Author: sssmahh303

Reading Always Saves Me

by sssmahh303, posted in Wellness

Mary Ann

When I look back on my life and was faced with life challenges, I always found that books saved me.  I could have been depressed or discouraged, but somehow, I escaped to an alternative world or enmeshed myself in stories about different people and places.  Books were a great bridge to better times. 

When I learned to read, phonics was taught.  It is an excellent way to teach children to read, unless you are a sight reader which I was.  Beginning phonics was a foreign language to me.  I never understood what I was learning.  I must have faked it well because my report cards don’t mention any problems.  I asked my mother if teachers ever mentioned that I had trouble reading, and she said no.  So, I read Dick and Jane, but I did not enjoy it.

Somewhere around 4th grade, something clicked and suddenly in the middle of an Old Mother West Wind book, I was reading and roller coasting over words I didn’t know. However, I knew what was happening, and I loved it.  A flood gate opened, and I was constantly reading – maybe that was the reason I got glasses that year?  I read the entire Bobbsey Twins collection and then on to Nancy Drew.  It was easy reading with the same format – a great way for a beginner reader to get a foothold on books.   I even won a reading contest in 5th grade for reading the most books.  Truly, how could that have happened when I was flailing in the early primary grades?

By the time I entered Junior High, the forerunner of Middle School, we were reading classic literature.  If I had a kerfuffle (isn’t that the greatest word?) with some catty girls or a dispute with my mother, reading Jane Eyreor The Count of Monte Cristo or any other timeless classic, I was relieved to come home and be whisked away to imaginary worlds.  My parents would say that I always had my nose in a book, and I did!  A perfect summer day for me was to lie in our hammock being gently rocked by a breeze and read a book by a favorite author.  I would read until dark.  

Then you go to high school and college, and you are so busy that finding time to read was a real challenge. Of course, you had assigned literature to read from your classes. Thank Heavens!  So, I often would read myself to sleep catching a bit of a pleasure book, and I would always carry a book with me so I could steal moments to read.   

After those rather carefree years, you enter adulthood.  You then might spend more time reading Good Night Moon or Where the Wild Things Are to your children instead being deep in a steamy romance novel.  It is all part of growing up, really growing up.  I can remember being in grad school, teaching full-time, raising young children, and running a house, and my only reading was the People magazine once a week as I soaked in a bubble bath.  The time was precious. 

Life becomes very real when you get a divorce.  It is such a sad time.  I was reading a lot of self-help books trying to figure myself out and understanding the pain my broken heart was enduring.  I have written before how the right book always comes, and it did.  I am so thankful for that gift.  It made all the difference.  However, I missed reading books for pleasure.  It was reading to survive. 

When my children were on their own and had left the “nest,” I spent a year or so reading reflective, inspirational books.  They all helped me heal my soul and allowed me to move forward to embrace the next phase of my life where a new, independent chapter awaited.  At midlife, it was truly a foundational time.

 At work, there were always professional books to read on teaching and learning treads.  All deepening my knowledge of children.  I would read fiction on the weekends and holiday vacations, but there was never enough time to really dive into all the stories I wanted to read.  

With the passing years, my pile of books to read and my lists of new titles grew and grew. Then one day you retire.  For the most part, you must grow old to retire, and therein lies the gift of aging, you have time to read!  Thank you, Thank you!  You may need stronger glasses or bigger font to read.  They do make large print books. However, before you is an endless supply of books to read.  I have taken full advantage of this gift and enjoy reading every day.  I often have three books going at once – the nonfiction I am reading with Lisa, my nature book for book club, and whatever I find of interest on various websites or a recommendation from a fellow reader.

You know that I love books.  My blogs this month are all about different aspects of reading.  I feel blessed.  I do know that a day will come when this will all slow down.  I may have to switch to audio books should my eyes fail or turn up the volume on the various audio book if my hearing goes or I might forget what I read the day before.  I once knew an elderly lady in her 90s who told me she forgets what she reads each day but still enjoys reading it again.  I think that is a great attitude to have and just keep reading.  It might be time to get the children’s books out again, so I can read the whole book in one setting.  Maybe there will be a great-grandchild to read to as they begin reading, and I will be ending my reading.

SSS

by sssmahh303, posted in Friends and Family

Mary Ann 

Do you have a word or a set of letters or numbers that keeps appearing in your life?  I have. Strangely, I have had SSS show up several times in my life, and it is not the Selective Service System. 

