This Is Getting Old
Zen Thoughts on Aging with Humor and Dignity
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4.1 • 10 Ratings
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- $18.99
Publisher Description
Inspiring lessons on growing older with grace and laughter, from a Zen teacher and writer who is “like a Buddhist Anne Lamott” (New York Journal of Books)
Being a woman over sixty can sometimes be confusing, sometimes poignant, and sometimes hilarious. In this intimate and funny collection of essays, Zen Buddhist and writer Susan Moon maintains her sense of humor as she provides thoughtful insights on getting older.
In This Is Getting Old, Moon touches on both the ups and downs of aging: Her bones are weakening, but she still feels her inner tomboy. She finds herself both an orphan and a matriarch following the death of her mother. She admits to sometimes regretting pieces of her past and to being afraid of loneliness. These musings, written with Moon’s signature wit and grace, are a touching exploration and celebration of life, age, and our “senior moments”—plus a powerful reminder to be in the here and now.
PUBLISHERS WEEKLY
In her mid-60s, Bay Area Zen practitioner Moon, former editor of the Buddhist Peace Fellowship s Turning Wheel magazine, writes, I wanted to look right into the face of oldness. What is it? Gentle essays are grouped into three sections: mind/body, relationships, and spirit. Moon uses detail vividly in her determination to make peace with the many failures of brain and body (from forgetting her Social Security number to wondering if she ll ever have sex again), though not all readers may want to follow her into the intricacies of retinal detachment and an elderly mother on a ventilator. Her best writing occurs when memory, emotion, and spirit coalesce as she recovers parts of herself left behind in childhood or comes to terms with solitude. Overall, the book is long on dignity but a bit short on both Zen and humor, focusing on earnest self-disclosure. But Moon s honesty about the inner and outer realities of aging conveys an urgent reminder of inevitable loss; indeed, as she reminds us, I am not getting old alone.
