Ever since my first grandchild was born, I have been gripped by the idea of becoming an elder as opposed to becoming older. What's the difference you may ask? Well, I have discovered over the years that the differences are mighty and important.

Our culture is obsessively transfixed on youth. We have limitless ruminations about aging, wrinkles, frown lines, sags and bags. We have extreme make-overs, turn ducklings into swans and act as if changing the outside can make the inside more substantive, more beautiful. Now, please understand, I have nothing per se against Botox, nips, tucks and lifts. However, I know that getting older can be a rich and rewarding experience and becoming an elder is a role that far transcends whether I am wrinkled or dappled or bellied.

Becoming an elder is a role of responsibility that I am stepping into as my life has matured. It is other-people oriented, community-oriented, spirit-oriented and wisdom oriented.

In Native American culture, elders become the Chiefs, a position that denotes respect and acknowledgement of life; wisdom rather than the transfer of power. Chiefs are at a stage in life where they are looking outwards as they go deeper inward. They are concerned with the overall good of the tribe, of the passing on of history, of leaving a legacy, of negotiating conflict, bringing groups to a consensus that serves all interests, protecting the environment, providing wise counsel and of guiding the children in walking paths of authenticity and honor.

As the years have passed, I have needed to learn more. More about how other people view aging, how other cultures negotiate the transition into elder hood, and about what tools were available to assist me in better understanding myself in relationship to this new territory that I was entering.

Several years ago, I discovered Rabbi Zalman Schacter-Shalomi and what he calls Spiritual Sage-ing, a totally non-denominational, transformational view of aging, pulling guidance and teachings from all wisdom keepers and spiritual traditions from every part of the globe. This movement, Conscious Aging, as defined by Gay Luce author of "Longer Life, More Joy", defines elder-hood as a "time to discover inner richness for self development and spiritual growth." We grow into sages not by merely adding years to our lives, but by becoming wise, doing the inner work that leads over time to expanded consciousness and by maintaining a grip on the needs of our families, or community and our planet.

Why is this so important now?

Because for the first time in U.S. history, every baby boomer will be 40 years old or older - all 78 million of them! And, worldwide that numbers 98 million! This reality will not only profoundly reshape government policies and procedures and create new expectations and demands upon our society but, equally dramatically, create previously unimagined opportunities and pressures upon each of us as we approach and go beyond 40 years of age. Many of us could be living mentally and physically healthy lives way into our 80's, 90's and beyond in effect another whole lifetime.

What we do with this new dimension of our lives; how we contribute to society and how we share the gifts of our lifetime, will become the new frontier.

I have spent over 25 years in deepening my self-knowledge; my work has been dedicated to facilitating the healing and liberation of people's abilities and spirit in both their personal and professional lives; and I continue to explore a wide array of art, writing, and spiritual teachings.

Upon reading "Aging to Saging", Rabbi Schacter-Shalomis groundbreaking book, I felt that I already had many of the tools necessary to work with baby-boomers and elders who wanted their lives to deepen, who wanted to contribute, to serve and to move beyond Successful Aging which is living healthy and physically active lives to Conscious Aging.

And so, I designed a workshop program called "Harvesting a Lifetime: Living, Learning and Leaving a Legacy".

"Harvesting a Lifetime" is a program that is suited to the needs and yearnings of baby-boomers and elders whether they reside in diverse urban settings, rural areas, or gated 55+ communities. It is designed to explore:

- Who are we at this juncture of our lives?

- What lessons have we learned that the world desperately needs to learn from us?

-How can we continue to contribute in a meaningful and rich way?

-What is our legacy to our children, grandchildren and generations beyond?

- What have we left to learn?

- What do we need to resolve and move beyond?

- How do we deepen and use this gift of time we have been given?

- How do we remain relevant in a society that seems to worship youth and flash over maturity, life experience and wisdom?

- How and what do we wish our families, friends and perhaps even strangers to know about us?

- What has shaped us and grown us?

- What continues to perplex us,?

- What do we continue to dream of and yearn for?

One of the groups that I have worked with were 10 residents in an assisted living facility. We shared memories, grieved losses, gained new perspectives and celebrated the unique lives that only they could have lived. And, all this within the reality of slipping memories, transitory communication skills, and illness.

The goal is not only to honor the lives of each person, but also to capture in writing, recordings, film and other modalities the essence of each individual to hand on to their families as living legacy. Each session was recorded and transcribed. The participants were encouraged to work with the staff during the week to journal their thoughts and history; We filmed interviews with the participants; created art and scrap booking activities activates and captured the light within each member of the group.

However the great teaching of this workshop is what I have gained from my relationship with these elders. I realized as we began work together, just how frightened I was of not getting older but of becoming diminished physically, intellectually and socially. I wanted to imagine myself as Grandma Moses, developing artistically and productively as I moved towards 90. What I came face-to-face with, however, was my denial that my legs could lose their strength; my memory could move in and out and not at my command; that my ability to communicate could be compromised and that I could move into a dependent state upon others.

This was a shock. But as time has passed, I have learned much. I marvel at the strength and tenacity of these people in their late 70s, 80s and 90s. I revel in their laughter and admire the true grit of their character.

"You cant get to our age," says a 93 year old sprite of a woman with barely a wrinkle and a straight back, without experiencing much sadness and loss. But somehow you learn over time to breathe again, to loosen the chains of overwhelming grief and you walk back into life.

Each day when we met together, they were my teachers and, as I have said to them, We are on the same journey. I am just a few years behind you. You are my teachers as I hope to be yours.