The Art 2 Aging
Strategies for Healthy, Joyful Living Right To The End
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If there is an art to living happily and abundantly, witnessed by the hundreds of books on the subject of how to live a productive life, then surely there is an art to aging in ways that are health-supportive and fulfilling emotionally.
That’s our story and we will be sticking by it each week in this space.
There are two of us involved with The Art 2 Aging: me, Chris Henry, and my long time friend and colleague, Dave Grein.
Now, here’s why we’re creating this project. We’re both getting old(er). One day, Dave and I were on a call and we started to compare our various ailments – his revolve around his back, leg and foot while my battle is with an expanding waistline and a fondness for red wine. Okay, my back, left shoulder and right elbow, too (golfer’s elbow).
The Stats
At one point, one of us muttered that we should create a podcast series because “there are plenty more like us out there.” And The Art 2 Aging was thought into existence (as is everything; everything begins with an idea, a thought – that’s how life works, even in the “golden years”). To prove that we had a viable concept, we started some online research and here’s what we discovered:
· By 2050, 22% of Americans will be older than 65.
· By 2030, 22% of Canadians will be over 65.
· A Google survey in 2020 showed that 86% of seniors are online for six hours or more every day. 73% of them search for information to improve health and wellness.
· In North America, seniors are the wealthiest age group and the fastest contributing group in the consumer class.
· They travel more than any other age cohort.
· They spend more per trip than any other travelling group, including Millennials.
· They spend more on healthcare than anyone else, no surprise, but “healthcare” in this instance also includes wellness products and treatments, physical fitness and spiritual practices.
So, there’s a market. But a market for what, exactly? How about information, techniques, and ways of thinking that lead to more happiness, better health, and greater amounts of the “juice of life” right up to the moment of departure?
It’s not our intent to paint the aging process with Pollyanna brush strokes. There is plenty about ‘old age’ that isn’t fun like dementia, Parkinson’s, loneliness, depression and so forth, yet at the same time, there are ways of spotting the sun breaking through the clouds and lifting the burden, even if temporarily.
Who We Know
We are surrounding ourselves with experts whose words and ideas will find a place on the pages of our newsletter and in our podcast series. Some of them are shamans, some are cardiologists and neurologists, some are naturopaths and functional medicine practitioners but the ones who I feel will have the most to say are those folks like Tom Meschery, a former NBA star with the Golden State Warriors and teammate of Wilt Chamberlain’s, who is successfully battling cancer in his mid 80s while writing poetry and mystery novels and loving every present moment and Allyson Schrier, whose years of being a caregiver to a husband with dementia has led her to create Zinnia TV, programming tailored for dementia sufferers and their caregivers that is impacting them in so many positive ways.
You’ll hear from policy thought leaders like Laura Tamblyn-Watts, CEO of CanAge, an organization that advocates for seniors in Canada and someone who has spoken about aging before the United Nations as well as those scientists on the leading edge of dementia research at CABHI, the Center for Advanced Brain Health Initiatives.
The French writer and philosopher, Simone de Beauvoir, wrote, “From the hour you are born, you begin to die. But between birth and death, there’s life.” We would argue that there is life right up to the moment of departure.
Or, as the spiritual entity, Abraham, channeled by Esther Hicks, would say: “Happy, healthy, happy, healthy, happy, healthy, dead.”
There is one constant in life: it’s always changing. So, change is the only constant we can count on. For those of us over 60, the changes can seem to come faster and in more unwelcome ways but that’s okay because there’s always a way to find “happy, healthy”.
We want to make a difference, no matter how small it may turn out to be, with The Art 2 Aging and we hope you’ll subscribe to our newsletter and our podcast series, both of which launch later this month. Stay tuned!
Links to content offered by some of our guests.
The Healthy Heart Network from Dr. Warrick Bishop, a world-renowned Australian cardiologist
https://healthyheartnetwork.com/index
Zinnia TV, programming for dementia sufferers and their caregivers, created by Allyson Schrier
Dr. Paula Petry, PhD, a shaman, energy practitioner and author
CanAge, Canada’s advocacy agency for seniors