In college, I belonged to a local sorority.  It was Theta Gamma Phi that later went national, and we became Sigma Sigma Sigma – SSS!  The sorority was the center of so many wonderful friendships. A few of those women have remained close as the years passed. 

I never thought much of it until I joined a children writer’s group with three other women writers in South Carolina, and we met the second Sunday of each month.  We called ourselves the Second Sunday Sisters – once again SSS.  These ladies were so creative, and we watched the birthing of many books over the years. We critiqued each other’s work and pushed one another forward being cheerleaders to the group.  We would visit the first hour, share yummy treats, discuss any critiques that were pending, and then off to quiet areas of the house to write.  

One of the ladies wrote a series of children’s books entitled Down Girl and Sit, and she dedicated one of the books to the Second Sunday Sisters.  Boy, that is so special having a book dedicated to us!  We began such close friends while I lived in South Carolina.  I am still in frequent contact with one sister, occasionally with another sister, and one who I  completely lost touch.  They all hold a dear place in my heart. 

Now, we come to the last or my maybe my most current SSS.  It is Silver Sage Sisters, and you are part of that. When we were naming the blog, we originally tried for Silver Sages.  The name was already taken on Go Daddy, so we added sisters and bingo, we had our name, another SSS.  It was not planned, but I guess SSS wanted to reappear again in my life. 

Silver Sage Sisters has become a very important part of my life.  I get to work with my dear, dear friend, Cynthia making the distance between Oklahoma and Pennsylvania much closer.  We have grown so much in our writing and figuring how to do WordPress.  I can remember when it was so hard to add a picture.  I often would schedule blogs immediately by mistake and would have to correct the date so blogs would drop as planned.  We hope to add another dear friend, Lisa, as a guest writer sometime soon as she embarks on her retirement.

The blogs have given me a creative outlet for doing a bit of memoire, a bit of travel writing, some reviews of favorite books and films, articles on favorite products and services, storytelling, and lots of odds and ends like a SSS blog.  It keeps my brains nimble as I create. Cynthia and I appreciate your support and encouragement about the stories we tell.  Your feedback has meant so much as we write.  We have a small but loyal following. Thank you, Readers. Spread the word and tell your friends and relatives all about Silver Sage Sisters.  

Looking ahead, I wonder what the next SSS will be in my life.  The past SSS all revolved around friendships, my friendships with other women.   I hope that will be the case in a future SSS.  If I am still writing blogs, I will let you know.  Whatever it is, it has to be better than the Selective Service System! 

Nature Book Club 

by sssmahh303, posted in Lifestyle

Mary Ann

Every three or four books that I read; I usually select a nature book.  I love nature.  That love comes from my father who was a biology teacher.  It was a gift that he gave to my brother and me.  We were full of curiosity as children, and our father would cheer us on with stories and interesting facts about a butterfly or a fish or whatever we would find.    

People who love nature are born that way.  Harvard professor Howard Gardner’s Theory on Multiple Intelligence determined humans have a propensity to have one or more of basic intelligences or Smarts that include Word, Picture, Body, Music, People, Self, Logic and Nature.  People who are Nature Smart enjoy rocks, plants, and animals; hear and see links in nature; and like to spend time outdoors.  That was my father, my brother, and me – we were all Nature Smart!

Many of my neighbors and friends are also Nature Smart.  We call each other when we spot a fox or see a Monarch Butterfly in our yards. I have written about this in other blogs.  I guess it was only natural that birds of a feather would flock together, and inevitably we would decide to start a nature book club so we could talk about the things we love.

So, a few of us met a year ago in August to set up the perimeters of the club and determine the books that we were going to read.  There were five of us to start, and we slowly added three more people.  I looked online for information on how to start a club and things to consider.  Cynthia was very helpful in sharing her experiences with book clubs.  She has been a member of several over the years. 

At first, we tried to meet at a nature center, and then we tried bookstores.  There were several restrictions at those locations, and you could not have refreshments – NO wine!  The venue then changed to our neighborhood homes.  We decided to meet the last Wednesday of the month from 7 to 9 pm.  Members would host meetings providing space, refreshments, and questions for the monthly book selection. There are many Internet resources to find questions so that really is not hard to do.   We would meet September through November with December off for the holidays, and regroup in January with meetings in February, March, April, and May.   June and July would be off for vacations and summer fun, and we would meet again in August to select books for the coming year.  The August meeting would be a covered dish or a dinner at a local restaurant.

