Leonard Cohen said as he passed his 70th birthday that he was not yet in “old age.” He was in the “foothills of old age.” I like that especially now that I’m 73+ and still climbing that low-grade foothill with the old-age-mountain still off in the distance.

My friend, Marty Kaplan, sent this YouTube video (below) to a group of us that was made for young writers in Hollywood featuring older writers and actors talking, with palpable up-beat joy, about remaining creative and productive. It’s relevant to us all. It’s 3 minutes.

The message is a good counterpoint to all the disturbing news coming out of Ukraine and Russia, Israel-Palestine, Palestine-Ohio, the southern border, the harsh weather almost everywhere, and in the Republican-controlled Congress.

A year ago, I saved from the site “Changing it up” this piece addressing the benefits of optimism:

“The benefits of optimism — and staying positive — are countless and include lower stress levels, improved coping skills, higher energy levels, increased resilience, increased creativity, improved well-being, reduced pain, decreased depression, reduced risk of heart attack, stroke and other cardiovascular diseases, increased health span and better quality of life to name a few.”

-Changing it Up – January 26, 2022

Cheers!

#RethinkAging with Hollywood, Health & Society

Let’s tell the stories of older people’s lives with the depth and complexity they deserve. Hollywood, Health & Society invites you to #RethinkAging with Norman Lear, Marla Gibbs, George Takei, Mimi Kennedy, George Wallace, and The SCAN Foundation.