This Is Getting Old: Zen Thoughts on Aging with Humor and Dignity

This Is Getting Old: Zen Thoughts on Aging with Humor and Dignity

by Susan Moon
This Is Getting Old: Zen Thoughts on Aging with Humor and Dignity

This Is Getting Old: Zen Thoughts on Aging with Humor and Dignity

by Susan Moon

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Overview

Inspiring lessons on growing older with grace and laughter, from a Zen teacher and writer who is “like a Buddhist Anne Lamott” (New York Journal of Books)

Being a woman over sixty can sometimes be confusing, sometimes poignant, and sometimes hilarious. In this intimate and funny collection of essays, Zen Buddhist and writer Susan Moon maintains her sense of humor as she provides thoughtful insights on getting older.

In This Is Getting Old, Moon touches on both the ups and downs of aging: Her bones are weakening, but she still feels her inner tomboy. She finds herself both an orphan and a matriarch following the death of her mother. She admits to sometimes regretting pieces of her past and to being afraid of loneliness. These musings, written with Moon’s signature wit and grace, are a touching exploration and celebration of life, age, and our “senior moments”—plus a powerful reminder to be in the here and now.

Product Details

ISBN-13: 9781590307762
Publisher: Shambhala
Publication date: 06/08/2010
Pages: 192
Sales rank: 1,120,023
Product dimensions: 5.50(w) x 8.50(h) x 0.30(d)

About the Author

Susan Moon is a writer and longtime Zen Buddhist who teaches popular writing workshops, mostly in California. She is the former editor of Turning Wheel: The Journal of Socially Engaged Buddhism. She lives in Berkeley, California.

Table of Contents

Introduction ix

Part 1 Cracks in the Mind and Body

Where Did I Put My Begging Bowl? 3

Stain on the Sky 10

Leaving the Lotus Position 21

The Breathing Tube 26

Old Bones 40

All Fall Down 49

Senior Moment, Wonderful Moment 55

Part 2 Changing Relationships

In the Shade of My Own Tree 61

Exchanging Self and Other 70

House of Commons 79

Getting Good at Staying Still 85

Grandmother Mind 93

What If I Never Have Sex Again? 99

Becoming Invisible 103

The Tomboy Returns 108

Part 3 In the Realm of the Spirit

Tea with God 119

I Wasn't My Self 122

You Can't Take It with You 133

The Secret Place 138

Talking to My Dead Mother 144

For the Time Being 153

Alone with Everyone 160

This Vast Life 168

Acknowledgments 173

Credits and Permissions 175

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