Every time I meet with one of my writing groups I get an interesting and challenging prompt. This last week's prompt was: What is something I resist. What am I doing when I resist? And here is what I came up with. Needless to say, it's connected to my recent bicycle accident which is still very much on my mind. As much as I try to stop thinking about it it doesn't go away. I call it Resistance Just after the man on the bicycle ran over me and I was taken to the ER and later in the day to the ICU, I resisted seeing any of the people who wanted to call and visit me. At that point I could barely talk – not even to my son Ben who was in the room with me most of the time. I just wanted to lay in bed in my hospital gown, covered with bandages all over my arms and the back of my head. I was sure no one wanted to see me like that so I did the best I could to prevent it. At those early times no one, including myself, was sure I had enough brain power to carry on a coherent conversation. … [Read more...]
Aging fears and prejudices
The prompt at my writing group last week was to write about our fears and prejudices regarding aging. Look at what happens when we have no value as sex objects. Look at the discounting of women older than we are. Here is what I wrote: The other evening I had a conversation with a friend about aging and how aging women are treated these days. This woman and I are the same age – born in the same year – and we’re both pretty fit for being eighty-one, since we both exercise every day and have been exercising regularly since we were thirty-six. I started walking every morning on March 23, 2020 – the day my gym closed because of COVID and have not missed a day since. We are both, I’d say, not too bad looking since the wrinkles and sags haven’t taken over our faces yet, and, most importantly, have all our faculties. We can have a coherent conversation on most subjects. In those respects I find myself pretty lucky. I also feel lucky since I’m still writing – I write a short poem … [Read more...]
