A good life at any age
30 September 2020 | 50 Faces 50 Lives
Over a year ago, I began the joyful task of collecting stories of people in their 60’s and beyond. I wanted to discover how different people made sense of ageing and how their early life experiences shaped their lives as elders. I call this collection of stories 50 Faces 50 Lives. The intention is to learn how to age well from your shared experience. Even though our stories are very different…what are the common threads that resonate with the experience of older people living life fully?
Last year I met with many wonderful people and over a cuppa in various locations. There was the wonderful artist Petrus Spronk and conversations at the kitchen table in his forest home. The musician, Maggie Jackson told of us growing up in a large catholic family and a home full of music. Over a glass of wine with views over acres of vineyard. I met with Graeme Leith. owner of Passing Clouds winery and heard the story of his labour of love in creating this winery. I met Di Percy, the amazing woman who has recently finished writing a book about grief. It’s with the publisher at this time. And in Indonesia I had an extraordinary conversation about ageing with Dewa Putra. From Dewa I learned that concepts of ageing are deeply rooted in the cultural setting of life and this opened a vast space in my thinking beyond the mantra of ageing – eat well, exercise, have purpose. I need to explore diverse cultures to broaden concepts of ageing. You can read all these stories in the 50 Faces 50 Lives section of this mag.
The stories slowed this year because of the Corona virus but hopefully, soon I will again meet more amazing people and complete the book 50 Faces 50 Lives.
Against this backdrop, it was very special this week to receive the gift of Maureen Moffatt’s story. You may remember her wonderful diary of a Tuscan foodie adventure, published here last year. Our Canadian Viva70 creative friends, Inge and Maureen sent through this wonderful story. I’ve never met Maureen but through her words I know the spirit of this warm, vital and lovely woman. One sentence in particular in her story is telling….
“When I started I wasn’t sure what it was about, I only knew I had to do it.” I think in this one sentence Maureen has captured an essential lesson for a good life!
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Over a year ago, I began the joyful task of collecting stories of people in their 60’s and beyond. I wanted to discover how different people made sense of ageing and how their early life experiences shaped their lives as elders. I call this collection of stories 50 Faces 50…
30 September 2020 | 50 Faces 50 Lives
A guiding principle of The Good Life is to have purpose, live fully and make each day count. Viva 70 was created to shine a spotlight on this idea for people over 50 and heading into their years of Elderhood. But what if you approach your later years living with…
17 June 2020 | 50 Faces 50 Lives
I’m in Bali and I’ve found the person who will be my driver for my 2 week stay. The first trip is to a local shopping mall. As he skillfully navigates the insane traffic with an air of quiet and calm he is warm and friendly without being too familiar….
17 February 2020 | 50 Faces 50 Lives
Do you like a good thriller for entertainment? I really like well written who – dun – it with a clever plot, well formed and intriguing characters and an outcome that you cannot predict. It’s a curious form of entertainment where goosebumps, flinching at knives being drawn and mild hyperventilation…
4 September 2020 | Arts
One of the things I most love about travelling to the UK is watching television! That’s right. Skip the Tower of London, turn right at Madam Tussauds, do a wide arc on Buck Palace and instead watch British TV! I always seem to find high quality drama series running what…
21 August 2020 | Arts
A rainy Sunday and a random exploration of Netflix concert films. I discover Bob Dylan’s The Rolling Thunder Review directed by Martin Scorsese and the Rolling Stones Shine The Light also directed by Martin Scorsese. What a great afternoon! While concerts are no – go zones in our new world…
14 August 2020 | Arts
Picture this… a moody rainy day saying” leave me alone, I just want to hang low today….” 7am mist and mud. The cat is at boarding school while I sit on boxes munching on a stale croissant and a glass of water for breakfast. The big truck pulls up and…
2 October 2020 | Life-Style
Dear Readers The feature image says it all! I hope you’re having a good week and you’re managing to find joy in this very strange world. What are you looking forward too? What are the new and interesting things you are doing right now? For me life is really simple…Pack…
28 August 2020 | Life-Style
Currently, we need permits to cross from one state to another within Australia. If you live in Victoria you are persona non grata interstate. Think …… The Black Death. Cross border travel permits are few and far between. There are exceptions. I’m thinking here of the member of a wealthy,…
21 August 2020 | Life-Style
It’s the perfect storm for creating anxiety and fear, particularly here in Melbourne at this time, but also across the world. A summer of ” unprecedented” bushfires. Then an ” unprecedented” Covid-19 pandemic for which there is no cure. A predicted ” unprecedented” economic disaster and images of Australians in…
3 September 2020 | Living Well
Are you going stir-crazy? Run out of crosswords? Sick of banana bread? I invite you to a lock-down party… When? Now or now-ish Dress Code? Fancy or not fancy Equipment? You. The attached video clips Especially good when……. your energy/ mood is flagging Requirements… Just dance until the clips stop…hands…
2 September 2020 | Living Well
” There is nothing older than not wanting to grow old. Our world presents us with a disastrous image of old age. We are afraid of dying badly, of ending our lives alone, unloved, perhaps dependent or suffering from dementia. Instead of confronting this fear, we ward it off by…
5 August 2020 | Living Well