slumped over in a chair, reading and writing for fifty years, i figured i'd be finished at 60, my spine like a noodle, my eyes growing dim, my hearing nonexistent. SURPRISE. i'm still here, walking and talking.
true, i took extreme chances, which i do not recommend. no health insurance for 42 years. i kept telling myself, life is fatal, you're headed to only one place, you only know one thing for certain. a hundred years ago no one had health insurance. okay, it was all self-hypnosis and i should be pushing up daisies.
my father died of a heart-attack at 53 and my grandfather lived to be 100. with that kind of spread, i understood: IT'S ALL A CRAP-SHOOT. besides, i've been very lucky with money, in debt once for a month, otherwise completely solvent. not buying a house or having kids helped in that department. parenting the most exhausting job in the world.
now, i did make a few bets with the angels. i said, i'll devote myself to creativity, if you'll do your part. and standing on my mountain i whispered to the forest, i'll take care of you, you take care of me. so far so good. i know i can age overnight and turn to dust. never a pleasant thought, and yet sometimes i tire of the tension and think, i've used it all up, time to rest.
i will share a couple of open secrets. i try to walk at least an hour a day. alas, i'm too lazy to lift anything and point to the butler when that's necessary. (no, there is no butler, but you know what i mean. as oscar wilde said, our servants will do our living for us. that's why we have movie-stars and politicians.)
tip number two: i take a fistful of supplements every day. when it came out, i read a book called STOP AGING NOW by jean carper, and i've pretty much taken her advice and a lot of pills: l-tyrosine, mega minerals, vitamins, extra vitamin b & d. coenzyme q10, folic acid, odourless garlic, glucosamine/chondroitin/msm, a big dose of calcium/magnesium at night (really does stave off many aches and pains), add to these my child's aspirin, welbutrin, prozac and prisolec. and more.
that scratches the surface. my doctor says, you have very expensive urine! but my thought is if my cells need even one thing for sure, i'll hand them a shotgun to get it.
so, my friends, as my therapist buddy says, if you want to have a good death, don't wait til you're incapacitated. whew, if i only had the necessary foresight. love to you all.
ps. and then there's always theater. i've a show rose photos in the lobby: http://blueroomtheatre.com/ this performance will make a dead-man walk.
