“I’m not given to waxing romantic about aging and dying. I simply know that the first is a privilege and the second is not up for negotiation.”
Parker Palmer, author, educator, poet, mentor, and activist, has been a voice in my head for years. When I was in my 40’s I really enjoyed his book called Let Your Life Speak. It was all about calling and finding vocation in life, whether that involved paid work or not. That book and Viktor Frankl’s Man’s Search for Meaning, have both been critical to my making sense of the meanderings of my own life. Palmer’s writing focuses on community and social change as much as inner spirituality. His reflections and poems always have a real feel and he has a grounding self-deprecating sense of humour.
His humble Quaker sensibility and perspective are challenging in a gentle way, and always reassuring. That was important for this book on aging, death and dying. His words are not instructive or prescriptive as much as full of grace and wisdom, without having all the answers. “Wholeness is the goal, but wholeness does not mean perfection. It means embracing brokenness as an integral part of life.”
Here he is in a little reflection on the ‘divided (undivided) life’:
Joanne's Reading Blog 
Thanks for the reminder of Parker Palmer’s wisdom, Joanne. He has been a source of inspiration for me along the way as well, especially “Let your Life Speak”.