Pat Taub
While 2020 saw most of us grumbling over our Covid isolation, others found silver linings in their alone time. Lucky for us they churned out guest posts chock full of wisdom to live by. A few samples from last year’s WOW guest posts follow:
Sally Bowden-Schaible*
On her trip to Palestine to pick olives, Sally mused over the persistent Israeli threat to the olive groves.
“I’ve never been close enough to a colonizer to look into his/her eyes, but this I know: each of them was once a child. . . . . Most probably they snuggled with their mothers and peered out at the world with cautious and curious eyes. Somewhere along the way to adulthood, I imagine their stories, if I knew them, would offer information that could help me understand the unfolding of a life leading to setting fires, uprooting olive trees, stealing land inhabited by families dependent on it, and beating an 80-year-old man.”
A Palestine father with his toddler son picking olives
Gwen McCauley on Calming Her Retirement Anxiety:
“What I do know is that clarity about my future will surface and reveal itself to me . . . if I stay open to the unsettling thoughts that surface, if I allow myself to play with the assumption that new things can still happen to me. If I stay present to the tensions I discover in my body and deal with them as they surface, I will slowly find my path.”
Gwen McCauley feeling optimistic that her post-retirement path will become clear
Janet Weil on Her Lunch Outing with her 98 y. o. Father-in-Law:
“Reflecting on our little adventure, I saw that no one working at the University Club had considered how a mobility-impaired person needed to move around the different levels and spaces. However, my consciousness was only raised because I was accompanying Bob. It made me think ahead to the time when I may need to use a walker. Maybe all of us without mobility issues should use a walker from time to time to check on “accessible” transit, sidewalks, and buildings. Are they really?”
Janet with her Father-in-Law
Carole Leskin: Surprise Holiday Company
“Since I don’t have any family, I spend many holidays alone. I dread solitary Thanksgivings, Hanukkah and Christmas. On this holiday season evening I made a cup of tea, sat down at my empty dining room table and sadly looked around. Suddenly, I did not feel alone! My Grandmother, Florence Brown, who died when I was 12, was at the table, and she had others with her. Her companions were her three sisters; Theresa (Aunt Tessie), Regina (Aunt Reggie), and Hermione (Aunt Minnie).”
Carole’s deceased relatives who were with her in spirit over the holidays
Zoe FitzGerald-Beckett: The Power of Exchanging Letters During Covid
“The more I wrote and received letters, the clearer it became that real letters open up the possibility of richer, slower conversations and can provide a much more visceral and personal sense of connection with others based on thoughtfulness and a generosity of spirit. What gifts!”
Judith Nilan on Crones Stepping Up:
My sisters: This is the time for us to hold the light of Elder wisdom. This is the time to light the way for our people and our planet. Time for us to share our wisdom. Time to guide our people away from the fear that is so often implicit in great change. Time to hold the energy of calm clarity and knowing that crossing thresholds is as old as time and that new landscapes are created when we hold fast the vision and values of who we are as a people and who we can become.
A Women’s Spiritual Circle
Shout-Outs to:
Kristine Nicholson for her excellent review of “The Book of Old Ladies.”
Michael Steinman for his post on practicing kindness, “Enlarging the Corner.” Michael’s big heart will inspire you.
Ed Mooney for his post, “The Pleasures of Aging.”
*To read the full posts, click on the writer’s underlined names.
