Featured Articles
Our Bodies
by Tammy Kennon
Liv Fun: Vol 7 – Issue 1
Our generation has entered a new frontier, where no generation before us has ever gone. We are living into our 70s, 80s and even 90s in relative comfort. In 1950, life expectancy worldwide was only 48 years, an age that is now too youthful to even qualify as midlife. A child born in the U.S. today can easily expect to live to almost 80. (World Bank Data, 2017)
This is all new territory for our human vessels. Advancements in science and healthcare are responsible for giving us these bonus years, and scientists have not abandoned us now that we’re here. They continue to explore our brave, old world and are finding relatively simple, proactive ways we can keep our bodies well-tuned and flourishing.
GET SOCIAL
Social isolation has long been known to undermine our emotional health, but researchers have found that it takes a brutal physical toll as well. Lack of social interaction can be as damaging to our health as alcohol abuse, obesity and even smoking. Conversely, a strong social network increases the likelihood of survival by a remarkable 50 percent, regardless of age, sex or health status. (Holt-Lunstad, Smith and Layton, 2010).
It’s undeniable: Isolation is bad, and social interaction makes us live longer, healthier and happier lives.
Technology has gifted us with new ways to build community and stay socially active — and the older population is increasingly adopting smartphones and other Internet-friendly devices. A recent Pew Research study revealed that four in 10 65+ seniors now have smartphones, and 67 percent of seniors use the Internet. But does online social interaction make us feel less isolated? Does it provide the same positive effects on our health as face-to-face contact?
Liv Fun
by Leisure Care
Spring 2018
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Our Bodies
by Tammy KennonWe are living into our 70s, 80s and even 90s in relative comfort. Advancements in science and healthcare are responsible for giving us these bonus years, and scientists have not abandoned us now that we’re here. They continue to explore our brave, old world and are finding relatively simple, proactive ways we can keep our bodies well-tuned and flourishing.
The Naked Truth
by Skye Moody
The gorilla stands 10 feet tall, or so it seems. I’m five feet tall and weigh in the vicinity of 85 pounds, fully dressed. The gorilla is naked — which is the point of this story — and weighs, I’d guess, 600. There we stand in our clothed bodies, free of iron bars, to come and go as we wish. There he stands behind those bars against his will, yet in a sense freer than all the gawkers combined.
Return to Pearl Harbor
by Paul Golde
On December 7, 1941, my father was a handsome, lanky 18-year-old enjoying the new film Babes on Broadway. He was a typical New York City kid who loved to sing, so an afternoon off from working at the family bakery to enjoy a musical with friends was nothing short of heavenly … until someone ran down into the front of the theater to shout out the hellish news of the Pearl Harbor attack.