Thank you for coming to the Authentic Living and Aging (AL&A) Blog. I would love to hear your comments. My Sole Proprietorship, Unified Creativity, founded by me in the mid-80s, has always evolved through many incarnations just as my life has. But its core mission has always been the same: “Helping people become more aware of the possibilities in life and within themselves.”
- It wasn’t until 2017 when I enrolled at a retreat facilitated by Ron Pevny on the Appalachian Trail when i saw the need for myself to learn and live what the books are saying about expanding while you age and not just think of it as skating down a steep slope. This is not always an easy road, but a road with so much to appreciate and learn from. In addition to working the program for my personal journey, I am assisting others to do the same. Every person has a unique Authentic Living and Aging path and only they can create it. I am a facilitator using questions about what I call the Authentic Living and Aging pillars and elements and you become the creator.
- In this Blog I will be asking questions of myself and if others want to share, please write your shares in the comments section, realizing I may not be able to personally respond to each comment but getting it out is very important. If you would like to add questions, books and poems that have been helpful to you, please also add them in the comment section too. Get a special journal, and let’s begin to share how we are preparing to live an authentic life as we age.
- Like author Ashton Applewhite states, “Life is being an older person in training. It acknowledges the inevitability of oldness, relegating it to the future. It opts for purpose and intent over dread and denial.”
This blog relates to the BELIEFS we have about GETTING OLDER and Elderhood and where do these beliefs come from in your life?
- Questions
I try to tell myself that my numerical age is only my business and not important to anyone else. Has this ever been your view? Have you ever lied about your age? Has it changed as you are aging? Where do you think this came from? Have you ever felt discriminated by the number either too old or young? Try to write at least a page with whatever comes to mind.
See you next time where I will be sharing my responses and hopefully you will be doing the same.
Joy, Mona Williams
Thanks for respondiing. Many women in my family were like your Mom about telling their true age. Hopefully my granddaughters won’t ever think about hiding their age.
Like Shan, I think that the website is lovely and inviting.
In response to your question, I have always stated my true age, either when asked or as a reference point in a conversation. I was in a profession, however, where age didn’t really matter, except as a reference point in historical discussions. (We didn’t have email or cell phones back then :).). I can see, especially for women, that age could be the basis for discrimination in employment (and other areas). What I hate are the efforts women (again not excluding men here) have to make to keep ourselves looking younger. It’s hard escape the agist mindsets–
Thanks for asking.
Thanks Shan
I hope you get a chance to respond to your relationship with you chronological age through the years. I do admit I lied about being older when I was 15 and bein younger when I was in my 60s.
Hi Mona. Your new website is lovely and inspiring. You have put a lot of creative energy into an appealing format that’s easy to navigate and offers opportunities for exploring our own authenticity as we progress through our “mature” years.
I have always felt comfortable telling my age if anyone asks. My age hasn’t been a factor in being employable as far as I knew. I was hired at my last job, which had a lot of responsibility, at the age of 50 years. My mother was not comfortable telling her age and always used the Jack Benny line of “being 39”. Even when she died we did not include her birthdate on her prayer card (she would not have liked having it revealed). Now at the age of 69 years I haven’t been aware of anyone treating me differently because I have grey hair, sagging skin and wrinkles. I feel fortunate that I have reached this age.