Category Archives: Psyche

Entering Community

Posted on February 15, 2023 by Bob Ritzema

My last post on this site, almost two months ago, detailed all the changes that had occurred in my life during 2022. I ended by describing my plan to move to Milwaukee to be near my oldest son and his … Continue reading →

Posted in Psyche, Relationships | Tagged , , , | 2 Comments

Life Changes

Posted on December 23, 2022 by Bob Ritzema

Life changes. However, I didn’t experience much change for about 10 years. As I’ve written in previous posts, I came to Grand Rapids, Michigan in 2012 to help my parents. That was a year of many changes, but then things … Continue reading →

Posted in caregiving, Psyche | Tagged , , | 4 Comments

Living out of Necessity

Posted on December 5, 2020 by Bob Ritzema

I wrote recently about my vocation in older adulthood. I relayed some points made in Gordon Smith’s book Called to be Saints: An Invitation to Christian Maturity. Smith says that each of us has a God-given vocation, that our senior … Continue reading →

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My Vocation is not my Job

Posted on November 3, 2020 by Bob Ritzema

I recently wrote about one thing that has changed for me since the onset of the coronavirus pandemic; I’ve been less interested in writing blog posts. I’ve been thinking about other changes that have taken place. One of these has … Continue reading →

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On (Not) Writing in the Age of Covid

Posted on September 4, 2020 by Bob Ritzema

I haven’t written any posts for this blog for quite a while. I used to post at least once a month, but this is only the fifth post this year and the first since late May. With the coronavirus restrictions, … Continue reading →

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Life Review: My Hardest Work Experience

Posted on March 12, 2020 by Bob Ritzema

I recently talked with a young adult friend about difficulties she’s having at work, and ended up telling her about the most difficult experience I had in five decades in the workplace. I’ve decided to write out the story as … Continue reading →

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Lessons in Loss from Brooks and Beethoven

Posted on February 3, 2020 by Bob Ritzema

My most recent post on this blog described an article by Arthur C. Brooks in The Atlantic titled “Your Professional Decline Is Coming Sooner Than You Think.” In it he described research demonstrating that fluid intelligence declines after midlife. Due … Continue reading →

Posted in Body, Psyche | Tagged , , , , , | 4 Comments

Getting Past Professional Decline

Posted on January 1, 2020 by Bob Ritzema

Sometimes, articles addressed towards those in midlife contain insights that are pertinent as well to older adults. Such is the case with an article by Arthur C. Brooks in the July, 2019 Atlantic titled “Your professional decline is coming (much) … Continue reading →

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Forgetting and Identity

Posted on October 23, 2019 by Bob Ritzema

I recently re-read Falling Upward, Richard Rohr’s book describing the differences between spirituality in the first and second half of life. Some of the things that I hadn’t paid much attention to when I first read the book six years … Continue reading →

Posted in Psyche, Spirit | Tagged , , , , | 9 Comments

The Changed Lines of Generational Power

Posted on January 22, 2019 by Bob Ritzema

I have been reading Being Mortal by Atul Gawande, who is a surgeon, a staff writer for the New Yorker, and a Harvard Professor. He’s a busy guy! His book explores how medical advances have changed aging and death, not … Continue reading →

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