“Each one of us will face an unexpected person who appears in our lives — and they’ll need YOU…”
Two experiences — one last summer in Millcreek Canyon and one many years ago in Europe — impart a powerful lesson: We are where we’re meant to be.
Writing Prompt Responses by Bob Bader
In a recent online writing class, I’d given participants two writing prompts, “open the box” and “leaving.” They had 10 minutes per prompt to write whatever came to mind. Below are Bob Bader’s responses:
“Open the Box”
Open the box of chocolates and enjoy, Sanders, creamy dark and luscious. She slowly removes the wrapping and passes the box around, pick one. A special treat on a special day. You are young or so young. Time is short or so short; but you don’t know that now. No, for now, all there is her and that box of chocolates.
Silver Pen 2020 Writing Contest!
The Silver Pen 2020 Writing Contest is taking submissions. You can choose one of the two writing prompts, or if you prefer, write a personal essay of your choice:
CHOOSE ONE OF THE FOLLOWING:
• A turning point in my life was when . . .
• Once, when no one was looking I . . .
• Write a personal story of your choice.
ENTRY DEADLINE September 2, 2020
Home Confinement by Judy Martin
“This Is Me at 68”: Elders Reflect During Crisis by Yes! Magazine
As the world has sheltered in place over the past few months, there are have been so many great essays and articles written about our new reality. Yes! Magazine recently published a wonderful collection of short, insightful and poignant essays written by ten people over 60. Here are some “sneak peaks” of a few of them. I invite you to take a look!
How to Transition to Online Teaching: Ten Tips by Debbie Leaman
A few months ago, Zoom was foreign to me and I rarely used Skype and FaceTime. Virtual teaching was something I’d occasionally thought about but dismissed it as too cumbersome or impersonal. Really, I’m a technophobe. Then the pandemic hit and virtual classrooms sprung up everywhere. The only way to teach was online.
Bare Basics by Judy Martin
Writing Prompt: Invite Your Emotions to Tea
The Guest House by Rumi
This being human is a guest house.
Every morning a new arrival.
A joy, a depression, a meanness,
some momentary awareness comes
as an unexpected visitor.
Welcome and entertain them all! . . .
. . . Right now, I invite you to welcome whatever emotion you are feeling at the moment into your “home” as a guest, whether it be anxiety, fear, grief, sadness, anger, frustration, or helplessness (the list goes on).
Settling in for the Long Haul by Debbie Leaman
While I vacillate between stretches of calm and momentary bursts of panic, it’s taken an earthquake in Salt Lake City, on top of a global pandemic to wake me up. The message for me now, more than ever, is to be “in the moment.”
While the earthquake put us all on edge (understatement of the year), it was a huge lesson: I can’t predict what’s going to happen today, tomorrow or a month from now. With a few aftershocks fresh in my mind, I can’t predict what’s going to happen five minutes from now. I need to just remember to breathe and remain in the present moment.
"This is a Good Time to Stop Fighting Anxiety" by Laura Turner, The New York Times
In normal times, I have anxiety; I’m an expert on worrying about the future, ruminating about the “what ifs?’ and worst-case scenarios. The “Coronavirus Symptoms Checklist” is on my desk. While I’ve never been obsessive about germs or washing hands, now I question everything I touch — handling mail, swiping my credit card, or going shopping becomes fraught with danger. (Please don’t get me started on the gentleman who was coughing behind me at the grocery store a few days ago.) I won’t list who I’m worried about because honestly, it’s every single person on the planet.
Writing Prompt: “Write what you didn’t say . . .”
Grab your writing tool of choice and see where this thought takes you. Put away your inner critic and just start. The goal is to keep writing, so don't worry about grammar or even making sense. It's all about getting your uncensored thoughts onto the page. When you’re done you can hit “delete,” shred the page or keep it. But, I can guarantee this: you’ll feel a little lighter for saying what you’ve wanted to say.
Writing Through Grief Workshop Featured in The Park Record
A shout out to Scott Iwasaki of The Park Record for writing an article about my upcoming Writing Through Grief workshop in Park City.
