E139 Aging Beyond Midlife | Winter’s Graces author Susan Stewart, Ph.D.
Aging beyond midlife
Heads up! Susan Stewart, Ph.D. gives us a sneak peek into our future state of mind as we discuss her new book Winter’s Graces: The Surprising Gifts of Later Life.
Nature and neuroscience come together in our 70s, 80s, and 90s bearing gifts for creating a state of reflective contentment as we complete our turn on this earth.
Reflection and contentment are just two of the ten gifts that Susan reveals in this newly published collection of fables, fairytales and scientific data.
A conversation on later life
I admit: I was not an eager participant, initially. We are all still getting used to being middle-aged, why rush things with a dive into the cold waters of later life, right? After reading Winter’s Graces, I was so excited to meet the author and dig into the gifts. I found that in reading this book that I am able to set aside many of my fears surrounding aging beyond midlife. I believe that you will have the same experience.
To my good buddies who donate to the support the Experience 50 Podcast, the video of my interview with Susan is posted on my Patreon Page. Thanks so much for believing this work is important. If you would like to donate a couple of bucks each month, (YAY!) check it out HERE.
About my guest, Susan Avery Stewart, Ph.D.
A Professor of Psychology for over thirty years (now emerita), a retired therapist, and four times a grandmother, Susan Avery 
Stewart, Ph.D., is passionate about sharing the gifts of late life in a culture that mistakenly equates old age with debilitating decline. Her own journey into the apparent abyss of old age began quite by accident, but it has enhanced her view of aging, and her life, immensely. At age 54, a series of encounters with the word crone left her unsettled yet curious, and she went looking for good news about growing older, not at all sure she would find any.
Fifteen years later she completed Winter’s Graces: The Surprising Gifts of Later Life. In its pages, she weaves together folktales, current research in gerontology and other fields, themes from the world’s wisdom traditions, stories of her own and other older women’s experience, and characters from film that reflect qualities that ripen in later life, such as contentment, agelessness, simplicity, and necessary fierceness. Susan is also a singer and a cellist and loves to dance. More at WintersGraces.com.
