Sweetness of Doing Nothing
July 2024
Hope you are staying cool!
Just because I live in 3-digit heat during these summer months, while everyone I know is off traveling to the beach, I stay busy. As I heard Anthony Hopkins say on a FB post, "I have too little time to discuss headlines...my soul is in a hurry."
I am living my best life, teaching my What's Next? class and starting on my newest classes in the Fall (Harvest your Wisdom September12-October 24...and Reframe Your 2025 Bucket List November 7-December 19) Click on the link either to sign up for either or both classes and to learn more.
Using the days and, hopefully, the years I have left, living my best life doing what I love to do:
- role-modeling the Modern Elder while searching like-minded women to share with you what's possible,
- cherishing my grand-children who are now choosing their partners and careers,
- savoring my 57-year-old marriage with Barry, even though he slipped and fell doing something he's heard me bark about for years that now keeps us grounded amidst the walkers and wheelchair.
Yet, I'm blessed, so blessed.
The truth is: I'm not 30 or 50 anymore. I go to PT to build my strength, I've cut back on sugar and carbs, and caffeine, I'm in bed early after I watch Hacks on Netflix. Yes, I need to rest, though I'll deny it with my last breath!
My Modern Elder and good friend brought her lovely face up close and personal and posed the question while we were sipping our tea one afternoon: do I ever meditate? "No way," I said, "I can't sit still for more than a minute or two. I have two speeds: on or off, that's it!"
The next day, thanks to my long-time friend who knows me well and Amazon, I received a gift: a book by Sylvia Boorstein, Don't Just Do Something, Sit There. I looked at the title for weeks, sitting on the corner of my desk amidst files and papers for the projects I'm working on now. Finally, I opened the first page: "Mindfulness practice is the habit of seeing things in an uncomplicated way. It begins with the decision to practice, intending to be mindful. You have already started by opening this book."
Because I'm learning so much while I'm teaching these fabulous classes, I thank Edith Wharton, the first woman to win a Pulitzer Prize, who insists that careless habits of turning a trail into a rut is what makes you old, especially when you do the same thing in the same way at the same hour day after day...this and inertia is what makes you old. Maybe now was a good time to try out this meditation thing, to slow down while I'm still so busy, knowing that I may have been mistaken for assuming that action = accomplishment and being busy = being productive. They are not the same thing. "Action in and of itself is not a good thing," Steve Gilbert says. "Focused action, however, is."
Change is a good thing. Bringing on a new habit is a good thing if it serves me. Henry David Thoreau sealed the deal:
"It is not enough to be busy. So are the ants.
The question is: what are you busy about?"
~ Henry David Thoreau
Ok, I'll give this meditation a whole-hearted effort I've got a break between classes in July, it's hotter than ever outside my air-conditioned office, and I see the way a trillion ants are scurrying about going nowhere. Barry and I are homebound for now. Who knows? This meditation thing might be exactly what I need to breathe deeper, maybe even indulge in an afternoon nap, read Sylvia Boorstein's book, and have more tea time with my friends. Feels really good just thinking about right now...
I'll check back with you next month, as I always do. Hey, give me a call sometime. I'm available!
Talk to me. Susan@SusanLBrooks.com.
Featured Modern Elder*
Cathie McDaniel
July Modern Elder
Age 67
I noticed her right away, sitting in the front row, up close and personal in a room of 60+, her fancy, colorful glasses to match her walking stick, eager for an experience I promised to deliver. I was the 8 am Speaker at a state-wide Arizona Leading Age.org healthcare conference where leaders and caregivers gather for the latest and greatest relevant information and inspiration they can apply to their work serving seniors. I expected 'Changing the Face of Aging' especially at 8 am on the last day of the conference to attract maybe 15 people. I was shocked at the packed, corner-to-corner people-filled room, grateful for the smiling, expectant face of Cathie encouraging me to be bigger than I felt, committed to my mission and the very important people who serve seniors daily, who are, most definitely, changing the face of aging.
