The Portal to Boomeranger World

Money on Monday (On Tuesday!): Do You Receive the Treasure of Friendship, Giving, Helping?

  Sorry everyone for posting  Money on Monday on Tuesday.

The last few days have been helper days to friends. One couple needed a yard for a whole house yard sale and borrowed mine. SO this past weekend from 7:30AM-8:30PM, we were yard selling.I made some dollars; they made some. We donated some money to a charity and gave the rest of the unsold stuff to the Vietnam Vets. If you do not know this--Vietnam Vets will pick up from your house and take everything away. http://www.clothingdonations.org/accepted.htm is the official website for Vietnam Veterans of America donations pickup service. Log on and search your state.

Then Lady M's daughter called to ask if I could drive LM to the hospital in Newark for a possible liver transplant. Her daughter was working in the far north of NJ and could not get back to our town in time to drive her mom to Newark and she was wanted pronto and possibly underwent a transplant this afternoon. I don't know if it was a match yet, but I am hoping there was one. When I called to say are you ready to go--she sounded fearful and reluctant. I asked her, do you want to sing? Or do you want to die? Sing, she replied. So let's go and we went.

Money Attitude:  For the past few weeks, I have been asking about your attitude towards money. Is it a positive one? Do you think about money as a means to enable you to create, care for others, provide stability for your family, even have fun? Do you have a sense of what is (your) enough?

Do you receive the treasures of friendship, giving, helping?

Hugs:

I attended a workshop two weekends ago (given to me). There I received feedback about receiving hugs. I got a little miffed and said I am a very huggy person. I grew up in a huggy family. All my southern elders always said to us kids, "Come here and let us love your neck."

But, over the years, I have gotten away from receiving hugs, even while I am very good at giving them.SO now I am getting back to the practice of getting hugs--of receiving. Of recognizing when I am receiving--appreciation, help, support, community, a hug. LOTS of hugs. Today there have been many--from Lady M, from my daughter, from my other "daughter" who  lives next door and is going off to Europe for the summer and then to college. There will no doubt be more today. I just have to recognize them and receive them. I am plugging the drain on my heart and turning on the faucet--to fill my reservoir to overflowing.

I want to sing in many voices and have my life sing!

Do you want your life to sing? How do you want to sing?

Barack to the Future: What Will Presidential Hopefuls Do for Women?

Madelaine Albright signed on to Senator Obama's advisory team the other day in a move to heal the wounds from the recent historic, mind-blowing, I never thought to see in my life time, Democratic party presidential primary campaign.

I was a Clinton supporter, because I believe that having our first woman president in 230 YEARS would be an EXTRAORDINARY move forward for our country in declaring to the world that America has at last decided to acknowledge the bedrock depths of sexism and all its crafty and insidious interlinkings with racism, ageism,  class, and all the other power imbalances in our country.

BUT I will give my full and enthusiastic support to Senator Obama and HOPE if he is elected that he will do right by America's women and girls who constitute the majority of the population, the majority of the poor, the majority of the elderly, the majority of income discrimination, the majority who are at the bottom ranks of the labor force, the majority who are raped and sexually abused and harrassed, the majority of those who carry the double and triple burdens of caregiving to their own health detriment.

Jennifer H. Mieres, MD, FAHA and Terri Ann Parnell, RN and MA (with Carol Turkington) have pointed out the deliterious health effects, especially on women's heart health, of stress, gender, ethnicity, and other social factors such as poverty in their new book, "Heart Smart for Black Women and Latinas" (2008 St. Martin's). Our presidential candidates need to take into account issues such as these authors raise as they are crafting their strategies.

I HOPE Sen. Obama and Sen. McCain will do what no other presidents have ever done and recognize that women of ALL SHADES OF TAN are the majority of their citizenry.  Terressa Stovall writes in the current issue of the Montclair Times about the challenge to blacks and whites dealing with racism. I could not agree more. We have to acknowledge and repair the injuries of slavery and racism and how those continue to play out in the life of our nation. And we must change.

AND I challenge all to think beyond the simple dichotomy of black and white that excludes those of other heritages.

I challenge us to think in shades of tan and understand how those shades interlink with the  divides and discriminations that reside in the artificality of gender. We already see it with Michelle Obama getting slammed.

