Here’s the scoop on the "Positive Experiences in Aging" seminar, at least from my viewpoint. It didn’t improve my attitude about aging one bit. There was a lot of "you're only as old as you feel, you'll be as active as you want to be" etc., etc. - things I already know. It's the part where my hair falls out, my skin gets thin and wrinkly, I get bags under my eyes, a turkey wattle under my chin, my butt and boobs sag, my waist just keeps getting lumpier and lumpier and I get whiskers on my chin, that I have a hard time with!! None of THOSE things were addressed in a positive light at all. As a matter of fact - I'm still trying to figure this one out - they showed a short video about a group of 9 older women ages 50 - 68, all close friends, discussing their aging FACES. For the most part, they were without make-up. There was a LOT of zooming in on wrinkles around the eyes, lines around the mouth, age spots, huge pores and turkey wattles. EXACTLY WHAT I DIDN'T WANT TO SEE and WANT TO AVOID!!! Adding venom to the bite, they showed each of these women in a photographic history from infant to pre-teen, teen, then young vibrant women and up to now. I'm not entirely sure what the point of this video was supposed to be, the presentation of content and ideas was rather fractured. I suspect the filmmaker was hoping we'd see these women who have "accepted their age" with grace and embrace a similar mindset, adopting the attitude of wearing our "character" with gratitude and pride. Well, so far I have no grace and the only gratitude I have is that my kids are now grown and I survived. Give me scalpels, suction and creams please!!! All the ladies were posed the question, "Would you ever think of, or have a face-lift?" One out of the nine said she'd do it if she could afford it. Seven of the nine said, "What? No way", for a variety of reasons. And the last of the nine said she HAD had a face lift, and WAS GLAD for it. Several years ago she underwent aggressive chemotherapy for breast cancer. She’d lost so much weight, so quickly that her skin became unhealthy looking. How she felt about her appearance brought her down emotionally - which she didn't need on top of cancer. She thought about a face-lift because she wanted to feel better about herself. She decided to go through with it and has NEVER regretted it. She said feeling better about how she looked made a huge difference in her life and her recovery. Makes sense to me. I'm kind of thinking along those lines. Sooo . . . . . there you have it, I didn't learn or hear anything about aging I didn't already know. ** At least, the absence of the "monthly" wasn't mentioned once!
HOWEVER, there was an hour and a half during the seminar that will be one of the most profound highlights of my YEAR! And it had NOTHING to do with aging. It was an hour and a half I will never, ever forget. We watched a 57 minute video called "Moment By Moment". The video tells the recovery story of Molly Hale and how she CHOSE to reclaim her body's own mobility and her life (including the physical and emotional intimacy with her husband), after a paralyzing spinal cord injury. She was told she would be paralyzed from the shoulders down for the rest of her life. I've heard other "beat the odds, mind over matter, miraculous recovery stories" before, I'm sure you have too. But Molly's story is different. Molly's approach to healing and living was non-conventional. The video also included her husbands side of the story, openly and with the kind of candor a lot of people would be uncomfortable with. His name is Jeremy. Both Molly and Jeremy were at the seminar. They were beautiful, simple, strong and radiant. Molly's wheelchair, decked out in flowing ruffles of the brightest greens, blues and pinks made one heck of a statement itself, "Hallelujah, Heck Yeah, Life is WORTH LIVING!" Following the video, and a long spontaneous standing ovation, we were allowed a 30 minute Q&A session with them. Wish I could sit down with you and go over all that was asked and all that was answered but there just isn't room here. What I am going to do is give you the link to their website called "Ability Productions", and hope you will go there and take the time to watch their video - it's free to watch in its entirety. Go to the tab "Moment By Moment" and click GO on the video. It will be the greatest 57 minutes of anything you watch all week, I promise! Perhaps over the next day or so I can share the more noteworthy points from the Q&A, but for now, here is the link: http://www.abilityproduction.org/mbm_dvd.htm
HOWEVER, there was an hour and a half during the seminar that will be one of the most profound highlights of my YEAR! And it had NOTHING to do with aging. It was an hour and a half I will never, ever forget. We watched a 57 minute video called "Moment By Moment". The video tells the recovery story of Molly Hale and how she CHOSE to reclaim her body's own mobility and her life (including the physical and emotional intimacy with her husband), after a paralyzing spinal cord injury. She was told she would be paralyzed from the shoulders down for the rest of her life. I've heard other "beat the odds, mind over matter, miraculous recovery stories" before, I'm sure you have too. But Molly's story is different. Molly's approach to healing and living was non-conventional. The video also included her husbands side of the story, openly and with the kind of candor a lot of people would be uncomfortable with. His name is Jeremy. Both Molly and Jeremy were at the seminar. They were beautiful, simple, strong and radiant. Molly's wheelchair, decked out in flowing ruffles of the brightest greens, blues and pinks made one heck of a statement itself, "Hallelujah, Heck Yeah, Life is WORTH LIVING!" Following the video, and a long spontaneous standing ovation, we were allowed a 30 minute Q&A session with them. Wish I could sit down with you and go over all that was asked and all that was answered but there just isn't room here. What I am going to do is give you the link to their website called "Ability Productions", and hope you will go there and take the time to watch their video - it's free to watch in its entirety. Go to the tab "Moment By Moment" and click GO on the video. It will be the greatest 57 minutes of anything you watch all week, I promise! Perhaps over the next day or so I can share the more noteworthy points from the Q&A, but for now, here is the link: http://www.abilityproduction.org/mbm_dvd.htm