LPN Newsletter - Winter 2010

Special Report

LPN Steps onto the National Stage

The 2009 Life Planning Pre-Conference and National Conference on Positive Aging (PAC), held December 6-9 at Eckerd College in St. Petersburg, exceeded expectations. Presentations were outstanding. The Positive Aging movement is flourishing. And LPN, with the essential help of our far-sighted partner SecurePathbyTransamerica, is seen as a national leader in the arena of life planning and transition in the second half of life.

The enthusiasm and community building at the conference were palpable and very satisfying. "The best conference I've ever been to!" "My heart was filled with joy and spirit!" "I was thrilled to be part of an industry [sic] I didn't even know existed."

About 70 professionals attended the pre-conference. Helen Dennis www.ProjectRenewment.com and Elizabeth Jetton (www.elizabethjetton.com) treated us to stimulating perspectives on "Retirement 2010 and Beyond" and "Living Fully in the Face of Uncertainty: Future of Money in the Third Age" respectively. Singer-songwriter Barbara McAfee called us forth to soulful song (www.barbaramcafee.com). LPN elicited feedback concerning branding efforts, shared our Excellence in Practice and national expansion work, expanded our membership, and provided superb opportunities for professional development. The Hub provided a colorful central space for networking, conversations and other activities, including the wonderful artist and graphic recorder, Emily LaScola, Artist & Graphic Recorder for the Leading Age Institute, Inc. who magically turned words into images (right and below).

PAC attracted about 200 participants and was organized around inter-connecting four themes: Life Transitions, Creativity, Wellness, and Community. The Conference was dedicated to the memory of Dr. Gene Cohen, the pioneer and giant in the field of positive and creative aging, whose unexpected recent death has left us bereft. Susan Perlstein's fine tribute to his legacy brought some closure. Many of us remember Gene from his inspiring keynote at our 2007 Life Planning Pre-Conference.

Keynoting this year's PAC was Dr. Bill Thomas, a charismatic and iconoclastic thinker, founder of the Eden Alternative, and author of What Are Old People For? He questioned the term Positive Aging because it implies that aging by itself is negative. He challenged us to lead the ranks of crones, elders, and what he calls Enthusiasts, those who - in contrast to the Denialists and the grim Realists -- embrace the aging process in its mysterious wholeness, including its bright and dark sides.

All the plenary speakers inspired:

• Gregg Levoy (www.gregglevoy.com)., in The Call to Prime Time, reminded us that the great vocational question "Who Am I?" changes over time, as do the calls that come through us, with increasing urgency, after midlife. We need to develop new skills, for example, tracking skills involving "devoted curiosity" in discovering the "signs" of our heart's desire, as well as skills of risk-taking, surrender and doggedly transmuting suffering into growth.


• Peter Whitehead, MD, PhD, debunked myths around Alzheimer's disease (www.themythofalzheimers.com) and Catherine Whitehead described her intergenerational public charter school in the Cleveland inner city, where all ages are teachers, as well as learners and, incidentally, out-performing their peers in the city and the entire state (www.tisonline.org).


• Joel Spoonheim, Director of Health Initiatives, BlueZones, described the multi-pronged, community-wide Vitality Project in Albert Lea, MN, that in only ten months raised average predicted life-expectancy by almost three years. The project engaged a quarter of the 20,000 citizens, most employers (including restaurants and supermarkets), unions, the schools and city government in a comprehensive nutrition and exercise program resulting in impressive changes in individual behavior, mental and physical health outcomes, and fast tracking of community improvements such as bike paths.

Among the lessons learned from the conference was that "less is more." We hope for more unstructured time for "metabolizing" and informal conversations, for R & R at next year's PAC, sponsored by the Fielding Institute with the LA Center for Nonprofit Innovation (December 8-10, 2010) in Los Angeles. Current thinking is to consider a low-key, half-day pre-conference meeting and dinner for LPN members only. Meanwhile, we have our work cut out if we are to seize this opportunity to increase our national presence and impact, in partnership with SecurePath, DWN (Discovering What's Next) and others.