The book selections were relatively easy.  We were open to all possibilities.  Everyone wanted to read Amy Tan’s Backyard Bird Chronicles so that was our first book selection.  We followed with Voices in the Ocean by Susan Casey about dolphins.  There were a few challenging parts that were not for the faint of heart.  Life is hard for dolphins – it was not a Flipper adventure.  In November we read The Secret Life of Nature by Peter Wohlleben who has written several books about trees.  Fun Fact – trees know their own baby trees.  There is a lot going on in the ground under a tree.   We started again in January with The Comfort of Crows by Margaret Renkl that followed the author’s observation of plants and animals in her backyard.  We then read Nature’s Best Hope: A New Approach to Conservations that Starts in Your Own Yard by Douglas W. Tallamy that gives several suggests helping humans harmoniously live with nature.  The March reading was Eager by Ben Goldfarb about beavers.  They are furry little heroes for the environment.  What an Owl Knows by Jennifer Ackerman followed in April, and it was a fascinating book about these mysterious birds.  World of Wonders by Aimee Nezhukumatathil.  (Poor Aimee had to learn to spell that long name when she started school – oh, my!).  This Barnes and Noble book of the year is a collection of essays about interesting plant and animal facts – whale sharks, fireflies or narwhals!  And so, our first-year ends.

With all book clubs, there is a very big social element to them. Conversations can be all over the place.  We hysterically laughed one evening after reading Nature’s Best Hope.  We have a very strict HOA where most of us live, and they probably would object to us planting certain things to sustain the environment.  We decided to organize a group of guerrilla gardeners, and in the dead of night we would gather to plant milkweed throughout the complex to support monarch migration. However, if little patches of milkweed start sprouting up, we know nothing about it….

 Just remember that attendance will not be perfect each month.  People are busy with life. Find your people, those Nature Smart ones, and start your own club.  We have given you an outline how to organize and a list of books to begin.  Enjoy the camaraderie, learn about your environment, and appreciate being green.  You know it is not easy being green! 

Benjamin Bunny

by sssmahh303, posted in Friends and Family

Mary Ann

It was love at first sight.  There he was sitting on the top shelf of the toy store display case.  My children were young as we vacationed in Petaluma, CA.  They were busy checking out at all the other toys, and I made a beeline to the gray rabbit puppet.   It was a German Steiff arm puppet with a little brass button tag on its ear. When I put the puppet on my hand, he came alive as all puppets do when you play with them.  It is magical when they become real.  

Then I looked at the price tag – $35 which was a hefty price in the 70s.   After some debate, the bunny was on the way home with me.  He was just too cute to leave behind, and as a teacher, I could use the rabbit with my work with children.  I named him Benjamin Bunny after the Beatrix Potter’s character.  I didn’t realize at the time how much that bunny puppet would mean to my life.

I fell in love with puppets after taking a weekend workshop about making puppets and writing puppet shows.  I ended up giving my own puppetry workshops, The Magic of Puppetry, to children and fellow teachers.  Puppets were a good vehicle to get the creative juices going.  However, it was always a wonder watching children truly believe that puppets were alive.  As the puppeteer, children could see that you were moving the puppet and talking for it, yet it made no difference.  The children believed and that is where the magic is.

Benjamin was always a star at the presentations, but he did not come into his own until I became a principal.  Since I oversaw very young children, I would visit the classes to read books, and Benjamin would join me.  Benjamin was a very shy bunny, so it would take him a minute or two to warm up when he gave a timid wave to the children.  Now, Benjamin ‘s mouth did not move so he would whisper in my ear what he wanted to say.  At the end of my visit, Benjamin would hug each of the children.  Little ones would love that special hug.   Occasionally, a child would not hug him – he or she was also timid.  However, as the year progressed, the child would become braver and finally hug Benjamin.  Over the years, all the children in the school knew Benjamin from his visits to their early childhood classrooms.  Benjamin became a bit of a celebrity.  He had been hugged by hundreds and hundreds and hundreds of children.  So much love!

When I moved to NYC, Benjamin came with me and visited our youngest children for book readings as well. He had a following and was a star in the Big Apple.   Again, those visits ended with hugs from adoring children.  Benjamin was dearly loved for 25 years and has now retired with me.  We did do a ZOOM visit during the Covid Pandemic, and Benjamin showed the children how to wear a face mask, and he “told” them to listen to their parents and teachers so they would be safe. 

