Sage-ing Guild Communicator - Feb. 2011 :: The Sage-ing Guild

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:

Knowledge that they're supporting the Guild in its work for elders
Knowledge that they're supporting the Sage-ing work of Reb Zalman
Networking with other members thru listserv
Discounts on merchandise
E-newsletter
Regional association with other Guild members

Discounts on regional, national meetings, intensive weekends

Please see the Sage-ing Guild website

for details, including membership forms.

In response to those who find the membership dues too dear, we will honor any Sage-ing Leader who sends what s/he feels is appropriate with membership.

E-Letters

If you are a member of the Sage-ing Guild, please feel free to contribute to this occasional e-letter.

Merchandise

New prices for our books in our inventory!

While supplies last, books in our bookstore are being sold at a discounted price. For example, the book

From Age-ing to Sage-ing: A Profound New Vision of Growing Older by Rabbi Zalman Schacter-Shalomi and Ronald Miller is now being offered at a lower price. For SG members, the price begins at $7.16 (1-4 copies), $6.26 for five or more copies.Non-members pay $8.95.

Free S/H in the U.S. For international orders, please e-mail for S/H.

Check out the bookstore at the Sage-ing Guild web site for more selections.

The Sage-ing Workbook

Previously published by SEI has been revived by Bahira Sugarman, Reb Shaya Isenberg and Lynne Iser (which they originally compiled in 1996). It now is in a beautiful new 83-page format for the Sage-ing Guild, with 35 photographs that greatly enhance its appearance and its effectiveness.

The Sage-ing content is not changed, just its appearance, which adds a deeper meaning to the words. We now have a variety of Sage-ing materials on the Guild website. From Age-ing to Sage-ing is also available from our website, as are audio and video tapes.

Reflections

Understanding others is knowledge

Understanding oneself is enlightenment

Conquering others is power

Conquering oneself is strength;

Contentment is wealth

Forceful conduct is willfulness;

Not losing one’s rightful place is to endure

To die but not be forgotten is longevity.

- Tao te ching 77[33]

An individual has not started living until he can rise above the narrow confines of his individualistic concerns to the broader concerns of all humanity.

- Martin Luther King, Jr.

The world has enough for everyone’s need, but not enough for everyone’s greed.

- Gandhi

The Impact of Sage-ing

by Gary Carlson, PhD, CSL, SCF

This morning, as Charlotte and I were walking on the ditch bank with our dog Chloe, we were discussing the impact that sage-ing and the Sage-ing Guild have in our lives and the world. I had some exciting thoughts about this that I would like to share with you.

I think most of us might agree that sage-ing currently has a beneficial impact on the lives of a relatively small number of persons who somehow learn about it. And probably the main impact that the Sage-ing Guild has in the world today is the impact that each of its Sage-ing Leaders, as ambassadors of sage-ing, has on individuals that we may encounter, either in our daily lives or in the educational opportunities that we provide (lectures, classes, workshops, conferences).

Of course, there are also significant impacts that people feel who have only read From Age-ing to Sage-ing or who somehow get to our website and experience sage-ing through that lens. But largely, I believe it is the one-on-one work that we Sage-ing Leaders do that has the greatest impact today.

What if there were an even broader impact in the future? What if through our collective efforts as a Guild, people were exposed to sage-ing thoughts and ideas through a wide variety of new sources--YouTube, Facebook, iTunes University, TED talks, blogs, stories, new books on sage-ing, radio interviews, TV documentaries, etc. All the social media and publicity outlets that we could think of. Ideas tested (by others) through social, medical, psychological and educational research. Book signings for authors of new conscious aging books. Interviews on Good Morning America and The View and Oprah.

The Guild has recently formed an Outreach Committee to begin to develop some of these opportunities. The focus of the Outreach Committee is to reach as many individuals as possible, and expose them to sage-ing philosophy. We hope that this will educate people to the benefits of adopting a sage-ing outlook on life, and encourage them to become more involved in sage-ing activities, either as leaders or participants. We also plan to collaborate with other like-minded groups to increase the visibility of this sage-ing/conscious aging work.

And what if this exposure to sage-ing philosophy and principles began to change people's thinking about....not just their aging process and how to make that more joyful and productive, but also their whole values system.

