Silver Pen Writing Award Partners, Salt Lake County Aging & Adult Services, Salt Lake County Library, and Salt Lake Community College Community Writing Center, invited all older adults to participate in the 2018 Silver Pen Writing Contest by writing and submitting their own essay or poetry based on JOY . . . read the winning essays and poems . . .
Her Majesty by Judy Martin
Judy Martin finally retired at age 70 after over 30 years of enjoying herself as a business owner in the financial services industry. Now she indulges herself with her addiction to travel. She continues to be challenged by her on-going pursuit of painting.
Do you have a personal essay, a picture or a poem related to creative aging (any artistic expression will do!) that you'd like to share? If so, I'd love to see it. Send it my way!
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Is Aging in Our Minds?
It’s all well and good to try and keep ourselves physically and mentally fit, but as we age our bodies and minds aren’t necessarily cooperating with us. So what’s the “secret” to aging well? In “The Secret to Aging Well? Contentment” from The New York Times, Robert W. Goldfarb says, “Despite having many friends in their 70s, 80s and 90s, I’ve been far too slow to realize that how we respond to aging is a choice made in the mind, not in the gym.”
(Essay published in The New York Times, October 2, 2018, by Robert W. Goldfarb)
Read the complete essay from The New York Times . . .
Do you have a personal essay on aging that you'd like to share? If so, I'd love to read it. Send it my way!
Join the mailing list for info on upcoming workshops, writing prompts and blog updates.
Strands of Loss – Strands of Grief – Strands of Gratitude by Madeleine Sigman-Grant
Of Time and Ritual by Lori Brock
Writing Prompt #3
Whose Eyes Are These Anyway? By Debbie Leaman
My Shadow Selves by Karen Hayes
Writing Prompt #2
Connecting with My Inner Artiste! By Cathleen O’Connor Ph.D.
First World Aging by Bob Adler
Lines by Kathy Feigal
Aging Backwards by Michele Straube
My cousin-in-law sends birthday greetings to his female relatives telling us we’re “aging backwards.” I’ve always thought it was a cute sentiment, but realized on a recent hike that it might actually be true for me. Thanks to the miracles of modern science and a strong stubborn streak in my family history, my aging future looks more active and agile than my middle age past.
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.
Remembering Mom by Cathy Love
Maybe I Need a New Mirror by Joan Ogden
Wuff on a Porch Swing by Bill Funk
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.
Retirement: Diving into Danger by Howard Leaman
“What are you doing with your time, now that you’ve retired?” That was the question the Ski School Director asked me during our pre-season ski instructor orientation. My answer to him was not even close to adequate, especially when I realized that many of my friends have been wondering that very thing for themselves. What I’ve been doing is not so much a “list,” as much as a continuing process of calibration.
Initially, thinking about going from a busy medical practice to “retired,” I'd developed a sense of impending dread. Would I become useless, cranky and senile? Would my health deteriorate? Would I “fail retirement,” and become depressed with nothing to do, and have to go back to work?
No— I’d prove my continued vitality.