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SereneAmbition
Aug 2008
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Embracing What Is

Thursday Jul 10 2008

By Eliezer Sobel | Website


There is much talk on Serene Ambition and elsewhere about altering one’s perspective and internal conversation about aging so as to “create a future to live into” that infuses the present with passion and energy, as distinct from the dreary resignation of merely playing out the repetitive and predictable habits and tendencies generated by the past. And yet, while this sounds good in theory, what of the physical limitations imposed by age?

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Written by admin at Fearless Aging

Tagged with: aging conversation possibility suffering time

I am not a thing

Wednesday Jul 02 2008

   By Jim Selman | Bio
I just saw the movie WALL-E about a lonely robot on planet earth 700 years after a Wal-Mart-like enterprise wins the game of mega mergers and is the only corporation left, effectively running the world. The people had to leave because they couldn’t keep up with the trash. WALL-E (Waste Allocation Load Lifter – Earth Class) spends its days (we soon begin to think of it as a ‘he’ thanks to some brilliant scripting and Pixar magic) creating skyscraper-scale mountains of trash. It is a great film and brilliantly delivers ‘social responsibility’ messages while telling a beautiful love story that meshes with some profoundly human moments when people wake up to the possibility of having a choice combined with responsibility for cleaning up the mess we made in the 20th and 21st centuries.[Read More]

Written by admin at Fearless Aging

Tagged with: aging commitment possibility relationship unreasonable worldview

What Conversation Are You?

Monday Jun 23 2008

  By Jim Selman | Bio
As many of you know, I view aging, and the rest of life for that matter, as a series of conversations. In my work, I try to show people that if we can observe ourselves and our world through the lens of language, we can see that everything we think and experience occurs in the context of some interpretation or another. For most people most of the time, our interpretation is that there is a ‘real world’ out there, and if we could only understand it and control it (and ourselves), then we’d be okay and win whatever game we’re playing. Of course, in this interpretation (called the Cartesian paradigm), people (that means us) are objects and our conversation about aging is basically that we wear out like our cars and eventually aren’t useful any longer.[Read More]

Written by admin at Fearless Aging

Tagged with: aging conversation empowerment possibility wisdom

Unreasonable

Thursday Jun 19 2008

   I spent a good chunk of my life learning to be reasonable. In business, the mantra for any proposal was always: “Is it practical?” It seemed to me that reasonableness (and its sister practicality) were virtues. People who were unreasonable or impractical seemed to be exceptions—they came across as flaky, dangerous, occasionally lucky, unpredictable, disconnected, loose canons and, above all, they weren't team players. When I turned 50, I came upon a quotation by George Bernard Shaw that hit me between the eyes and totally changed my approach to life and, in particular, my future.[Read More]

Written by admin at Fearless Aging

Tagged with: future possibility practicality reasonableness

Nature and the Human Soul

Wednesday Jun 18 2008

Bill Plotkin's latest book, Nature and the Human Soul, offers a model for human development rooted in the natural world. Calling on the stories of elders Thomas Berry and Joanna Macy, Plotkin evokes a strong sense of a lack of maturity in a culture dominated by adolescent desires and habits.

In this book, this pyschologist, ecotherapist and wilderness guide defines eight stages of life--Innocent, Explorer, Thespian, Wanderer, Soul Apprentice, Artisan, Master and Sage. Plotkin leads the reader to the possibility of a society that is sustainable, cooperative and compassionate through personal and collective evolution. His strategy for living calls for our evolution into adulthood so that we mayachieve enduring societal change. A challenging read for elders of any age who are interested in a better world.

 

[Read More]

Written by admin at News

Tagged with: elder master nature possibility sage soul

Werner Erhard

Thursday Jun 12 2008

I saw a documentary film last night entitled, “Transformation: The Life and Legacy of Werner Erhard”. I had heard a lot about it from many friends who shared some of the ‘heady’ experience of working with him in the 70s and 80s. The film was a very well done tribute to his work and to the man I knew. I had expected that the film’s purpose was to restore his reputation after his departure from the USA following a controversial ‘character assassination’ piece on CBS’s 60 Minutes. I was pleased that its focus was more on his work and the broad contribution that he has made in so many areas of contemporary culture.[Read More]

Written by admin at Wisdom in Action

Tagged with: eldering est fernando_flores possibility transformation werner_erhard

Listening and Learning

Thursday May 22 2008

Life happens while we are having conversations with ourselves and other people. Not learning from others may have a lot to do with not truly ‘listening’ to what others say. Listening is the context that makes life intelligible, allows anything to have meaning, and forms the basis for all communication (both written and spoken). It is a whole lot more than just ‘hearing’ the words that are spoken. I’m always listening, always bringing a prior interpretation or understanding of my world to every situation I encounter or can imagine encountering. This is the most basic aspect of being a human being I know.[Read More]

Written by admin at Learning

Tagged with: being commitment ego learning listening possibility resistance wisdom

Obama

Wednesday May 14 2008

I am more than happy to see Obama back on his game and in what looks like the homestretch in what has been a grueling horserace—for the candidates and the public. I am committed to Obama because I believe, along with a lot of other people, that he is sincere in his commitment to unite the nation and that he has demonstrated his capacity to stand for something beyond politics-as-usual. I have said on more than one occasion how sad it's been to watch the fracture of our nation and our communities in the wake of the "neo-conservative" tide and President Bush's consistent and constant disregard for any policy or initiative other than what benefits corporate business interests. Now we have a candidate who speaks with eloquence and passion FOR something more than power and money.[Read More]

Written by admin at Leadership

Tagged with: commitment democrats leader obama possibility responsibility wisdom

The Cost of Comfort

Monday Apr 28 2008

   By Shae Hadden | Bio
It’s so easy to get ‘comfortable’ with the circumstances of our lives—even when they are uncomfortable or when we can see that they may very likely lead to discomfort. It’s almost natural, sometimes even expected, that we complain about what’s ‘not right’ or ‘not perfect’ in our lives. But complaining (to ourselves or others) doesn’t change anything and we’re left ‘adapting’ ourselves to living with whatever is contributing to our discomfort.[Read More]

Written by admin at Leadership

Tagged with: choice circumstances comfort complaining future possibility victim

Baby Bloomers

Friday Apr 18 2008

I was writing recently about how I am feeling great about getting older and how, in fact, my life seems better than ever. While I was sharing this with a friend recently I proclaimed, “I’m just a late bloomer.” I don’t think I am unique or alone in finding that my sixties have been an extraordinary time of my life, perhaps the best time I can remember. I am always a little concerned when I hear about ‘Zoomers’ or slogans like “The 60s are the new 40s”. These kinds of interpretations always seem to me about resisting getting older, rather than celebrating the fact.[Read More]

Written by admin at Fearless Aging

Tagged with: baby_bloomer blossom life older possibility zoomer

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