Twisting the Plot

We couldn't get enough.

We wanted to learn more about elderhood from our podcast guest Dr. Tracey Gendron, so we asked her back for part II.

Dr. Gendron, author of Ageism Unmasked and Chair of the Gerontology Department at Virginia Commonwealth University in Richmond is back this week to take a deep dive into two relevant social constructs: caregiving and retirement.

We talk about the history of caregiving, giving and getting it, and discuss how to give care more value and importance.

We tackle the concept of retirement. Is it a stage of life? Or just a withdrawal from a job?

The more we talk, the more we understand how elderhood, in order to be unburdened with ageism, takes contemplation, work and a lot of imagination.

Thank you Dr. Gendron for leading the way.

Here's a twist for you.

We are getting tired of promoting "successful aging" and no longer want to buy into the social construct that defines aging and being old as a problem to avoid.

We don't know about you, but we are getting old… and loving it. But not because we are staying young, or not facing losses. We love it not despite of the challenges, but because of them. We love it because we are growing and changing. We love it because there is an opportunity to create yet another purposeful stage of life.

And that's what twisting the plot is all about.

On this week's podcast we talk with Dr. Tracey Gendron. Dr. Gendron is the Chair of the department of Gerontology at Virginia Commonwealth University and the author of Ageism Unmasked: Exploring Age Bias and How to End It. She expounds the many reasons why ageism matters to all of us. She shares how the "biomedicalization" of aging has turned it into a disease, and something we need to fight.

But what if we could conceptualize aging in a different way? What if aging, and even death, were embraced as a shared experience, instead of an individual failing? What if becoming old, was a transcendent experience that we all look forward to?

Hard to imagine? Before you dismiss it, listen as Dr. Gendron proposes Elderhood as the antidote to the ageist roadblocks to becoming:

Anti-ageism through elderhood shifts our focus from who we were to who we are in the present and who we want to become in the future. Regardless of physical ability, cognitive function, socioeconomic class, level of dependency, or a myriad of personal identifiers, we are all still becoming.

Elderhood is proposed as a stage in life that brings maturity, purpose and wisdom. Gerontologist Lars Tornstom even suggests that aging can bring a developmental shift in perspective that is more cosmic and transcendent.

We want some of that.

Dr. Gendron asks us, "How do you feel about yourselves as aging beings?

Thankfully, she is helping us figure this out.

Do you move through life on a nourishing path, or do you find yourself fighting your way along a thorny harsh path?

After years of thorns, Nadya Trytan now chooses a nourishing path.

She'd love to help you find yours.

Nadya uses a technique called guided visualization to help you relax, imagine, listen to yourself and make discoveries that connect you with your own innate wisdom. Her online program, Nourishing Path Project, offers imaginary paths for us to learn and grow by.

On this Twisting the Plot Podcast, Nadya takes us through a relaxing body scan and an experiential and imaginary voyage.

Enjoy.

Nadya Trytan, MA, RDT-BCT is the Founder of the Drama Therapy Center in Minneapolis, a place that values life-long learning and healing through connection to our deepest wisdom and creativity. Her professional services include: therapy and coaching for individuals & families; team building facilitation for organizations; and consultation & teaching for drama therapy clinicians and students. Nadya recently launched her Nourishing Path Project, a series of guided, creative meditative journeys (over zoom) to help one practice finding and walking their unique path through life.

For more info about The Nourishing Path, check out dramatherapycenter.com. Nadya is on the faculty at Midwest Drama Therapy Institute, she is past-President of the North American Drama Therapy Association and past-Chair of the National Coalition of Creative Arts Therapies Associations. She can be contacted at: [email protected]

- From The Light Above by Maria Dintino

Even though she discovered a dog-eared, post-it-filled copy of Women in the Nineteenth Century on her bookshelf, Maria Dintino hadn't remembered much about Margaret Fuller from graduate school. She was certainly captured by Margaret's New England peers Henry David Thoreau, Nathaniel Hawthorne and Ralph Waldo Emerson. But Margaret, the nineteenth century transcendentalist, women's rights advocate and journalist, claimed Maria's attention decades after graduate school.

Now, Margaret has all of her attention in the form of Maria's new memoir, The Light Above.

It's a powerful meeting of the souls, Margaret and Maria. Their stories, lived centuries apart, collide and are shared through the heart and voice of Maria. Margaret's story ends in tragedy, but Maria's retelling offers redemption. In return, Maria finds a life guide, a role model, and a companion for life.

In our podcast, Maria tells us why Margaret Fuller is relevant today. We also learn how writing this book has changed Maria's life.