What if people began really to own the concept that the quality of our relationships is a more important measure of our wealth and well-being than the size of our bank account?

What if people actually began to take seriously our responsibility to serve others and to make this a better world for the next seven generations?

What if people really embraced their spirituality, their God-ness within, and in this saw their interconnections with all living things and their responsibility to nurture the earth?

What if this led to a tipping point in which the social and economic systems world-wide were changed to ones where each person in each country was valued, and where creating opportunities for all was more important than creating wealth for individuals?

Do you suppose we might think of this as a long-term goal for the Guild? I would like to think that we, working alongside other groups of enlightened persons, could really do this.

So this might be one more way to think about the payoff of our potential involvement in outreach activities--not just for the Guild and its well-being, but also for the well-being of all the people on this earth. Too big a goal? Too naive? Too idealistic? Unreachable? Maybe so, but also very exciting and potentially tremendously impactful. What do you think?

Our GPS for the Second Half of Life

by Barbara Warner

”Back to the Future” was a 1985 movie starring Michael J. Fox. I smile when I read that title and consider that this is the direction that many of us are taking on our journey in the second half of life. It doesn’t get us where we want to go. We need to consider that we now have an internal GPS system, which needs frequent attention. (A GPS system is a navigational system used in vehicles)

Try this experiment. Close your eyes. Let’s get a visual image of ourselves walking backwards. We are walking into our future. We don’t know where to put our feet. Are we going to fall over a cliff or into a river? The scenery might be very beautiful but it’s too scary to turn around and look. After all, death is at the end of this path. We don’t know how far away it is or what it will look like when we find it. We have heard many stories about this time of life and most of them aren’t good. For the rest of the article, click on the following link:

http://www.mynewsletterbuilder.com/email/newsletter/1410738293

SG News and Events

For those interested in our upcoming Sage-ing Leader Certification program, we have now confirmed the location and dates for our initial training weekend to be held on June 25-26, 2011 at the following location (approximately 20 miles from the Indianapolis airport):

Benedict Inn Retreat & Conference Center

1402 Southern Ave.

Beech Grove, IN 46107

317-788-7581

The second and final training weekend will be held in June 2012, also in South Bend, Indiana. I know many of you are already making vacation plans for summer 2011, so please mark this date on your calendars!

Attending a “Sage-ing Intensive” weekend is a pre-requisite for application to our certification and training program. If you already attended an Intensive in the past three years and would like to apply for the June 2011- June 2012 training session, I encourage you to complete and mail your application soon. My contact information is listed below.

If you have not attended an Intensive in the past three years, I've included our 2011 Intensive schedule. Once you have attended an Intensive, you may complete and mail your application. Intensive brochures, registration forms, and updated information can also be found on our website at (http://www.sage-ingguild.org/calendar/training.php).

2011 Sage-ing Intensive Schedule:

Title: Say Yes to Life: Changing the Paradigm from Aging to Sage-ing

Dates: March 26-27, 2011

Location: Albuquerque NM

Cost: $275; $250 Guild Associate Members; $150 repeaters

Facilitators: Gary Carlson () and Charlotte Carlson

Title: Changing the Paradigm from Aging to Sage-ing

Dates: April 2-3, 2011

Location: The Cenacle, Chicago IL

Cost: $275; $250 Guild Associate Members; $150 repeaters

Facilitators: Michele Baldwin ( 312-337-0506) and Judith Helburn ( 512-454-7229)

Title: The Journey From Age-ing to Sage-ing: A Canadian Intensive

Dates: April 9 & 16, 2011

Location: Kitchener ON

Cost: $250 Canadian; $225 Guild Associate Members; $125 repeaters)

Facilitator: Alice Belling ( 416-259-4903)

Title: Aging With Wisdom: A Sage-ing Intensive

Dates: April 29 - May 1, 2011

Location: Seattle, WA

Cost: $275; $250 Associate Members; $150 repeaters

Facilitators: Carol Scott-Kassner ( 206-257-1161) and Pat Lewis ( 206-322-9211)

Maureen Dobson, MSW, CSL

Training Coordinator, Sage-ing® Guild

303-819-2588

New Bookstore Prices

We are switching to the Amazon Associate Program and want to close out our inventory of books by our Wisdom Circle members. Go to merchandise in this SGC to see the new prices.