In retirement now, Benjamin sits on a shelf in my office.  I look at him every day and he makes my heart smile.  Benjamin Bunny represents my life’s work with children and the happiness of doing that.  I have decided that I will have him cremated with me when the time comes for me to say goodbye.  No one else would ever know who Benjamin was and what he meant to me.  The little bunny epitomizes children’s love, and I want to take that love with me.  

Journaling As Treasure

by sssmahh303, posted in Uncategorized

Mary Ann

When you write in your journal, it is a safe place to share your thoughts, feelings, experiences, and emotions – the good, the bad, and the ugly!  It is like putting gold into a treasure chest.  The treasure is valuable and precious to you.  What is written is for you alone.  It is your treasure. 

I have kept journals for most of my adult life.  It is mostly in fits and spurts.  When I am traveling, I document the journey, and I love rereading them reliving my adventures.  I have written them during challenging times of my life.  Journaling was cathartic and was a type of self-therapy healing an injured soul.  In a way, it saved me.  

When I went to work in New York City, I recorded my daily life.  It was a unique experience that was a gift in the last stages of my career.  I have a box full of journals to reread that chronicled those special years. Sweet memories!

I do keep a dream journal and record dreams that I can remember.  The dreams are usually distinctive and often have a message in them.  I can see patterns in my life.  This is not done daily, only when I recall the missive.  Often the dreams are freeing from redundant patterns in my life, my choices.

I am a nature journalist.  I write and draw the entries of plants and animals I observe.  It is one of my favorite activities, and it gives me the gift of peace.  This past Christmas, I was given a nature journal by Margaret Renkl, author of The Comfort of Crows.  It is a weekly diary of what you see in your own backyard.  It imitates Renkl’s Crows which is stories of her backyard observations.   So far, it has been snow, snow, snow.  Not much action.

Journaling is something that I do enjoy, but I have a dilemma regarding it.  What do you do with them after you written them, especially if they are highly emotional, and your treasure is exposed?  The nature journals or the travel journals are nice to keep.  They are not soul baring for the most part.  However, the ones from my divorce were deep–water treasure, a portal to a damaged heart and soul.  I didn’t want my children to know some things about their father or did I want them to know what I wrote about them or how hard it was financially.  I tried to protect them, and what good would it really do if they knew?  I think it is best to reread them and then shred them.  You see how you grew from the lessons your learned. It is freeing to put the experiences in the past, and you are lighter letting go to have a soul at peace. 

New York, New York – Part 5

by sssmahh303, posted in Lifestyle

New York City Shops 

Mary Ann 

Ask anyone in New York, what is the best city in the world?  They will all tell you, New York City, of course!  It may be your favorite city too.  Despite the crowding, dirty streets, foul smells, and the like, it remains a beloved place for people from all over the world.  It is the seat of entertainment, finance, art, and on and on.  Those of us who got the chance to live or work there know how special a city it is.  Yet, below what you first see, there is a bustling city of matchless wonders.

New York City is full of unique people; however, it is equally full of unique shops.  When exploring the city, these charming places make an adventure unfolding around every corner. During my time in New York City, I enjoyed discovering many of the city’s best kept secrets.  We all know Macy’s or Bloomingdales – where tourist roam!  People seldom unearth the treasures of the one-of-a kind shops that populate New York. 

The island of Manhattan has various districts for garments, flowers, furniture, jewelry, diamonds, etc.  Nestled in among the warehouses, you can often find shops that sell wholesale items to the public.  I can remember once going into a costume jewelry store, and I thought I had gone to earring heaven. Row upon row of very pretty, very inexpensive earrings greeted me as I entered.  

In this blog, I want to share with you some of the distinctive places I found, and the best place to start is with sweets.  Birthdays at my school were always a little over the top with treats for fellow classmates and teachers.  As principal, I was included as well – lucky me!  There were delicious cupcakes and whoopie pies and giant cookies.  Some of the best treats came from world-famous Magnolia’s on Bleeker Street. The cupcakes were exceptional; however, the banana pudding is out-of-this-world.  Magnolia does ship their baked goods, but the banana pudding recipe can be found online.  I have made it, and the pudding is very close to the original.  Another favorite of mine is Baked by Melissa.  This bakery has a few shops throughout the city. The cupcakes are quarter-sized morsels of pure delight.  They have hundreds of flavors that they change in and out.  You can stop by and pick up a few to nibble as you walk down the street.   Melissa also ships their mini cupcakes all over, and they offer lovely holiday assortments.  They have a cute 3-pack that are nice to give as memorable favors. 

