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January Musing from Rebecca Crichton: Welcome to 2025

I usually comment on how the past year has flown by, with more happening than ever before, at a faster speed than ever.

I’m not so sure this year. For me and others, 2024 has been somewhat of a slog. While I admit that the concept of a fast slog seems contradictory, the feeling is real… how did so many difficult things happen so fast?

Over the next year, we will need to strengthen our fortitude, patience, and humor muscles. We will have to remember the three attributes I keep prompting myself to use: Flexibility, Adaptability, and Resilience. We have to remind ourselves of how we have used those throughout our lives and will continue to do so as we age.

I consider myself an optimist. My January essay on Hope offers the definition of that term through the lens of positive psychology. I believe that we have the innate capacity to be curious, to find new approaches to problems and to connect with others who can support us and remind us to keep going.

I often add some new piece of behavior or guiding concept to my New Year’s reflections. The one that keeps surfacing lately came from a daily meditation I attend with the Institute for Jewish Spirituality (IJS). (Monday through Friday from 9:30 to 10 PST, I join around 200 people from around the world for a time of learning and reflection.) I find it a good way to ground my day.

 
Here’s the one that lingers and I share with others – whether they ask for it or not! – Patience is the Practice of Restraint. Every time I think it, say it, or share it, I pause and remind myself to breathe and re-center.
 
It’s not that I or others I know are totally out of control with reactivity, first off the starting block with some new decision or behavior. It is more a recognition that Patience is neither a punishment nor a kind of resignation. It is an essential tool for encountering and managing our lives. Restraint, a concept not necessarily easily embraced, also serves as a brake, a buffer to just barreling our way through whatever gets our attention and calls us to action.
 
I’m excited to start our 2025 collaboration with Town Hall with Here’s to the Future!, an intergenerational conversation about aging with me and my daughter Erika Crichton that was canceled in November. The current issue of 3rd Act magazine includes a conversation with my daughter and me, as well as my food column, Hippie Comfort Food. 
 
Also in January, I am facilitating two NEST events: The Benefits of Meditation, on Tuesday, January 7, and Committing to Healthy Cooking for the New Year on Thursday, January 30. They are both integral parts of my life which I am pleased to share with NEST members and guests.
 
The New Year beckons with its many opportunities for connection and engagement. I am grateful to be part of such a vibrant aging community.
 
Wishing you the benefits of practicing Patience and Restraint!
Rebecca

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NWCCA’s Collaboration with Town Hall

The Medhi Reading Room, Town Hall Seattle
1119 8th Avenue, Seattle

Music for the Ages — Learning & Playing at Any Stage of Life
Chas Arnold with Debra Revere

Monday, February 10, 7:30 PM

Join Chas Arnold, Executive Director of the Music Center of the Northwest, and Debra Revere, a passionate cello learner, as they share their experiences and insights on picking up an instrument as an adult. Discover the joys and challenges of learning music later in life, connect with local amateur musicians, and enjoy live performances from adult students of MCNW. 

Food and Finality
Discussions facilitated by Rebecca Crichton around death and dying, grief and loss, discussions that honor and acknowledge the discomfort, judgments, confusion and other emotions that these topics can engender.
Rebecca creates and holds the space with the intention that everybody is included and feels safe.
Click here to learn more