![]() The facilitators created a warm writing community that pushed class members to grow as writers. The critiques often guided me to better revisions of my work by providing positive suggestions on the parts of the writing that are successful as well as those that are not. Each class we read something we had written for the week, and the class members provided gentle feedback. By taking the class, I hoped it would give me a platform from which to launch my inner “Virginia Woolf.” The course allowed us to pursue our own interests in writing and receive criticism for our musings. I had always kept a journal, but my other writing was more sporadic. As a teacher, I had taught a creative writing course and enjoyed it. I requested a brochure and signed up for the Writing for Ourselves and Others class. It seemed to be saying “look at everyday as something new, learn something new, do something new.” So I resolved to take my endeavors down a different path.įive years ago, an acquaintance told me about the Lifelong Learning Institute at Washington University in St. I first heard it when I was in my thirties, and with each successive year, its significance has increased for me. I kept thinking back to a quote I had read attributed to Michelangelo: “ Ancora Imparo – I am still learning.” He had said it when he was 87 years old and working on St. I found myself going through the motions between activities and knew I needed to find something different. Even though I enjoyed those undertakings, something was missing. I began by volunteering at DePaul Hospital, worked on several political campaigns, took drawing lessons, and tutored a middle school girl through the YMCA Literacy Program. After a three-year recuperation, I needed to make another series of adjustments. However, I had a series of accidents that presented me with numerous physical limitations. After retirement, I found a rewarding, part-time job as an adjunct instructor in Developmental Reading at St. Psychologically, I was still young and felt sharp and engaged, but I lacked something to channel those youthful feelings. As a friend said to me, “one day you look in the mirror and see your hair has greyed, you have some wrinkles you didn’t have a few years ago, and you’ve put on ten or twenty pounds, but in your mind you’re still as vital as that thirty year old you once were.” Part of the problem was finding myself with too much unstructured time. That was the situation I found myself in after I retired from teaching high school English twelve years ago. It’s not easy making such shifts, and it’s easy to find yourself adrift. For a myriad of reasons, aging requires adjustment and a shift in thinking of what your life means, pushing you to begin anew. ![]() Friends move away, you can become distanced from coworkers once you retire and don’t see them every day, an accident has posed physical restrictions on you, or your kids grow up and leave the house. Louisįor many people who are getting older, building a sustained life can be a daunting task. ![]() Written by Pat Ginn, member of the Lifelong Learning Institute at Washington University in St.
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