Afterward, I asked Cathie how she serves seniors. She is the Program Coordinator for home health and wellness at Westminster Village. On her vacation day every other month, Cathie provides her beautiful voice, along with her musical knowledge at their Music Appreciation Events. She knows from her professional experience that music directs a person's attention away from pain and stress. Over the years, Cathie also worked at Hospice 'listening to people who cried all day,' and the City of Scottsdale Senior Center's Social Services delivering food boxes, and keeping the lights turned on for people in depression, grief, and loss. To me, Cathie is an earthbound angel.
"But what I really love is when I can be a heavenly-sent travel agent. We all take this journey to the end. I know that hearing is the last to go, and because I know these people as patients, I tailor the music so they hear their favorite song. I sing it to them for comfort as they pass. I'm the instrument of a higher power, I help prepare them, letting them know it's ok to go."
For example, a granddaughter was in the room, watching her grandmother's irregular breathing. Cathie was ever-present and started singing Patsy Cline's well-known tune 'Crazy' full-out, with lots of feeling. The Grandmother knowingly smiled. The Granddaughter whispered in amazement into Cathie's ear, 'How did you know that was her favorite song?' Both her Grandmother's expression and Cathie's said more than any words could.
Cathie wants to share her wisdom with you: "When nearing the end of life's journey, play the music popular for them in high school, go back to their 20's. That's when they were at the height of their aliveness! Touch their arm and pat to the music. They will remember..."
Then, Cathie turned to me and said, "For you, Susan, make sure whoever is with you plays the groovy music of Simon and Garfunkle." She sure got me...still crazy after all these years!
If retirement or the next chapter is calling your name, if I can help you realize your vision in business and lifestyle, email me. Let's make it happen now! Susan@SusanLBrooks.com.
*Chip Conley, best-selling author and speaker, hospitality entrepreneur and leading thought leader, created The Modern Elder Academy's mission "to inspire the ability to reframe a lifetime of experience and recognize one's mastery, relevance, and value in the modern workplace." The Modern Elder* is Conley's term and effort that "liberates and inspires us to embrace wisdom as a path of growing whole, not old...The Modern Elder*marries wisdom and curiosity."
Every month this newsletter will Feature the stories and wisdom of Modern Elders*. Please send in your Modern Elder* nomination. CLICK HERE TO SUBMIT
Today, I am 77 years old, and proud of it! Paul Simon, who is now in his 80's said it best years ago: us boomers were BORN AT THE RIGHT TIME!
Yes, I was born at the right time! I'm still a hippie from the 60's, I marched for civil rights for all humans, equal rights for women, waving my bra with the best. I am proud to be living and growing in a robust marriage of 57 years. I survived motherhood, and so did my now-adult children. I was an award-winning woman business owner when there were but a few of us. I've learned a whole bunch of lessons, and more importantly, I've earned my fair share of Wisdom, too. I am Pro-Age!
According to Chip Conley, one of today's leading thought leaders: "Experience is making a comeback. Wisdom never grows old." Chip created the hallmarks of the Modern Elder*: "learning to marry wisdom and experience with curiosity, cultivating a beginner's mind so that learning never ends, exemplifying a willingness to evolve both as a student and sage." Research shows that shifting our mindset about Aging can add 7.4 happy years to a person's life.
Proud to say I am a graduate of the Modern Elder Academy as well as an active participant in Wise Aging: Living with Joy, Resilience, and Spirit programs. As one of the creators and hosts of the Thrive@55 event, we celebrated our female community leaders who were 55+.
As long as I'm able to see the sunrise every morning and keep a curious mind, there's more living to do, so much more to learn, so many new ways to serve. Trailblazer that I am, and always will be, I recognize my next mission: by example and demonstration I am committed to Changing the Face of Aging: One Modern Elder* at a time!
I welcome both local and national speaking engagements as well as one-on-one coaching opportunities to delve more deeply into navigating life transitions. EmailmeHere.
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