In addition, to make our Sage-ing Workbook more available to both members and non-members, we have lowered the cost of multiple copies. The prices below are listed as SG Member Price, then, Non-Member Price: (1-5 copies) $24 ea/ $29 ea; (6-10 copies) $14 ea/ $19 ea; (11+ copies) $12 ea/ $17 ea. Shipping and handling in the US is included. Email for shipping/handling price quote if ordering from outside the US.

Choosing Conscious Elderhood

Choosing Conscious Elderhood (May 1-7), Ghost Ranch, New Mexico) is a retreat-center based rite of passage for people in or approaching their senior years who seek to deepen their experience of purpose, passion and call to service. The retreat includes a day of solitude in the powerful, spectacular landscape made famous by artist Georgia O’Keefe, as well as ceremony, council and conscious eldering practices. This retreat, offered since 2002, is co-sponsored by the Sage-ing Guild and the Center for Conscious Eldering. For more information, contact Ron Pevny, CSL, at 970-247-7943 or visit www.centerforconsciouseldering.com and click on “Upcoming Programs."

Of Interest

AoA has announced that the theme for Older Americans Month in May 2011 is Older Americans: Connecting the Community. Watch here for more details as they become available or check the AoA website. http://olderamericansmonth.org/

Aging as an Artist

As artists age, they never lose their creative impulse; in fact, the second half of life may be a time when an artist produces his or her best work, thanks to the culmination of maturity and wisdom later in life. But galleries and curators are often not welcoming to older artists, exhibiting tendencies towards ageism, the latest in a series of -isms that has plagued the art world. Author Karen Atkinson suggests several strategies that older adult artists can use to overcome discrimination based on age, and also reminds older artists of the importance of estate planning. Huffington Post, October 15, 2010 [National Center for Creative Aging] MORE>

Taking Early Retirement May Retire Memory, Too

An analysis published recently in The Journal of Economic Perspectives suggests that that the earlier people retire, the more quickly their memories decline. The research showed a direct correlation between the percentage of people in a country who are working at age 60 to 64 and their performance on memory tests: the longer each country's cohort worked, the better their performance on these tests in their early 60s. However, correlations do not imply causation, nor do they prove that there is a clinical significance to the changes in scores. Dr. Richard Suzman, associate director for behavioral and social research at the National Institute on Aging, notes that it is nevertheless a strong preliminary finding with plenty of follow-up questions. "Is it the social engagement and interaction or the cognitive component of work, or is it the aerobic component of work?" he asked. "Or is it the absence of what happens when you retire, which could be increased TV watching?"

The New York Times, October 11, 2010 [National Center for Creative Aging]

Aging in America: Annual Conference of the American Society on Aging

April 26-30, 2010San Francisco, California. http://www.asaging.org/aia11/

According to a government survey, more than 40 percent of adults aged 60-69 use some form of complementary and alternative medicine. For more on this trend, visit the NIH National Center for Complementary and Alternative Medicine at:

http://nihseniorhealth.gov/cam/toc.html [Human Values in Aging/Rick Moody]

Life Humbles You

by Nyles Gunderson, Age 99

"When you're young, you don't realize what you're up against. You think all those grown-ups sure have compromised. They definitely don't know how to live right. You swear there's no way you'll ever be like that. No way.

Then it starts. You run into some bad luck. Even good luck can get you stuck in a certain direction.

The years go by. You find things out. Some of your best-laid plans go bust.

Pretty soon, there comes a day when some young guy with a chip on his shoulder gives you that look. He's swearing to himself never to be like you. You see it in his eyes. That's how it goes.

He won't understand till his time comes."

(From Wendy Lustbader, WHAT'S WORTH KNOWING, Tarcher, 2001). Ed. Note: Wendy Lustbader is a member of the SG Wisdom Circle.

________________

PSYCHIATRIC–MENTAL HEALTH NURSING

American Journal of Nursing Book of the Year Awards 2010:The most valuable texts of 2010, as chosen by AJN’s panel of judges.

