never thought much about age. Each milestone along the path to 80, was met with a shrug and a comment such as “it is only a number.” Now, there are fewer milestones left in my future and the number just gets higher.
A Sad Week in Our Country (from my October 29, 2018 newsletter)
I would be remiss if I didn’t convey my grief over the horrific events of this past week. Normally, I keep my monthly updates strictly related to the blog posts and upcoming workshops, but the massacre in Pittsburgh felt personal. I only hope and pray that we come together as a country to eliminate fear of the “other,” heal our wounds, and find common ground and understanding.
Writing Prompt #3
Whose Eyes Are These Anyway? By Debbie Leaman
Writing Prompt #2
Grab a pen - here's a writing prompt!
In order to your get creative aging juices flowing, I'm going to offer writing prompts from time to time. These are questions to get you thinking about yourself in different ways. So, grab your writing tool of choice (laptop, pen, pencil, paper), find a comfortable spot to sit and put your critical voice on hold. In fact, tell your inner critic to leave the room.
Honey, I'm Home . . . A Lot! By Debbie Leaman
Years ago, I left an investment career to become a freelance writer. During the day, when my husband Howard was at work and our two kids went off to school, our house was my domain. I worked at my desk in a common area off the kitchen where sunlight poured in through large windows—a luxurious and quiet space where I wrote without distractions and answered to no one. It was perfect.
And, then, last summer, Howard retired.
Creative Aging Blog - a forum to share our stories!
For years I've resisted setting up a blog. I'm a deliberate writer, so feeding a blog when I'm not inspired or don't have time isn't something I felt comfortable with. But, about a year ago, when I was preparing my Creative Aging writing workshops, I scoured the web for personal essays on aging and I came up short. I couldn't find any sites for these types of pieces. And that got me thinking . . .
Lessons in Courage
I’ve taken ski lessons since the age of seven, and have always hated them. I’ve been led down chutes, over precipices and through the trees, and have panicked more than once. While I love to ski, and want to improve, I struggle to keep my fear in check.
So why, at the age of 57 did I become a ski instructor?