Episode 13: The Grief of Aging

Join host, Jan Lundy and two very special guests, each a wise woman in her endearing years, pondering her own aging and giving voice to the feelings of grief that emerge during the aging process. Elizabeth Ritz, PhD, and Rebecca Serpe, both spiritual directors and grief companions, share tender thoughts about how it feels to age and the many changes that arise as one's body-mind experiences the impact of years. Discussion surrounds these questions: •How are you uniquely experiencing some grief around your aging process? •Can you name the loss and describe the grief around it? •How do you handle this? How do you care for yourself when you feel this way? Do spiritual practices help? •How do you honor the losses in your life? •What are the deeper invitations of this grief? Each guest offers constructive ideas and practices that can contribute to a meaningful experience of life during one's endearing years; to the possibilities of expansion (rather than diminishment) and spiritual deepening. Dr. Jan quotes Joan Chittister, OSB, author of the groundbreaking book, The Gift of Years:"The secret of life is to let every segment of it produce its own yield at its own pace. Every period has something new to teach us. The harvest of youth if achievement; the harvest of middle-age is perspective; the harvest of life is serenity.""Freedom, in childhood may be the right to be totally self-centered. But freedom in old age is the ability to be the best of the self I have developed during all those years."GUEST BIOGRAPHIES AND CONTACT INFO: ELIZABETH RITZ is a retired therapist whose specialties include: Grief work with seniors, Creative arts contemplation, Interspiritual, Spiritually Independent​Individual and groups. In-person or virtual. Website:www.ritzcounseling.comREBECCA SERPE offers spiritual direction primarily drawing from the Christian tradition and Buddhist meditation practices. Her areas of special interest include Interfaith, Times of Transition, Aging and Spirituality.Website: https://www.sacredgroundchicago.org/copy-of-spiritual-directors