Pat Samples opens your creativity, helps you redefine your role in the world, by squarely addressing issues like the environment, spirituality, and self-care. There's a lot of myths and truths about our own creativity as we age. It isn't like the old days when we were thought of as less competent, less creative. No! Pat Samples books on caregiving, including self-care, body knowledge and wellbeing show us that creativity can take many forms and always be inspiring. My promise to you. Hear Pat and you will be inspired and motivated to make new things happen in your life and share with others. Listen to how her passion about the environment led to real change in the world…one women, big impact. Learn more at www.PatSamples.com about Conscious vibrant ageing, writing coaching, and body awareness. For those of you looking to have a more impactful voice in making change, with family, as a volunteer, with healthcare providers, or anywhere, anytime, you want to influence others to act on behalf of themselves, the world, or your requests, discover my new course Speak Out Communication designed just for us, so that we never lose our voice and ability to move, touch and inspire others. Visit:. www.SpeakOutCommunication.com for more information.
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(00:08):
When I look in the mirror,I don't see wrinkles. When I look
in the mirror, I see hairon my head, not my shoulder.
And hello, Hello, Hello,This is Adrian Berg and this is Generation
Bold, the Fountain of Truth,the fountain of truth about aging. And
(00:30):
have a happy month. You knowthis is our month. Yes, May
is Older Americans month. And ina show like this that covers so many
topics, you really have to thinkwhat should be the centerpiece of our month
of May on this show? AndI gave it a lot of thought,
and I said, you know whatcreative aging, creativity, our role in
(00:53):
the world, including the environment,spirituality, And there's a lot of myths
and truth about our own creativity aswe age. It isn't what the old
days thought of us being. No, maybe there was Grandma Moses, but
not us. We weren't so creativeafter a certain age. Not true?
(01:15):
And who better to have with ustoday? But Pat Samples. Now,
she's a person who's an advent personalchampion of creative aging. She's a writer,
she's extremely creative herself. She's ateacher, a trainer. Her books
show the breath that creativity can takebecause they go anywhere from nonfiction books about
(01:37):
caregiving to how you yourself can spreadyour wings and become more creative. And
that's what we're going to talk abouttoday. We will speak about creativity,
does it really burgeon as we getolder, how to nurture our creativity if
you're feeling a little burned out onthat you find yourself only on the pickleball
courts and jee when you sit downto write that poem, nothing comes.
(01:57):
We'll talk about formal lifelong learning,education, spirituality, the body language of
creativity and spirituality, and of courseone of pat Sample's current really very important
projects, environmentalism, and how ourworldview and our creativity can lead us to
(02:17):
make change in the world. Sothank you so much, Pat for being
with us today. I'm glad tobe talking with you. Thanks. Well,
I'm very excited because there has alwaysbeen this idea that we certainly step
to the background when we get older, and now we have the new thinking
that we actually might become more creative, more creative, not just as creative
(02:40):
as we always was, but morecreative as we age. So what's been
your experience. You teach a lotof people you're creative yourself. Do you
really think that's true, that thisis a peak time for creativity. Now
you I love that the name ofthis show is growing Bolder, because there
(03:00):
part of being creative is being boldand having a chance to stretch ourselves and
really really fly. And I thinkas we get older, we're kind of
less inhibited, we'res we have lessrestrictions on us to please other people oftentimes,
and so we have a chance toactually have our say and creative ways.
(03:21):
And our brain there actually changes inthe brain that enhance our creativity as
we get older. There are someaspects of memory that actually get better as
we get older, and there aresome aspects of the creative mind are left
and brain elect and right brains talkmore effectively with each other, and that's
often where the creativity happens, whenwhen kind of our whole brain gets involved.
(03:45):
So we actually have some physical reasonsto be more creative, but we
also have sometimes the time to domore creative things, and our creativity is
enormously needed in the world. Weare as I see it, as older
people were, we have lots ofopportunities to contribute, and what a great
time to be able to do that. As the years go by, I
(04:09):
find myself being more creative all thetime because I have a richer wealth of
experience to draw from, in partand because I'm hang out with creative people
and so there's just a whole lotof things that feed my creativity and they
get me excited about creativity, andof course the arts are just an obvious
(04:29):
way to express that creativity. Now, when you say that you hang out
with creative people, this is somethingthat is so important and very much overlooked.
I do know a lot of peoplewho loved to travel, all of
a suddenly they don't because their friendsdon't want to anymore. Or they did
enjoy writing books, but now allthey do is they got to a book
(04:53):
club and they're reading books, whichis great, you want to do both,
but that's because their friends stopped.So I think there's a real burden.
And I'm going to use the wordbird. It's a challenge. Maybe
that's a bitter word for the olderadults to make new friends as they're old
friends who they still love, whothey still want to be with, change
(05:13):
because some people aren't so proactive.And how have you done that? Do
you have intergenerational friends? Are theyclubs? What have you done in your
own life to keep your peers asexcited about life as you are. Well,
I do think it has to dowith probably the fact that I've been
around in the arts a lot inmy life and worked in the arts arena
(05:36):
quite a bit, and so Ido have kind of a collection of friends.
And even when the pandemic hit,one of my friends and who is,
you know, kind of a colleaguethat I only knew somewhat lightly,
but a delightful person contacted me andsaid, you know, how about I've
got a couple of people in mine, let's pull a small group together and
do some writing on Zoom together andshare some of our writing together. And
(06:00):
so we started doing that, andeverybody in the group is hilariously funny,
and so it's one of the besthighlights of my A couple times a month
we meet and we give our soundssome sort of an assignment to write about,
and we encourage each other and wesupport each other, and all of
us are professional writers in one capacityor another, and so I really look
(06:23):
forward to those times to be challengedby, to be supported by, to
be stretched by these folks, andto get myself going in directions I wouldn't
normally go. So that's one example, very simply without a ton of work.
And then I also kind of seekout people who like to go to
(06:43):
theater events, to other kinds ofperformance events because those events always again spark
my creativity, get me hanging outwith folks in the creative world. And
so if I'm finding i want togo somewhere and I look around and I'm
not sure I've got too many peoplein my immediate circle that want to go
to theater, I'll I'll just startasking around at various gathering as I'm at
(07:09):
anybody, you know, anybody aroundhere likes to go to theater looking for
somebody to go with, and suddenlyI've got, you know, somebody to
go with. So I think justa little bit of it isn't necessarily stretching
and becoming the most creative person inthe world or doing great, big things,
but taking those opportunities to be creative. And then I think, secondly,
(07:29):
I find that I'm calling on mycreativity all the time in the volunteer
work that I do. I getinvolved in that group an organization, and
there's always something where, you know, like with the environmental group I work
with We pulled together a group ofpeople in among us and people we knew
who had artistic interests to put togethera gathering of artistic expression around climate issues.
(07:57):
And it was very uplifting and wardingand home building and inspiring. And
so I like to see the creativitykind of put to work, if you
will. Sure, we're going totake a deeper dive into those environmental issues
in our next segment, but Iwant to give you some takeaways from right
here because it's becoming very evident thatthere are the halves and the have knots
(08:18):
of vitality. I don't mean patthe halves that have knots of money.
That's always been there, Yes,that's always been there. What I'm seeing
here is people of equal means willsay, equal education. They may even
live in the same over fifty fivecommunity, or they live an independent living
wherever they are, their own homes, and there's a real divide. There
(08:41):
were those that really are not doingmuch you use the word contribution. They're
not volunteering, they're not creating.They're enjoying life, no doubt, they're
probably wonderful family members, but theexcitement seems to have God. And then
there are those who are like youwho join everything they can do a tremendous
(09:03):
amount of self nurturing with regard totheir own creativity, keep looking at the
future. What can they do next? Let me just tell you that Pat
is part of the Vital Aging Network, the Minnesota Creative Arts an Aging Network,
National Center for Creative Aging, aTeatro de pueblow. I mean,
you name it, and so shedoesn't stop, and there are there are
(09:24):
others. Do you think, andthis is a tough question, and it's
an opinion question. Do you thinkit's a personality issue that was always there
or do you think that there arecircumstances, health circumstances, spiritual circumstances that
kind of bring people into the closetaway from the world after a certain age.
