By Shae Hadden
I recently came across
a website called The
Beauty of Aging. Besides the fact that I love the title, I was
impressed by film producer Laurie Schur’s commitment to find role models
who demonstrate that aging is a beautiful process. Her 35-minute
documentary, Greedy for Life, captures the stories of two dynamic
women over 80 who embrace life—despite its challenges—with energy and
enthusiasm. Shirley Windward, an 88-year-old free spirit, has recovered
from being in a coma and near death in 1990 to live life fully: creating
ceramics, writing poetry, dancing and sharing music and laughter with
her husband and friends. Lavada Campbell, an 83-year old dynamo, has
“still got things I want to do”. She flamboyantly exudes energy and
warmth in all her activities. Proceeds from sales of Greedy for Life go
towards production costs for The Beauty of Aging, a one-hour documentary
about the optimism, fearlessness and sense of purpose of five vital
American women of diverse ethnic backgrounds in their 80s, 90,s and
100s.
Become a fan of the Beauty of Aging on Facebook © 2010 Shae Hadden. All rights reserved.
Written by eldering at Fearless Aging
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 By Shae Hadden | Bio
I’m sitting at my desk, watching the sun set behind the mountains,
listening to the city winding down at the end of a long, hot summer
day. My big move is now complete: all boxes unpacked, everything put
away (at least somewhere, for now), cupboards stocked, and fresh linens
on the bed. Three months ago, when I chose to relocate, I had no idea
it would be such a circuitous route to my new ‘home’. But now that I’m
here, I’m glad for everything that showed up in my journey and for
everything I had to let go of in order to arrive at this most perfect
place for the next phase of my life. [ Read More]
Written by eldering at Fearless Aging
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By Shae Hadden
I don't want to
look in the mirror today. There's a funny old woman staring back at me,
and I can't quite figure out who she is or where she belongs. Certainly
not in my mirror! But there she is, plain as day. Wrinkled and wizened, meditating for nothingness, yet still wanting to save the world. [ Read More]
Written by eldering at Fearless Aging
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By Shae Hadden | Bio
Spring
flowers bloom passionately on this sunny West Coast day, birds are
preparing nests for their young and people run madly by me as I sit by
the ocean and ponder what it takes to survive in these times. My search
for a place to live has not yet been entirely successful, and the
conversations I’ve had reveal both desperation and gnawing hesitation
in myself and others to actually put a stake in the
ground—metaphorically speaking—and declare that this is the future we
are committing to. It’s almost as if[ Read More]
Written by eldering at Fearless Aging
Tagged with:
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By Shae Hadden | Bio
The
algae bloom on the lagoon where I’m housesitting seems symbolic of the
state I’m in these days. Long-forgotten, half-hidden ideas seem to be
coming to the forefront of my thinking and showing the richness of
their colors and their impact on my life. Like my belief that “fear is
toxic”. A belief that has been stored for years in my body and which
I’m now choosing to let go of. It’s true that fear[ Read More]
Written by eldering at Fearless Aging
Tagged with:
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 By Shae Hadden | Bio
There
are times we know what we're doing, and times we don't have the
foggiest idea what our lives are about. There are days when we feel
'grounded', and days when it's as if our roots are torn out from under
us. There are choices we make easily, and choices we avoid making at
all costs.
These days it seems as if many of us are uprooted,
challenged to look at what our lives are about, and faced with choices
we've been running away from. There is no safe place in the middle of
these transitions that we can run away to. [ Read More]
Written by eldering at Fearless Aging
Tagged with:
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By Shae Hadden | Bio
I’ve
been looking for a way to be free all my life. My entire search has,
unfortunately, been focused on the practical aspect of ‘holding on’ to
whatever I thought would give me freedom: a belief in some system or
way of thinking, money, possessions, favorite books that contained
ideas that were ‘liberating’, any activity that loosened up my body and
mind, people I loved. But now almost nothing is certain in my life, and
a deep desire to let go of my attachments to everything and everyone
propels me forward.[ Read More]
Written by eldering at Fearless Aging
Tagged with:
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By Shae Hadden | Bio
It’s difficult
these days to not worry about something—what with the economic crisis,
pollution, climate change, species extinction, resource depletion and
the melting polar ice caps, not to mention the innumerable human
conflicts on the planet. Many of our conversations revolve around one
or another of these topics, or at least are impacted by the larger
global issues we all are facing. And much of what I’m hearing in what
people are saying is that they are ‘worried’ about the future—both
their individual future and our collective future. Considering the
scale and the complexity of the issues we’re facing, it might seem that
we should worry. I beg to differ. We don’t have time to worry. [ Read More]
Written by eldering at Fearless Aging
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By Shae Hadden | Bio
I’m thinking of
the term “mid-life change” often these days. No matter what age we are,
we are always in mid-life: neither at the beginning, nor at the
end…yet. Most people tend to think of mid-life change as something that
happens when we’re in our 40s or 50s. But what if we took the view
that, while we are alive, we are always in the ‘middle’ of our lives,
in the midst of constant change? Would we, perhaps, become more
comfortable, less anxious with changes in our lives?[ Read More]
Written by eldering at Fearless Aging
Tagged with:
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By Shae Hadden | Bio
Elizabeth Gilbert's Eat Pray Love
contains an interesting perspective on aging. For the Balinese, it is
more important what day of the week you were born on than the year you
were born in. One of the characters, a Balinese medicine man named
Ketut, knows only that his birthday is on Thursday and that he was an
adult in WWII. His estimates of his age vary daily, depending on how
tired or upbeat he's feeling.
Imagine what life might be like if you didn't know what year you were born in.... [ Read More]
Written by eldering at Fearless Aging
Tagged with:
age
By Shae Hadden | Bio
Several
years ago, a wise 93-year-old man named Hayden shared with me his
principles for living life “at the growing edge”. He had printed them
on cards, in the shape of a bookmark, and distributed them to everyone
who engaged in meaningful conversation with him. Today, as I’m
recovering from the first major surgery I’ve ever had, I was drawn to
reflect on a couple of them again. I’m sure he wouldn’t mind if I
shared them with you now:[ Read More]
Written by eldering at Fearless Aging
Tagged with:
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By Shae Hadden | Bio
When one is free, one is accepting everything that appears with equanimity. When one is accepting everything that appears with equanimity, one is free. © 2008 Shae Hadden. All rights reserved.
[ Read More]
Written by eldering at Fearless Aging
Tagged with:
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By Shae Hadden | Bio
The
official arrival of fall always surprises me. It’s never the change in
weather so much as the passage of time that draws me up short—what
happened to the last few months of my life? This year I feel as if I’ve
been lost in a time warp while the rest of the world runs ahead at its
crazy pace…and as if I’m only just beginning to rejoin the rest of the
human race. And no, I didn’t go on an extended vacation or take a leave
of absence. All I did was connect to my purpose…and then my body seemed
to fall apart. Strange, but I’ve come to realize a distinction between
purpose and meaning through being ‘sidelined’ with health issues. [ Read More]
Written by eldering at Fearless Aging
Tagged with:
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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 eldering at Fearless Aging
Tagged with:
career
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receiving
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By Shae Hadden | Bio
Usually
we think of the inevitable convergence of technologies as being
beneficial for the majority of people using them. Take the introduction
of video to the internet, or the internet to the cell phone, for
example. As soon as we discover something that works that people want,
then the advertisers and marketers are on the bandwagon, looking for
opportunities to sell within the new medium. What has me shaking my
head today is the obvious marketing spin on ‘virtual gifts’, iconic
symbols of items one might give to someone in appreciation or sympathy. [ Read More]
Written by eldering at Fearless Aging
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