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...
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, [...]
Pat Taub
Women’s Communities10
Three Cheers for Feisty Old Broads
Do not go gentle into that good night, Old age should burn and rave at close of day. These immortal words of Dylan Thomas are a suitable motto for Feisty Old Broads, older women who reject the stereotype of the accommodating old lady. The FOB’s are women who are fearless in their individuality. They speak truth to power, laugh a lot, have [...]
Pat Taub
Don’t Wait…The Clock is Ticking
GUEST POST by PAT BESSEY Don’t wait! I have heard this before. However, after the loss of my husband LeRoy Lowell in January, it takes on a whole new meaning. This was my third marriage, and we were together for thirty-two years. My first marriage was when I was fifteen, a sophomore in high school and expecting a baby. That marriage ended [...]
Pat Taub
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 [...]
Pat Taub
Honoring Our Spiritual Mothers on Mother’s Day
I propose that we enlarge Mother’s Day so that we honor not just our biological mothers but also our spiritual mothers. These are the teachers, neighbors, aunts, family friends and others whose influence made an indelible impression on us. Frequently these women didn’t have their own children, but lovingly nurtured and guided the children [...]
Pat Taub
Soulful Spring Cleaning
Spring is typically the time when we tidy up our living spaces by washing windows, sorting kitchen cupboards, and getting rid of clothes we no longer wear. What if we applied this same thinking to our interior lives? What if we engaged in spring-cleaning for the soul? What would that look like? It might involve reworking the formula in [...]
Pat Taub
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
The Straight Scoop on Witches
With Halloween right around the corner, it’s an appropriate time to reflect on the origin of witches, and to understand how the village wise woman was turned into a representation of evil, becoming a “witch.” We have to travel back to the 1500’s in Western Europe, when women healers and midwives played a central role in village after [...]
Pat Taub
Are You Addicted to Apologizing?
You might be thinking, “What are you talking about? Apologies are my way of showing respect lest I appear insensitive or rude.” I’m not suggesting that there isn’t a place for apology in our lives, but most women apologize ad nauseum, which puts them at a disadvantage. When we constantly say, “I’m sorry” for a perceived upset [...]
Pat Taub
Women’s Friendships As A Lifeline
A friend once said, “If grown women had pajama parties, they wouldn’t need therapists.” She was referring to the close connections among girls that often get lost when women mature, becoming preoccupied with family and careers. Feminist psychology contends that because women are affiliative by nature they frequently find their voice [...]
Pat Taub
Slowing Down To The Speed Of Wisdom
GUEST POST by JUDITH NILAN When people join me on pilgrimage in Ireland, it’s a choice to step away from the rhythms of a busy life and slow down to a rhythm of deep listening and meditation. With the pandemic, we have been gifted that opportunity not by our own choosing. But here we are. And in this slowing down, within these new rhythms, [...]
Pat Taub