Twisting the Plot

Ryan Backer is an age activist striving to undo ageism within an intersectional context. They identify as a white, non-binary ‘old person in training’ and they have an undergraduate degree in Gerontology. They are a co-founder of OldSchool.info, a clearinghouse of anti-ageism resources and an international hub for age activism.

Join us for a two-part conversation with Ryan. We talk about aging and the problem with binaries. We imag...

This week we bring back one of our most popular podcast guests, Laura Davis, to talk about the power of writing our stories. Laura, who wrote the award-winning memoir The Burning Light of Two Stars, tells us how she writes to gain perspective and make sense of her evolving life. To our delight, she shares her process in teaching students who take her classes and join her writing retreats. We love this...

We did not go into this conversation easily. Talking about money isn’t something we’re comfortable with. The question, what about money is important to you, is a hard one for us to answer. We don’t want to think about it. In fact, the culture of consumption, accumulation, marketing and money-making turns us off, provokes waves of nausea. And even brings up shame. But this conversation was different. Laura Rotter brought a plot twis...

Hannah and Cecilia sat down to chat recently, and found the conversation moving in an unexpected direction. We started asking, what matters now at this stage in our lives? Up until recently, our lives have been driven by external markers, jobs, degrees, partners and successes. But now there seems to be some buried impulse, more internal, emerging and wanting to take the lead. Listen to this week’s podcast as we try to figure out ho...

Sleep is not a dead space, but a doorway to a different kind of consciousness – one that is reflective and restorative, full of tangential thought and unexpected insights. In winter, we are invited into a particular mode of sleep: not a regimented eight hours, but a slow, ambulatory process in which waking thoughts merge with dreams, and space is made in the blackest hours to repair the fragmented narratives of our days.

 - Katheri...

We all tell stories about our lives, some we make up, and some we inherit. 

Through stories, we figure out who we are, where we’ve been, and where we’re headed.

Stories grow as we grow.

Our stories about ourselves as individuals and as a collective, are not static things that once set, never evolve.

In fact, most of us encounter crossroads or thresholds of change where the past, present an...

This week Twisting the Plot Podcast offers Part II of our conversation with the GenZer, Fran Dintino. 

In many ways, this conversation is just getting started. 

There is so much to explore, so many diverse lenses through which to look at one’s life experience. Intergenerational conversations lead to intergenerational living that is rich and expan...

We are years and years apart.  There are decades between us, the Boomers and the Gen Zer’s.

Our world views are different. Our narratives do not line up. 

Can we get along? 

Are we able to listen to each other?

We use different language,  we have varied values...

We often talk about how our minds and bodies are changing as we age. But what about our spirit? Does that evolve too? And what do we mean when we speak about the spirit?

To us, spirit means that which is felt but not seen. Perspective, inner voice, energetic connection with others, gratitude, love and a mindful appreciation for the complexity of life, is what we call – spirit.

To us, this experience of spirit seems to be growing as...

Well, here we are. Another Fall.  Another starting over. 

Whether it’s school, work, or perspective, we (Hannah and Cecilia) find that as the seasons change, so do we. It’s supposed to be that way, right?  Nothing stays the same. 

Yet, as we change, we also pre...

We couldn’t get enough.

We wanted to learn more about elderhood from our podcast guest Dr. Tracey Gendron, so we asked her back for part II. 

Dr. Gendron, author of Ageism Unmasked and Chair of the Gerontology Department at Virginia Commonwealth University in Richmond is back this week to take a deep dive into two relevant social constructs: caregiving and retirement.

We talk about the hi...

Here’s a twist for you.

We are getting tired of promoting “successful aging” and no longer want to buy into the social construct that defines aging and being old as a problem to avoid. 

We don’t know about you, but we are getting old… and loving it. But not because we are staying young, or not facing losses. We love it not despite of the challenges, but because of them. We love it because...

It often feels like time is a conveyer belt, ushering us forward year after year. It moves faster and faster, sometimes at a pace that makes it hard to glance back and savor what’s been. Sometimes a lifetime moves too quickly for us to be intentional about where we are going. 

We just keep moving.

On this week’s Twisting the Plot Podcast, Hannah and Cecilia take a pause and consider time f...

Abbe Greenberg and Maggie Sarachek have been friends since college. Throughout this time, they shared many things, even anxiety. For years they supported each other, through phobias, panic attacks and catastrophizing mindsets. As time went on, it became clear that they weren’t alone. In fact, they found that many women wanted to talk about anxiety, its perils, nuances, and the many ways to cope. So they decided to start a sisterhoo...

In 1988 Laura Davis coauthored The Courage to Heal, a global phenomenon. It is the go-to, permission giving, truth telling, and healing guide for victims of sexual abuse.  Her most recent book, The Burning Light of Two stars: A Mother Daughter Story is a prequel and a sequel to The Courage to Heal. It chronicles the estrangement, reconciliation and care-giving relationship between Laura a...

Consider the Hag.

Will You?

Most of us cringe at the mention of her. 

We would just as soon keep her banished to the deep woods. 

Who can blame us?  

She is rot, she is ugly, she does not follow our rules. She has one foot on the other side; death.

The Hag embodies suffering, a weathering by life; she s...