WOW: Women's Older Wisdom
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November 2024
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The Olive Tree

GUEST POST by TOM SANTULLI The olive tree outside my door and I met in a nursery  eleven years ago.  She was seven inches tall, in a one-gallon pot. Since then, she’s outgrown pots, and lived in a garden plot for a few years. Now, [...]

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Angela Davis10

What I Hold

This past weekend I hunkered down with treasured artist Maira Kalman’s latest book, Women Holding Things, a collection of playful drawings of women holding things accompanied by Kalman’s witty commentary. This delightful book prompted me to make a list of some of the things I hold along with those that will free me up if I stop holding [...]

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The Real Story of Witches

The saying, “History is written by the winners, “ applies to the story we’ve been told about witches as ugly, evil creatures.  Since today is Halloween, it’s the perfect time to set the record straight on witches. We have to travel back to the 1500’s in Western Europe, when women healers and midwives played a central role in village [...]

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Wise Women Speak

As a young woman, I never would have predicted that landing in my eighth decade would usher in the most content state of my life.  I expected the challenges of being in an aging body would sour my mood.  Instead, I finally grew up. I learned to reap the lessons from all my years of soul-searching, growing from romantic heartbreaks, career [...]

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Debunking “Successful Aging”

I rankle whenever I hear the term, “successful aging,” which has become the Boomers’ mantra.  I take issue because it implies there is a right and wrong way to age.  Successful aging is defined in terms of a self-centered wellness regime as opposed to a compassionate focus on the elder’s wisdom years, where giving back to society [...]

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Ageism is Real!

Ageism, defined as discrimination against the older adult, is very real in the lives of many, if not most, American women. The older woman loses her currency for no other reason than she looks her age. At work, her suggestions are frequently rejected; socially she is shunned because she no longer looks young; her adult children consider her [...]

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Help! My Time is Running Out!

As my birthdays pile up, I’m forced to face the fact that I’m running out of time. It feels scary. I’m healthy and financially secure, but no one lives forever.  How much time do I have left:  10 years, 15 years?  The last 10 years raced by. If the next 10 years are going to be equally accelerated, how can I make the most of them?  [...]

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Here Comes the Invisible Woman!

80 years have gone by and now it seems I’m not here at all. Here comes the invisible woman.  I can’t recall when it first happened. Don’t know how I became so unseen. My tangible self was put on the shelf. Why do I feel so much less then I am? There’s so much more of me now.  We might not have a choice, but we still have a voice. [...]

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The Older Woman Warrior

Who’s the older woman warrior? She’s the older woman, who believes in doing her part to make her community and the world a kinder, more just place. She cares deeply about the planet her children and grandchildren will inherit. She’s not afraid to stick her neck out. She figures she doesn’t have much to lose given her advanced age.  [...]

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Contemporary Suffragettes to the Rescue!

As inauguration day approaches, many of us are on pins and needles, worried that the Ultra Right that staged the Capital insurrection will create more violence when Biden is inaugurated. Washington resembles a third world country with 20,000 National Guard members everywhere the eye can see, and the White House newly cordoned off with metal [...]

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