“Someone in the throes of loss, whether it’s the death of a loved one, a sickness or a divorce, may feel a jumble of emotions,” says writing instructor Debbie Leaman.
To help people deal with these feelings, Leaman created Writing Through Grief, a six-week workshop that she will lead every Wednesday from Feb. 26 through April 1 at Jewish Family Services Park City Offices, 1960 Sidewinder Dr.
The nondenominational class is open to all writing levels, Leaman said.
Online Dating For Seniors by Karen Hayes
At age seventy, I signed up with a matchmaking website for seniors. If you haven’t tried online dating (and it was all new to me), the first hurdle for a woman ‘over a certain age’ is to get past the idea that meeting someone online is too much of a fringe thing, and that goes against everything our generation was warned about.
But if you decide to give it a try, here are some things to consider. First, you’ll need a ‘handle’ for your profile. Remember the days of truckers on their CB radios using nicknames like GoodBuddy and RubberDuck? ’ Well, a dating site is like that. So how do you choose a name for yourself that gets attention without being . . . what? . . . too coy, as in Needaknight? Too suggestive, like Sweet&Low? Too anything?
I'm Going South . . . No Moving Van Required By Cathy Love
It started with the one-inch black chin hair I found. Yes, on my chin. It started on the chin bone but wrapped itself underneath the chin, almost in hiding or to save me from the horror of well, finding it. I mean, why stay married if your husband cannot identify these points of interest? Clearly his protective gene has aged out.
Why Does No One Ever Tell You How Brilliant Ageing Can Be? By Suzanne Moore
Dream, Dream, Dream . . . By Lois Maxson
Three young people, three different dreams, and one aging American tourist.
I heave my carry-on into the overhead bin and prepare to settle into my seat, when I realize I now have a seat mate. When I checked in online the night before, there was no one assigned to the window. As I comment on this fact, the young man with clear azure blue eyes and a length of pale blonde hair sweeping across his face grins. “I’m here now, he says. “Would you like the window seat?”
“No,” I reply, “my cranky joints prefer the extra room the aisle gives me.”
Studying Sea Snakes? Time to Call the ‘Fantastic Grandmothers’ by Annie Roth
“A group of snorkeling seniors has helped scientists collect data about greater sea snakes in New Caledonia.” New York Times, November 30, 2019
Many thanks to my cousin Betsy who sent me this wonderful article by Annie Roth in The New York Times. As Betsy said, “Some buoyant and creative aging!” Read on and you’ll agree.
Who Were You . . . And Who Are You Now? By Mary Prior
(This piece was in response to a writing prompt from the workshop, “Creative Aging: Re-Imagining Your Life.” Participants were asked the simple question: Who were you and who are you now?)
I WAS as skinny, shy child, a dreamer. I was a would-be artist, and according to my early teachers, I was a poor reader. Thus labeled, I feared failure.
I AM a reserved adult, not shy, but quiet and observant. I am an excellent reader. I read for information and for relaxation and maybe sometimes for escape. I have taken many university classes, and although not degreed, I believe that my education may be a “little north of average.”
Silver Pen Award Winners!
Silver Pen Writing Award Partners, Salt Lake County Aging & Adult Services and the SLCC Community Writing Center, invited all older adults to participate in the 2019 Silver Pen Writing Contest by writing and submitting their own essay or poetry based on: ""A Story I Haven't Told You . . . "
To read the winning essays and poems, click here.
Grandparenting 101 by Holly Webster
Going to Gran’s and Granddaddy’s house was both an outing ripe for exploration and cause for an eight-year-old to yawn and fidget. My time see-sawed between my clandestine attic and basement explorations looking for treasures and mind-numbing, endless adult conversations. But Gran and Granddaddy adored me, chuckling often at my antics and grabbing me for a squeeze. As I cartwheeled through the living room, Gran was always reminding me to be a little lady. “Ugh. Little Lady? How boring,” I protested.