Occasionally, a new yummy would hit the market. When the summer of cronuts premiered in the city, the lines wound around the block. They were a combo of a donut and a croissant and were coveted.   You were crestfallen when you finally got to the front of the line only to find out they were out. Tears prevailed and sometimes colorful screaming!   

Then we have the candy shops.  Time Square has its Hersey and Reese’s shops, but they do not compare to the riches of the specialty chocolate shops that pepper the city.   Jacques Torres is probably one of the most famous.  The chocolate is good, and they will add red peppers or some other exotic ingredient to the chocolate to give it a tasty little kick.  The chocolate comes in all shapes and sizes.  I do love their very rich hot chocolate that comes in a variety of flavors – great on a cold NYC day.  My favorite chocolate shop is Li-Lac’s, the oldest chocolate house in Manhattan founded in 1923 – there are several locations.  It has the creamiest chocolate – once you start eating it, you can’t stop. They ship as well. 

 Another favorite candy store was Sockerbit featuring gummies, licorice, and chocolates.  It was a stop and mix store, so you paid by weight of your mixed bag.  Unfortunately, it closed, but Bon Bon and Lil Sweet Treat have opened in the West Village offering the same candies. What I noticed as I was checking out the shops, the locations may have changed or there is a new name for the same products. I think Covid changed the market in many cases.

One-item shops prospers in New York City.  It would be hard for such shops to make it somewhere else.  It take several million people to make it happen.  However, it makes the shops memorable due to their uniqueness.  There is a rice pudding store, Rice to Riches, where a variety of favors and toppings are offered.  I found a shop that only sells salt with some chocolates, flowers and bitters called Meadows.   The Parisian Laduree has a shop in NYC with their famous macrons – there are other macron only shops as well.  How about a shop that only sells tassels and trims?  Or a shop that sells mostly trays.  Then there is a shop that sells just belts.  The possibilities are almost endless.  There is a lot of turnovers, yet some old timers remain. 

There are bookstores that only sell one type of book – cookbooks, mysteries, or children’s books.  Wonderful selections to explore. Barnes and Noble bookstore has several stores with huge inventories. New Yorkers are readers.  The best of all is The Strand – a landmark bookstore near Union Square.  All kinds of books, old and new, are available.    It is a fun place to while away a few hours.

I could go on and on. Yet, I haven’t even talked about the restaurants or the many exclusive services.  I will save that for the next New York, New York blog, and we can visit them together. 

Down 7, Up 8

by sssmahh303, posted in Wellness

Mary Ann

A few months ago, I found this Japanese proverb – Down 7, Up 8, and I thought it summed up what life is all about.  My mother always said, “Life is Hard, “and indeed she was right.  Life in one way or another is always knocking you down, and you learn early on that you must get yourself back up.  Look at a toddler.  They fall down all the time, and they for the most part (even after tears) bounce back up.  

We must be resilient to survive.  Ask any cave man!  Our downs in life are not saber tooth tigers, but they can be just as dangerous.  There are many losses in life.  Divorce or any breakup with a friend or lover can be overwhelming.  Chronic illnesses or a death of a love one can tragically break your heart.  Watching your children suffer in any way is like having the same suffering yourself.  The loss of a job or a financial crisis can be devastating. There are always challenges in life, and we must accept and adapt to them.  We must be resilience.

Resilience is defined as the ability to mentally or emotionally cope with a crisis or return to pre-crisis status quickly.  I have been down and out many times in my life for one reason or another, and I am sure you have been there as well.  Sometimes it was very hard to get back up, but really there was no other choice but just do it!   You must adapt to handle the situation, and hopefully, the challenges will help you grow stronger, so you are ready for whatever is next. 

I strongly believe that most problems have a solution if we put the time and energy into solving them. That is resilience in action.  Look how resilience the natural world is.  Nature is always teaching us lessons to live by.  After devastating wildfires, tiny green shoots fight their way through the ashes to survive. We need to fight our way upwards again as well.

