👋 Well hi!
Welcome to this month’s musings, and thank you so much for being a part of our community. I have had a busy but also fun month. the high point was a road trip south to see my folks and do some sketching. I took a week off work to catch my breath and have some dedicated time to work on my book. I also spent a lot of time reading and letting my brain relax a bit. The first week back at work was a shock to the system, but I am grateful that I have a job I enjoy, and my energy levels have been revived somewhat by the time away!
This month I share some of what I have been learning about reducing the risk of getting dementia, and a little memory that made me smile, including a couple of photos of a very young me.
EDIT :: oops I still had February in the title…fixed now!
😸 Curiouser and Curiouser!
👵🏻 Dementia and ageing
For some time now I have been interested in dementia, though my curiosity comes and goes, my interest is re-sparked from time to time when I read something, hear of someone who has been recently diagnosed or a family struggling to adjust to the changes in their loved one.
There is a hereditary possibility that this is something that I may end up dealing with on a personal level. Three out of four grandparents were afflicted with dementia in various forms, and from what I read, it is not a certainty that I will develop it too, but there is that chance. So it makes sense that I am curious about what can be done to mitigate the risk.
A couple of things that have sparked more than a passing interest are:
Cultivating positive age beliefs
Recent studies have shown that cultivating positive age beliefs can extend your life by up to about 7 years and reduce the risk of succumbing to cognitive decline as you age. Fascinating right? I read Dr Becca Levy’s fabulous book, Breaking the Age Code. She breaks down the science in a very understandable way and pulls in all manner of captivating stories of communities and people who are putting it all into practice, as well as stories from her own life.
You can get the book here: Booktopia | Amazon or at your local independent bookseller. There are also some links to short articles below if you don’t want to read a whole book.
Exercise and movement
Maintaining blood flow to all parts of the body — including our brains — is critical to maintaining cognitive health. Regular movement keeps the body strong and flexible and makes sure things are flowing as they need to. The heart does part of the job, but some of our other systems are dependent on movement to work properly. Exercise is also great for mental health.
Building muscle mass
This one surprised me. Muscles are apparently a secret weapon when it comes to keeping your mind healthy as you age. You don’t have to be power-lifting huge weights, but building and maintaining muscle mass has positive effects on our ability to stay upright and look after ourselves especially when it comes to getting up if we fall over, and performing self-care when we are flexible enough to reach what needs to be cleaned! It can also help us deal with things like cancers and chronic diseases. In short, the more muscle mass you have, the less risk you have of dying from a chronic disease.
The problem is that we naturally lose muscle mass as we age, so we need to be proactive about keeping it and building it. And you are never too old to start lifting heavier things and eating enough protein to support muscle growth and maintenance. Don’t know where to start? Book a couple of sessions with a trainer! Well worth the investment! Lifting heavy things also has the added benefit of strengthening your bones.
Curiosity
I heard on a podcast not long ago that: Curiosity is the superpower in the second half of life. I like that a lot! Of course I would, wouldn’t I? But how?
Mental stimulation keeps us making connections in our brains, learning new things and applying them or passing them on to people around us...it all serves as a memory booster! There is absolutely no way we can learn all of the things there are to learn in our lifetimes, so we are not likely to run out of things to be curious about. Perhaps you could look into the lifecycle and behaviours of the birds in your garden, or the history of the plants you like to grow, or perhaps you have some towns around you that you have not yet visited..why are they there? How do they survive? What kinds of people live here? Perhaps you could learn an instrument or take up a new hobby! Our brains thrive when we give them a bit of a challenge. This is why the usual recommendations for keeping your brain healthy in old age include things like puzzles and learning languages. We cannot do those things on autopilot! We have to focus and think hard.
I have been learning about nature journalling lately and the questions we are taught to ask about the world around us strike me as useful for exploring the world around us even if we are not into sketching and recording things:
The usual questions.... who, what, where, when, why, how?
Questions to take you deeper - pick and choose how you want to :
Form — what sort of structure does this thing have, if any?
Function — what is this thing there for?
