DRAFT: This module has unpublished changes.
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DRAFT: This module has unpublished changes.

 

Ilene Serlin


 Friday, December 2, 2011, 10 am Pacific, 11 am Mountain, Noon Central, 1 pm EST, 2 pm Atlantic, 7 pm Zurich, 8 pm Istanbul

 

Elders & Occupiers: 20th & 21st-Century Movements Meet

 

 

 

 

On November 20, 2011, a delegation from the Council of Elders (veteran leaders of the freedom and peace movements of the mid-20th century) led an interfaith service at Zuccotti Park in NYC, with hundreds of Occupy Wall Street activists taking part.

 

In our lives today, overwork is driven by fear of disemployment, by the need to work two or three jobs to pay for food and rent, and for some by the relentless need to “prove” one’s utter dedication to “getting ahead.” The result: Little time or no time for family and neighbors, for grass-roots political involvement, for the Spirit.

Rabbi  Arthur Waskow

 

 

 

Bio

 

Ilene A. Serlin, Ph.D., BC-DMT is a psychologist and registered dance/movement therapist in San Francisco and Marin. She is a Fellow of the American Psychological Association, past President of the Division of Humanistic Psychology,  served on the APA’s Presidential Task Force on Whole Person Psychology, and is Founder of the Arts Medicine Program at the Institute of Health and Healing at California Pacific Medical Center.

 

DRAFT: This module has unpublished changes.
DRAFT: This module has unpublished changes.

Exercises for Aging Gracefully

 

1) Seeing beauty in everyday moments

Take a moment and think about how your dinner table can be seen as an altar. How is the plate arranged? Is there a candle, lighting, mood? Are there special objects that have personal meaning--a cup that belonged to a family member? Favorite foods from childhood?

2) Prayers for aging

Aging can be both beautiful and frightening...how do we deal with that fear?

Below is a prayer from the famous mystical rabbi, Rabbi Nachman of Breslov....do you remember prayers you were taught as a child to say before bedtime? Is there a prayer or supplication you can say that will bring comfort to fears of the night?

AGELESS AGING

Teach me, God,
to live out my days
focused on
all that is meaningful in life.
As unaccountable aches and pains
multiply,
as memory and retention
fade,
teach me to relate to my physical existence
with an ever-expanding recognition
of its transient nature;
teach me to relate to my soul
with an ever-expanding awareness
of her eternal nature
and ageless worth.

Rebbe Nachman of Breslov

3) Improvising a Life

Mary Catherine Bateson wrote a book called "Composing a Life" in which she compared the deliberate composition of a life to jazz improvisation. How do you structure your life? What part is organized and what part improvised? Where do you find balance between work, love and play?

4) Living a Life of Passion

Below is a poem by a psychologist/poet/elder. Where you do find joy and passion in your own life?

A POET’S OPTIMISM
I’m one of those who relishes
joys of being older and still able to create.
My mind creates sparks of innovation,
as I outreach to other empathetic souls.  
I’m a ‘goody-goody’ poet people say.
Good activities bring on good feelings.
Good feelings make for good days.
Good things also make for good days.
In my head my thoughts envision
 I’ll remain awhile to perform and smile,
since good days lead to more good days.
You call me an optimist and that’s okay.

© Norman Molesko, 2011

DRAFT: This module has unpublished changes.

DRAFT: This module has unpublished changes.

 

Before we begin, here are a few instructions for listeners:

  • If you have a question, press 5* on your phone.
  • Directly after the interview, be sure to fill out the evaluation linked to your call-in instructions, especially if you want to earn CEUs. 
  • Please register at least 24 - 48 hours before the interview so we have time to send out the call-in information.
  • If you'd like to listen to more of these tele-interviews, and your organization is not currently a subscriber, contact me with someone I can talk with about subscribing your organization so you can listen for free (except for the cost of your distance provider). Email info@ careerwell.org or call 415.312.4294.

This is Dr. Sally Gelardin with Careerwell Tele-Interviews.  Yesterday we talked with Nader Shabahangi about continuing the learning experiences at the Poetics of Aging Conference, Careerwell (both for those who attended and for those who could not attend) by interviewing several generations of workers over the age of 50. 


Speakers will address both the attributes and challenges theses generations have in common and their differences. We shall address such questions as, " What works and what doesn't in leading a meaningful and satisfying life at each age and stage?"  "What can we learn from our elders that can enrich our work and home lives?"  and much more...

 

The rationale for conducting this series is that in less than a century, life expectancy has increased by an average of 30 years in developed regions of the world. Stanford University's Annual Report, which was just published on the Internet yesterday, stated:


There are now are more people living longer in the world than ever before in human history and they are accounting for an increasingly greater percentage of the world population. Improved longevity is, at once, among the most remarkable achievements in all of human history and one of our greatest challenges.(http://longevity.stanford.edu/annual-reports-2/).

 

Ilene A. Serlin, Ph.D., BC-DMT is a psychologist and registered dance/movement therapist in San Francisco and Marin. She is a Fellow of the American Psychological Association, past President of the Division of Humanistic Psychology,  served on the APA’s Presidential Task Force on Whole Person Psychology, and is Founder of the Arts Medicine Program at the Institute of Health and Healing at California Pacific Medical Center.

 

Ilene is obviously a very creative person, as those of you who attended the Poetics of Aging Conference saw in her keynote address. I posted her powerpoint from her presentation, including her own moving poetry, on her Careerwell Page. She is also extremely active in organizations, which she is going to talk about today. Welcome Ilene.

 

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Interview Questions

 

  1. You sent to me an email on the role of Elders in the Occupy Wall Street Movement.  Why did you send to me that email?
  2. What is the Council of Elders and why did they lead an interfaith service in NYC, with hundreds of Occupy Wall Street activists taking part?
  3. How does this movement relates to jobs or desperate searches for jobs?
  4. How does this movement relate to hunger for Spirit?
  5. How does this movement relate to time and space?
  6. How does this movement relate to you and your work?
DRAFT: This module has unpublished changes.

Upcoming December Interviews

 

12/22/11 Bill Ryan, A Septuagenarian Who Works from the Heart
12/22/11 Martha Boesing, Working Septuagenrian, Formerly Homeless
12/29 Faith Winthrop, Working Octogenarian, "Havin' Myself a Time"  

12/29/11 Helen Harkness,Focus on Functional Age for your Future Direction. Target Chronological Calendars and Clocks


Upcoming Janualry Interview

 

1/12/12 Richard Knowdell, Non-Stop Working Septuagenarian

DRAFT: This module has unpublished changes.