I’ve put up a new category I hope you will enjoy.
A group of friends–Hope Atterbury, Margo Chávez-Charles, Ana Consulo Matiella, and Miriam Sagan–have been talking about issues and our lives for many years. Now we want to share our thoughts on the blog.
The questions we started with: What do I see when I look in the mirror? How do I feel about aging? With this as a starting point, we swung out into different directions, showing both our similarities and differences.
We welcome your thoughts and comments. Hopefully, we’ll do more writing here as a group.
Miriam's Well: Poetry, Land Art, and Beyond
Santa Fe Literary Scene, Poetry, Land Art, New Mexico
Miriam's Well: Poetry, Land Art, and Beyond 
Thanks for sharing this discussion with us, your readers. Most days I don’t give any thought to how old I am, a woman turning 65 next month. But last month I lived at Ghost Ranch and worked in the library there. My lodging was perfectly comfortable, except for one thing: it was full of big mirrors, huge mirrors. Every morning and night I watched myself dress and undress. I had lots of talks with my body and they were not always pleasant. Still, walking several miles a day from place to place, I was grateful for the stamina I still have realizing it’s an amazing gift.
Great to hear from you–thanks for adding in!
Kai Harper Leah: Honestly, sometimes I wonder if we aren’t connected on some kind of subconcious chain. Yesterday I received phone calls from four of my women friends, all living in different parts of the US and Canada. One 52, one 62, one 64 and one 73. … All of us sifting through the shared memories of our lives. When I finally hung up from the last phone call at a quarter til twelve I did wonder, we have known one another for so, so long. Here we are in this aging process so separately at yet we are not alone. I read the posts Miriam, thank you for putting them up on your blog; I really enjoyed them.
Candelora Versace: All of them are wonderful; thank you for posting, Miriam!!!
Miriam–I love these! It’s so important to feel “not alone” with this aging conundrum especially for women. For so many years, no one talked about getting older; there’s some shame attached to it. My Mom used to look in the mirror in her 40’s and say, “I look like the Wreck of the Hesperus!” (This was a ship that sank in the early 1900’s which meant she probably learned that saying from HER mother!) Some days I like when there’s steam on the mirror in the bathroom so I don’t have to see my dark circles or new wrinkles–I never used to get wrinkles just from the way I slept! As my Mom used to say (she’s now 93): “Aging–it’s not for everyone!” This is a rich topic and I thank you (and your Spirit sisters) for bringing it to light here!
Terry–this is truly funny! I love everything your mom says.
Patricia Berman: Wonderful- so real. So I had the same experience reading each one: got into the story, laughed and related- then saw the photo and surprised, thought “what a babe! She’s so young!” Personally one minute I see my grandmother in the mirror, the next I think I’m 25 (not looking in the mirror at that moment). So strange!