Once I was an activist in the areas of labor, housing, civil rights, and education. Then I ran a theater and engaged in national and international discussions of cultural democracy. Then, I evolved a method of practice, digital storytelling.
I keep seeing them when I close my eyes—the elders in sunhats and sensible shoes, flood of silver hair in the high desert light, filling the Plaza and the steps of the Roundhouse, trading sunscreen and lozenges and hard-won wisdom between chants. Santa Fe is a petite city, but
Last Wednesday, also known as Christmas Eve, I was part of the Commons annual Tamalada, or community holiday tamale making and lunch, as one of the cooks. Having spent my first year’s in San Antonio, Texas, I love tamales. I mean, really love them. My mother told of keeping
Companion Living as an Emerging Social Technology of Aging I’ve been thinking lately about a space that doesn’t have a good name yet. It’s the space between being fine and needing care. Between living alone and moving into assisted living. Between independence and isolation. Most of us
“Intellectual intimacy is the space where two minds meet—where curiosity sparks, ideas deepen, and understanding grows beyond the surface.” — Lindsey Mackereth What if the most important infrastructure for aging well isn’t a new device, but a renewed discipline of listening? Not more answers, but better questions. Not a
Mel Brooks used to crack that the secret to longevity is simple: “Keep breathing.” Then he’d take a beat, grin, and keep going. It’s an old vaudeville trick and a life practice in one: keep the air moving, especially when grief and change threaten to take your breath
“Why not talk about it when we’re in the flower of health? Life is finite, isn’t it? So, because it’s finite it would seem that each day is more precious than ever.” Studs Terkel, Will the Circle Be Unbroken I read many types of books. But probably,
Down the river from me is the Mary Esther Gonzales Senior Center on Alto Street (aka MEG). I’ve walked and rode by it a hundred times. But never journeyed in. But walking my dog today adjacent to the center got me thinking about Senior Centers. StoryCenter was once next
There was this moment, when Brooke and I were standing in the boarding line at the Belém airport on Thursday, when the nice guy organizing the queue took a look at me and, in Portuguese, suggested what I understood to be, “Oh, you can bypass the line, given your age.
I write from Sao Paulo, Brazil. I find myself at the end of a two year odyssey to generate what became the 12th International Digital Storytelling Conference (and the first International Conference of Social Memory Technology, more on that later). Of course, the week has been both emotional and inspiring,
“Age tech needs to be reliable, easy to use, accurate and affordable” – Empowering Independence With Technology..., AARP Here’s another pocket field guide to the next 25 years of “elderware”—the gadgets, apps, and services that might shape how we care for our bodies, move through our towns, savor our
“Old age can be understood only in the context of social conditions and issues of the larger social order.” — Dr. Carroll L. Estes I grew up in the home of a union organizer. Actually two organizers, although my mom was probably better described as a multi-issue organizer, race, gender, age
“We know from research that smoking shortens your life and that abuse of alcohol is also bad. But what most people die of is loneliness. It is a greater hazard, because it leads to people dying from cardiovascular disease, Alzheimer’s and other ailments. It also leads to people feeling