ALSO, AN UPDATE ON BOOKS BY FRIENDS

Like all of you, I have a circle of friends that I try to connect with on a regular basis. For me, it’s often over lunch.  I look forward to those dates with a real hunger – for the intimacy, the chance to chronicle our lives to ourselves and each other, and the sheer delight of gazing at a well-loved face.
If too much time goes by, one or the other of us sends an e-mail titled “re: lunch?” Occasionally we need to schedule an …

October is Breast Cancer Awareness Month
I know that I am not the only one who thinks of Fall as the beginning of the New Year. It’s that embedded back-to-school schedule – ours then and our children’s now. I am much more inclined to get going in October than in January.
What’s more, while my January resolutions have more to do with self-improvement (or self-criticism) – perennially “go on a diet” – my October plans are more about taking care of business and beefing up the rewarding parts of my life. …

GLORIA STEINEM, ISABELLA ROSSELLINI, REP. DONNA EDWARDS (D-MD), MODERATOR LESLEY JANE SEYMOUR AND ME.

FREE BOOK Fifty is the New Fifty, First 10 Comments
I don’t think there is anything more nourishing than an hour spent with a group of bright, funny and honest women friends. I got to do that – big time – last June when Gloria Steinem, Isabella Rossellini and Rep. Donna F. Edwards joined me for a discussion of the ideas in my book Fifty Is the New Fifty on a panel moderated by Lesley Jane Seymour, More …

My friend Joanne Edgar is a 2009 Trek Women’s Triathlete!
She’s in our FIFTY IS THE NEW FIFTY video in her Nia class and “Nia — Why I Keep Coming Back for More…” Now, she is going for it all!
FOR THE CHALLENGE, THE FUN . . . AND FOR ME!
By Joanne Edgar, #1312
What does it mean to feel good about your body? To me, at age 65, it means feeling strong and healthy and optimistic, knowing I can meet the challenges I set for myself.
On September 13, 2009, I completed …

When the living is easy and the rules are lax

1. Don’t even dream of “acting your age.” Now is the time for taking salsa dancing – secretly if you must. Or getting up an hour earlier – it’s light then – and writing down your most unformed thoughts. Take risks. Make a fool of yourself.
2. Make one tiny change in your routine, because even the smallest alteration shakes up the whole day – in a good way.
3. Clean house – not the cupboard kind. But get …

Age is not a Disease on the Stage
The number of accomplished women over forty currently on Broadway from Allison Janney 49 to Angela Lansbury 83 – are proving that: Age is not a Disease. In fact, we are simply better at living than ever before!
As we get older, we are focused and playing to our strengths.
Janney will celebrate her next birthday singing and dancing in “9 to 5.” She told reporter Patricia Cohen – “It’s kind of cool to turn 50 on Broadway.”
It’s way cool and this year, lots of …

From Singing Sensation Susan Boyle, 47, to Maria Amelia Lopez who was at 97 The World’s Oldest Blogger – Women Rule on the Web!
“Blogging took 20 years off my life,” said Maria Amelia Lopez, the world’s oldest blogger who died at age 97 on May 20th. She had a worldwide following and said the Internet had changed her life. “My ‘blogeuriños’ are the joy of my life. I never knew there was so much goodness in the world,” she said. She inspired many her own age to become bloggers, and …

And Why That is the Good News!
Recently there was quite a tizzy over two photographs of women in their forties who looked pretty damn hot. First, 43-year-old supermodel Cindy Crawford appeared in classic calendar-pose wearing nothing but well-placed foam in the pages of Allure Magazine. Then, 49-year-old actress and Jenny Craig spokeswoman Valerie Bertinelli put on a bikini for People magazine. Both of them looked great. Both of their bodies looked not a day over 30.
The message that many took from this was that they had achieved a break-through for …

Grown-Ups Dance like Kids!

Joanne Edgar – editor, writer, communications consultant

Nia is for everyone!  It is a fitness and lifestyle practice that any one, at any age or level of fitness, can do. It’s never boring, so you keep coming back.
I first stumbled into a Nia class at my local Y, after I turned 50. I didn’t know what it was, but I was curious because I heard fun music and saw people who were actually laughing while they were dancing and working out. By the time Suzanne interviewed me for …