Seniors

It has been raining for days, and through the kitchen window comes the scent of wet earth and damp greenery. The word for this week might very well be rain, but it is earth and ground that call to the senses and the imagination.The word earth dates from well before 950 CE, and it comes to us through the good offices of the Middle English erthe, the Old English eorthe; the Germanic Erde, Old Norse j?rth, Danish jord and the Gothic airtha, all springing from the Ancient Saxon eard meaning soil, home, or dwelling. All are related to the Latin aro, meaning to plough or turn over. Thus to be earthy or "of the earth" is simply to dwell here on the little blue planet, to be a steward, a gardener, a tender shepherd of wild places.Where on earth does one find words and images to express the wonder and beauty and sacredness of this little blue world in which we all walk and dream and live out our allotted days? I sit and mutter in front of the computer screen - I sort through archived images, come close to despairing and decide to renounce photography altogether before choosing something for this week. Giving up photography is unlikely to happen, but I am painfully aware of my creative shortcomings and sad that I cannot do better.We are all yearning for wholeness and connection, and we have only to look down at the good dark earth below our feet - we have only to look back on the journey we have taken this far and hopefully understand that we are part of Mother Earth as She is part of us. To borrow the words of wise woman and deep ecologist, Joanna Macy, "We are our world knowing itself".Here's another greening season, and there are signs, miracles and wonders wherever I look - there is no way I can capture them on a memory card, although my lens does its best, focusing with tenderness and a clear eye on what it "sees" in the great wide world. Deep gasshos to the Old Wild Mother, to Mother Earth who endures, forgives and strives to heal, who gifts us with another springtime and beauty everywhere . With thanksgiving and a whole heart full of wonder, may we all continue to witness her grandeur and patience and reciprocity, and may we be her fierce and loving advocates all the days of our earthly lives.

One of the tricky adjustments in retirement is figuring out your new identity.  I call it the cocktail party dilemma.  You meet someone new at a cocktail party, and one of the first questions they ask you is what you do.  And by “do,” they usually mean your job, not “do” like piano and blogging, unless of course you play at nightclubs or blog for the Huffington Post.  While I wasn’t really too attached to my accountant identity, it was a thread with which to weave a conversation.  And even though that conversation might eventually stretch into non-work related topics, that starter was useful fuel in launching most cocktail party chatter. After I retired, I found that telling people I was retired didn’t have the same effect of propelling the conversation forward.  I think that retiring right into a huge recession might have had something to do with that.  Perhaps some people thought “retired” was a euphemism for out of work, and were concerned about how to tiptoe around that possibility.  Other people responded by asking what I did all day, usually accompanied with the assertion that they would die of boredom if they retired.  And to be fair, when you list out what you can recall that you actually “do” all day, it does sound kind of boring.  But Bob Lowry recently made me realize that I now have solid credentials for a new identity.  After five years of retirement, at the next cocktail party I attend, I think I can safely call myself a professional retiree.  Not only have I spent all these years blogging here about retirement, I’ve blogged about it for U.S. News & World Report, as well as a few other finance blogs.   I’ve enjoyed contributing content to magazines and blogs, and to a book called “65 Things to Do When You Retire.”  In my role as professional retiree, I was interviewed for Laura Vanderkam’s book, “All the Money in the World,” and for one of her Fortune magazine articles, and then most recently for a post at Free Money Finance.   I was even on the radio a couple of times. But back to Bob Lowry.  He just published an eBook, “Living a Satisfying Retirement,” in which he interviews a bunch of retirees about our experiences in retirement.  Although as far as actual identities go, ours are all changed in the book.  But if you’re a regular reader of the blogs listed in the back of the book, you’ll find it pretty easy to figure out who’s who.  And since I’m embracing my new identity as a professional retiree, I’ll save you the guessing:  I’m “Shirley L.”  It’s a great read even for a “professional” like myself.  There are so many responses that I can totally relate to, like “Gail P’s” least favorite part of retirement, “Still only having 24 hours in a day.  That was a big surprise to me and I still feel cheated.”  I love “Roger W’s” advice to new retirees to “Go with the flow.  Don’t think that you can, or have to figure it all out ahead of time.  You will become a different person in retirement than you ever imagined, but the amazing thing is that the person you become will be pretty much up to you.” And while it was almost unanimous that people did not miss working, it was almost as unanimous that folks missed some of the day-to-day relationships of the workplace as well as “the camaraderie,” as “Doug N.” puts it. Bob also included some not-yet-retirees in his book.  I was surprised to read that for most pre-retirees, their target retirement date has not been affected by the recession, although financial concerns did loom fairly large.  And I’m happy to read the last question, “What is the one question you’d like a retired person to answer for you?” becau