Boomer Brain Power: What Are You Doing to Keep Your Brain Growing?

All the latest research shows that brains are plastic--NOOOOOO we are not internal Barbie Dolls, but that brains  grow and change daily, even moment to moment.

Now as a social scientist, I find this a fascinating concept, having studied social change in China in the 1990s. I was boggeled at how fast seemingly "carved in stone" beliefs and practices changed. This new brain research helps explain that social phenomena, by thinking through the lens of how individuals changed so rapidly. For a researcher, it helps to explain social change in an exciting new way. As an individual, it is SOOOOOOO exciting and intriguing.
Below are just a few of the thousands of resources out there.

http://www.sfn.org/index.cfm?pagename=brainBriefings_brainPlasticityLanguageProcessingAndReading

http://www.abc.net.au/rn/talks/8.30/helthrpt/stories/s10302.htm

http://bfc.positscience.com/about/neurogenesis.php

http://www.lumosity.com/landing/cc_brain_games?refer=6816&og=true&OVRAW=brain%20plasticity&OVKEY=brain%20fitness%20program&OVMTC=advanced&OVADID=18896765512&OVKWID=72759005512

Also treat yourself and read Dr. Norman Doidge's 2007 book, "The Brain that Changes Itself." Fascinating and so inspiring. For one such as I who is dyslexic--that's why you sometimes see typos and spelling errors--I can't see them, even with spell check some slip through!!--the notion that there are techniques that might erase  those brain glitches and at my age!! is just fantastic.

Another really inspiring real life story is the memoir written by vaboomer, Madonna Siles called "Brain Heal Thyself: A Caregiver's Approach to Recovery from Stroke, Aneurysm, and Traumatic Brain Injuries." (Hampton Books 2006). Siles writes from the caregivers point of view and with some concrete methods she developed to help her roommate heal from a devastating stroke that was supposed to leave her little more than a vegetable.

And see http://kanosboomernews.blogspot.com/ for a list of healthful and helpful tips to keep Alzheimer's and dementia at bay--or at least slow their onset. Read Dr. Daniel Amen's book, "Change Your Brain Change Your Life." also excellent. .

All reFIREMENT activities challenge your brain and keep it growing and changing. Think of it as a muscle--not a machine. SO it is use it or lose it. Learn a new language, take up a musical instrument, play Brain Age with your kids or grandkids on their DS's. I'm planning all three. I learned Mandarin starting at 46. And now I think I will be gin Spanish and learn the guitar, something I have wanted to do for years.

What will you learn today? 

Money on Monday: Is It Crass to Be So Bold About Money? Is It a Sellout of Boomer Values?

I asked you last week this question: "When I think about money I feel_________?" I know I felt many different ways--mostly as I said, 

baffled.

And truth be told somewhat guilty. Was I, am I a sell out for wanting enough money to care for my daughter and myself?

Leading edge boomers of the more progressive persuasion, have often had this ambivalent relationship to money. And as a result, many of us are not in good shape fiscally speaking. Being a late blooming boomer, I've mashed all the life cycle aspects into a short period of my life instead of spreading them out over time--so here I am with a minor daughter and looking at the road ahead when many people are thinking of slowing down and I see nothing of that picture--ever!  . Well, also, I have no desire to take that route either...but that is beside the point for the moment.

So is thinking about money a sellout

of the best of boomer values?

Where is the line between selfishness, greed and caring for self? Is it crass to be so focused on money?

For us women boomers especially the link between money, self-interest and efficacy (or power) is a complex one. It is a critical link, because of the longevity tables, the divorce rate, the double even triple responsibilities of caring for children, parents and self, the economic earnings disparity between women and men, and the basic right to have a roof over one's head and eat fall disproportionately on women. Women have more responsibilities, fewer job options, over all less earning power and live longer with less money than do men.
SO, YES, YES, YES Boomer women especially need to think about money, a lot, and think hard about it. We did not create a system that discriminates against us.And we cannot fix it over night. Activist boomer women and the men who support them have fixed a lot over the last 30 years.

What faces us now is the reality of a combination of social factors, cultural barriers and inner barriers as well.

