Y Yes

These are very brief extracts from Dr. Susan E. Schwartz’s and my recently published book ‘Aging & Becoming ~ A Reflective Enquiry’. Susan E. Schwartz is identified as SES, and Susan Scott (me) as SS and italicised. This is from the chapter Yes & Yoga.

SS: …. It’s a universal truth that when we say yes to the psyche, the universe responds. I know that there is a price and exacted from me is the hard work required, paying attention to my dreams, my projections, my shadow, my inner figures. I’d rather err on the side of consciousness with its attendant shadow and live life with the unconscious as an underground river running through it. pg 136

SES: We age into age. … This requires a listening and honoring the being of an older woman with all her changes and advances, the limits and the expansions to body, mind and soul. With each limit comes the challenge to find other ways. What would the world look like if we said yes to age? pg.137

Mary Oliver

Tell me, what is it you plan to do with your wild and precious life?

(quote repeated, purposefully).

Below, if you have the time and/or inclination is the blog post I pout up this time last year. Took me back –

A-Z Blog Challenge Y: Yes to change

34 Comments on #AtoZ Blog Challenge Y Yes

  1. That’s a stunning image at the beginning of the post, Susan. I, too, like the Mary Oliver quote, and enjoyed last year’s post which you re-shared. Lovely.

  3. I wish there wasn’t such a stigma against aging, especially when it comes to older women. It sometimes makes me afraid to age, as if my personal stock will plummet the older I get.

    • You voice a concern that many of us have JH … which is why it is important to articulate it. And not be attached to that stigma. Thank you for coming by!

  4. Susan thanks for the reflective post, by now I am saying yes to aging process and I just want to believe that this “yes” will bring in peace within myself, harmony, self acceptance, confidence and happiness that will enable me to focus on the present and to be able to say No to all those things that sap my energy, it also means no to people who have the capacity to hinder progress and bring in division in family. Thanks for sharing 🙂

    • Thanks Genevive for coming by. Both are difficult challenges, the yes and the no but we do know when to use those terms … the thing is to enact them I guess, or at least that is how it is for me!

  5. I like the expansiveness I feel when I say yes to aging, Without resistance to rub up against, suddenly more possibilites and pathways seem open.

    • Thanks Hilary … it happens, it’s life … Louis Pasteur said that chance favours the prepared mind – I like that and it will no doubt serve you too 🙂 Have a happy holiday tomorrow, and here’s to Z! Susan

  7. Love the Mary Oliver quote. And I like the idea of saying yes to age. It’s inevitable after all. Seems like a much more pleasant journey to embrace it rather than fight it.

    • Thanks Sara! Better to embrace than fight I agree but coming to terms with self as an initial step is never easy! Thank you for coming by 🙂

  10. I can relate to Marian’s comment about energy not matching her goals. I was at the gym today–and the thought came into my mind that I’m comfortable in my body now (that is I’m more self-confident) but I wish I had the energy I had when I was younger.

    I think there’s a lot to saying “yes,” but I think as we get older, we wisely learn when to say, “no,” too. 🙂

    • Thanks Merril – I watch the young ones at gym pounding away on the treadmill; I’m not sure I could EVER have done that. It’s exhausting just watching so I gave up watching. I do a few things at the gym and feel the better for it. I like leisurely, like walking, or yoga.

    • Thanks Arti for coming by! Glad you went to last year’s one! It popped up on my memories on FB which is why I had a look and then wanted to include it!

  13. I mostly don’t mind aging as it also connects me with acceptance of self. It is the physical glitches that periodically bug me, like my pinched nerve at the moment. This is the aspect of aging that I did not expect. But it does give me goals to work through.

    • Thanks Gwynn, I’m glad aging helps with connection of self. It does somehow for me .. if only because I have to accept it. Many of us are in denial. Those twinges of pain are horrible. Have you tried an infra red lamp? May your goals come to fruition xx

  15. Your evocative post reminds me of a memoir I have read, The Summer of Yes: An Ex-Nun’s Story by Karen Leahy who in mid-life gave assent to leaving the convent and embracing life and eventually marriage.

    I try to say Yes to my husband as often as possible. But I feel some resistance to saying Yes to aging because my energy level doesn’t match my goals. Posts like these help bridge the gap. Thank you, SS and SES.

    • The Summer of Yes: An ex Nun’s Story – I think I’ve heard of it. Didn’t Karen Armstrong have a similar ‘conversion’? Life in the convent and then leaving it? I love her scholarly writings.

      Thanks Marian – a fine balance between saying yes and no … I’m glad that a post such as this helps bridge the gap for you.

  16. Susan , thank you so much for visiting my blog and i am so happy to have found yours . Listening intently to the vast world of voices and dreams shaping up at our core is something that we miss out on in our rush to make it to another day . Connection with the core might probably help us to see and say yes ?
    The excerpt you have shared is really rich and refined for the uninitiated mind but at least now it is aware of a few questions it can ask, to begin with .
    Best wishes,
    Moon
    https://aslifehappens60.wordpress.com

    • Thank you Moon for coming by and adding your comments and emphasising how we miss out in our usual rush of doing, rather than being .. connection with the core would definitely help in saying yes!

      Best wishes to you, Susan

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