For thousands of years, humans have been falling down and getting back up.  I guess it is part of the human condition, and we humans have documented it with the written word in proverbs, sayings, and quotes.  The ancient Japanese culture captured the essence of resilience in just a few words. – down and up.  In ending, there is another quote that I also thinks captures the meaning of resilience – If you are going through hell, keep going.  I can identify with that.  I am sure you can too. 

Aging

by sssmahh303, posted in Reviews

Mary Ann

When I was in 9th grade, we read Shakespeare’s As You Like It.  We had to recite the famous speech, All the World’s A Stage, in front of the class.  It was a piece that took an individual through the various stages of life comparing it to a play.  For the most part, I didn’t get it.  If you hadn’t lived a particular stage, you couldn’t identify with it.  And what in the world did sans teeth, sans eyes, sans taste, sans everything mean? 

Well, as one ages, the various stages begin to make sense, and now, that I am in the final stage of the speech, I know what sans, French for without, means and indeed it is true. I always thought that there should be a T-shirt that says, “Aging is Not for Sissies.”  You must be tough to grow old.  There is a challenge around every corner, a surprise just awaiting you.

Aging is full of aches and pains.  You discover body parts you didn’t know existed.  You develop health conditions like hypertension, cholesterol, or diabetes. Your body does not want to do what your head tells it to do.  You can’t open the peanut butter jar.  It is hard to go up the steps or getting out of a chair.  You can’t see as well as when you were young.  You can’t hear either, so you say what a lot. You forget names, and words just sit on the tip of your tongue. There are lots of thingmajigs or whatchacallits in your vocabulary now.  You have many senior moments.  The list could go on and on, and it keeps growing with the passing years.  Mark Nepo has said, “The terrain of aging is steeper the longer we go.”  Amen!  

As challenging as aging is, there are many good things that can only be acquired with growing older.  There are lessons to be learned with the passage of time.  With aging you gain wisdom and experience.  Life is always teaching you a lesson.  You gain understanding and patience from those lessons.  You grow to appreciate stillness and the peace that it brings.  You begin to understand that taking the time to smell the roses is what life is all about.  You embrace the life you have and live acceptance.  You discover your inner light and let it shine.

We know that change is inevitable.  It is one thing that you can count on.  Yet, it is still hard to embrace as you grow older. The changing is getting us ready for the final journey whatever it will be.  Again, I quote poet Mark Nepo whose beautiful words explains the coming adventure.  “It’s as if my body is a nest and my soul is a bird who has waited a lifetime for the moment it can fly away.”  Aging prepares us for that final flight.

I wrote this essay for the journaling group that I recently joined.  The topic was aging, and I based some of it on the work of Mark Nepo.  He is a poet and spiritual writer who I just discovered.  His prose is lyrical and so deep that you pause after many of his sentences to ponder the wisdom that Nepo imparts.  His most recent work is The Fifth Season, Creativity in the Second Half of Life.  Nepo is now in his seventies, and this book echoes his many years of a reflective life.  My friend Lisa and I read the book as part of our nonfiction book club.  After the first section, we decided to do a slow read of this book.  Each section has four or five chapters that each end with a journal prompt and a discussion question about the reading.  This was a great jumping off point for Lisa and me to discuss the reading. We decided to read one section a week and then take a second week to reflect on what we read.  That is how rich the readings were.  I took notes throughout the various sections, and we reviewed our thoughts when we finished the book.  I don’t believe I have ever put that much energy into reading a book.  However, it was worth every minute.  Since both Nepo and I are in our fifth season, I could recognize myself throughout the book.  We are all traveling on the same path but in our own unique way.  I am thankful I got to join him on his. 

Lisa and I would highly recommend this book, but it is not a quick read even though the book is only 200 pages.   You need to take your time and digest Nepo’s beautiful words.  It is nourishment for the soul. It is a book to return to again and again gaining insights into one’s inner life.  I am also reading Nepo’s bestselling book, The Book of Awakening, that is a year’s worth of daily readings.  He wrote it 20 years ago, and it is still very relevant.  Many people read it year after year.  I think I will too.  Each day is ended with mediations to reflect upon the wise words Nepo shares.  If you would like to hear more about Mark Nepo and his books listen to Mel Robbins’ Podcast from November 16, 2025 – The Exact Words You Need to Hear Today If It Feels like Nothing’s Working.  Mel is a big fan of Mark.  I hope that you will join his fan club along with me!  

