 By Elizabeth Russell | Bio
Read Part I and Part II of this series.
It
is difficult not to notice that many people focus on their health—the
latest visit to the doctor or the most recent medication. I realize
that, at least in part, this is due to a shift in attention—away from a
concern with family, community or the world and toward this body in
which we dwell and which, at this time of life, would command all of
our attention if we let it. It is also difficult to live in this
environment and not be reminded, almost daily, of our mortality, as one
after another of us leaves in an ambulance. [ Read More]
Written by admin at Fearless Aging
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By Elizabeth Russell | Bio Read Part I of this series.
As
soon as I got over thinking of myself as an oddity in the environment
and began looking around, I discovered some very interesting people. One
of the early people I met had been a detective (a Private I!) for over
35 years and had some hair-raising stories to tell, including her
gathering evidence against an East Bay union boss who was using sexual
coercion against women seeking work. [ Read More]
Written by admin at Fearless Aging
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By Elizabeth Russell | Bio
I
had enormous resistance in moving into what I thought of as “an old
folks’ home.” For years I had said to my children, “I’ll never live in
one of those places!” When circumstances conspired to make such a move
wise, I spent much of the first few months in my new home looking at
San Francisco apartment ads, traveling to the city to look at those
apartments. As I did, I began to notice the difference it would mean to
me living in one of those apartments as compared with living in
Woodside Terrace. Increasingly I acknowledged that it no longer made
sense for me to live alone and, with that acknowledgment, came the
appreciation of having my apartment cleaned and my linen changed
weekly, having meals prepared for me and having emergency help as near
as the cord next to my bed or by the shower in my bathroom. [ Read More]
Written by admin at Fearless Aging
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By Elizabeth Russell
Bio
View the first post in this two-part series.
The conversation about age begins when we are born and continues
throughout life. It may be written or spoken. It may come from our
mothers (who heard it from their mothers) or it may come from people
who have studied other people in order to make profound pronouncements.
Whatever the source, it is all conversation. And labels are one element
of the conversation—labels we give to everything, labels that carry
weight and are endowed, over the years, with meaning such as young,
old, immature, stodgy, etc.[ Read More]
Written by admin at Fearless Aging
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By Elizabeth RussellBio
We think of aging as something that happens to us, something as
inevitable as waking up in the morning. But what if our way of speaking
about aging actually influences our experience of it?
Satchel Paige once asked, “How old would you be if you didn’t know how
old you was?” Because he was black, he wasn’t allowed to play major
league baseball until he was well past retirement age for ball players.
When he finally got his chance, no one knew for sure how old he was and
he wasn’t telling. Who he was and the performance he gave on the field
were more important than how old he was. [ Read More]
Written by admin at Fearless Aging
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By Elizabeth Russell
Bio
Thinking about the place of elders in other cultures, I’m reminded
of my days in Turkey. Although I wasn’t, by American standards, an
elder (I was in late middle age at that time), I was considered so by
the people in that culture. My first experience was in Izmir,
Turkey, where I was teaching English at Ege University. Some of the
time, I took a dolmus (share taxi) to and from the university. I had no
problem getting a space in the taxi going to the university because we
lived at the beginning of the route, but coming home was a different
matter. [ Read More]
Written by admin at Wisdom in Action
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Elizabeth
is a dear friend going back to 1978. She has been a visionary and
leader in the field of education, as well as a partner and an
inspiration to many early pioneers in the field of organizational
transformation. Elizabeth holds a B.A. and an M.A. in Philosophy, as
well as a Doctorate in Education. She has lectured in the U.S., India
and Turkey. In 2005, she published her autobiography, Reading Under the Covers, which is available on Amazon.com.[ Read More]
Written by admin at Fearless Aging
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By Elizabeth RussellBio
Interesting being asked for my comments on aging by Jim at a time
when I am engaged in thinking about it myself. A year ago, I moved into
a Seniors Retirement Center and I have been wondering about the wisdom
of that choice ever since. It has seemed to me that the people living
here are primarily finding ways to “spend” time while waiting for that
big event. My response has been to find things to do in San Francisco
and take myself out of here for at least one day each week.[ Read More]
Written by admin at Wisdom in Action
Tagged with:
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