A Potpourri of Blogs

     I remember when I met my first wife, her job was to write and edit her company newsletter. It was a non-glossy 8-to-12 page monthly called Potpourri.

     "Why Potpourri?" I asked her.

     "Well, it's a mixture of things," she explained. "A little bit of this, a little bit of that. A gathering of news and various items from around the company."

     At first I thought the name was pretty lame. Just a placeholder, really, because they couldn't think of anything better. But as I considered the name over time, I realized it was pretty good. Better than Miscellany, or Gatherings, or Tidbits. Besides, potpourri smells good!

     So . . . take a whiff of this potpourri of blogging topics from our company of baby boomers.

     Six Decades and Counting -- Meryl Baer says one of the benefits of retirement is the time to try new things. So prodded by a friend of hers, she attended a class inspired by the New Age spiritual/consciousness-raising movement. In Energizing Spiritually? she reports on her somewhat successful experience.

Carter's before ...

     Unfold and Begin -- Jennifer Koshack just realized that time has sneaked up on her, and so even before she realized it, she found that she's celebrating an unusual anniversary. A year has gone by since the closing of the call center where she had worked for the last 25 years. This week she shares a throwback post called Endings Are a Time for New Beginnings -- which may just inspire you to follow your passion.

     Adventures of the New Old Farts -- Laura Lee Carter is running a selection from her book Memoir of Retirement: From Suburban to Solar in Rural Colorado. The piece, Remodeling and Menopause, reminds us that small changes in our 40s can lead to major life transitions later on.

and after. A metaphor?

     The Survive and Thrive Boomer Guide -- Rita R. Robison, consumer journalist, reports on U. S. Cities Where Consumers Have the Highest, and the Lowest, Credit Scores. In case you don't know, a credit score is a number that predicts the risk that a person will become delinquent on their credit obligations over the following 24 months. Hint: the highest scoring city is in Florida (but not where you'd expect), and the lowest is in New Jersey (exactly where you'd expect).

     A Healing Spirit -- Carol Cassara reminds us in Stubbornness Is an Obstacle to Healing that so many of us hold on to "that's the way I am" even when it no longer serves our own well-being. She addresses how stubbornness can keep folks from trying different treatments, and in some cases actually hinder healing.

     BabyBoomster -- Rebecca Olkowski points out that March is Women's History month. She met with a group of women in Sherman Oaks, CA, and in Entrepreneurs Celebrate Women's History Month reports on their discussions about what makes a good leader in business. She also found out that more women than men are opening new businesses, which "may be a result of women having better organizational skills than men, an eye for detail, and more compassion."

     SmartLiving 365 -- Kathy Gottberg is traveling this week, so she enlisted Haralee Weintraub as a guest blogger. Weintraub offers some practical advice in 10 Suggestions to Rightsize Your Wardrobe -- including a couple of links to online second-hand sites.

     Sizzling Toward Sixty & Beyond -- Sue Loncaric has taken up the Blogging From A to Z Challenge. (She did it last year as well.) This involves publishing a post for 26 days based on a particular theme, and working through them from A to Z. This week she reveals her theme, which you can find out at her A to Z Guide to . . . Wait a second, I'm not going to spoil it -- you'll have to click over there yourself to find out!