My question to you this week is when you get a picture in your mind about you and money, "What do you see_________?"

For many years I saw a "black blank". Then a few years ago, I began seeing very dimly a very thick high stone wall and I, like the Kilroy character, was peering over the wall longingly and as I said, baffled.

Then in a discussion with a friend, I had an epiphany.

And that wall separating me from abundance, love, money, financial stability, "enough" changed to a very big dam with a very big reservoir behind the dam.

Every night I try to remember to see that dam, see the streams of abundance flowing into the reservoir and see it filling up and up and up, and overflowing.

With the abundance that overflows I  see many things I want to do with the amount that is beyond the "enough" I need for a comfortable life. I see an economic development project in the Michigan Upper Peninsula.

I see an economic development project in Newark, an urban cottage craft, recycling and empowerment project and more and more.

So what, I ask you, are the inner barriers  between you and your enough?

Get Your Glow On: The IGO Energetics of Health

The National Academy of Sciences released the following study yesterday that should have us boomerangers going on the personal alert. While policy, economics, health care delivery, and funding are critical, what each of us can do is get our Individual Glow On! Our IGO is the next step in bringing forth the inner light--this is the energetics of vabooming. Those health energetics are composed of our heartminds, our bodies, our community connections and spirit, our family connections, our intimate love relations, our connection to the earth, and our committment to our inner light. Ultimately we will all turn back into the stardust from which we were born, but I for one want that to be a long long time from now. I have too much to say and do. Too many people who I have yet to meet and become friends with, too many parts of the world yet to see, cultures to experience, delicious foods to munch, creative notions to manifest, love to give and receive, spaces to explore...

What I found most disturbing about the following report was the certainty that most 65+ folk will be ill with some sort of chronic condition and taking some sort of medication. Longevity studies for other parts of the world show that diet, excercise, gardening, community and family connection and some sort of spiritual practice--whether it is regular hugging of trees--my preference--or more orthodox organized spiritual practice are the key ingredients to a long, healthful, productive, and happy life.

Remember that the root word of DISEASE is EASE. It is not health. Ease is the opposite of 'dis'ease. Ease is the state of balance which the human organism constantly seeks--that is the state of homeostasis. Ease comes from lowering stress, moving, eating less and better, sleeping, connecting, bringing forth your unique brillance, laughing, loving and being loved and more.

Clips from the full report: FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE - April 14, 2008 Health Care Work Force Too Small, Unprepared For Aging Baby Boomers; Higher Pay, More Training, And Changes In Care Delivery Needed To Avert Crisis WASHINGTON — As the first of the nation's 78 million baby boomers begin reaching age 65 in 2011, they will face a health care work force that is too small and woefully unprepared to meet their specific health needs, says a new report from the Institute of Medicine. The report, Retooling for an Aging America: Building the Health Care Workforce, calls for bold initiatives starting immediately to train all health care providers in the basics of geriatric care and to prepare family members and other informal caregivers, who currently receive little or no training in how to tend to their aging loved ones. Medicare, Medicaid, and other health plans should pay higher rates to boost recruitment and retention of geriatric specialists and care aides, said the committee that wrote the report. The committee set a target date of 2030 — the year by which all baby boomers will have turned 65 or older — for the necessary reforms to take place. 'Impending Crisis' Work Force Shortage Threatens Quality of Care All Providers Should Be Competent in Geriatric Care Higher Salaries, Financial Incentives Needed Family Members, Other Informal Caregivers Need Training Medicare Hinders Delivery of Quality Care Copies of Retooling for an Aging America: Building the Health Care Workforce are available from the National Academies Press; tel. 202-334-3313 or 1-800-624-6242 or on the Internet at http://www.nap.edu.  Additional information on the report can be found at http://www.iom.edu/agingAmerica.  Reporters may obtain a copy from the Office of News and Public Information (contacts listed above).  In addition, a podcast of the public briefing held to release this report is available at http://national-academies.org/podcast. Contacts: Christine Stencel, Senior Media Relations Officer Alison Burnette, Media Relations Assistant Office of News and Public Information 202-334-2138; e-mail: news@nas.edu Full Report  Project Web Site  Committee Members  Podcast  Photos  Book Cover