InSpiritry

“I love that simple story that ends on a grace note,

and you go, ‘Wow, I’m just happy to be alive right now.’”

Cameron Crowe

We all love a story; here’s a chance to hear one! 

As much as the economy needs a boost, the Friday after Thanksgiving can be more than a shopping frenzy (who thought up the frightening title Black Friday for a day people are buying gifts anyway!?). Friday, November 27, 2009, is the second annual National Day of Listening, a day to spend time in conversation with someone you care about! Sponsor National Public Radio and the event’s founder suggest we use the day to each become autobiographers, interviewing people in our lives to document their stories. (more…)

       “Value your relationships.”  Barbara Bush

Lately, I have been thinking about relationships and the strength they bring to our lives.

With that on my mind, this week I read an insightful article  about “the power of many” in an investment newsletter. As evidence of how personal relationships empower us in the midst of these unsettled economic times, the article noted an interesting custom I read about several years ago in Dan Buettner’s eye-opening book, The Blue Zones: Lessons for Living Longer from the People Who’ve Lived the Longest .

The custom comes from the island of Okinawa, where for years people have formed social cooperatives called moai. Essentially, moai are informal groups formed by people who want to count on and cooperate with each other. (more…)

We all profit if our healthcare system is transformed…

and that profit will not be just financial! 

This week in Washington, the hot topic is healthcare. Those with an eye on the cost and scope of expanding healthcare are calling for reform. Those with a heart for medical care as a humanitarian mission are calling for healthcare to be transformed. Most of us, confused and concerned with how to provide healthcare for our own family and others, are somewhere in between. (more…)

Be the change you wish to see in the world.  Gandhi

With the Republican nominee decided and the Democratics yet to find consensus on a candidate,  the Presidential primaries have offered some interesting revelations:

• Women are not all voting for the only woman running.
• Blacks are not all lined up behind the one Black candidate.
• Experienced Senators are having trouble getting credit for long careers of hard-fought accomplishments.
• New young voters have turned out in record numbers for a candidate who seems young.
• The buzzword has been “change.”

What is going on?

I would suggest that we are experiencing the early pangs of a syndrome we, Baby Boomers, should recognize:

A Generation Gap!

Yes, there is growing evidence that the country is divided along generational lines with a disconnect between old and young.  Think about it:

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A 79-year-old-mother of five and grandmother of twelve with a lifetime of experience in early childhood education volunteers as a grandmother for troubled children at her local elementary school.

An 84-year-old Marine who began writing award-winning poetry in her 50s now mentors young poets via email submissions

A 70-year-old retired professor serves as a supervisor for probationers on Saturdays building wheelchair ramps for needy local residents

These amazing anecdotes are not inspirational fiction–they are about friends of mine, one of whom is my mother! In fact, they and so many others are more than friends, they are my elders. (more…)