How To Be Old

The first task in my boot camp for the bonus years was to audit and adapt my apartment for old age. I do own my apartment which makes me very privileged and grateful. I love my home and try to treat it well. But was it sufficiently safe, shareable, and shipshape for the very old person that I would one day be?

WIth the prospect of longevity, I wanted to do something to improve my chances of a happy, healthy old age. It was an enormous goal, so I broke it into 12 modules and tiny actions. I would be shaping my own old age.

To prepare for my future as a very old woman I did a review of research on aging. Now I had data for an evidence-based self-help programme for well-being in old age.

A grown-up throws an epic tantrum after discovering her personal life expectancy. Podcast with a poem.

When I turned 75, I discovered to my horror that I probably still had many years of life ahead. To age positively, I made many small changes and my feelings changed from terror to optimism. I hope my year of being old inspires you. Doing something feels so much better than leaving your fate to Fate.

Will your life be boring when you are old? Will there still be surprises in old age? The post 8. Patterns and surprises in old age appeared first on Write into life.

Will your life be boring when you are old? Will there still be surprises in old age? I know there can be many delightful surprises in even the simplest of lives, and that this is likely to be true for you as well.

This episode of How To Be Old is about the language we use to talk about people who are not young. Why are people so hungry for another word for old? Seems there’s no word that everyone is comfortable with — but some words are slightly more acceptable. Should we call people old, older, elder, […] The post 7. Another word for old appeared first on Write into life.

This episode of How To Be Old is about the language we use to talk about people who are not young. Why are people so hungry for another word for old? Seems there's no word that everyone is comfortable with — but some words are slightly more acceptable.

In this episode of How to Be Old I’ll tell you how I personally carry out my beauty care. Some could find this alarming. I don’t really recommend my slapdash routine as beauty tips for older women. But I do relish the freedom of old age and I have exactly two tricks that help to […] The post 6. Beauty tips for older women appeared first on Write into life.

In this episode of How to Be Old I’ll tell you how I personally carry out my beauty care. Some could find this alarming. I don't really recommend my slapdash routine as beauty tips for older women.

This episode of How to be Old is about the power of names and nicknames that we accumulate as we grow older. Do they influence us? Where do they come from? My own name has been Rachel McAlpine for decades now. But I’ve also been called Jigger, Robin, Fishface, Tosh and Pud. Each name or […] The post 5. The power of names and nicknames appeared first on Write into life.

Consider the power of names and nicknames that we accumulate as through life. Do they influence us? Where do they come from?

This episode of How To Be Old offers tongue-in-cheek fashion tips for older people. Your choice of style may change in unexpected ways as you get older. The conversation and the poem are about your choice of fashion in old age. Maybe you’ll wear Jenny Joseph purple with a red hat that doesn’t go, or maybe […] The post 4. Fashion tips for older people appeared first on Write into life.

Tongue-in-cheek fashion tips for older people. Your choice of style may change in unexpected ways as you get older. The conversation and the poem are about your choice of fashion in old age.

This episode of How To Be Old is about the messages we get from our parents, and how they influence us. You hear their voices in your head even after your parents are dead, even when you yourself are old. The poem (and there’s always a poem) tells you quite a lot about my own […] The post 3. Voices in your head | How To Be Old | Podcast appeared first on Write into life.

I'm thinking about the indelible messages we get from our parents, and how they influence us even in old age. What if the voices in your head are mean?

When I was 75 it struck me that getting old is a bit like getting pregnant for the first time. They are both massive milestones. You have to deal with enormous changes to your physical body. Your life is has changed forever, you can’t turn back the clock and you’ll never be the same again. […] The post 2. Getting old is not like pregnancy appeared first on Write into life.

At 75 I had a silly thought: getting old is a bit like getting pregnant. Both bring drastic changes to your physical body and your life is changed forever.

Why this podcast? Because growing old is weird. We can’t imagine ourselves being older, let alone very old. We still feel young, so growing older takes us by surprise.