(09:46):
Is it just agism or is itsomething internal? And should they try
to fight that? Well, that'sa really good question. I can't claim
to have any guide in the wallopinion about that, but it certainly seems
to me among people I associate withthat there are definitely quite a few who
(10:07):
kind of freeze up when they retire, when they kind of get out of
their work world, and they tookind of you know, they watch TV
a lot. They you know,they do some things that they enjoy,
which is which is great, Butthey haven't they've stopped thinking of themselves as
being valuable and meaningful parts of thecommunity were and really making a contribution that's
(10:31):
bigger than than their individual lives.And um, you know, those those
who do start to stretch out andand make those bigger leaps. It's it's
so invigorating, it's so life giving. UM. I can't tell you how
many people and I help people write, write their memoirs and write some of
(10:54):
the write books, have done thatquite a bit over the years. And
how many people have come to meand said, you know, I've always
wanted to write a book, orthey always say, gosh, you should
write a book about your life,and they sit there with that dream and
then it sits there on the shelfand doesn't happen. And I love the
chance to kind of wake that dreamup for people and get them over those
(11:16):
stuck places and get them working onthe writing. Because what happened is I
find is that they they start todiscover more of their life story, the
purpose underneath their life, the valueof what they've been living with the life,
the life experiences that have fed them, and they wake something wakes up
(11:39):
inside them that they might write thisbook, which is good, or they
might they might just write some storiesfor themselves, but it helps to get
them thinking about, oh yeah,that's that's what really matters to me,
and then they kind of have theirengine warmed up to get involved in some
things. So I think it's youknow, there are certain circumstances and people
(12:00):
that help you get past those stuckplaces. But I get so sad when
I see people saying, oh,yeah, well I kind of want to
watch I like to watch TV alot, so it's okay with me.
Well, let's let's remember as weend this segment that the word retirement means
to withdraw, and we're kind oftaught that that is what we're entitled to.
(12:24):
Ken Dyke Wold, who they callhim America's Gerontologist, has written several
books on this, and his ageWave company did research the average retiree spends
forty six hours a week watching television. You went television time, So in
other words, that's more than awork week. That's more than a work
week. So we've got we're tryingto stop this you know, maybe we're
(12:46):
a little annoying about it, butyou you have done hundreds, You've had
hundreds of audiences across America. You'vethey've heard your talks, and they've joined
your workshops. Where can people findyou? Let's say they say, you
know what I do want to wakemyself up, I want to unfreeze myself.
How would they find you and yourability to help them through their books,
(13:11):
their creativity with workshops or one onone help. Well, I do
have a website, pat samples dotcom, so easy to find and happy
to be in touch with people,and of course I can see some of
the things I'm doing on there,but always happy to talk to anybody who's
looking to make that expansion and seeif I can do of some support.
(13:31):
Well, I know you can.We'll be right back because we want to
talk about something else you're supporting,and that's the planet. So don't you
guys go anywhere. Happy May it'sOlder Americans month. But that don't bother
me, not even could. Iam happy and I'm inappropriate for my age.
(13:58):
You will make don't bother me becauseI am happy. Oh and hello,
hello, Hello, this is AdrianBerg and this is generation Bold,
(14:18):
the Fountain of truth, the fountainof truth about aging. And today,
in celebration of May, which isOlder Americans Month, we're speaking with pet
Samples. We're speaking about creativity.We're speaking about waking up or unfreezing the
creativity and the energy and the curiositythat you have. And we're also talking
(14:41):
about speaking out. And I wantto take a little bit of business here
to introduce you to my latest course, speak Out Communication. Now, there's
no doubt that speaking is part ofcreativity, but how do you really get
your point to cross? Whether itis actual words, or you're writing,
or you're doing an email, oryou're telling a story to your grandchild,
(15:05):
or you're trying to tell your doctorto'll listen to you, or perhaps your
family'll listen to you, how doyou get your point across? How do
you speak out? Well, alot of people are discovering that it's not
so easy that as they get older, people listen to them lessen less,
or they give them lip service.You know, they think about it,
but they kind of walk away withregard to their ideas. I even have
(15:28):
been told that at work and evenin volunteering, when you're giving your precious
time for free, you still don'thave the impact that you want. So
I've created a course. It's calledspeak out Communication. You'll find it at
speak out Communication dot com. Veryeasy and it will take you'll take you
a while. It's very heavy,six sessions, no doubt, with a
(15:50):
workbook and audios and videos, butit gives you at the end of the
day, at the end of thefew hours that you take to learn it,
you'll have a five minute recipe thatyou'll be able to go through in
your mind anytime you have to speakright or even email or even text something
that's important to you where you wouldlike to impact someone else to take action,
(16:15):
whether it's on their own behalf,your behalf, or on behalf of
the world. Speak out Communication dotcom. And it's usually ninety four dollars
for this, but please take thecoupon age well, very simple, all
one word, all small letters,age well, and you'll get fifty percent
off because you're my listeners here onGeneration Bold. So that's speak out Communication
(16:37):
dot Com Age Well coupon. Nowlet's go back to somebody who is aging
well, but more than that,teaches other people to age well, and
that is Pat Samples. Now I'vebeen giving you. I've been giving you
snippets of her background, but she'sa consultant, a trainer and educator even
on adults employment, on caregiving.She's a real, real champion volunteer in
(17:02):
so many areas. And we justtalked about the fact that she has her
own website, Pat samples dot comwhere if you would like to ignite your
creative spark or write when you needsomebody to really be the guide at your
side, Pat is there. ButPat, more recently, you've been speaking
out, truly speaking at a veryimportant issue, and that is the issue
(17:26):
of what's going on with our environment. Some people call environmentalism, of this
environmental disintegration, used to call itclimate change, All kinds of things are
going on. Tell us a littlebit about what you're doing and why it's
so important to you. Well,I do think it's very important. And
speaking of speak out, I usedsome of the tools from your course and
(17:49):
a group I spoke with yesterday aboutthe environmental issues. So I'm very happy
that I've gotten your information to getme more focused on how to bring this
message forward, because that's a greattestimonial things. Happy to do it because
I think it's so such a Firstof all, every single person in the
(18:11):
world is contributing in some way toclimate change. We are already contributing it
to it, for better or worse. So we now, as as older
citizens, we get to take thelead. We get to be a voice
in the room of wisdom, ofexperience, of legacy leaving that says,
(18:32):
yeah, we have to we haveto write this ship. We have to
get this world on on a bettertrack. We have to really care for
this earth that we've lived on andthat has been so demolished by so many
causes over the years. By ourby I mean that we could look at
lots of reasons for it. Idon't need to explain those, they're pretty
obvious. But what's great is thatas older people, we we have a
(18:59):
lot to bring that conversation, andyoung people are looking to us. They
are they are hungry for some supportand some energy and some ideas and the
time and the and the and theexperience that we can bring to help those
things happen. So I've been veryactive in a group called Elders Climate Action,
which is a national group with localchapters, and started to help to
(19:22):
start a chapter in the Minneapolis,Saint Paulirea where I live in Minnesota,
and we are very very much justgetting ourselves out there and speaking. And
just kind of a leap that I'mgoing to make is that because I've been
involved in this group, I've beenkind of tippy toeing in trying to learn
(19:44):
more, get more educated, getto understand what I can do. I
didn't think in the beginning there wasa lot of things I can do.
Now I've got a hundred things thatI've discovered I can do. I've got
a phone I can pick up.I've got a computer I can use.
I've actually had a lot of powerin my fingers and in my voice that
I can use. And this weekI'm actually testifying before the Environmental Protection Agency
(20:11):
about a hearing at a hearing fora mission standards for automobiles. And I'm
doing that simply because I'm a citizenthat cares about our earth. And I
found out that it's not that difficultfor citizens to have their voice heard,
and so it excites me to knowthat that's a possibility. And I Adrian,
(20:33):
I want to tell just a littlebit of a story about how I
went from being you know, kindof concerned about the Earth to making a
huge leap in my concern for theEarth. Yes, that was a year
ago. Friends of mine were very, very concerned for me after I had
a burglary in my house overnight inthe middle of the night, and some
(20:56):
things that my computer, it wastaken, my phone was taken, other
things were taken, and then mydoor was broken in and it was pretty
frightening, and my friends rallied aroundme. They helped me get a new
computer right away, They helped meget a new phone right away, they
helped me fixed the door. Theywere just there for me and kind of
helped ease the strain and pain ofthat. And I was able to heal
(21:18):
from that pretty quickly. And itoccurred to me that the Earth is also
being invaded and burglarized by all ofus by our excessive use of fossil fuel
and many other causes. And thisI just had this sense of, Oh,
my gosh, that's what it's likefor the Earth. We've invaded her,
(21:41):
We've destroyed her forests, we havedug her resources out of the Earth
to use them recklessly, and wehave had no regard for her well being
in the process. And the Earthneeds a collection of good friends to come
and care for her, and thatexperience helped me really start to care for
(22:03):
the Earth in a new way,like, Yes, this Earth has been
has been badly victimized, it's beenbadly treated, it's been invaded, it's
been violated, and we can andas good friends can do, we can
become good friends to the Earth andhelp help create a different kind of world
than we now have. And thegood news is there's not there are a
(22:26):
million things we can do. It'sso exciting to discover. There's a there's
a simple app that you can getfrom Climate Action Now where every single day
you are given quick ideas of whereyou can put send an email to a
phone call, tells you exactly theissue at hand, some things you can
(22:48):
say every single day. It tellsyou the actions you can take on national,
local level on all kinds of issues. There are things we can do
when we're buying clothes to buy thingsthat are more sustainably sourced. We can
do it with our food in thesame way. There's so many practical ways
that we can influence the environment,and you know, if we don't do
(23:14):
it, we're going to pay abig price all of us. We've seen
what climate change is doing and howmuch damage it's doing. So I want
to relate all that you're saying towhat we talked about before, which is
there is no real reason to hangback. I'm using in your life environmentalism
in the same way that in mylife it's anti agism or the human rights
(23:36):
of older persons. Yes, butyou say things like environment changing the environment,
getting human rights for older persons.It seems insurmounta but what could one
little person do about such a bigissue. Well, as you're hearing from
Pat, the answer is plenty.And you'd be surprised because there are so
few people that speak up. Howpowerful you can be by speaking out the
(24:03):
lone voice is really heard among thecrowds and among the rubble by the policymakers.
