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 sad 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 to write my memoir. I was falling into what I call 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 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