Aging

Graceful woman dancer dancing on the beach

My Oprah Winfrey Moment…Why 52 doesn’t have to be 30

That was precisely when it happened, my authentic Oprah Winfrey a-ha moment. At 52, I wanted out of our poisonous, youth-obsessed beauty culture, illusionary at best but more often unapologetically deceptive. Images offered as “effortless” in magazines and social media seductively and insidiously pulverize female self-esteem to a microfine powder which fails its promise to illuminate. I wanted my money back. I credit my savvy and self-confident teenage daughter Kate for rousing me from idiocy. It was a Sunday morning, and with a keen eye, I scrutinized online offerings...
Vintage bathing suits

Self Acceptance and My Bathing Suit

I thought age and maturity would show up on some designated day, not that it would sneak in like a single mouse right before the massive infestation. Gray hair runs in my family, so that wasn't a surprise. The freckles on my hands were a surprise, the extra skin on my arms, whoa. Suddenly instead of the snotty idiot judgmental teenager horrified at those Ladies at the pool (who seemingly didn't care about their wobbly arms and jiggly thighs), I WAS that lady at the pool....
Giant blue door in Paris

Turning a Profit on Your Passion: An Interview With Founder of Girls Guide To Paris

Belau joked that her encore career has been an overnight sensation, 50+ years in the making. Doni Belau’s third career is in the Happiness business. The founder of Girls Guide to Paris believes travel leads to a sense of discovery and better understanding. She calls it her ministry. “I wanted to do something I loved and meeting women from all over the world feeds my soul,” she said in a recent interview....
Lisa Poulson

Surprised by the Joy of White Hair

n the middle of 2020’s pandemic lockdown, everybody’s hair looked terrible and there was nothing anyone could do about it. We all had roots. Scowling at myself in the mirror one night, an idea sparked. What if I stopped coloring my hair? At 57, wasn’t that OK? On September 4, 2020, the first day salons could legally open in Alameda County, I walked into my colorist’s tiny new salon, a converted shipping container in Oakland, filled with anticipation and relief. I could not wait to see how I might emerge....
Woman writing story

Dementia: Writing the Story Now You May Never Hear

I’ll never forget the moment I found out my mother’s diagnosis. ‘Your mother has the classic symptoms of Alzheimer’s,’ the geriatric psychiatrist said. I wish I had encouraged Mum to tell me more about her life and recorded her stories. Robin Storey is a ghostwriter specializing in life stories and memoirs....