Causation — what makes this thing happen?
Connection — does this thing have connections to other topics or is it dependent on something or someone else?
Patterns — does this thing have any patterns associated?
Perspective — what does this thing look like through the eyes of someone else?
Reflection on what you see — what does it remind you of? How does it make you feel?
Scale, Proportion, Quantity — is it big or small, does it exist on its own or are there lots of them?
Stability and change — is what you are exploring ephemeral? Or is it there for the duration? Does it change over time?
(Many thanks to John Muir Laws for his teaching on this front.)
There are of course other things that can help, such as eating well, getting enough sleep, having regular sex, serving others via volunteer work and maintaining and developing social relationships, but you have to start somewhere and I did not want to write a huge long essay!
Want to read more?
I know there are a lot of links here, but it is SO interesting!
Positive aging beliefs
Muscle mass and dementia
Lower Muscle Mass Tied To Steeper Cognitive Decline, Study Suggests
RI-MUHC study shows association of low muscle mass with cognitive decline
Muscle is the organ of longevity - this one in particular is an easy-to-digest short summary
About the Alzheimer's gene
Curiosity and dementia
Remembering — A funny little story
I had a curious memory pop up this month. When I was about eight our family went on a three-month trip from northern Victoria up through the middle of New South Wales and up into the middle of Queensland. The four of us were jammed across the bench seat in an F100 ute (truck) and we towed a caravan. It was dad's long-service leave trip. We were out of school for the entire time, and I don't recall having homework to do, but I do remember that mum bought my brother and me an exercise book and some new felt-tip markers so that we could keep a diary of our trip. I have no idea what happened to that book, I wish I still had it! I think perhaps it would have been my first travel journal with sketches!
I remember exploring dry creek beds and traipsing through the bush — not always willingly I might add. But I do remember the joy of collecting "treasures", feathers, leaves, and rocks. Something I still do! I am smiling as I look at the pile of feathers and stones on my desk in front of me now.
I have no idea what sparked this memory. Isn’t it weird how our brains work? Perhaps I was listening to some of the same music...I forgot to write that part down!
✒ Things I hit publish on this month
👩🏻🎨 Our local Urban Sketchers group went out to Hall Village
🚘 I took a road trip and sketched
🚪 I wrote about getting caught in the hallway between the first and second halves of life
🎨 My favourite creation this month
This month is Sketchbook Revival month, which is a 14-day free online retreat where two artists per day deliver a lesson up to an hour long about their process and help the participants. My favourite lesson so far involved creating gelli-print collage papers and then creating a collage from the prints made. This is my creation. It feels to me like Japanese indigo fabric, and it feels peaceful
👀 Curious things that caught my attention this month
🚶🏻♂️ This made me laugh: Adults could achieve physical activity targets by walking “Teabag style” for a few minutes each day (news-medical.net) via Jodi Ettenberg
✍️ I'm a bit of a voyeur when it comes to seeing where and how creators live.
📔 This diary entry caught my attention — look at the handwriting! This whole site is a glorious time sink!
⛰️ I would love to curl up in a corner in this lovely cozy library and read for hours ... you may need a crowbar to dislodge me.
😳 I wonder how many times they got this wrong before they got it right? Serious skills.
🐸 Need to relax for a moment? Grab a cup of tea and spend some time looking over these photographs of nature — I guarantee your blood pressure will return to comfortable levels.
🗺️ Have you ever seen a map that is about four millennia old? Check out Europe's oldest map: https://www.atlasobscura.com/articles/europe-oldest-map-shows-tiny-bronze-age-kingdom
📿 I listened to Tim Ferriss’ interview with Canadian Professor John Vervaeke on my recent road trip and resonated with so much of what he said.
He also has a YouTube channel with various other interviews and two free courses exploring meaning. Fascinating!
💔 This poor sweet lady had an unrequited crush on Beethoven... awwwww
🧐 What if...we had a chat?
Have you thought about longevity and what it might take to live the life you want to live when you are older? Have your thoughts been positive or negative? Why? I'd love to hear your thoughts and learn from your experiences!