Reaching my 90th birthday seems to be important, but in another sense, this is just another day in a life full of a lot to think about and usually too much to do. There’s an unfinished fiber piece hanging on the wall that I haven’t gotten back to in months. There are art supplies ordered and so far unused. And there’s an unfinished novel lurking in my computer that’s a work of collaboration with Wim. (We’ve set a deadline for ourselves this fall and that’s where most of my creative effort goes right now.)
There are always freelance writing assignments to finish in order to pay the bills, and of course, there’s everyday life. (I do get help with those daily demands from both my daughter and husband.) The questions I get from random people are usually about how I am still on my feet. But there’s also that unspoken question: How is it I’m still here at all?
Photo from my computer camera yesterday.
Not that things are working perfectly. Of course there are lost words, dates, and specific memories — but the truth is, I was never good at knowing what happened when. A lot that took place between 1935-2025 doesn’t come into focus easily, but I’ve usually been centered on the present anyhow, or perhaps just outside of time. That has always had its disadvantages, of course, from long-ago history classes to present-day schedules.
The questions people ask about how deserve some thought. Some of the necessities seem to include a decent set of genes, physical activity, and mental and creative interests and efforts. Here are a few that make sense to me.
Curiosity
What is the trick to aging successfully? If you’re curious about learning the answer, you might already be on the right track, according to an international team of psychologists, including several from UCLA. Click here to read an article by Holly Ober about curiosity and aging.
Optimism
This one gets difficult when the world seems to go askew. But an article in The MIT Press Reader relates optimism and longevity. Click here to read an article by Immaculata De Vivo on this topic.
Change
The flexibility to deal with change is an essential when this much time goes by. Neuroscientist Anne-Laure Le Cunff comments that, “We often think of change as something to endure. But change is how we grow.” Click here to read Le Cunff’s article about how curiosity transforms uncertainty from a threat into an invitation.
Make Life an Artwork
An article in the online publication Philosophy Break quotes Nietzsche on finding our true selves and suggests that we “view our lives as an artistic project.” I’d add that you have to be able to think of such a project as open-ended, not something to ever be finished and framed. Click here to read Jack Maden’s article about what Nietzsche has to say about shaping our lives creatively.
Of course there’s no one answer. If we humans can be whoever, whatever, wherever we are — people just relating to other people — we can better enjoy whatever time we manage to have.
Pat
playsonideas 
I discover with joy and humility Wim and Pat. I stumbled here during research on foxes and hedgehogs. I need to finish my wife’s last novel, left when she died on April 13, 2024, aged almost 75. Two characters. a hedgehog and a fox, are both called Mochée (Moses) and their interaction will be the line of the last chapters. Like Wim and Pat, we were Pierre and France: you can look at the blog. Égoportraits verbaux, and at the site of our books, electronic, as independent publishers., éditions fpc. You will have noticed our work is in French, but otherwise….
Why are we still jere, indeed, especially when the best half, my Renarde, has died ? Perhaps to prolong the adventure into a few more chapters, before our own end.
Pierre
Thank you so much for the lovely comment. Your blog looks very interesting, although I don’t read French at all well.
Perhaps we are all entre deux mondes, or just outside of time, and will eventually catch up with whoever has gone on ahead.