It's hard to believe, but putyour toe in any water where you
want to see change in the world. You will be shocked at how quickly
you get involved and make a difference. And when we come back, we're
going to take a little bit oftime for our own selves, our own
(24:26):
body, because you're not going tobe able to do any of the things,
the big things that Pat is talkingabout the kinds of things I love
with the U N and so on. If you don't feel good, you've
got to also be well. Andwe will talk about Pat Sample's relationship to
her own wellness, how she's helpingpeople be more creative, step up to
(24:48):
the plate for world change through bodychange and body awareness. Don't you go
anyway that doesn't bother me? AndI'm inappropriate for my age. You may
(25:08):
think that bother me, not evenbecause I am happy, I'm inappropriate.
Oh my, and hello, hello, Hello, This is Andrean Bergen.
This is Generation Bold, the Fountainof Truth, the Fountain of truth about
(25:30):
aging. And we always do alittle bit of business here. Well,
there's two pieces of business going on. We are now going into the seventh
episode of On the Ground. Onthe Ground is another podcast. It's for
civil society, very fancy. Thatmeans individuals and organizations that do want to
make change in the world. Youjust heard from our guest Pat Samples about
(25:53):
what she's doing her Hell, alittle bit more about that, about what
you can directly do with regard toclimate change, environmentalism and so on.
I'm always talking about what we're doingfor the human rights of older adults all
over the world, but you mayhave your own cause. And on the
Ground represents seventeen hundred seventeen hundred nongovernmental agencies of people just like you who
(26:22):
want to make a change in avariety of different missions. And what this
podcast does is help you do itbetter. So if you're already part of
an organization, please take a lookat On the Ground. It is on
iTunes, you can listen to iton iHeartRadio, you can listen to it
on audible, but you can alsolisten directly from the United Nations website g
(26:45):
NEC, g n EC very simple, GNEC dot and GEO and GEO stands
for non governmental organization. So wehave a special, special monthly podcast just
for you, all right, Solet's go ahead and go back to Pat
Samples. Now. Pat is aperson of many parts, in addition to
(27:07):
being a creative and in addition tobeing a writer with many many books out,
author of Let's Say, Daily Comfortsfor Caregivers, Self Care for Caregivers,
many many articles, Comfort and BeComforted, Reflections for Caregivers, The
Secret Wisdom of a Woman's Body,Freeing yourself to live passionately and live fearlessly,
and body Odyssey lessons from the Bonesand the Bailing. So you can
(27:30):
see that she deals with our issueson many many levels, but one of
them has to do with body wisdom. And I want to throw that at
you, Pat, because for me, this is brand new. You are
involving yourself in something that I'm fascinatedby, So tell us all about it.
(27:52):
Well. You know, one ofthe things I've become aware of is
that our bodies are really like libraries. There are archives of our life experience.
Everything that's ever happened to us isregistered in our body through our senses,
through our whole experience of these events, and all of the joys,
the traumas, the difficulties, thefears, they're all registered in our body.
(28:18):
So our body becomes this lifelong library, and it's an incredibly rich library
that we can draw on to helpus pay attention not only to what has
shaped us, but what's a lifefor us right now. So I love
to myself be really conscious of what'sgoing on in my body because it's constantly
(28:41):
telling me what it wants, whatit needs, and not just as a
as a physical like my physical needsare. It's telling me a lot about
my emotional and spiritual needs. Allof my intuitive leanings are all showing up
in my body, my gut,my attention in my neck, the the
(29:02):
edgenus, in my voice, whateverit might be, it's all part of
my body speaking. So I thinkour body is eloquent, very searchable database,
if you will, of all thisamazing wisdom that we have within us.
And our bodies are constantly wanting ourattention. They're they're they're like our
(29:25):
They're kind of like a journalist too. They're recording what's happening. They're giving
us feedback all the time about whatwhat's important to us. And of course,
if we ignore these body signals,we know very well that that often
ends up in illness and distress anddiscomfort. But when we are really attuned
to our body, it's it's kindof magical. It's like our bodies are
(29:48):
our tuning fork that help us knowwhere to put our spiritual, emotional,
and physical attention so we can live, you know, as vibrantly as possible.
Now people understand practices like meditation andyoga. In fact, I was
speaking to one of the great geoscientistsof the world, doctor near Brazilli,
the only one to get quite abit of money from the FDA for a
(30:08):
trial. But there'll be a threeyear trial on a drug called metformant,
which diabetics take, but he believesis also an anti aging drug that will
help stop chronic diseases. And Isaid to him, and I'm going to
ask you this same question, PatI asked him, what do you do?
What do you do for your longevity? And he said, oh,
(30:30):
I stretch every Saturday morning. Inother words, he's really listening to his
body, and it's in such away that it's not costing him a fortune.
It is something that he feels heneeds to reconnect with once a week
to really see where his body isat. Now that's his practice. Other
(30:51):
people, as I said, doyoga, different kind of exercise. I
walk. What are your personal practicesnow that you've come to this realization.
I love that you're bringing up thatthere are many practices that help us connect
more with our body. And Iwould say that that the practice that I'm
most most enthusiastic about is a littledifferent kind of practice. It's really about
(31:19):
being very present and attentive to whatmy body is doing. And I mean
that very specifically about noticing what's what'swhat's the temperature in my body at the
moment, What's what's wanting to moveat this moment, What's what's a little
(31:41):
strained and stressed at the moment.What's kind of propelling me forward or what's
holding me back, What's where's thatlittle feeling in the back of my uh
of my glutes that's got a littletightness in it? What is that?
And really getting curious. So mypractice is really about being about curiosity,
(32:06):
not a set of things to do, although exercise and meditation all those are
great and I do all of that, but this is kind of taking it
to another level. It's being acurious student of our bodies to see what
it is the body is asking ofus. And that takes a quiet moment,
(32:27):
it takes practice, it takes Imean, there's certainly some wonderful teachers
that help do this kind of thing. And my teacher as Karen Roeper,
who developed a program called Essential Motion, and she does fabulous workshops and activities
and I'm trained in her work aswell, and I do them as well.
They're geared toward bringing that individual internallistening to life, and one of
(32:54):
the things that I've done with that, Adrian, is that every year now
for twenty years, I have gathereda group of women and now we're all
in our sixties, seventies, andeighties, and we have what I call
free motion and using music to helpus. We spend an hour every Friday
morning, moving freely, letting ourbodies tell the story of what's inside,
(33:20):
what's hurting, what's where's our longing, where's our enthusiasm, where's the grief?
And we let that be expressed roughcreative movement and without words, without
words, and it's so free,and we just have such joy together and
such such intimacy with ourselves and witheach other because our bodies don't lie.
(33:45):
They are very if we listen andlet our bodies free, they're remarkably creative,
they're remarkably expressive, and they're wonderfulfeatures. So first thing before we
end this segment, I want tolet people have these resources and then will
list them for them also in ourshow notes, so they have in writing,
(34:07):
it was a variety of resources thatyou mentioned. The first one is
you, and that is all thatyou can offer for people who are interested
in igniting their own creativity, particularlyin writing. But in other ways as
well, and that's pat Samples dotcom. You also mentioned an app where
people can learn more things they cando about climate change and environmentalism. Give
(34:29):
us that app again, Climate Action. Now, just google Climate Action now
you'll find the app. It's free, it's easy, it's really one.
They're wonderful. Now you have agroup of people who are older, and
I call them elders. They callthemselves elders in the best sense of the
word, meaning people who with wisdomthat have gotten together to make environmental change.