It is awesome to realize how much we can learn about ourselves via the lived experience of another. We are, after all, bound to one another through history. But what a gift of transformation is the literary imagination.

Get The Light Above on Amazon

Abbe Greenberg and Maggie Sarachek have been friends since college. Throughout this time, they shared many things, even anxiety. For years they supported each other, through phobias, panic attacks and catastrophizing mindsets. As time went on, it became clear that they weren't alone. In fact, they found that many women wanted to talk about anxiety, its perils, nuances, and the many ways to cope. So they decided to start a sisterhood, an anxiety sisterhood.

In 2017 they launched their online community which now includes more than 200,000 people worldwide. Together, Abbe and Maggie (or Abs and Mags) host a monthly podcast (The Spin Cycle) facilitate workshops and retreats and give talks about everything related to anxiety. Their blog is award winning and they recently they published The Anxiety Sisters' Survival Guide. The book is filled with helpful information, we highly recommend it.

We loved this conversation with Abs and Mags. Somehow, they make anxiety fun, while also taking it very seriously. They speak about complex scientific findings using language that is accessible, not triggering or pathologizing. They even offer some helpful tips and advice for all.

Let's face it, anxiety is a plot twist all its own. It takes a sisterhood to get us through.

Join us.

Check out anxietysisters.com

Join the Anxiety Sisters on Facebook

In her early twenties, Maureen Carey was called to the religious life. Her interest in the anti-war movement and civil disobedience led her to the sisterhood and years of service to others. During this time she also got her Ph.D. in social work, taught at Molloy College, and co-authored books.

Twenty-five years later, Dr. Carey twisted her plot and left the religious life. More recently, she retired from teaching. She's had a new calling, art as a means for spiritual contemplation.

Maureen has developed a method for using watercolors, journaling, doodling and reflection as a means for spiritual growth.

Join us as Maureen shares her story. How does a woman in the 1970's decide to join the religious life? What makes her decide to change paths after 25 years? How is doodling a channel to the soul?

We loved this conversation and the holy doodle.

Maureen E. Carey, Ph.D. is Professor Emerita of Social Work at Molloy College, Rockville Centre, NY and a practicing artist. She had taught undergraduate social work courses at Molloy College and has led many Artful Meditation Workshops both at the college and with other professional groups on Long Island.She developed a method of artful journaling using liquid watercolors, doodling and reflection for those seeking to create a pathway for their own spiritual growth. Maureen co-authored a book: The Artful Journal: A Spiritual Quest (2002) describing this artful journal method, and in another published book: Silent Presence: A Companion Through the Journey of Grief (2007).

In addition, Maureen's work has been in various exhibits on Long Island. She has also done commissioned work for several colleges and local groups. She maintains an art studio in Southold, New York and continues to give Artful Contemplative Workshops on the North Fork of Long Island.

Her work can be viewed on her website at maureencareyartist.com

A little improv…

What is creativity? Go. (frozen pause) Ummm. It's green? Yes, and…It crawls. Yes, and… it morphs like a caterpillar into a butterfly. Yes, and… it can be venomous, like a snake.

On this week's podcast, guest Nina Hart challenges our notions about what is art and who gets to do it. She tells us about her journey to heal what she calls her "heartbroken artist." Nina shares how she finally freed herself from criticism, judgment and creative blocks that silenced and shamed her. She offers all of us a portal into our own spontaneous impulses, our sparks of creativity.

Nina teaches us what she calls "writing from the top of your head." She introduces us to a writing prompt she calls "small and crappy," a medicine for the perfectionism that inhibits us.

She also challenges each of you to participate in a small and crappy writing exercise. Give it a try and send us your results. We will make art of it.

Everything, including aging, is art, according to Nina Hart.

And there's a plot twist we could all use.

Take a listen.

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Check out Nina Hart's website writingfromthetopofyourhead.com

Nina Hart is a writer, performer, and creativity coach trained in the Kaizen-Muse method. She is also a certified Gateless Method writing teacher – "a method of teaching the art and craft of writing using creative brain science, ancient non-dual teachings and highly-effective craft tools…allowing writers to access the creative genius inside." Her first collection of surreal short fictions called "Somewhere in a Town You Never Knew Existed Somewhere" was selected as a Short Stories category finalist in Foreword Reviews' IndieFab Book of the Year Awards. She is the founder of a unique method of teaching writing called "Writing from the Top of your Head," which combines group Creativity Coaching with creative writing. Her workshops have also been inspired by the work of Paulo Freire and his philosophy of education for liberation, and the work of Brene Brown. Nina was an original member of the experimental dance troupe Contraband, in San Francisco and, playing a purple electric bass, has recorded and performed with numerous bands.

