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| Image by Sharon Brogan via Creative Commons |
I have long given up making resolutions.
Instead, I choose a Word of the Year.
I like how malleable a word can be over the course of a year.
This year, I am choosing BREATH(E). Yes, I put parentheses around the final letter to create a two-for-one word:
breath and breathe: noun and verb.
I like the verb breathe because the form is a command. "Breathe!" invites me to stop, live in the moment, relax, and to take an inventory.
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| Image by texturepalace via Creative Commons |
Over the last decade plus, this blog has been the host to 459 posts and 2,795 comments.
These posts have gleaned over a million views (1,355,636).
In 2014, this blog hosted 114 posts, the most productive year.
In 2022, this blog hosted 9 posts.
I am still thinking about aging. I just need write about it.
Part of the issue is that my children have six living grandparents ranging in ages from 80 to 88. (My in-laws, my mother and her husband, and my father and his wife.) All six of them are experiencing some growth and development, and they are making some great contributions to their churches, neighborhoods, their friendship networks, and their families near and far. However, they are also facing notable challenges. However, I want to afford them privacy, so I am not detailing those challenges here.
The posts with the all-time views has not moved very much in the last few years, so you might want to visit this 2016 post that lists (with links) the 20 posts with the most views over the life of this blog.
The most viewed post written in 2022 was this conference preview.
2022 Mid-American Institute on Aging and Wellness - Concurrent Sessions
The most viewed post over the last twelve months was this 2013 post, which I update now and then:
Movies Set in Nursing Homes (and other venues for senior housing).
If you are only going to read one post, I would recommend this one:
Ten Books: An Essential Library on Aging.
All my best to you and yours for a 2023 that is filled with opportunities to promote wellness in mind, body, and spirit.
Related:
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| Image by Leo Reynolds by Creative Commons |
I am looking back over the posts published on this aging blog over the last year and seeing that I have not been sharing a lot of my insights on aging. I only completed nine posts--counting this one. Consequently, compiling a list of Top 10 posts is a little disingenuous.
Here are the three posts written in 2022 with the most views:
Critical Age Theory: Book Review
I am still teaching gerontology classes as an adjunct at both the University of Evansville and at the University of Southern Indiana (USI).
In previous years, I frequently wrote posts about films that I have viewed and books that I have read on topics related to aging. In 2022, I only read one book about aging. Lately, I have been spending more time at the gym and less time reading and watching films.
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| Karen outside of the Dunigan YMCA in October 2022. |
I admit to going to the YMCA a lot.
Because I teach biology of aging for the sociology department at the University of Evansville, I am well versed (in a generalist sort of way) on the benefits of regular, varied exercise.
This means that when I am sitting around, reading about the benefits of exercise, I will often put my book down and drive over to one of the two YMCA locations in the Evansville area:
Dunigan on Oak Grove is just a ten-minute drive for me, but I also drive downtown to the Ascension St. Vincent's YMCA, which is only a twenty-minute drive.
By exercising regularly, I am improving my muscle tone, heart health, balance, bone density, flexibility, circulation, posture, digestion, cognitive function, and mood.
However, I have several reasons for attending exercise classes frequently:
