Women Rowing North: Navigating Life’s Currents and Flourishing As We Age

Read this for 2 different book clubs & members stated one of the best reads in several years. Examples are easy to identify with & let us know we weren’t alone in what we were going thru. Multiple people have borrowed my copy too & bought their own to reread.Highly recommend.

In the mid-nineties, psychologist (and cultural anthropologist) Mary Pipher wrote a best-seller, "Reviving Ophelia," that could have been subtitled: "The Hidden Life of Girls," which she wrote partly because the stories of the clients she was seeing in her office didn't match the current cultural narratives. For example, the girls she saw usually had supportive, well-meaning families, not abusive ones, but they were nevertheless struggling with serious issues like eating disorders and addiction. This helped open up a dialogue about raising teenage girls in a time where they were no longer shielded from things they had been several decades ago. Since then, Pipher has gone on to explore the world of recently arrived refugees and the elderly, among other books, in a sensitive, perceptive and open-minded manner. Her latest, "Women Rowing North," takes a look at the later stages of life for women in America - those who are moving into their sixties and seventies, the skills they can develop to make this transition successful, and how growing one's resilience will yield rewards.Like her young women clients of "Reviving Ophelia," Pipher points out that older women endure misogyny from Western culture, such as mother-in-law jokes and patronization. Still, those readers who, like a woman quoted, have always considered growing old as something that happens to other people, might take heart from the statistics found in studies that show that the happiest age group is women between the ages of 65-79. For those who feel they could use some help in achieving this, Pipher focuses first on the challenges of aging, then moves on to useful skills to acquire, emphasizes the "lifebelt" of relationships (while acknowledging that grief may be something that doesn't ever quite go away), and finally ends on a positive note by describing the rewards of aging. Like her other books, Pipher uses many stories from interviews from women of different backgrounds, ethnicities and sexual orientation,, as well as her own anecdotes to make her points in a persuasive way. While the women portrayed here don't always have an easy time making the transition, there are still many upbeat quotes, including the response of Pipher's own grandmother who, when dealing with terminal leukemia, always turned the conversation to something "more interesting," when asked about her health.Overall, "Women Rowing North" makes an excellent bookend to "Reviving Ophelia." Even those not yet in this stage can learn from it, which makes it an informative read for all ages.

Aging has some real issues: living in a culture that not only denigrates old age but actively despises it, the lack of civility that makes it hard to move fast enough to avoid being in the way, the high cost of medicine, the one-size-fits-all medical treatment, etc. This book is of no use that I can see. The author's approach is the same kind of generic advice you can find everywhere. If you are annoyed by being told that there are 8 steps to grief or 5 steps to acceptance or to be sure to bring a casserole to a grieving friend, this is not the book for you. Most of the examples seem to be of people who will benefit by being told to take a soothing bubble bath or go hug a cactus or take a rafting trip with "the girls". Nobody seems to be cutting up their pills to save money or taking time to go deeply into "aloneness". It so trivializes aging...just one more pop psychology book to add to the pile of "self-help" books that do not help. Aging is fierce, terrifying, mysterious and very human. Pick up The Bible, the Upanishads, the Torah, the Buddhist sutras, the Odyssey and you will find the same questions being asked about Life, Old Age and Death and it's re-assuring to realize these perennial questions are part of being human. Instead of continuing to "serve", women might think about why? serve your parents, your boyfriend, your husband, your children, your parents (again) and then die " Is that life? is it MY life? why do feel I have to serve? Is it real or just conditioning? Am is afraid of being called 'selfish'? why am I doing this" Old age is a time when you have the time to contemplate these questions and to find friendship and connection with all that has come before you and all that you are. Don't waste it reading this kind of trivial junk and never asking the deeper questions about what it is to be truly human. There is only this one life as this particular "person"; it's a great joy to discover what you are!

I'm on the downward side of my 60's - heading straight for my '70's. Luckily, I've had family and friends who have hit the milestone ages before I have and I can see how they've dealt with aging. Of course, hitting 70 ain't like hitting 50, so I've seen different reactions from those who've gone before me. I have also just finished reading Mary Pipher's new book, "Women Rowing North: Navigating Life's Currents and Flourishing as We Age". (That's such a long title that I could almost feel myself aging as I wrote it!) Pipher is the author of "Reviving Ophelia", which is about the problems and - I presume - joys of both being and raising a teenage girl. I didn't read it because I had sons, but I am growing older so I did pick up her latest book.Mary Pipher's book is chock-full of good advise on hitting your old age. She does talk about "Young Old" and "Old Old"; those different sub-catagories of aging. Seventy seems to be the start of "Old-Old", but she manages to make it seem almost desirable as she writes about women who've both cast off and taken on responsibilities they wouldn't have done 20 years earlier. Life is easier as we slow down to smell the flowers and enjoy our friendships and family relations. She gives us examples of women who've found contentment and purpose as they've aged, as they take care of grandchildren and sick husbands, She also tells of women who've found the same contentment as they've shed these responsibilities and lived basically solo lives.It's an interesting book that gave me a few ideas I hadn't originally thought about as the Big 70 - and "Old Old Age" - is fast approaching.

It wasn't the type of book I enjoy reading, it was a book club choice, all about ageing, information that is readily available on the internet. She did have some good quotes from woman heading each chapter. But I never read the book.

Her experiences mirror those of myself and my friends

the book arrived in pristine condition in a protective wrap. My wife is delighted.

Excellent for women 70 and over

Great book for me to read. I love this author who is a “real” human being.