(34:49):
What is the name of that group, Elder's Climate Action. So that's
Elder's Climate Action dot org. Whatlots of great information on how to be
a part of that, how tomake everyday choices that are in the further
benefit of the climate. At last, but not least, your classes and
your mentors classes on becoming much moreaware of your body movement. Yes,
(35:13):
essential motion, Yes essential and Alsenis talked about on our website, but
also Karen Roeper. Her website isEssential Hyphenmotion dot org and her work is
very inspiring and wonderful. And whenwe come back, I'm going to use
another word, and that word isconscious conscious aging concious aging is not a
(35:36):
small topic. But everything you've toldus, this entire program really has to
do with being conscious of your ownbody, of the planet, of your
creativity. What does it really mean? Don't you guys go anywhere, because
we've got to wake up your consciousnessabout aging in older Americans. But we'll
(35:58):
be right back. But that doesn'tbother me, not even because I am
happy and a freely I'm inappropriate formy AGA. You may think that I'm
all, It doesn't bother me,not even because I am happy and I'm
(36:25):
inappropriate. Oh my, and hello, Hello, Hello, This is Adrian
Berger, and this is Generation Bill, the Fountain of Truth, the Fountain
of Truth about agent. And youknow, I said there were two pieces
of news when I was doing someof our little promotion. One was on
the ground the new podcast. We'realready in our seventh program, and that
(36:51):
you will find at Geneck g nEC dot n GEO Geneck, by the
way, is the Global NGEO Executivewhich is part of the United Nations,
and groups like yours can be certified. They were just twelve brand new NGOs
certified. We've been hearing from PatSamples about her groups that she's involved with
(37:15):
on environmentalism. They could get certifiedand then there's a great deal of support
coming to them from the United Nations. So please do take a look at
Genick dot NGEO. I happen tobe the podcaster for the United Nations Group
of NGOs. They were seventeen hundredof them, and on the ground there's
our podcast, but I insisted thatthey be made available to everybody who is
(37:37):
in the nonprofit or civil society,all of us through iTunes and audible.
You'll find it all there on theground. But we're also starting a brand
new website and blog and podcast inthe fall this fall, and that is
called The Ageless Traveler around I guessby August I will have hit my hundred
(38:02):
and tenth country. I've been travelingall my life and I don't want to
stop, and I don't want youto stop. So the subtitle of the
Ageless Traveler is never stop traveling.And if that is something that's been on
your mind and you love to travelas much as I do, go to
my website right now, Adrianberg dotcom. Put your email in the contact
(38:27):
and you will get all of ourdiscounts and newsletters, and of course access
to our podcast and blogs, TheAgeless Travel, but go to Adrianburg dot
com. Now, there is aword that subsumes almost everything we talk about
on this show for the past fiveyears, and that phrase is conscious aging.
(38:50):
And it's a very interesting phrase.And if you've been listening to Pat,
you know that being conscious of herbody, being conscious of what's going
on in the planet, being touchesof her power, and in my course,
speak out communication, being conscious ofyour words really makes a difference in
life. And yet we kind ofmost of us not only age unconsciously,
(39:14):
but we have an abhorrence for aging. We don't even want to think about
it if we could help it.But Pat, that's just not you.
At at what point in your journeydid you say, Hey, I'm going
to pay attention to my aging.Was it when you were running your books
like a Daily Conference for caregivers orself Care for caregivers? All of Pat's
(39:36):
books, of course, are onAmazon. Were you looking at at what
it meant to grow old in away that wasn't as attractive us what we're
talking about. At what point didyou say, I'm going to pay attention
to this aging you know what reallystarted for me was when I turned fifty
and I thought, you know,I'm going to have another fifty years to
live, and how do I wantto create that life? How do I
(39:58):
want to be for these fifty years. So it's it's a satisfying, rich
and you know, a life thatbrings me joy and that keeps me well.
And I looked to some of therole models of people who were doing
well in their older years, andthere was a writer from Minnesota who was
(40:20):
on her deathbed. She had manuscriptsall over her nursing home room bed that
she was critiquing for other people.And I thought, you know, that's
how I want to die. Iwant to be in action. I want
to be serving, I want tobe creating. I want to have a
life where I'm richly engaged with life. And so I decided at that point
(40:43):
to study aging further. So Ipursued a master's degree in human development with
an emphasis unconscious aging, and alsodecided to strengthen my writing skills so that
I could be more effective in writing. So I pursued a degree in a
master's degree and creative writing as well, and in the process we learned ended
(41:06):
up writing a book for my thesiscalled Body out of Sea Lessons from the
Bones and Belly, in which Iwas really paying attention to this process of
aging and the choices that I makeas I get older, and how we
start thinking that our body is deteriorating. And that's the story of aging.
That's it close a dependency story.Yeah, and how to fight, And
(41:30):
of course I've got I've got I'vegot a long list of doctor visits on
my calendar. So sure I've gotplenty of aches and pains wearing a body
brace at the moment because I felland broke broke my back, So I'm
doing that. And yet that's notwho I am. That's a that's a
piece of the story. But Ihave a very vibrant and healthy body for
(41:52):
the most part, and I getto use the body that I have to
create the kind of world, thekind of life for myself and for the
planet that I want to see happen. So to me, conscious aging is
about making the very best of everysingle moment. I you know, I
really have a mission, Adrian,that everybody experienced the gifts that life is
(42:15):
and the gift that they are untiltheir last breath. And as I live
that for myself and as I sharethat with other people, it's I have
been such a strong advocate about thevery thing you're talking about, this notion
of anti aging. No, it'severy time I see the words anti aging,
I want to cry, because nothingwrong with aging. We all want
(42:37):
to do it. That's we've wantedto be to get older from the moment
we are barn and let's make themost of every single moment that we have
with our life. And you know, I also find that as I'm getting
older, that consciousness becomes a highlyspiritual engagement for me. That's really the
centerpiece of my life these days ismy spiritual life. And I continue really
(43:00):
spend time studying and meditating and justcultivating an appreciation for life, gratitude for
each moment, curiosity and joy andfinding you know, what's what's the next
you know, as I see it, sort of what's how's God going to
get me through this next thing thatI got obstacle, what I've got to
deal with? And I don't Ireally want to commend you on this,
(43:23):
and it's so beautifully said. Theidea that is always that next stage,
even up to the very end uh, the the idea of death big a
journey. I do travel, andsometimes I travel to the worst little hole
hell holes of the world, andwhen I come back, I have such
(43:43):
a good story. It's so muchfun. So I always say, it
always pays to go. And Iasked my family to put that on my
toobs because who knows it always paysto go? You know, yeah?
Could? It could be great?Right? But I also want to point
out to my listeners that conscious agingcan be can be articulated and followed in
(44:07):
many, many different ways, becauseI also became interested in aging at age
fifty from a completely different angle,and that was I had a very very
terrible genetics behind me, and hardlyanyone in my family really reached sixty my
father at forty two, so Ididn't really expect to be old. And
(44:29):
when I became fifty, aging almostbecame a hobby. I would say,
it's more than conscious. If somebodyloves fishing or gobba, aging is my
hobby. Yes, I will readeverything about it. I'll have every magazine
about it. I will talk toanybody about it. I will look at
it from every angle, from consumingconsuming things that are good few but conscious
(44:52):
aging today now is also biological.You can measure how you're aging. My
scale tells me how old I am, and it's tell the ninety dollars on
Amazon. It gives me how muchbody fluid I have, whether I'm dehydrated.
This is my scale. It doesn'tjust tell me how much I weigh,
and then more and more. Wehave other biomarker measurements, but they
(45:16):
cost about five hundred dollars and Iam working very hard to have these indices,
these physical consciousness about how your bodyis aging to be free for everyone
because and covered by the FDA approvalsof them. And then it goes into
Medicare Medicaid just like your annual checkupshould really be a body marker checkup as
(45:40):
well as the usual blood test,so you never know where your passion is
going to lead you. I wasthe last person to think that it would
have to do anything with science ormedicine, that I was going to be
working on it, but it is. It is because part of conscious aging
to me is also knowing how you'redoing biologically so that you could do the
(46:00):
things you need, not what they'retrying to sell you and tell you you
need. It's very important to me. So let's wrap this up here.
You did say something which was Iwant to always know what my next thing
is. I want to know whatI'm getting into next, so I could
work it through. So what areyou getting into NeXT's what's on the horizon.
(46:20):
Well, certainly the work I'm doingwith the climate right now is just
paramount for me, because I see, first of all that even some recent
studies are showing that we can delaythe onset of dementia if we improve our
air quality. I mean, isthat motivating or not? Oh, yes
it is. It can delay byover a year and a half getting dementia
(46:45):
if when air quality is improved,the recent science is showing us. So
I'm getting more interested in science too, in the sense of just kind of
validating some of these common sense thingsthat we know and helping us all remember
that we can do something about this. We are not victims here webs We
(47:07):
have an opportunity to have an impact, and we automatically are having an impact.
