by George
I launched Old Anima in 2015 when I turned
62 and decided to accept social security
early. As a long-time independent education
writer, graphic designer, publisher, and
entrepreneur, I took my skills into the
creation of a website that would serve 60+
older adults. I also did it for selfish reasons.
Since the work required me to dig deep into
the research on aging, I figured it would help
me deal with the vicissitudes of growing old. I had come to the
realization of what the mirror said to me: “Hey, you’re old (at least
from a numerical perspective). Get real, man!” So, I began a lot of
reading about what the experts had to say about this phase of
life.
I started with a textbook titled “Aging: Concepts and
Controversies,” by Harry R. Moody and Jennifer R. Sasser (I read
the eighth edition), and another textbook titled “Archetypes of
Wisdom: an Introduction to Philosophy,” by Douglas J. Soccio. I
soon became a serious autodidactic on the topic of aging. Then I
did a life review by starting a memoir. I was entering into a
remembrance-thinking frame of mind. Thoughts loaded with
minutiae about my past began to frequently pop up at odd
moments daily (and still do) – like a long forgotten chance
encounter or a brief moment in time when I said something
stupid or did something awkward, or a beautiful moment like the
time, as a young adolescent, I marveled at the gently falling
uniquely crystallized shapes of snowflakes on a quiet night from
the front steps of the Buffalo, New York (“City of No Illusions”)
home I was born and raised in.
The remembrance-thinking took on new shapes, becoming an
enlightening experience because it put me in touch with my
shadow. Coincidentally, I was also reading Carl Jung and James
Hillman at the time – so, you can imagine . . .
Then the philosophy & spirituality and psychology started to
pour out in essays that visitors can see throughout the Old Anima
website. My readings had expanded to many other great authors
of books on aging that continues to grow today. I’m typically
jumping around three or four books on aging, usually from the
seat of a stationary recumbent exercise bike. They have become
the basis of my thoughts about aging and the springboard for
many of the essays. The books on aging section lists many of
them, and I have a slew more I have ingested that I’m in the
process of adding to the books section that are mostly about
what many call “conscious aging,” which takes into consideration
the physical, environmental, intellectual, social, emotional,
vocational and spiritual dimensions of aging (see Psychology
Today article). From my perspective with regard to conscious
aging, I focus more on the spiritual aspect of it, which I believe to
be the most important of all the aforementioned dimensions.
Other aggregations of “unique resources for older adults”
developed into several new and expansive Old Anima sections,
including Digital Health, Resources on Aging, Interesting
Products, and a Variegated section for essays on topics that are
not so easily categorized. The Lifelong Learning and Lifelong
Working sections are the two newest that have been added to
the site.
All these resources comprise the continuously expanding Old
Anima website.
It is my sincere hope that the Old Anima website gives you
something useful, whatever that may be, to help with your
personal journey throughout older adulthood.
Thanks for stopping by,
George Lorenzo
Contact me by email anytime at george@oldanima.com
“We urgently need
people who
concentrate on the
meaning of life
rather than simply
the speed, the
mechanization, the
computerization of
it.”
- Joan Chittister