New life??

This moment is as most of us know is the big one.  The Quantum Leap as we once hoped for, the perfect storm as most of us down deep sense it is upon us. Covid-19, racial inequalities, wage gaps, fear, outrage, and ultimately the existential threat of climate change. 

I’m old enough to realize there are forces out there, beyond our ability to grasp let alone control. We seem to be caught up in a moment of change that most of us hope to simply survive, let alone affect a change. I tell myself that perhaps it might offer a moment for personal transformation, if not societal change.  That is my task, to be open to my personal transformation.  And I ask myself where is the new life that I long for.

Sensing that the possibility of positive profound changes can occur in one's seventy's.  In my own life I have been surprised and delighted by my openness to others, and my capability to go out to strangers, and how warmly people meet me.  Now in my 80s I find myself, loving and compassionate to all that I meet.  An unexpected gift of ageing. Have you experienced anything similar?

Yesterday on the subway, there was this man, with baggy pants and old jacket causing a commotion as he walked down the aisle asking for money.  He stopped in front of a young woman sitting across from me and was bullying her for money. I stood up and told him it wasn't nice to harass a young woman, I' d give me some money, I said.  AS I searched my pockets looking for some change,  I asked him about what was happening to him.  He muttered something about how hungry he was. And I listened, then finding a five dollar bill I handed it to him and wished him well.  He leaned towards me his arms wide and gave me a warm hug.  

Yesterday on the subway, there was this man, with baggy pants and old jacket causing a commotion as he walked down the aisle asking for money.  He stopped in front of a young woman sitting across from me and was bullying her for money. I stood up and told him it wasn't nice to harass a young woman, I' d give me some money, I said.  AS I searched my pockets looking for some change,  I asked him about what was happening to him.  He muttered something about how hungry he was, And I listened, then finding a five dollar bill I handed it to him and wished him well.  He leaned towards me his arms wide and gave me a warm hug. 

Just published a piece about my breakfast club in a national newspaper. Take a look at 
https://www.theglobeandmail.com/life/first-person/article-im-retired-and-miss-my-co-workers-so-how-do-i-replace-that/