Chosen by V. Jude Forbes-De La Cruz, MSN, RN-BC, FNP-C, APRN, advanced practice nursing psychiatric provider, Correctional Managed Care, University of Texas Medical Branch, Austin. AJN January 2011, Vol.111, No. 1

Dementia Beyond Drugs: Changing the Culture of Care By G. Allen Power. Baltimore, MD, Health Professions Press.

Power cites a statistic from Alzheimer’s Disease International that at least 5 million Americans have some form of dementia and 16 million are projected to have it by 2050. Everyone at least knows someone who’s been intimately affected by this disease, if they haven’t dealt with it themselves. It’s a disease that robs one of not only memories— good and bad—but also personality and in many cases of the dignity and wisdom that accompany aging.

Nevertheless, this is a book of hope and humor, and most of all a call to challenge the traditional biomedical model that medicates first rather than seeking alternatives. Reading it should be especially exciting for nurses, because it harks back to core nursing concepts and diagnoses—alteration in comfort, alteration in mood, and more. It offers an array of empirical, guided non-pharmacologic strategies that nurses, aides, and family members can implement without the potential harms of psychoactive drugs. It empowers the entire team to come up with creative solutions that foster safety and comfort without mechanically resorting to the aggressive use of psychoactives.

• Sets out digestible concepts that readily translate to a

broad audience

• Challenges all who are affected by dementia to forgo the

biomedical model and embrace an experiential model of

care and action

• Uses great storytelling style in anecdotes that both health

care providers and family members will be able to relate to.

Links

MetLife Institute offers a report detailing what is needed in order to improve today's current uncoordinated approach to Aging in Place.

http://www.metlife.com/assets/cao/mmi/publications/studies/2010/mmi-aging-place.pdf.

Barb Warner offers interactive talks, group workshops and speaking presentations to adults in the second half of life who would like to see this time of life in a new, exciting way http://powerfulaging.vpweb.com.

CHANGING AGING. Bill Thomas, creator of the Eden Alternative, now hosts a blog on the Picker Report, dedicated to promoting person-centered care by building a social network of elders, their advocates, care givers and families. [Harry Moody, Human Values in Aging] http://changingaging.org/2010/09/28/3690/

Dreams for the second half of life [Human Values in Aging] http://www.hrmoody.com/dreams.html

Positive Aging Newsletter. http://www.taosinstitute.net/2010-november-december. This has so many good short articles that I will not cut ‘n paste. Read the whole thing. Editor

LATE BLOOMERS. For an article on creativity in later life

http://www.aarp.org/personal-growth/life-long-learning/info-07-2010/unleash_your_inner_genius.html

CONTEMPLATIVE AGING. "Don't just do something, stand there!"

For an interview on the values of "contemplative aging" http://aginghorizons.com/2010/10/interview-contemplative-aging/

Coming early 2011 on PBS "Over 90 and Loving It" http://www.over90film.com/#showings

Get ready to smile at these photos by French photographer, Sacha Goldberger. [Practical Care Continuum] http://www.mymodernmet.com/profiles/blogs/grandmas-superhero-therapy-18

Mindfulness meditation training changes brain structure in 8 weeks

http://www.massgeneral.org/about/pressrelease.aspx?id=1329.

A friend of the couple who founded Home Instead Senior Care, Mary Maxwell was asked to give the invocation at the company’s 2009 Convention. Initially it seemed like a normal prayer, but it soon took a very funny turn. Her deadpan delivery and lines like …This is the first time I’ve ever been old… and it just sort of crept up on me … soon had the franchise owners rolling in the aisles… http://www.caregiverstress.com/2010/07/a-reminder-that-laughter-is-the-best-medicine/

Rembrandt painted his own self-portrait more often than any artist in history. In the last 20 years of his life he documented the changing image of his aging face with a depth of honesty and introspection that has rarely been equaled. His self-portraits of the aging face represent a chronicle of the shift from the heroic self of youth to the inward journey of the second half of life. [Human Values in Aging] http://www.rembrandtpainting.net/rembrandt_self_portraits.htm

CRONES AND CREATIVITY. Artist Helen Redman's exploration of images featuring women's journey through later life. [Human Values in Aging] http://www.birthingthecrone.com/

The Sage-ing Guild • P.O. Box 554 • Beech Grove, IN 46107

http://www.sage-ingguild.org

Subscribe | Unsubscribe | Send to a Friend | Preferences | Report Spam