I’ve chosen trailblazers in literature, music, painting, political activism and medicine. Many communities lost their own notable...
What We Like About Getting Older
Research has found that older women are discovering that age has unanticipated rewards. Setting aside the usual physical symptoms like arthritis, decreased flexibility and stamina, the older woman sparkles in new ways. She frequently finds herself more content and more confident, while still full of dreams. Eager to capture individual [...]
Pat Taub
Have We Forgotten How to Talk?
“We’ve forgotten how to talk to each other,” laments Sherry Turkle in her latest book, “Reclaiming Conversation.” Turkle lays the blame on smartphones, which have largely replaced in-person conversation, where “talk” is relegated to texts and emails. These short, scripted exchanges in cyberspace have replaced the deep connections [...]
Pat Taub
Mary Oliver: Poetry That Heals
I feel like I’m living inside the song, “Stop the World I Want to Get Off,” as I reel from our climate crisis, Afghanistan’s unraveling and a new Covid surge. Mary Oliver to the rescue! I pull one of her poetry books from my shelf, find a quiet place to stretch out and start to read. Oliver’s poems are balm for my soul. They settle [...]
Pat Taub
Friday the 13th, A New Diet, A New Book & More!
Friday the 13th Today is Friday the 13th, a date long regarded as signifying bad luck. However, this wasn’t always the case. In the Neolithic period, when many societies were goddess worshipping, Friday the 13th was sacred. It was known as “Venus Day,” because it represented the 13 lunar moon cycles and the average female has 13 [...]
Pat Taub
Waking Up to Climate Change
I have to make a confession: I have been a bad climate citizen. While I have been moved to the core by this summer’s record smashing heat, wildfires and floods, in response, I have done little more than wring my hands and exchange feelings of despair with friends. This weekend I read the book, All We Can Save, which hit me like a ton of [...]
Pat Taub
We’re All Done with Sex!
Over a recent Sunday brunch with two single women friends both, like me, in their ‘70’s, the conversation turned to sex, but not in the same way it did when we were decades younger, sharing juicy tidbits about our sex lives. This time the conversation centered on how sex had lost its appeal. One friend, B confessed to having lost interest [...]
Pat Taub
“I Hate Getting Old”
I recently received an email from a WOW reader, who confessed to being angry about aging: “I hate getting old. I hate the wrinkles, sleep problems and bouts of loneliness . . . I hate having aged out of the dating scene.” The reader’s complaints carry a universal ring in our ageist and sexist culture, which presents a formidable [...]
Pat Taub
Sexism at the Olympics, “Pose,” “Roadrunner”, & More!
Sexism at the Olympics What year are we living in? Apparently the Tokyo Olympic Committee thinks we’re still in the Dark Ages as they went about punishing an athlete for wanting to breast feed; another because she is blind and deaf and in need of a guide; or fining Norway’s women’s beach handball players for wearing shorts rather [...]
Pat Taub
Summer Reads For Every Mood
This year’s list of summer reads are books that I got so lost in that I stayed up well past my usual bedtime, or overlooked social gatherings with friends. I’ve compiled a wide range of books to fit a variety of moods, transporting you to 17th century Boston, the worlds of magic realism, psychological thrillers, and important social thinkers. [...]
Pat Taub
The Wisdom Path
The writer, Lily Iona MacKenzie admits that she finds aging hard, but when asked if there are advantages to being an older woman, Lily offers a big smile, followed by the response, “I get to celebrate my wisdom.” But what if one is having trouble accessing her wisdom? For help in getting on the wisdom path, I’ve compiled responses [...]
Pat Taub