A DELIGHTFUL LITTLE Book ON AGING
by
Stephanie Raffelock
Genre: Inspirational / Spiritual / Essays / Self-Help
Publisher: She Writes Press
Publication Date: April 28, 2020
Number of Pages: 119 pages
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All around us, older Women flourish in industry, entertainment, and politics. Do they know something that we don’t, or are we all just trying to figure it out? For so many of us, our hearts and minds still feel that we are twenty-something young women who can take on the world. But in our bodies, the flexibility and strength that were once taken for granted are far from how we remember them. Every day we have to rise above the creaky joints and achy knees to earn the opportunity of moving through the world with a modicum of grace.
Yet we do rise, because it’s a privilege to grow old, and every single day is a gift. Peter Pan’s mantra was, “Never grow up”; our collective mantra should be, “Never stop growing.” This collection of user-friendly stories, essays, and philosophies invites readers to celebrate whatever age they are with a sense of joy and purpose and with a spirit of gratitude.
PRAISE for A Delightful Little Book on Aging:
Yet we do rise, because it’s a privilege to grow old, and every single day is a gift. Peter Pan’s mantra was, “Never grow up”; our collective mantra should be, “Never stop growing.” This collection of user-friendly stories, essays, and philosophies invites readers to celebrate whatever age they are with a sense of joy and purpose and with a spirit of gratitude.
PRAISE for A Delightful Little Book on Aging:
“Where are the elders? The wise women, the crones, the guardians of truth here to gently, lovingly, and playfully guide us towards the fulfillment of our collective destiny? It turns out that they are right here, in our midst, and Stephanie Raffelock is showcasing the reclamation of aging as a moment of becoming, no longer a dreaded withering into insignificance. A Delightful Little Book on Aging lays down new and beautiful tracks for the journey into our richest, deepest, and wildest years.” – Kelly Brogan, MD, author of the New York Times bestseller A Mind of Your Own
“A helpful, uplifting work for readers handling the challenges of growing older.” – Kirkus Reviews
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Amazon ┃ IndieBound
Amazon ┃ IndieBound
Interview with Stephanie Raffelock,
What inspired you to write A Delightful Little Book On Aging?
I came of age on the cutting edge of feminism. Like many other women I know, that historic fact informed my entire adult life. As a result, I’ve reinvented myself many times. Each reinvention is a step to awakening, and awakening is not a destination but a continuous process. I experienced a turning point in that process when I was writing for a large web site whose demographic was women sixty years and older. As I got to know them, I grew to know my subject matter better. I realized that these were the women who, like me, walked with feminism into their coming of age and never looked back.
So here we were, approaching the retirement years, and most of my readers wanted nothing to do with the word “retire.” Instead, they were rising up, embracing their mature voice, their mature being. They were making things–art, gardens, schools, encore careers, a place in the political world. We were not only reinventing ourselves but the cultural definition of what it means to grow older. And damn if there wasn’t a tremendous amount of vitality in that action.
A Delightful Little Book On Aging is a compilation of some of my original essays and posts about aging, as well as some newer material. The underlying theme of the book is that aging is a remarkable and noble passage, one that asks us to embrace our years.
What’s your best piece of advice for aging gracefully?
Through cultural conditioning and advertising, women often get the message that aging gracefully has to do with looking and acting younger than our years. As we start to embody the gifts of our older years, it’s easy to redefine that message because the newer message is not only for us, but for the younger generation: Our value in life has nothing to do with smooth skin or wrinkled skin. It has nothing to do with the size of our thighs. It’s not about how we look, period. That’s the message that we want young women to carry with them as they age, too.
Aging gracefully has everything to do with the expansiveness of our heart to be self-compassionate as well as compassionate to the younger women around us. We’re at the head of the line now, and we have to carry the banner: Aging gracefully means how we walk in gratitude, how we love ourselves and others, and how we nourish the attitude that we are strong and resilient in spirit. We want to be a light for each other and for a younger generation of women so that they too can know this sense of fullness. Aging gracefully is to become whole, and that is a path that only ends at death.
What has surprised you most about this book’s journey?
I didn’t realize that I would become such an outspoken activist and advocate for positive aging or how satisfying that would be. I’m being invited more and more to speak with various groups of women in corporate America about positive aging. I also started a podcast, called Coffee Table Wisdom, which has turned into a wonderful platform for sharing the message and the movement.
Describe your writing life.
My writing life is some combination of joyful chaos, self-doubt, and exhilarating creativity. I write early in the day for at least a couple of hours. I like mornings the best because there are no phone calls, errands, or demands to be addressed. I always caffeinate myself with a combination of strong black tea and chai. I’m usually working on a manuscript of some sort. As a rookie, many past manuscripts were filed away in the bin labeled “Practice.” Sigh. It’s a tough piece of truth, but as writers, we have to become intimate with and unafraid of the delete key. In addition to the manuscript, I’m always creating content for my website and for other sites and publications.
What are your future plans?
A Delightful Little Book On Aging was published by She Writes Press on April 28, 2020. I’m currently putting the final touches on a full-length manuscript about the emerging strength and voices of mid-life women and beyond. The book will also be with She Writes Press and will be published in August of 2021.
Writing has always been for me a doorway into the examined life. The more I write, the more I understand things about myself, and that’s led me to a vision for my sixties and seventies: I want to be a woman who uplifts other women. I want to be a woman who encourages and supports younger women to find and follow their passion. And I want to be a woman who focuses daily on a heart that grows in love and gratitude for all beings and for this precious life.
Stephanie Raffelock is the author of A Delightful Little Book on Aging (She Writes Press, April 2020). A graduate of Naropa University’s program in Writing and Poetics, she has penned articles for numerous publications, including the Aspen Times, the Rogue Valley Messenger, Nexus Magazine, Omaha Lifestyles, Care2.com, and SixtyandMe.com. Stephanie is part of the positive-aging movement, which encourages viewing age as a beautiful and noble passage, the fruition of years that birth wisdom and deep gratitude for all of life. She’s a recent transplant to Austin, Texas, where she enjoys life with her husband, Dean, and their Labrador retriever, Jeter (yes, named after the great Yankee shortstop).
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GIVEAWAY! GIVEAWAY! GIVEAWAY!
TWO WINNERS: Signed hardcover copy of A Delightful Little Book on Aging + a set of 50 pocket inspirations
ONE WINNER: A set of 50 pocket inspirations
JULY 7-19, 2020
ONE WINNER: A set of 50 pocket inspirations
JULY 7-19, 2020
(US ONLY)
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