It's a Movement. Join us!
In the March AARP issue (Bulletins) there was a great graphic titled Help When You Need It Most, a resource for caregivers and discusses the top concerns caregivers have and also provides resources to help with those concerns.
This list directly relates to Women for Living in Community because each of these concerns is addressed when women spearhead the change in how we think about aging in community because caregivers in our culture are usually women.
Community is a dynamic whole that emerges when a group of people:
- participate in common practices
- depend upon one another
- make decisions together
- identify themselves as part of something larger than the sum of their individual relationships
- commit themselves for the long term to their own well-being, to each other, and to the group
*Adapted from “Creating Community Anywhere” By Carolyn Shaffer and Kristin Anundsen
This website and the primary subject in my book Your Quest for Home is building community. It has occurred to me that I have not yet provided a definition of community here on the blog. I include this adapted definition of community on Page 63 of the guidebook.
Let’s take a few moments to unpack it.
The original quote from Creating Community Anywhere by Shaffer and Anundsen is as follows:
What is Community?
Community is a dynamic whole that emerges when a group of people:
participate in common practices; depend upon one another; make decisions together; identify themselves as part of something larger than the sum of their individual relationships; and commit themselves for the long term to their own, one another’s, and, the group’s well being.
I am pleased to announce you can now read Your Quest for Home on Kindle, iBook, and Nook readers.
The guidebook is meant to be used as a series of exercises to help you better understand what it is you want in community and how to take the steps to make it happen. Offering the book in both digital and paperback formats widens the potential audience and makes it more accessible to more people.
Are you in the Western North Carolina area, business owner and/or organizer of a group dedicated to better living as we age? Schedule your book signing:
Inviting me to discuss Your Quest for Home, the activities, and talk about living in community is a perfect opportunity to engage your target audience. I can present on the subject, teach your group how to work with the Guidebook, and help you start on your own quest to find the community you want to live in. For more description, click here or submit your request now.
Engagements outside of WNC are considered as well but may require additional travel fees.
You see, I believe that finding a community is not only about the building or the methods but also about each of us as individuals. Your Quest for Home is a journey of self-discovery. It can help get you started and stop making excuses.
The book is written in an approachable way and provides a literal guidebook with exercises you can follow along with either in a group or on your own. For example, in chapters 8 and 9 we discuss the fairy tale villains that can stop your quest in its tracks.
You can buy Your Quest for Home in a number of different formats:Kindle, Nook, or iBook and it can be viewed on any tablet or eReader.
If you are interested in having me speak, contact me through my website or Facebook page.
I am very proud of my book, which should go without saying. But the author’s own endorsement isn’t generally what convinces new customers to buy a guidebook like mine. I thought it might be a good idea to share some of the things readers were saying on Amazon.
In case you don’t already know, Your Quest for Home is a guidebook designed to help you determine your needs for community living and set you up with the tools to make it happen in your own life. It is intended to make you think not only about the kind of community you want but what makes you a good community member as well.
Here are some of the things people are saying about Your Quest for Home.
I was pleasantly surprised when I opened my mailbox earlier this month to see the spring issue of Communities Magazine with the title “Communities for Baby Boomers” emblazoned across the cover. Since the 1970s, Communities Magazine has been the go-to publication for intentional communities of all types, and since boomers were the catalyst for the communal living movement of the 60s it is no surprise that we are also the leaders of the new initiative to create communities as we age.
The magazine has a number of great articles that would be of interest to anyone looking to develop community.
When I started researching for Women’s History Month I was surprised to discover very little information about women who have made a difference in the lives of aging Americans. I also learned that some extra digging can bring up a lot of great information if you’re willing to put in the work. Below the surface of Women’s History are the stories we don’t always celebrate.
One such story is that of Elsie Frank.
Have you ever heard the name Patricia Goldman-Rakic? Probably not, but her work as a neurobiologist has almost certainly touched your life in some way.
It was Goldman-Rakic’s work on memory centers of the brain that allowed scientists to finally break the code on Alzheimer’s disease and several other common brain conditions. Her story came to an abrupt end in 2003 when she was struck by a car and died at the age of 66, still in the peak of her career.
I may have been a bit naïve when I decided to tackle this project during the month of March. I honestly believed that a simple Google search with a few keywords would get me to a wealth of information about women who were pioneers in building community. That was when I realized that what we, and multiple other trailblazers in community living, are doing is new and bold.