Every time we choose our food,our clothing, where we drive our
car, how we go about ourdaily lives. We do contribute or to
either a healthier planet or not.For all of us so to me,
consciousness goes all the way from howour body is operating to how our planet
(47:30):
is operating, to how our soulis operating, and when all of that's
in alignment, its life is prettydarn good. It certainly is that for
those of you who are caregivers,and you will be brought down a little
bit, and for you life isn'tso darn good. Don't forget to take
a look on Amazon some wonderful booksfrom Pat. We did not go into
(47:50):
a deep dive on this because thisis a time, as Pat says,
not to be victims. This isa time to see all that we could
do in the world. May olderAmerican smut, but do take a look
at daily comforts for care givers,self care for caregivers, and everybody get
out their kids and make it happen. I'm appropriate
When I look in the mirror,I don't see wrinkles. When I look
in the mirror, I see hairon my head, not my shoulder.
And hello, Hello, Hello,This is Adrian Berg and this is Generation
Bold, the Fountain of Truth,the fountain of truth about aging. And
(00:30):
have a happy month. You knowthis is our month. Yes, May
is Older Americans month. And ina show like this that covers so many
topics, you really have to thinkwhat should be the centerpiece of our month
of May on this show? AndI gave it a lot of thought,
and I said, you know whatcreative aging, creativity, our role in
(00:53):
the world, including the environment,spirituality, And there's a lot of myths
and truth about our own creativity aswe age. It isn't what the old
days thought of us being. No, maybe there was Grandma Moses, but
not us. We weren't so creativeafter a certain age. Not true?
(01:15):
And who better to have with ustoday? But Pat Samples. Now,
she's a person who's an advent personalchampion of creative aging. She's a writer,
she's extremely creative herself. She's ateacher, a trainer. Her books
show the breath that creativity can takebecause they go anywhere from nonfiction books about
(01:37):
caregiving to how you yourself can spreadyour wings and become more creative. And
that's what we're going to talk abouttoday. We will speak about creativity,
does it really burgeon as we getolder, how to nurture our creativity if
you're feeling a little burned out onthat you find yourself only on the pickleball
courts and jee when you sit downto write that poem, nothing comes.
(01:57):
We'll talk about formal lifelong learning,education, spirituality, the body language of
creativity and spirituality, and of courseone of pat Sample's current really very important
projects, environmentalism, and how ourworldview and our creativity can lead us to
(02:17):
make change in the world. Sothank you so much, Pat for being
with us today. I'm glad tobe talking with you. Thanks. Well,
I'm very excited because there has alwaysbeen this idea that we certainly step
to the background when we get older, and now we have the new thinking
that we actually might become more creative, more creative, not just as creative
(02:40):
as we always was, but morecreative as we age. So what's been
your experience. You teach a lotof people you're creative yourself. Do you
really think that's true, that thisis a peak time for creativity. Now
you I love that the name ofthis show is growing Bolder, because there
(03:00):
part of being creative is being boldand having a chance to stretch ourselves and
really really fly. And I thinkas we get older, we're kind of
less inhibited, we'res we have lessrestrictions on us to please other people oftentimes,
and so we have a chance toactually have our say and creative ways.
(03:21):
And our brain there actually changes inthe brain that enhance our creativity as
we get older. There are someaspects of memory that actually get better as
we get older, and there aresome aspects of the creative mind are left
and brain elect and right brains talkmore effectively with each other, and that's
often where the creativity happens, whenwhen kind of our whole brain gets involved.
(03:45):
So we actually have some physical reasonsto be more creative, but we
also have sometimes the time to domore creative things, and our creativity is
enormously needed in the world. Weare as I see it, as older
people were, we have lots ofopportunities to contribute, and what a great
time to be able to do that. As the years go by, I
(04:09):
find myself being more creative all thetime because I have a richer wealth of
experience to draw from, in partand because I'm hang out with creative people
and so there's just a whole lotof things that feed my creativity and they
get me excited about creativity, andof course the arts are just an obvious
(04:29):
way to express that creativity. Now, when you say that you hang out
with creative people, this is somethingthat is so important and very much overlooked.
I do know a lot of peoplewho loved to travel, all of
a suddenly they don't because their friendsdon't want to anymore. Or they did
enjoy writing books, but now allthey do is they got to a book
(04:53):
club and they're reading books, whichis great, you want to do both,
but that's because their friends stopped.So I think there's a real burden.
And I'm going to use the wordbird. It's a challenge. Maybe
that's a bitter word for the olderadults to make new friends as they're old
friends who they still love, whothey still want to be with, change
(05:13):
because some people aren't so proactive.And how have you done that? Do
you have intergenerational friends? Are theyclubs? What have you done in your
own life to keep your peers asexcited about life as you are. Well,
I do think it has to dowith probably the fact that I've been
around in the arts a lot inmy life and worked in the arts arena
(05:36):
quite a bit, and so Ido have kind of a collection of friends.
And even when the pandemic hit,one of my friends and who is,
you know, kind of a colleaguethat I only knew somewhat lightly,
but a delightful person contacted me andsaid, you know, how about I've
got a couple of people in mine, let's pull a small group together and
do some writing on Zoom together andshare some of our writing together. And
(06:00):
so we started doing that, andeverybody in the group is hilariously funny,
and so it's one of the besthighlights of my A couple times a month
we meet and we give our soundssome sort of an assignment to write about,
and we encourage each other and wesupport each other, and all of
us are professional writers in one capacityor another, and so I really look
(06:23):
forward to those times to be challengedby, to be supported by, to
be stretched by these folks, andto get myself going in directions I wouldn't
normally go. So that's one example, very simply without a ton of work.
And then I also kind of seekout people who like to go to
(06:43):
theater events, to other kinds ofperformance events because those events always again spark
my creativity, get me hanging outwith folks in the creative world. And
so if I'm finding i want togo somewhere and I look around and I'm
not sure I've got too many peoplein my immediate circle that want to go
to theater, I'll I'll just startasking around at various gathering as I'm at
(07:09):
anybody, you know, anybody aroundhere likes to go to theater looking for
somebody to go with, and suddenlyI've got, you know, somebody to
go with. So I think justa little bit of it isn't necessarily stretching
and becoming the most creative person inthe world or doing great, big things,
but taking those opportunities to be creative. And then I think, secondly,
(07:29):
I find that I'm calling on mycreativity all the time in the volunteer
work that I do. I getinvolved in that group an organization, and
there's always something where, you know, like with the environmental group I work
with We pulled together a group ofpeople in among us and people we knew
who had artistic interests to put togethera gathering of artistic expression around climate issues.
(07:57):
And it was very uplifting and wardingand home building and inspiring. And
so I like to see the creativitykind of put to work, if you
will. Sure, we're going totake a deeper dive into those environmental issues
in our next segment, but Iwant to give you some takeaways from right
here because it's becoming very evident thatthere are the halves and the have knots
(08:18):
of vitality. I don't mean patthe halves that have knots of money.
That's always been there, Yes,that's always been there. What I'm seeing
here is people of equal means willsay, equal education. They may even
live in the same over fifty fivecommunity, or they live an independent living
wherever they are, their own homes, and there's a real divide. There
(08:41):
were those that really are not doingmuch you use the word contribution. They're
not volunteering, they're not creating.They're enjoying life, no doubt, they're
probably wonderful family members, but theexcitement seems to have God. And then
there are those who are like youwho join everything they can do a tremendous
(09:03):
amount of self nurturing with regard totheir own creativity, keep looking at the
future. What can they do next? Let me just tell you that Pat
is part of the Vital Aging Network, the Minnesota Creative Arts an Aging Network,
National Center for Creative Aging, aTeatro de pueblow. I mean,
you name it, and so shedoesn't stop, and there are there are
(09:24):
others. Do you think, andthis is a tough question, and it's
an opinion question. Do you thinkit's a personality issue that was always there
or do you think that there arecircumstances, health circumstances, spiritual circumstances that
kind of bring people into the closetaway from the world after a certain age.
(09:46):
Is it just agism or is itsomething internal? And should they try
to fight that? Well, that'sa really good question. I can't claim
to have any guide in the wallopinion about that, but it certainly seems
to me among people I associate withthat there are definitely quite a few who
(10:07):
kind of freeze up when they retire, when they kind of get out of
their work world, and they tookind of you know, they watch TV
a lot. They you know,they do some things that they enjoy,
which is which is great, Butthey haven't they've stopped thinking of themselves as
being valuable and meaningful parts of thecommunity were and really making a contribution that's
(10:31):
bigger than than their individual lives.And um, you know, those those
who do start to stretch out andand make those bigger leaps. It's it's
so invigorating, it's so life giving. UM. I can't tell you how
many people and I help people write, write their memoirs and write some of
(10:54):
the write books, have done thatquite a bit over the years. And
how many people have come to meand said, you know, I've always
wanted to write a book, orthey always say, gosh, you should
write a book about your life,and they sit there with that dream and
then it sits there on the shelfand doesn't happen. And I love the
chance to kind of wake that dreamup for people and get them over those
(11:16):
stuck places and get them working onthe writing. Because what happened is I
find is that they they start todiscover more of their life story, the
purpose underneath their life, the valueof what they've been living with the life,
the life experiences that have fed them, and they wake something wakes up
(11:39):
inside them that they might write thisbook, which is good, or they
might they might just write some storiesfor themselves, but it helps to get
them thinking about, oh yeah,that's that's what really matters to me,
and then they kind of have theirengine warmed up to get involved in some
things. So I think it's youknow, there are certain circumstances and people
(12:00):
that help you get past those stuckplaces. But I get so sad when
I see people saying, oh,yeah, well I kind of want to
watch I like to watch TV alot, so it's okay with me.
