 By Jim Selman | Bio
It’s getting hard to stay ‘upbeat’ in the
face of all the economic news. The line between a recession and
depression is blurring more and more each day. It seems pretty obvious
that we’re entering what will be a long road to some sort of
prosperity. The old joke about a recession is when your neighbor loses
his or her job and a depression is when you lose your job isn’t so
funny anymore. I learned today that China is embarking on an official
policy of selling directly to U.S. consumers bypassing the
middlemen—and that means even more pressure on the economy if they pull
it off. The bottom line is that the American Dream will evade more and
more of us and, in particular, the dream of living a life of leisure
after retirement will evade most Baby Boomers. [ Read More]
Written by admin at The Great Turning
Tagged with:
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By Jim Selman | Bio
The word “Elder” is becoming the vogue term
for people over 60 or, in some cases, even younger. I think it is a
mistake as well as inaccurate to make “Elder” synonymous with having
reached a certain age. First of all, being an Elder is a role, not a
fact of biology. Moreover, it is a role that exists in the context of
community. The word itself distinguishes a relationship between the
Elder and members of their community. More than that, I see several
criteria that must be met before one can assume the role of Elder.[ Read More]
Written by admin at Wisdom in Action
Tagged with:
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community
elder
relationship
respect
responsibility
September 21st was International Day of Peace. Every year since its
inception by the UN in 1982, this holiday has grown to mobilize
millions of people around the world to
call for the end of conflict and the creation of a culture of peaceamong all nations and
peoples. In 2002, the UN officially declared September 21st to be the permanent date for the Day of Peace. Anyone, anywhere can celebrate Peace Day. It can be as simple as
lighting a candle at noon, or just sitting in silent meditation. Or it
can involve getting your co-workers, organization, community or
government engaged in a large event. This year, UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon called for a Minute of
Silence at 12 noon to commemorate the day. Peace is more than the
absence of war. It is about transforming our relationships and our societies and uniting our
global community to work together for a more peaceful, just and
sustainable world for all. It is about calling a ceasefire on conflict-- both personal and
political. Take this opportunity to make peace in your own
relationships, as well as to impact the larger conflicts of our time.
[ Read More]
Written by admin at News
Tagged with:
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By David Korten | Website
Read the first part of this article here.
Wired to Connect
Scientists
who use advanced imaging technology to study brain function report that
the human brain is wired to reward caring, cooperation, and service.
According to this research, merely thinking about another person
experiencing harm triggers the same reaction in our brain as when a
mother sees distress in her baby’s face. Conversely, the act of helping
another triggers the brain’s pleasure center and benefits our health by
boosting our immune system, reducing our heart rate, and preparing us
to approach and soothe. Positive emotions like compassion produce
similar benefits. By contrast, negative emotions suppress our immune
system, increase heart rate, and prepare us to fight or flee. [ Read More]
Written by admin at The Great Turning
Tagged with:
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purple_america
By David Korten | Website
The story of purple America is part of a
yet larger human story. For all the cultural differences reflected in
our richly varied customs, languages, religions, and political
ideologies, psychologically healthy humans share a number of core
values and aspirations. Although we may differ in our idea of the
“how,” we want healthy, happy children, loving families, and a caring
community with a beautiful, healthy natural environment. We want a
world of cooperation, justice, and peace, and a say in the decisions
that affect our lives. The shared values of purple America manifest
this shared human dream. It is the true American dream undistorted by
corporate media, advertisers, and political demagogues—the dream we
must now actualize if there is to be a human future. [ Read More]
Written by admin at The Great Turning
Tagged with:
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purple_america
 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
Tagged with:
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concern
health
old_folks_home
resistance
 By Jim Selman | Bio
Nathan Oates, a Christian minister who writes a very thoughtful blog called “ Theologically Speaking”,
did a nice piece on loneliness. His point: how we seem to fragment our
society into all kinds of niches and end up not relating to or
connecting with most of the people around us. Even in the churches that
one would imagine to be the most community-oriented institutions, the
norm is to break the congregation into oriented ‘special interest’
groups according to age—the tots, teens, 20 ‘somethings’, 30
‘somethings’, middle-agers and seniors. While such segregation might
make sense in terms of some ‘educational’ objectives, it makes no sense
spiritually and undermines the whole idea of a multigenerational
community.[ Read More]
Written by admin at Fearless Aging
Tagged with:
community
control
ego
loneliness
multigenerational
 By Shae Hadden | Bio
In the busyness of mid-life career
pursuits, we can easily find ourselves letting relationships slide. In
no time at all, it seems years have gone by, we’ve lost touch with dear
friends from near and far, and forgotten the lure of long-promised
adventures we were going to share. A recent NY Times article about Elizabeth Goodyear,
a centenarian confined to her one-bedroom walk-up, has prompted me to
reconsider my relationship to others and what ‘community’ I want to
grow older in.[ Read More]
Written by admin at Fearless Aging
Tagged with:
career
community
giving
receiving
relationship
 By Lauren Selman | Bio
10-9-8-7-6-5-4-3-2-1, GO!!! At midnight, on July 3rd, over nine hundred
runners started off on a midnight fourth of July run in Seattle. Among
the runners were my uncle and I. As I stood in the crowd waiting to
start, I saw runners of all ages. From nine-year-olds to 85-year-olds,
all of us were crazy enough to be standing in Seattle at midnight in
short shorts and tank tops. It go me thinking. Here we were, all humans
of different ages, gathering around to run.
Now, this is nowhere near my first of this kind of run and the more I
thought about it, the more I realized that very often multiple
generations come together at sporting events.[ Read More]
Written by admin at Fearless Aging
Tagged with:
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commitment
community
generations
inspiration
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sports
By David Korten | Great Turning website
Read more posts in The World We Want series.
This brings us to the third element of the
big picture of the human confrontation with the limits of our Mother
Earth: the governing institutions to which we give the power to set our
priorities and our collective course. We might wonder how such
injustice could happen in a world governed by democratically elected
governments. The answer is simple and alarming.[ Read More]
Written by admin at The Great Turning
Tagged with:
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