Welcome to Women Aging with Soul, a community for women aged 50+ to embrace the process of aging as an experience of the Soul. A variety of events will be available, both online and in-person (initially in the NC Triangle region).
The deeper I get into this journey of aging, the more essential I realize it is to stay connected to my soul.
Eric Erickson identified a number of stages in the human life cycle. He titled the last one (age 65+) as Integrity vs. Despair. I get it. Ways in which there hasn't been healing around the disappointments and grief of life catch up to us at this stage and can manifest in many things - from illness to isolation to despair.
My awakening around how much elderhood requires soul was somewhat sparked by the book The Inner Work of Age: From Role to Soul by Connie Zwieg. A Jungian psychotherapist, she understandably looks at the role of shadow in aging, both individually and societally. No wonder one of our first programs is a discussion group around this book!
The other program for our launch year of 2024, entitled "The Seasons of Your Life," is a series of events on the equinoxes and solstices inviting us into a reflection on what that season has looked like or may look like. (Since Women Aging with Soul is open to women 50+, many participants may very well still be in the fall of their life and very unsure about what winter may bring.) This is a way of us working with the cycles of nature to reflect on what the cycles of our lives have been.