Well, let's let's remember as weend this segment that the word retirement means
to withdraw, and we're kind oftaught that that is what we're entitled to.
(12:24):
Ken Dyke Wold, who they callhim America's Gerontologist, has written several
books on this, and his ageWave company did research the average retiree spends
forty six hours a week watching television. You went television time, So in
other words, that's more than awork week. That's more than a work
week. So we've got we're tryingto stop this you know, maybe we're
(12:46):
a little annoying about it, butyou you have done hundreds, You've had
hundreds of audiences across America. You'vethey've heard your talks, and they've joined
your workshops. Where can people findyou? Let's say they say, you
know what I do want to wakemyself up, I want to unfreeze myself.
How would they find you and yourability to help them through their books,
(13:11):
their creativity with workshops or one onone help. Well, I do
have a website, pat samples dotcom, so easy to find and happy
to be in touch with people,and of course I can see some of
the things I'm doing on there,but always happy to talk to anybody who's
looking to make that expansion and seeif I can do of some support.
(13:31):
Well, I know you can.We'll be right back because we want to
talk about something else you're supporting,and that's the planet. So don't you
guys go anywhere. Happy May it'sOlder Americans month. But that don't bother
me, not even could. Iam happy and I'm inappropriate for my age.
(13:58):
You will make don't bother me becauseI am happy. Oh and hello,
hello, Hello, this is AdrianBerg and this is generation Bold,
(14:18):
the Fountain of truth, the fountainof truth about aging. And today,
in celebration of May, which isOlder Americans Month, we're speaking with pet
Samples. We're speaking about creativity.We're speaking about waking up or unfreezing the
creativity and the energy and the curiositythat you have. And we're also talking
(14:41):
about speaking out. And I wantto take a little bit of business here
to introduce you to my latest course, speak Out Communication. Now, there's
no doubt that speaking is part ofcreativity, but how do you really get
your point to cross? Whether itis actual words, or you're writing,
or you're doing an email, oryou're telling a story to your grandchild,
(15:05):
or you're trying to tell your doctorto'll listen to you, or perhaps your
family'll listen to you, how doyou get your point across? How do
you speak out? Well, alot of people are discovering that it's not
so easy that as they get older, people listen to them lessen less,
or they give them lip service.You know, they think about it,
but they kind of walk away withregard to their ideas. I even have
(15:28):
been told that at work and evenin volunteering, when you're giving your precious
time for free, you still don'thave the impact that you want. So
I've created a course. It's calledspeak out Communication. You'll find it at
speak out Communication dot com. Veryeasy and it will take you'll take you
a while. It's very heavy,six sessions, no doubt, with a
(15:50):
workbook and audios and videos, butit gives you at the end of the
day, at the end of thefew hours that you take to learn it,
you'll have a five minute recipe thatyou'll be able to go through in
your mind anytime you have to speakright or even email or even text something
that's important to you where you wouldlike to impact someone else to take action,
(16:15):
whether it's on their own behalf,your behalf, or on behalf of
the world. Speak out Communication dotcom. And it's usually ninety four dollars
for this, but please take thecoupon age well, very simple, all
one word, all small letters,age well, and you'll get fifty percent
off because you're my listeners here onGeneration Bold. So that's speak out Communication
(16:37):
dot Com Age Well coupon. Nowlet's go back to somebody who is aging
well, but more than that,teaches other people to age well, and
that is Pat Samples. Now I'vebeen giving you. I've been giving you
snippets of her background, but she'sa consultant, a trainer and educator even
on adults employment, on caregiving.She's a real, real champion volunteer in
(17:02):
so many areas. And we justtalked about the fact that she has her
own website, Pat samples dot comwhere if you would like to ignite your
creative spark or write when you needsomebody to really be the guide at your
side, Pat is there. ButPat, more recently, you've been speaking
out, truly speaking at a veryimportant issue, and that is the issue
(17:26):
of what's going on with our environment. Some people call environmentalism, of this
environmental disintegration, used to call itclimate change, All kinds of things are
going on. Tell us a littlebit about what you're doing and why it's
so important to you. Well,I do think it's very important. And
speaking of speak out, I usedsome of the tools from your course and
(17:49):
a group I spoke with yesterday aboutthe environmental issues. So I'm very happy
that I've gotten your information to getme more focused on how to bring this
message forward, because that's a greattestimonial things. Happy to do it because
I think it's so such a Firstof all, every single person in the
(18:11):
world is contributing in some way toclimate change. We are already contributing it
to it, for better or worse. So we now, as as older
citizens, we get to take thelead. We get to be a voice
in the room of wisdom, ofexperience, of legacy leaving that says,
(18:32):
yeah, we have to we haveto write this ship. We have to
get this world on on a bettertrack. We have to really care for
this earth that we've lived on andthat has been so demolished by so many
causes over the years. By ourby I mean that we could look at
lots of reasons for it. Idon't need to explain those, they're pretty
obvious. But what's great is thatas older people, we we have a
(18:59):
lot to bring that conversation, andyoung people are looking to us. They
are they are hungry for some supportand some energy and some ideas and the
time and the and the and theexperience that we can bring to help those
things happen. So I've been veryactive in a group called Elders Climate Action,
which is a national group with localchapters, and started to help to
(19:22):
start a chapter in the Minneapolis,Saint Paulirea where I live in Minnesota,
and we are very very much justgetting ourselves out there and speaking. And
just kind of a leap that I'mgoing to make is that because I've been
involved in this group, I've beenkind of tippy toeing in trying to learn
(19:44):
more, get more educated, getto understand what I can do. I
didn't think in the beginning there wasa lot of things I can do.
Now I've got a hundred things thatI've discovered I can do. I've got
a phone I can pick up.I've got a computer I can use.
I've actually had a lot of powerin my fingers and in my voice that
I can use. And this weekI'm actually testifying before the Environmental Protection Agency
(20:11):
about a hearing at a hearing fora mission standards for automobiles. And I'm
doing that simply because I'm a citizenthat cares about our earth. And I
found out that it's not that difficultfor citizens to have their voice heard,
and so it excites me to knowthat that's a possibility. And I Adrian,
(20:33):
I want to tell just a littlebit of a story about how I
went from being you know, kindof concerned about the Earth to making a
huge leap in my concern for theEarth. Yes, that was a year
ago. Friends of mine were very, very concerned for me after I had
a burglary in my house overnight inthe middle of the night, and some
(20:56):
things that my computer, it wastaken, my phone was taken, other
things were taken, and then mydoor was broken in and it was pretty
frightening, and my friends rallied aroundme. They helped me get a new
computer right away, They helped meget a new phone right away, they
helped me fixed the door. Theywere just there for me and kind of
helped ease the strain and pain ofthat. And I was able to heal
(21:18):
from that pretty quickly. And itoccurred to me that the Earth is also
being invaded and burglarized by all ofus by our excessive use of fossil fuel
and many other causes. And thisI just had this sense of, Oh,
my gosh, that's what it's likefor the Earth. We've invaded her,
(21:41):
We've destroyed her forests, we havedug her resources out of the Earth
to use them recklessly, and wehave had no regard for her well being
in the process. And the Earthneeds a collection of good friends to come
and care for her, and thatexperience helped me really start to care for
(22:03):
the Earth in a new way,like, Yes, this Earth has been
has been badly victimized, it's beenbadly treated, it's been invaded, it's
been violated, and we can andas good friends can do, we can
become good friends to the Earth andhelp help create a different kind of world
than we now have. And thegood news is there's not there are a
(22:26):
million things we can do. It'sso exciting to discover. There's a there's
a simple app that you can getfrom Climate Action Now where every single day
you are given quick ideas of whereyou can put send an email to a
phone call, tells you exactly theissue at hand, some things you can
(22:48):
say every single day. It tellsyou the actions you can take on national,
local level on all kinds of issues. There are things we can do
when we're buying clothes to buy thingsthat are more sustainably sourced. We can
do it with our food in thesame way. There's so many practical ways
that we can influence the environment,and you know, if we don't do
(23:14):
it, we're going to pay abig price all of us. We've seen
what climate change is doing and howmuch damage it's doing. So I want
to relate all that you're saying towhat we talked about before, which is
there is no real reason to hangback. I'm using in your life environmentalism
in the same way that in mylife it's anti agism or the human rights
(23:36):
of older persons. Yes, butyou say things like environment changing the environment,
getting human rights for older persons.It seems insurmounta but what could one
little person do about such a bigissue. Well, as you're hearing from
Pat, the answer is plenty.And you'd be surprised because there are so
few people that speak up. Howpowerful you can be by speaking out the
(24:03):
lone voice is really heard among thecrowds and among the rubble by the policymakers.
