First, welcome to all the new subscribers. (I have not said that in awhile.) Second, if you get this newsletter all 'scrunched together' with no spaces between paragraphs, scroll to the end and click on 'Back issues' and you will be able to read the issues just as I send it out . . . with good spacing.

This month's issue covers 3 topics:

1.Opportunity to have a poem published by Barnes and Noble.

2. New approach to elders with loss of memory.

3. Special for artists.

1. Calling all poets - DEADLINE approaching. AgeSong Institute and Barnes & Noble Announce their 2011 Elders Prose and Poetry Contest. Winning Prose and Poems will be included in the book: Gems of Wisdom: 365 Days of Poetry and Prose by Elders To be released in May 2011Deadline: October 15, 2010

For information and online submission form go to http://www.agesong.com/gems-of-wisdom.html

2. I was reading "Approaches to Aging: A Conversation with Nader Shabahangi" by Barbara Downey. AGING TODAY. Jul/Aug 2009. I paraphrase and summarize some thoughts from that interview:

Dr. Shabahangi believes that we must nurture our elders for who they are, and embrace what he calls the "forgetfulness care model." He says that those experiencing forgetfulness, live ondifferent level of consciousness. Forgetfulness is not a problem to be resolved. "There is nothing wrong with people who forget," he says, "[living with] forgetfulness is like dancing between different worlds."

Shabahangi suggests that we accept that a forgetful person is not lacking or lesser than any other individual. They are free from what he calls "the tyranny of the urgent" and the tasks and to-do lists that hold the rest of us.

He says that the less shackled we are to earthbound concerns, the more we are open to entering a spiritual experience. As elders transition into another level of reality, getting in touch with essential feelings becomes the touchstone of effective communication. The gift of shared presence, comforting silence, holding hands or enjoying the splendor of a sunset together is a holy experience - one that might be considered a more mystical, eastern interpretation of spiritual connectivity.

To allow an elder to have such an experience....and to participate in it because we are along side them, is a gift. That is the gift that someone who is forgetful can bring into our lives.....if we let them.

3. The Senior poets section of the anti-aging-articles.com site has proved to be popular. After doing a bit of research I am convinced that adding a SENIOR ARTISTS page would be a worthwhile.

Starting Wednesday, September 15, 2010 artists over age 50 will be able to upload one digital photo. You will need to write a few paragraphs about it or how your got started in art. (So search engines will index your page.)

If you have an online gallery you can include a link to it. And if you link back to the anti-aging-articles.com from your site, I'll include the link to your web page when I publish your art page. That way readers will be encouraged to view more of your work.

Poetry, Art.....what shall we add next?

Thanks so much for reading this far. It is a privileged to sned you this newsletter.

Kate