Eyes of the World - Grateful Dead (studio version) According to the invaluable ANNOTATED GRATEFUL DEAD (linked above), by way of Deadhead Scott Robertson: "You are the eyes of the world" is a translation of the noted Buddhist practitioner Longchenpa's practical guide to the tantra (The Jewel Ship: A Guide to the Meaning of Pure and Total Presence, the Creative Energy of the Universe, byang chub kyi sems kun byed rgyal po'i don khrid din chen sgru bo). It was translated by Kennard Lipman and Merrill Peterson and published by Lotsawa of Novato, CA. I believe the change in name occurred after the last publication date of 1987. The song itself obviously held importance for the folks involved in its production for part of [Robert] Hunter's lyrics are printed opposite the title page. After reading the text the relationship becomes very clear since it instructs the reader how to experience pure presence. How many times at a show did I feel that...I chose the studio version for the multiple sweet, concise, sublime guitar solos. Just like a mountain breeze.

Fortunately, I injured my heel. Fortunately, the pain persisted. I finally saw my doctor who ordered a blood draw. The diagnosis was plantar fasciitis. I learned to deal with my foot, but I came home with something much more valuable: the blood draw revealed I was deficient in vitamin D. That was September 2011 and I was 51 years old. It was time to get serious. I began taking over-the-counter vitamin D tablets, 2,000 international units (IU) per day, for several months. I also began researching.Vitamin D isn’t, in fact, a vitamin at all.(1) It is a hormone that helps regulate calcium in the blood. In its active form, vitamin D affects much more than bone health because of its significant repair and maintenance capabilities. As we age it becomes more difficult to make vitamin D in the skin, and with a deficiency, less calcium is absorbed. This increases the risk for osteoporosis and fractures. Elderly adults deficient in vitamin D score lower on cognitive performance tests. Just as unnerving, 17 varieties of cancer, heart disease, stroke, hypertension, autoimmune diseases, diabetes, depression, chronic pain, osteoarthritis, muscle weakness, muscle wasting, birth defects, periodontal disease, and Parkinson’s disease are associated with vitamin D deficiency. (2)Prior to 2010, the daily vitamin D recommendation was set at levels to prevent rickets. This has since been revised by the Institute of Medicine (IOM) and changed from 400 IU to 600 IU for adults. The current consensus is that this is not enough. (3)I was shocked my levels dropped after 10 months of taking supplements. Instead of 20.5 nanograms per milliliter—optimal levels are between 30 and 100—it was worse at 15.2. At this point I was fairly puzzled since I don’t avoid the sun and I’d been taking 2,000 IU tablets daily, but something wasn’t working. That was July 2012, and it was time to get more serious. Since some people deficient in vitamin D respond best to high doses in gel form, my doctor recommended 50,000 IU gel caps weekly for 12 weeks. I decided to check again in October 2012 and to keep researching. One theme kept surfacing: older adults are at significant risk for vitamin D deficiency. Something else caught my eye: 100 percent of elderly women admitted to the hospital for osteoporosis-related fractures were vitamin D deficient, yet half were already taking vitamin D supplements. Clearly, we are not getting enough. Stay tuned for the next blog post about vitamin D: Who is at risk and how do we get more vitamin D? How do we know what is in the supplements we take? What happened to my levels after taking 50,000 IU weekly for 12 weeks? Karen Hoskins, RDH, MSGc Karen Hoskins is a master's candidate in the Gerontology program at the University of Indianapolis Center for Aging & Community and has been a dental hygienist for the past 30 years. Karen can be reached at klhoskins(at)yahoo(dot)com. (1) Khalsa, S. (2009). The vitamin d revolution. Carlsbad, CA: Hay House Inc. (2) Northrup, C. (2012). The wisdom of menopause. New York, NY: Bantam Books. (3) Dowd, J. E., & Stafford, D. (2012). The vitamin d cure. Hoboken, NJ: John Wiley & Sons, Inc.

When I asked this striking woman if I could take her photo, she replied, "People sometimes stop me and ask for my photograph. I guess they think I look pretty good for an old lady." She looks stunning for a woman of any age!!!

We are excited to announce the launch of the 2014 Eden Alternative International Conference website.  Check it out and get pumped up for Strike a Chord, Resonate Well-Being in Nashville, the Music City, from April 30 to May 2, 2014!  The conference theme highlights the power of the Eden Alternative Domains of Well-Being™ and how they [...]

One day recently on a Eden Registry Networking call we began to discuss ageism and its effects on society and our youth.

I recently turned 35 years old and got a little closer to my early retirement goal.  While I don’t always buy myself a birthday gift, I decided to do so this year.  I also had some fun of thinking about what I want.  I really don’t want any more electronics…I literally own everything I could think of using (which says a lot about my previous shopping).  Therefore I gave myself some permission to daydream a bit and I can up with an old idea: I wanted to buy a sword. Sword?!?! Yes, that sharp pointy thing made of steel.  You see I’m a geek and have been since about 15 years old and I love reading/watching fantasy type book/shows.  It’s one of my favorite forms of entertainment.  And I have wanted to buy a sword for those previous 20 years, but it always seemed like such a frivolous dream.  After all, what can one really use a sword for…it’s something to look at and perhaps cut some branches from a tree at most. Yet I came to realize that after paying off my mortgage, saving well and buying most my other wants…it is ok to buy that odd dream item.  $350 for a sword might sounds insane, but if you replace the word ‘sword’ with ‘art object’, it really isn’t that much different.  It’s main job is to look nice and to be honest, I only want to buy one.  It’s not like I’m starting a collection here. Yet this is me, so I did some serious online research on who makes a good sword, where to buy them and what to watch out for.  I came to realize that there are entire classes of swords.  First up is the stainless steel type that look nice, but you can never actual swing at anything.  Second, there are the ones used in movies and stage productions which are blunted and made lighter and third there are the actually usable swords made of  tempered carbon steel.  I went for the real one, I might only swing it a few times, but it’s a dream alright.  For more information check out this article. Then I learned there are styles from every point in history, plus copies of those used in movies.  So if you wanted a Lord of The Rings sword…you can buy one.  Needless to say it took my days just to look around at the options and further days to figure out what I like and didn’t and what I really wanted. In the end I bought the following sword (click to see a bigger image) and after 20 years of wanting one.  After all if I have wanted one for this long I think it is a good dream to fulfill.  So did you ever buy one of your long time dreams?  If so, which one?  If not, why not?

Clouds are flowing in the river, waves are flying in the sky.Life is laughing in a pebble. Does a pebble every die?Flowers grow out of the garbage, such a miracle to see.What seems dead and what seems dying makes for butterfliesto be.Life is laughing in a pebble, flowers bathe in morning dew.Dust is dancing in my footsteps and I wonder who is who.Clouds are flowing in the river, clouds are drifting in my tea,On a never-ending journey, what a miracle to be!Eveline Beumkes

Alzheimer's overwhelmingly negative brand associations have made it difficult to galvanize public support demanding effective treatments and prevention.