It's hard to believe, but putyour toe in any water where you
want to see change in the world. You will be shocked at how quickly
you get involved and make a difference. And when we come back, we're
going to take a little bit oftime for our own selves, our own
(24:26):
body, because you're not going tobe able to do any of the things,
the big things that Pat is talkingabout the kinds of things I love
with the U N and so on. If you don't feel good, you've
got to also be well. Andwe will talk about Pat Sample's relationship to
her own wellness, how she's helpingpeople be more creative, step up to
(24:48):
the plate for world change through bodychange and body awareness. Don't you go
anyway that doesn't bother me? AndI'm inappropriate for my age. You may
(25:08):
think that bother me, not evenbecause I am happy, I'm inappropriate.
Oh my, and hello, hello, Hello, This is Andrean Bergen.
This is Generation Bold, the Fountainof Truth, the Fountain of truth about
(25:30):
aging. And we always do alittle bit of business here. Well,
there's two pieces of business going on. We are now going into the seventh
episode of On the Ground. Onthe Ground is another podcast. It's for
civil society, very fancy. Thatmeans individuals and organizations that do want to
make change in the world. Youjust heard from our guest Pat Samples about
(25:53):
what she's doing her Hell, alittle bit more about that, about what
you can directly do with regard toclimate change, environmentalism and so on.
I'm always talking about what we're doingfor the human rights of older adults all
over the world, but you mayhave your own cause. And on the
Ground represents seventeen hundred seventeen hundred nongovernmental agencies of people just like you who
(26:22):
want to make a change in avariety of different missions. And what this
podcast does is help you do itbetter. So if you're already part of
an organization, please take a lookat On the Ground. It is on
iTunes, you can listen to iton iHeartRadio, you can listen to it
on audible, but you can alsolisten directly from the United Nations website g
(26:45):
NEC, g n EC very simple, GNEC dot and GEO and GEO stands
for non governmental organization. So wehave a special, special monthly podcast just
for you, all right, Solet's go ahead and go back to Pat
Samples. Now. Pat is aperson of many parts, in addition to
(27:07):
being a creative and in addition tobeing a writer with many many books out,
author of Let's Say, Daily Comfortsfor Caregivers, Self Care for Caregivers,
many many articles, Comfort and BeComforted, Reflections for Caregivers, The
Secret Wisdom of a Woman's Body,Freeing yourself to live passionately and live fearlessly,
and body Odyssey lessons from the Bonesand the Bailing. So you can
(27:30):
see that she deals with our issueson many many levels, but one of
them has to do with body wisdom. And I want to throw that at
you, Pat, because for me, this is brand new. You are
involving yourself in something that I'm fascinatedby, So tell us all about it.
(27:52):
Well. You know, one ofthe things I've become aware of is
that our bodies are really like libraries. There are archives of our life experience.
Everything that's ever happened to us isregistered in our body through our senses,
through our whole experience of these events, and all of the joys,
the traumas, the difficulties, thefears, they're all registered in our body.
(28:18):
So our body becomes this lifelong library, and it's an incredibly rich library
that we can draw on to helpus pay attention not only to what has
shaped us, but what's a lifefor us right now. So I love
to myself be really conscious of what'sgoing on in my body because it's constantly
(28:41):
telling me what it wants, whatit needs, and not just as a
as a physical like my physical needsare. It's telling me a lot about
my emotional and spiritual needs. Allof my intuitive leanings are all showing up
in my body, my gut,my attention in my neck, the the
(29:02):
edgenus, in my voice, whateverit might be, it's all part of
my body speaking. So I thinkour body is eloquent, very searchable database,
if you will, of all thisamazing wisdom that we have within us.
And our bodies are constantly wanting ourattention. They're they're they're like our
(29:25):
They're kind of like a journalist too. They're recording what's happening. They're giving
us feedback all the time about whatwhat's important to us. And of course,
if we ignore these body signals,we know very well that that often
ends up in illness and distress anddiscomfort. But when we are really attuned
to our body, it's it's kindof magical. It's like our bodies are
(29:48):
our tuning fork that help us knowwhere to put our spiritual, emotional,
and physical attention so we can live, you know, as vibrantly as possible.
Now people understand practices like meditation andyoga. In fact, I was
speaking to one of the great geoscientistsof the world, doctor near Brazilli,
the only one to get quite abit of money from the FDA for a
(30:08):
trial. But there'll be a threeyear trial on a drug called metformant,
which diabetics take, but he believesis also an anti aging drug that will
help stop chronic diseases. And Isaid to him, and I'm going to
ask you this same question, PatI asked him, what do you do?
What do you do for your longevity? And he said, oh,
(30:30):
I stretch every Saturday morning. Inother words, he's really listening to his
body, and it's in such away that it's not costing him a fortune.
It is something that he feels heneeds to reconnect with once a week
to really see where his body isat. Now that's his practice. Other
(30:51):
people, as I said, doyoga, different kind of exercise. I
walk. What are your personal practicesnow that you've come to this realization.
I love that you're bringing up thatthere are many practices that help us connect
more with our body. And Iwould say that that the practice that I'm
most most enthusiastic about is a littledifferent kind of practice. It's really about
(31:19):
being very present and attentive to whatmy body is doing. And I mean
that very specifically about noticing what's what'swhat's the temperature in my body at the
moment, What's what's wanting to moveat this moment, What's what's a little
(31:41):
strained and stressed at the moment.What's kind of propelling me forward or what's
holding me back, What's where's thatlittle feeling in the back of my uh
of my glutes that's got a littletightness in it? What is that?
And really getting curious. So mypractice is really about being about curiosity,
(32:06):
not a set of things to do, although exercise and meditation all those are
great and I do all of that, but this is kind of taking it
to another level. It's being acurious student of our bodies to see what
it is the body is asking ofus. And that takes a quiet moment,
(32:27):
it takes practice, it takes Imean, there's certainly some wonderful teachers
that help do this kind of thing. And my teacher as Karen Roeper,
who developed a program called Essential Motion, and she does fabulous workshops and activities
and I'm trained in her work aswell, and I do them as well.
They're geared toward bringing that individual internallistening to life, and one of
(32:54):
the things that I've done with that, Adrian, is that every year now
for twenty years, I have gathereda group of women and now we're all
in our sixties, seventies, andeighties, and we have what I call
free motion and using music to helpus. We spend an hour every Friday
morning, moving freely, letting ourbodies tell the story of what's inside,
(33:20):
what's hurting, what's where's our longing, where's our enthusiasm, where's the grief?
And we let that be expressed roughcreative movement and without words, without
words, and it's so free,and we just have such joy together and
such such intimacy with ourselves and witheach other because our bodies don't lie.
(33:45):
They are very if we listen andlet our bodies free, they're remarkably creative,
they're remarkably expressive, and they're wonderfulfeatures. So first thing before we
end this segment, I want tolet people have these resources and then will
list them for them also in ourshow notes, so they have in writing,
(34:07):
it was a variety of resources thatyou mentioned. The first one is
you, and that is all thatyou can offer for people who are interested
in igniting their own creativity, particularlyin writing. But in other ways as
well, and that's pat Samples dotcom. You also mentioned an app where
people can learn more things they cando about climate change and environmentalism. Give
(34:29):
us that app again, Climate Action. Now, just google Climate Action now
you'll find the app. It's free, it's easy, it's really one.
They're wonderful. Now you have agroup of people who are older, and
I call them elders. They callthemselves elders in the best sense of the
word, meaning people who with wisdomthat have gotten together to make environmental change.