Merit Badges

by sssmahh303, posted in Wellness

Mary Ann

I imagine when you were young that you were a member of the Cub Scouts or the Brownies.  As you grew, you then became a Boy or Girl Scout.   During those years, you earned Merit Badges in areas that you wanted to learn new skills or to develop a new interests.  I often wondered what would happen if we could still earn merit badges into adulthood.  What would that look like?

There would probably be badges for good parenting or kindness.  You might earn one for excelling with finances or cooking. The possibilities are endless.   I wonder if we would wear them with coordinating sashes to match our outfits or attach them to our computer cases.  People would be bragging about their earned badges on social media.  There might be reality shows with competitions to win them.  Maybe earning badges would change the world for the better because you must be a good person to receive one.

So, what does it mean to be a good person?  I think a good person is a kind person and a kind person is a good person.  Kindness is the quality of a person who is friendly, generous, considerate, caring for others and oneself, empathetic, courageous, uplifting, and a strong desire to make things better without reward. If you live those qualities – walk your talk – you are a good person.

Now, if we had grown-up merit badges, there would have to be a list of requirements to earn it, just like scouts do.   Let’s look at some possible badges to see what we would have to do to achieve it. 

Good People for People Badge –

SMILE

Donate to Charities

Volunteer

Do Small Kindnesses for Others (like holding a door for someone)

Feed People

Help Children and the Elderly

Good People for the Earth – 

Support Clean Air for all

Support Clean Water for all

Protect Endangered Animals

Drive Electric Cars

Use Alternative Energy – Wind, Water, and Solar

Recycle Everything 

Eliminate Land Fill and Floating Ocean Trash

Love Your Country by caring for it

Good People for Yourself – 

Exercise

Eat a Balanced Diet

Hydrate – 8 Classes a Day

Practice Meditation and Mindfulness

Socialize 

Be a Life-Long Learner

All the requirements are good things for all people. It is being kind to everyone, the Earth, and yourself.   I think this could incent individuals to be better people for the best possible world.  We really don’t need merit badges, but if that would help to encourage people, let’s go for it now!

Note – There is an actual company that makes merit badges for adults. Winks for Days (winksfordays.com) has an array of badges for every big girl and big boy to show-off their accomplishments.  The badges are $10, and they created pins as well.  Do you need a badge for flossing or taking your vitamins or watering  your plants?  Winks has them and many more.  Check it out.   

Joyspan

by sssmahh303, posted in Reviews

Mary Ann

As you know, the Silver Sage Sisters have written frequently about life in retirement and growing older.  We have tried to share with you good books and ideas to help you ease into this chapter of your lives. I have recently come across a book that I think you would like.  It is Joyspan – The Art and Science of Thriving in Life’s Second Half and is written by Dr. Kerry Burnight who is known as America’s Gerontologist.  She believes in optimizing dignity, health, and joy with aging.  

Burnight defines joyspan as the experience of well-being and satisfaction in longevity.  She states further that joyspan requires knowledge, intention, and effort and is achievable regardless of where you are starting out today.  Thriving in old age means to live a fulfilling, purposeful, and satisfying life despite the challenges that accompany aging. You must maximize physical health, cognitive function, emotional well-being, social connections, and sense of meaning.  

In Joyspan Burnight determined four essential elements about aging that include the following:

  1. Grow: Continue to explore and expand
  2. Connect:  Put time into new and existing relationships
  3. Adapt: Adjust to changing and challenging situation
  4. Give: Share themselves

As you grow through the second half of your life, focusing on these four tenants will help you find meaning.  The book goes into great detail about all of them.  There are excellent surveys to help you determine where you are with them and great examples of each in action.  

Joyspan is written by a gerontologist who understands aging, not just the medical aspect.  Dr. Burnight does not dismiss you because you are older.  She respects you and that is often rare in the medical field.  It is a special doctor who takes time to listen to you and is willing to work with you.  Aging is a partnership between the doctors and the patients.

As you know, my friend Lisa and I have had a non-fiction book club for the last six years, and Joyspan has been one of our favorite books.  I have given it to several friends to help them figure out their journey with aging.  Lisa and I have read numerous books on every aspect of aging, and Joyspan tells the good, the bad, and ugly of it all.  It is full of relatable information that everyone in their golden years can use.  Joyspan is a book that I will return to again and again.  I hope that you will find it a treasure as well and will help you age with grace.