Four years ago, Barbara Ehrenreich, 76, reached the realisation that she was old enough to die. Not that the author, journalist and political activist was sick; she just didn’t want to spoil the time she had left undergoing myriad preventive medical tests or restricting her diet in pursuit of a longer life.Her latest book "Natural Causes: An Epidemic of Wellness, the Certainty of Dying, and Killing Ourselves to Live Longer," is due out April 10, 2018. Much against my better instincts, I may be forced to go out and buy a copy. I had thought the propensity to buy books was in the rear-view mirror and that the dust-gatherers I already own were enough. Oh well....
While she would seek help for an urgent health issue, she wouldn’t look for problems.
Now Ehrenreich felt free to enjoy herself. “I tend to worry that a lot of my friends who are my age don’t get to that point,” she tells the Guardian. “They’re frantically scrambling for new things that might prolong their lives.”
Whether or not I buy the book, I liked the essay.
Mortality won't be denied. And our curiosity, if not fear, can only look away so long.
ReplyDeleteThis article set off my Bullshit Detector.
ReplyDeleteWhile I can sympathize with dietary restrictions, it
stupid to ignore the advice, independeny off ailment and advice.
While I strongly believe in preventative medicine, I also think nutrition science is too young to be useful, it is also subject to industry influence.
Still, to consider to one’s attachment to life is a worthy endeavor, but to criticize others’s is not.
A refreshing article. Several of my aged friends seem to arrange their (dwindling) lives around screenings and scopings, looking for trouble. I prefer to let sleeping demons lie.
ReplyDelete#metoo (wrong hashtag, maybe?)
ReplyDelete