(34:49):
What is the name of that group, Elder's Climate Action. So that's
Elder's Climate Action dot org. Whatlots of great information on how to be
a part of that, how tomake everyday choices that are in the further
benefit of the climate. At last, but not least, your classes and
your mentors classes on becoming much moreaware of your body movement. Yes,
(35:13):
essential motion, Yes essential and Alsenis talked about on our website, but
also Karen Roeper. Her website isEssential Hyphenmotion dot org and her work is
very inspiring and wonderful. And whenwe come back, I'm going to use
another word, and that word isconscious conscious aging concious aging is not a
(35:36):
small topic. But everything you've toldus, this entire program really has to
do with being conscious of your ownbody, of the planet, of your
creativity. What does it really mean? Don't you guys go anywhere, because
we've got to wake up your consciousnessabout aging in older Americans. But we'll
(35:58):
be right back. But that doesn'tbother me, not even because I am
happy and a freely I'm inappropriate formy AGA. You may think that I'm
all, It doesn't bother me,not even because I am happy and I'm
(36:25):
inappropriate. Oh my, and hello, Hello, Hello, This is Adrian
Berger, and this is Generation Bill, the Fountain of Truth, the Fountain
of Truth about agent. And youknow, I said there were two pieces
of news when I was doing someof our little promotion. One was on
the ground the new podcast. We'realready in our seventh program, and that
(36:51):
you will find at Geneck g nEC dot n GEO Geneck, by the
way, is the Global NGEO Executivewhich is part of the United Nations,
and groups like yours can be certified. They were just twelve brand new NGOs
certified. We've been hearing from PatSamples about her groups that she's involved with
(37:15):
on environmentalism. They could get certifiedand then there's a great deal of support
coming to them from the United Nations. So please do take a look at
Genick dot NGEO. I happen tobe the podcaster for the United Nations Group
of NGOs. They were seventeen hundredof them, and on the ground there's
our podcast, but I insisted thatthey be made available to everybody who is
(37:37):
in the nonprofit or civil society,all of us through iTunes and audible.
You'll find it all there on theground. But we're also starting a brand
new website and blog and podcast inthe fall this fall, and that is
called The Ageless Traveler around I guessby August I will have hit my hundred
(38:02):
and tenth country. I've been travelingall my life and I don't want to
stop, and I don't want youto stop. So the subtitle of the
Ageless Traveler is never stop traveling.And if that is something that's been on
your mind and you love to travelas much as I do, go to
my website right now, Adrianberg dotcom. Put your email in the contact
(38:27):
and you will get all of ourdiscounts and newsletters, and of course access
to our podcast and blogs, TheAgeless Travel, but go to Adrianburg dot
com. Now, there is aword that subsumes almost everything we talk about
on this show for the past fiveyears, and that phrase is conscious aging.
(38:50):
And it's a very interesting phrase.And if you've been listening to Pat,
you know that being conscious of herbody, being conscious of what's going
on in the planet, being touchesof her power, and in my course,
speak out communication, being conscious ofyour words really makes a difference in
life. And yet we kind ofmost of us not only age unconsciously,
(39:14):
but we have an abhorrence for aging. We don't even want to think about
it if we could help it.But Pat, that's just not you.
At at what point in your journeydid you say, Hey, I'm going
to pay attention to my aging.Was it when you were running your books
like a Daily Conference for caregivers orself Care for caregivers? All of Pat's
(39:36):
books, of course, are onAmazon. Were you looking at at what
it meant to grow old in away that wasn't as attractive us what we're
talking about. At what point didyou say, I'm going to pay attention
to this aging you know what reallystarted for me was when I turned fifty
and I thought, you know,I'm going to have another fifty years to
live, and how do I wantto create that life? How do I
(39:58):
want to be for these fifty years. So it's it's a satisfying, rich
and you know, a life thatbrings me joy and that keeps me well.
And I looked to some of therole models of people who were doing
well in their older years, andthere was a writer from Minnesota who was
(40:20):
on her deathbed. She had manuscriptsall over her nursing home room bed that
she was critiquing for other people.And I thought, you know, that's
how I want to die. Iwant to be in action. I want
to be serving, I want tobe creating. I want to have a
life where I'm richly engaged with life. And so I decided at that point
(40:43):
to study aging further. So Ipursued a master's degree in human development with
an emphasis unconscious aging, and alsodecided to strengthen my writing skills so that
I could be more effective in writing. So I pursued a degree in a
master's degree and creative writing as well, and in the process we learned ended
(41:06):
up writing a book for my thesiscalled Body out of Sea Lessons from the
Bones and Belly, in which Iwas really paying attention to this process of
aging and the choices that I makeas I get older, and how we
start thinking that our body is deteriorating. And that's the story of aging.
That's it close a dependency story.Yeah, and how to fight, And
(41:30):
of course I've got I've got I'vegot a long list of doctor visits on
my calendar. So sure I've gotplenty of aches and pains wearing a body
brace at the moment because I felland broke broke my back, So I'm
doing that. And yet that's notwho I am. That's a that's a
piece of the story. But Ihave a very vibrant and healthy body for
(41:52):
the most part, and I getto use the body that I have to
create the kind of world, thekind of life for myself and for the
planet that I want to see happen. So to me, conscious aging is
about making the very best of everysingle moment. I you know, I
really have a mission, Adrian,that everybody experienced the gifts that life is
(42:15):
and the gift that they are untiltheir last breath. And as I live
that for myself and as I sharethat with other people, it's I have
been such a strong advocate about thevery thing you're talking about, this notion
of anti aging. No, it'severy time I see the words anti aging,
I want to cry, because nothingwrong with aging. We all want
(42:37):
to do it. That's we've wantedto be to get older from the moment
we are barn and let's make themost of every single moment that we have
with our life. And you know, I also find that as I'm getting
older, that consciousness becomes a highlyspiritual engagement for me. That's really the
centerpiece of my life these days ismy spiritual life. And I continue really
(43:00):
spend time studying and meditating and justcultivating an appreciation for life, gratitude for
each moment, curiosity and joy andfinding you know, what's what's the next
you know, as I see it, sort of what's how's God going to
get me through this next thing thatI got obstacle, what I've got to
deal with? And I don't Ireally want to commend you on this,
(43:23):
and it's so beautifully said. Theidea that is always that next stage,
even up to the very end uh, the the idea of death big a
journey. I do travel, andsometimes I travel to the worst little hole
hell holes of the world, andwhen I come back, I have such
(43:43):
a good story. It's so muchfun. So I always say, it
always pays to go. And Iasked my family to put that on my
toobs because who knows it always paysto go? You know, yeah?
Could? It could be great?Right? But I also want to point
out to my listeners that conscious agingcan be can be articulated and followed in
(44:07):
many, many different ways, becauseI also became interested in aging at age
fifty from a completely different angle,and that was I had a very very
terrible genetics behind me, and hardlyanyone in my family really reached sixty my
father at forty two, so Ididn't really expect to be old. And
(44:29):
when I became fifty, aging almostbecame a hobby. I would say,
it's more than conscious. If somebodyloves fishing or gobba, aging is my
hobby. Yes, I will readeverything about it. I'll have every magazine
about it. I will talk toanybody about it. I will look at
it from every angle, from consumingconsuming things that are good few but conscious
(44:52):
aging today now is also biological.You can measure how you're aging. My
scale tells me how old I am, and it's tell the ninety dollars on
Amazon. It gives me how muchbody fluid I have, whether I'm dehydrated.
This is my scale. It doesn'tjust tell me how much I weigh,
and then more and more. Wehave other biomarker measurements, but they
(45:16):
cost about five hundred dollars and Iam working very hard to have these indices,
these physical consciousness about how your bodyis aging to be free for everyone
because and covered by the FDA approvalsof them. And then it goes into
Medicare Medicaid just like your annual checkupshould really be a body marker checkup as
(45:40):
well as the usual blood test,so you never know where your passion is
going to lead you. I wasthe last person to think that it would
have to do anything with science ormedicine, that I was going to be
working on it, but it is. It is because part of conscious aging
to me is also knowing how you'redoing biologically so that you could do the
(46:00):
things you need, not what they'retrying to sell you and tell you you
need. It's very important to me. So let's wrap this up here.
You did say something which was Iwant to always know what my next thing
is. I want to know whatI'm getting into next, so I could
work it through. So what areyou getting into NeXT's what's on the horizon.
(46:20):
Well, certainly the work I'm doingwith the climate right now is just
paramount for me, because I see, first of all that even some recent
studies are showing that we can delaythe onset of dementia if we improve our
air quality. I mean, isthat motivating or not? Oh, yes
it is. It can delay byover a year and a half getting dementia
(46:45):
if when air quality is improved,the recent science is showing us. So
I'm getting more interested in science too, in the sense of just kind of
validating some of these common sense thingsthat we know and helping us all remember
that we can do something about this. We are not victims here webs We
(47:07):
have an opportunity to have an impact, and we automatically are having an impact.
Every time we choose our food,our clothing, where we drive our
car, how we go about ourdaily lives. We do contribute or to
either a healthier planet or not.For all of us so to me,
consciousness goes all the way from howour body is operating to how our planet
(47:30):
is operating, to how our soulis operating, and when all of that's
in alignment, its life is prettydarn good. It certainly is that for
those of you who are caregivers,and you will be brought down a little
bit, and for you life isn'tso darn good. Don't forget to take
a look on Amazon some wonderful booksfrom Pat. We did not go into
(47:50):
a deep dive on this because thisis a time, as Pat says,
not to be victims. This isa time to see all that we could
do in the world. May olderAmerican smut, but do take a look
at daily comforts for care givers,self care for caregivers, and everybody get
out their kids and make it happen. I'm appropriate
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