So I decided to take a step back.
Unless you’ve been living under a rock for the last 25 years or so, you probably know that March is Women’s History Month. This Sunday, March 8th, is also International Women’s Day. Both observances were designed to bring awareness to the contributions of women in history, science, politics, and more.
For March, I want to be part of this movement and share women’s stories and achievements to bring greater recognition to the call for equality.
DISCLAIMER: the following story is only my experience! Do not use for factual basis or advice, not that you’d want to. You’d be in the looney bin with me if you did. Just sayin’.
Medicare: this is a positively monumental experience for most of us. It is a literally coming of age.
This is my story.
So, what happened to easy to follow directions? I miss kindergarten where it was all about using safety scissors and learning how to glue.
Timing: prepare for hours…day…weeks…years? Pack a lunch. This could take a while.
The steps look a little…what’s the right word? Ambiguous?
Did you know that you’re supposed to register for Medicare with the Department of Social Security three to six months in advance of your birthday? No one told me? How does anyone know that? Did I miss a memo or a piece of junk mail or is this something you’re just supposed to know how to do like eat with a fork or saying please and thank you?
So first, I had to go on the Social Security website to sign up to be able to sign up. Or I could just go to the Social Security office. The mere thought of standing in line with my little paper number waiting for it to ding on the sign as I listened to nauseating Muzak… not my idea of a good time. Government websites are scary, but their offices can be scarier.
Oh look – I found a clue! I feel like Sherlock…
These official looking BIG envelopes look like they are from Medicare, or an insurance carrier, or AARP… Well, they’re really from an independent insurance agent who seems to have received some sort of notification that I am now officially old enough to target. I wonder when they learn that trick in insurance school.
They send these internet related keys that are supposed to be only for me, but how am I supposed to know? I called the help line, but I wasn’t fooled. They want to get me as a customer, but I think I can figure this out for myself.
I hope.
But the more information I read, the worse it got. Paper began stacking up on my desk.
As I read through the mountains of paper I had been receiving, my eyes began to glaze over. I needed to call in the troops…but who are the troops?
I believe in community so I figured I’d crowdsource some help on this thing. I talked to my sister and friends who have already done it.
My friend Linda told me, “I think I am pretty smart but… I’m doing it with someone else so we cannot lose our minds!” She is quite smart. If she can’t help me, I might be helpless.
Well, it helped a little, but I still felt like I killed a few too many brain cells and I might be descending quickly down the rabbit hole.
Is there anyone I ask? Can you just tell me what to do!
Well that depends.
author and friend, Maria
The official information is enough to cause anyone to question their sanity. I began to call it alphabet soup. Parts A and B are basic Medicare. Okay, I was fine with that. But then if you want more coverage you need to tack on supplemental plans. They’re listed A through N or something. Serious alphabet soup. Why can’t they use some other designator like colors or animals or something? Anything else but more letters!
Seriously, there is an alphabetical list on the left side of the chart that tells you about some parts of the plan. On the top of the chart is another alphabet with the kinds of coverages you can elect to supplement. They aren’t different letters. It is all the same jumble.
Hey look! The Drug/Pharmacy plan is called Plan D. Finally, something makes sense! And, of course, it is about drugs. I don’t just feel like I’m in Alice in Wonderland. I feel like I am in Jefferson Airplane’s psychedelic “White Rabbit” song.
I really don’t like to think of myself as old but this really feels like it is part of that Luminosity memory training challenge.
And this is only the first year. I have the privilege of doing this every single year if I want to. Shoot me now!
From all of my online belly-aching, one of my friends took pity on me and suggested an insurance agent she knew who specialized in Medicare. Score! That was just the ticket. I am usually quite self-reliant but my brain felt like those old commercials with the eggs: “This is your brain on Medicare…” I give up!
Oh, wait, there are a few more gems!
Are you familiar with the tier of drugs? Seriously, I think it should be tears of drugs. By the time I got to figuring out what I needed, I was positively sobbing.
And they send you a card for Medicare like you would get for any insurance plan. It has your social security number on it! Hasn’t the government ever heard of identity theft? Sure, I’ll just carry that with me everywhere…
Bottom line tips:
