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The Sage-ing Guild Communicator
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May 2009 |
2009-2 |
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In This Issue •News & Events •Ideas •Of Interest •Links •Membership •Merchandise •E-Letters Coordinating Circle Gary Carlson, ChairJudy Charlick Lorri Danzig Cheryl Goodman Johanna Lessner Trudy Medcalf Sandy Sabersky Paul Severance Contributors Judith Helburn, editorMary Lou Bates Terry Jones Jeanne Marsh Rosalie Muschal-Reinhardt Marian Van Eyk McCain Sandy Sabersky Contact Us www.sage-ingguild.orgMembershipWisdom Circle: Key figures who have made significant contributions for elders in the world and who share our vision of "changing the paradigm from aging to Sage-ing®." We are honored to have the following sages in our Wisdom Circle: Rabbi Zalman Schachter-Shalomi, Angeles Arrien, Robert Atchley, Connie Goldman, Richard Leider, Wendy Lustbader, Rick Moody, and William Thomas. Professional members: Our membership is always open to both Certified Sage-ing Leaders and Sage-ing Circle Facilitators. Our trained Professional Sage-ing Guild members who by supporting the SG have access to the members-only web site and receive discounts for SG events and merchandise among other advantages. Associate members: Benefits of Associate membership include:
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Welcome! To the Sage-ing Guild's e-letter. Our vision is To change the paradigm from aging to Sage-ing. You are receiving this because you are either a member of the Sage-ing Guild or a Sage-ing Leader. If you do not wish to continue receiving this newsletter, planned for three or four times a year, click to unsubscribe. The Sage-ing Guild Communicator is open to anyone who is interested in conscious aging. One may sign up by sending an email to . Mission Statement: To change the paradigm of aging by building a community of leaders to transmit the wisdom of Sage-ing. OUR TEACHERS ARE THE THREADS WHICH WEAVE THE SAGE-ING GUILD TOGETHER! A-musing"If you tell me, coyly, that you are 70 [or however many] years 'young,' [which women frequently do] I cannot help but infer that you regard the word 'old' as at worst an insult or at best, something to be avoided. And that, I must remind you, is an ageist attitude. Same with '...but I am young at heart.' Rubbish. Your heart is the same age as the rest of your internal organs. It may beat strongly and you may be full of joy and zest and enthusiasm for living, but that doesn't make you young. It simply means you are full of joy and zest and enthusiasm for living, and so we should all be, whether we are 5 or 50 or 93 or any other age." From Sage-ing Leader, Mary Lou Bates: After the bombing in Oklahoma City, a crisis telephone hotline, currently called HeartLine was instituted. From HeartLine, three programs with trained speakers emerged: one which targeted the issue of teen suicide in the middle and high schools; another, a GateKeeper program, connected seniors or concerned friends with resources assisting the homebound such as daily phone contact. The third program, HALT (Healthy Aging Living Transitions) is HeartLine's Senior Suicide Awareness and Prevention Program which was to increase awareness of seniors in crisis, and provide knowledge about the causes of suicidal behavior and the warning signs in at-risk seniors. This program teaches ways to intervene with suicidal seniors and provide resources where these seniors could get help. No civic organizations came forth to sponsor these presentations, and consequently HALT is on hold. When I [Mary Lou] asked the program coordinator what the problem was, she said when she called trying to get these programs "out there" she was told that when someone is old and contemplating suicide, they have made up their minds, and don't need intervention. Talk about Ageism. As an instructor for the Volunteers training to be Advocates for the frail elders in the court system, I always have speakers from HALT and GateKeeper programs to make these volunteers aware of suicidal behaviors and the preventable measures. News & Events
Ideas• Titles for sessions, workshops & talks
• Circles Begin your own Elder Council or Sage-ing Circle using the Sage-ing Workbook as your guide. Buy one from our Merchandise site. Of Interest• Spirituality & Aging: the Journey of Life Conference, August 19-21. San Marcos, Texas. $180. For more information, contact (512-245-8234), or see the flyer. • Have aches and pains? Forgive! From Jeanne Marsh, new Certified Sage-ing Leader. See the Arthritis Foundation's website for more information. • A Hidden Wholeness: the Journey Towards an Undivided Life, by Parker Palmer. A book about creating Circles of Trust. • Marian Van Eyk McCain. The author of Transformation through Menopause; Elderwoman: Reap the Wisdom, Feel the Power, Embrace the Joy; and The Lilypad List: 7 steps to the simple life. • Meeting Ancient Wisdom-2. Ron Pevny is co-creating a pilgrimage to Copper Canyon to be with elders of the Tarahumara people. Perhaps you will feel called to this opportunity to deepen your conscious eldering work while accompanying Ron, Elizabeth Cogburn, and Jan and Mireya Milburn of the Milburn Foundation to stunningly beautiful Copper Canyon this coming late October and early November. For more information, see the flyer, in which you will find an overview of this pilgrimage, which we call "Meeting Ancient Wisdom, Growing Into Elderhood #2." • Time Magazine, March 23, 2009. "Amortality" by Catherine Mayer. "Amortality is about more than just the ripple effect of baby boomers' resisting the onset of age. Amortaility is a stranger, stronger alchemy, created by the intersection of that trend with a massive increase in life expectancy and a deep decline in the influence of organized religion—all viewed through the blue haze of Viagra" • The Making of an Elder Culture, by Theodore Roszak. "Aging changes consciousness more surely than any narcotic; it does so gradually and organically. It digests the experience of a lifetime and makes us different people - sometimes so different that we are amazed, embarrassed, or even ashamed at the person we once were." To read an excerpt from the book, go here. • AARP's "U@50" contest. Do young people have a gloomy view of the future and of their life after age 50? For a more hopeful, and paradoxical, answer to that question look at the prize-winning video produced by AARP's "U@50" contest, which gave cash awards to college students who created the best short video depicting life after 50. A big winner was "Lost Generation," now viewed more than 5 million times on YouTube. • Atlantic, June, 2009. "What makes us happy?" Joshua Wolf Shenk on the Harvard/Grant longitudinal study and George Vaillant. Click to read more and see a short video. Links• Angeles Arrien is a member of the Sage-ing Guild Wisdom Circle. Her book, The Second Half of Life: Opening the Eight Gates of Wisdom, is outstanding. • Marian Van Eyk McCain's meeting place for women of age, maturity and wisdom. If you want to join our new group about Sage-ing Women, . • National Center for Creative Aging now has a blog where we will share our thoughts on creativity, aging and the world, and where we will give you helpful links and other information. • Sacred Dying Foundation is dedicated to challenging the way our society experiences death and dying. The Foundation's primary goal is to return the sacred to the act of dying by serving those who are at the end-of-life. • Adesa Community: Fostering the idea that all age groups interacting together are integral for physical, emotional, and spiritual wellness is of prime importance to us at Adesa. We will promote healthy extended lives by living in community in natural rhythms and natural ways. |
