Over the hill - Viki Mather

I climbed to the top of another hill this month. I’ve completed six decades of life. Yet when I look in the mirror, I don’t see an old woman looking back at me. I guess I’m not old yet, and I am starting to wonder if I ever will be old.

I still aspire to be as active as my good friends who just returned from an extended kayak trip on Lake Superior. They are preparing for a long hiking trip, too.

They are in their mid-70s. Then, there are other friends who travelled to the tar sands this summer to try to understand what that project is doing to our planet. Dave is 80-something.

When I was young, I spent several years studying photography. I admired Imogene Cunningham, who was making wonderful photographs at the time.

She was over 90. And Georgia O’Keefe was actively painting while I studied art in 1974. She lived to nearly 100.

I thought these women were old way back then, and I saw that it had little impact on their joie de vivre. I was inspired. I am still inspired.

But if I am going to be as active and creative as my mentors, I’m going to have to start getting into shape. Each decade completed is like New Year’s to me. Time to make some resolutions.

A long walk every morning? Gentle swims each afternoon? Playing my flute … designing a personal style for my pottery … practising tai chi. Getting off the computer, for sure. Except for typing this note to you once a month, of course.

I think the best part of getting older is getting wiser. I still have a long way to go, but I have learned some important things so far. Take good care of yourself, especially if you want to live a long time, and live well.

Tai chi is one of the best activities I found to send me toward the goal of living well. The Taoist Tai Chi Society teaches classes all year round in Sudbury, as well as Lively, Manitoulin, North Bay and around the world.

Join at one location, and you can go to class anywhere in the world.
This form of tai chi is specifically aimed at cultivating health.

Some of the people I have met at tai chi have been able to circumvent knee surgery, and others have regained mobility after arthritis has set in.

My hope for tai chi is prevention. I want to be able to keep the agility I have, and make it even better.

Beginner classes will be starting in September, and you can get information about the schedule by leaving a message at (705) 688 0111. Or look them up online at taoist.org. Maybe I’ll see you at classes this fall.

Viki Mather has been commenting for Northern Life on the natural world and life in Greater Sudbury since the spring of 1984.