The Inner Work of Age

I like to be the first person to arrive at class. I like to find my front row seat and lay out my pencils, notebooks and tea. I like to watch my fellow students arrive, and I like it when the teacher is late.

Death and old age are coming. I want to be ready, so I can get the most out of the experience. I am gathering books and materials. Like everything, I am studying my way through it.

I bought The Inner Work of Age: Shifting from Role to Soul because I thought it would be straightforward dealing with difficult issues directly. It was also from a more Eastern/Jungian perspective and I haven’t read much modern work from that perspective. She does deal more directly with the emotional realities of aging in this modern day than anything else I’ve read. The message is somewhat muddled as she encourages us to overcome ageism and to do what we can do, while in other chapters she tells us to accept new limitations. She quietly, but decidedly rejects Christianity, which made trouble for me as a Christian. She does share inspiring information and exercises from well-known Christians, but it feels not quite fair. 

I will keep the book and perhaps reread it. There were a lot of good ideas for staying focused on what really matters and good help for letting go when our time is done. I’ll also keep looking for more books like this one.