Jory's post this week: a tough one to write. My dedication to my Dad, who passed away last week. All I'll say is that blogging about my last few weeks with him, and contemplating our bittersweet relationship was almost as therapeutic as all of the warm thoughts forwarded via the Blogosphere. Think blogging has no personal benefit? Read and think again.
How to let your Ex Go: ThirdAge Relationship expert Rinatta Paries answers the question: How do you say goodbye to a failed relationship that you are convinced was meant to be?
How to stay positive during the holidays: Whatever holiday is on your calendar in December - Christmas, Hanukkah, Kwanzaa - it is sometimes is a challenge to stay positive in the midst of the commercialism and general hub-bub. Lucy MacDonald of Positive Perspectives offers a few ways to stay positive during the holidays.
The Fire Circle Story: Steve Sherlock from Steve's 2 Cents remarks that blogging is not such a new art--after all, most bloggers are storytellers, the oldest art in the book. His reflections of contemporary storytelling offer some keen words of advice: "Forget about the masses. They are lost for now; you can do nothing for them," he says. "...You put on your own oxygen mask first before you can help another...Focus on the voice and those who heed it."
Paging Doctor Paramedic: Photoblogger Joan Perry tells the story of a remarkable biology professor who starts anew in midlife as a...paramedic!
Being just a little too late: Life isn't always like the film Terms of Endearment; we can't always be at the bedside of our loved ones when they pass away, hard as we may try. Healthy Concerns blogger Elisa Camahort writes about decisions she and others her age are being forced to make for their ailing parents and grandparents, "I'm getting to the age where more and more people I know are dying or are having close relatives/friends die. Wrinkles and random body aches are no big deal. But this part of aging kinda sucks."
The Secrets of a Savvy Seasonal Shopper: On her personal blog, Elisa Camahort writes: My friends and family envy my shopping skills. It's an in-joke in my family that I'm done by Thanksgiving every year. They think it's because I'm especially anal or perhaps this year they think it's because I have more time on my hands. But that's not why I'm inevitably done with my own shopping and helping other people with theirs by early December." She offers up some tops for those of us who are more shopping challenged.
Elder Care and Elder Rage: According to ThirdAge Elder Care expert Jacqueline Marcell: Eldercare is becoming a prominent aspect of many Baby Boomers’ lives as they suddenly get thrust into the role of “caregiver” for an ailing parent—most often after a crisis. But first-time caregivers are typically unprepared for the tremendous physical, emotional and financial challenges, and often become overwhelmed trying to find the right doctors, diagnoses and treatments–as their own lives go on interminable hold. She offers a primer for anyone in a caregiving, or contemplating a caregiving role.
What happens in your body when you're grieving?: ThirdAge blogger Pat Samples discusses how grief manifests itself in our bodies: "The body has stored up those losses, some of which may not have been fully grieved, and so the grieving person's body feels foreign and out of control," she writes. She explains how to release grief, and how to help loved ones release theirs.
Like Me...Like Me Not: The New Charm School's Jennifer Warwick touches upon the delicate balance executive women often fail to strike between being inauthentically aggressive and milquetoast. She writes: "The skills that propelled them up the career ladder - assertiveness, decisiveness, and asking directly for what they want - are no longer serving them. Likeability is a key asset in the workplace, as in other areas of life; and these women’s unintentional unlikeability is hitting their paychecks just as hard as if they never learned to negotiate in the first place."
Lesson Plan: Marilyn at California Fever offers up some of the things she's learned by age 50. A preview: "The road less traveled may have less traffic, but it will still be rife with potholes and detours..."
Overcoming scarcity thinking: "There is a place where giving is painless and receiving is selfless. Find that place in your own life, and move towards it," says Steve Pavlina, who looks at the art of tithing, or giving away a tenth of one's income to a cause, such as a church. If you can't tithe there are other ways to give of oneself and achieve a balance between giving and receiving.
Feeding Your Feelings with a Fork? Try a Little Innercise: If the holidays bring on emotions that leave you feeling sad, drained, or blue—do something positive for yourself, says ThirdAge Nutrition Expert Dr. Susan Mitchell. She writes about diverting yourself from the refuge of food during the most classically stressful time of the year.
Of Journals, Journeys, Julie and Julia: Evelyn Rodriguez of Crossroads Dispatches writes about the stages of the pilgrimage that is our life, and one stage in particular. "As the movie rolls forward on the screen, this is where the obstacles, tests, ogres, and the ordeal begins. Mr.Campbell's trial and initiation." And it's about how journeys and journaling have gone together since time immemorial.
Some of my consulting experiences have felt like I was meeting crazy in-laws for the first time. Once I step into their "home" I can feel the dysfunction. The unloved children, the favorites, the ones who feel entitled. Some people walk by you without saying a word; some seem put out by your presence; some seem seriously worried. You represent a manager's decision that maybe some people don't respect, or a position that someone in the company was vying for that she didn't get because you were hired instead, or a reiteration of a project that has been done unsuccessfully many times before.