It often feels like time is a conveyer belt, ushering us forward year after year. It moves faster and faster, sometimes at a pace that makes it hard to glance back and savor what's been. Sometimes a lifetime moves too quickly for us to be intentional about where we are going.

We just keep moving.

On this week's Twisting the Plot Podcast, Hannah and Cecilia take a pause and consider time from a different direction, vertically instead of horizontally. In this way, time becomes more than a runaway train. Time, and our lives, can be a multi-layered, generational weave of the past, present and future.

Twisting time gives life texture.

We hope you take a listen and share your thoughts with us.

In 1988 Laura Davis coauthored The Courage to Heal, a global phenomenon. It is the go-to, permission giving, truth telling, and healing guide for victims of sexual abuse. Her most recent book, The Burning Light of Two stars: A Mother Daughter Story is a prequel and a sequel to The Courage to Heal. It chronicles the estrangement, reconciliation and care-giving relationship between Laura and her mother.

And it is about so much more.

The Burning Light of Two Stars is plot twist after plot twist, as Laura and her mother evolve, change, stay the same, and rediscover each other over and over. It's a story of forgiveness, accountability, letting go and holding on.

We couldn't put it down.

Laura Davis is a deep thinking, soul touching writer and person. She chronicles the ongoingness of life beyond trauma. Her understanding and wonderment about herself and others touched and inspired us.

Please Listen.

"The price I paid to keep my mother out, at first with withdrawal, later with an armed fortress, and finally, with the polite rules of détente, was love. The pure, unfettered love I longed for. The pure, unfettered love she craved."

For TTP Listeners from Laura Davis:

You can also read the opening 5 chapters here

Direct links to buy The Burning Light of Two Stars:

Buy The Burning Light of Two Stars on Amazon

Buy The Burning Light of Two Stars from Elliott Bay Books

Get a signed copy of The Burning Light of Two Stars from Bookshop Santa Cruz

Buy The Burning Light of Two Stars from Bookshop.org

Audiobook version of The Burning Light of Two Stars (Laura is the narrator):

Buy the audiobook of The Burning Light of Two Stars on Audible

Buy The Burning Light of Two Stars audiobook on Libro.fm

Want to Order Internationally with Free Worldwide Delivery?

Buy The Burning Light of Two Stars from book depository.com

If you're a writer or want to use writing as a tool for healing or self-discovery, you can learn about Laura's online writing workshops and in-person domestic and international retreats at www.lauradavis.net

And if you want to go to Tuscany with Laura in June of 2022, check out some serious eye candy here!

Social media links:

thewritersjourney on Facebook

@laurasaridavis on Instagram

Twitter (which I don't use so much) @laurasaridavis

@laurasaridavis on Pinterest

All the flowers of all the tomorrows are in the seeds of today. - Chinese Proverb

Una Betti has worked as a nurse and project manager for many years. At the same time, she's nurtured a passion for gardening, and grew a deep appreciation for the value of intentional spaces. Now, at 62, Una has decided it's time to twist the hobby into aprofession.

Her new business, Mindful Garden Designs, was created for all of us who want to embrace our spaces. Una Betti wants to show us how to design gardens that are unique, personal and enlivening. Her mission is to create peaceful spaces thatfacilitate the practice of mindfulness, foster creativity and promote health.

We have learned so much about gardens, flowers, trees, birds,and even rocks, from Una. She doesn't believe in one-garden-fits-all. She wants each of us to dwell in a space that speaks to our unique history, imbues memory, inspires desire and deep-seated aspiration.

She is such a resource. We are both planning to consult with Una to make a space for mindful living. We know you will want her help as well.

Listen to this week's podcast and learn how Una can help you. We all need beauty. We all deserve to bloom.

Bio

Una Betti, the creator of Mindful Garden Designs LLC, has been gardening for over 30 years. Her gardens are her passion, and she finds great inspiration in the natural world around her. Una is a Registered Nurse with a Masters in Health Informatics and is a certified Professional Project Manager (PMP). Her background in nursing and project management combines the caring components and detailed mindset to design garden spaces that come to life and thrive. Her mission statement speaks to all those who want to embrace their space; "To design gardens, to create peaceful spaces, to facilitate the practice of mindfulness, foster creativity and promote health."

Check out MindfulGardenDesigns.com

Check out Mindful Gardens on Facebook

Follow @mindfulgardens1 on Twitter

Follow Mindful Gardens on Instagram