Book Review

The Inner Work of Age: Shifting from Role to Soul

by Connie Zweig, Ph.D.

Publisher:  Park Street Press

416 pages

Publication Date: September 7, 2021

 

 

I turned sixty in 2020 – the first year of the COVID pandemic. As someone who has lived through years of drug addiction, violent relationships, homelessness and poverty, I never expected to live this long, nor did I expect to end up in such a lovely home with the financial security that understandably don’t quite trust. I enjoy pretty good health but most of my friends are dead or dying, due to years of too much partying – some have succumbed to the COVID virus.

I requested to review this book – The Inner Work of Age: Shifting from Role to Soul, by Connie Zweig, Ph.D. As an elder myself, it seemed right up my alley. I am at that point in my life where I am reviewing and reflecting on every aspect of my life – although as a daily diarist, that’s something I have always done. But there’s something about reaching your sixties that changes your perspective somewhat. Indeed, there are important moments in my life that I see radically different than I did even a few years ago.

I Googled Connie Zweig and she has WordPress page which seems to be mostly to promote The Inner Work of Age; however there are quite a few podcasts if you’re into that kind of thing. Here’s the link to that page ~~~> https://conniezweig.com/. It’s definitely worth checking out. She also has a Linkedin page and you can find her on Twitter at @InnerWorkofAge. She also blogs at Medium.com. She is the author of three previous non-fiction books and one novel.

The Inner Work of Age: Shifting from Role to Soul has four parts, taking us from the concept of growing old to dying as a rite in and of itself. For those of us who have had experienced death – through the loss of loved ones, especially our parents and close friends – and who are now going through the process of seeing our bodies age, with all the problems that process entails – these are often difficult issues to even admit ourselves – even as we see the changes in the mirror every morning. In a youth-based culture such as ours, the denial of our own aging is common and even applauded.

I was lucky – I grew up with old people. I spent a major portion of my childhood at my paternal grandparents and there were also many aunts and uncles – as well as great-aunts and -uncles – so the notion that someday I would grow old wasn’t foreign to me. I was an impatient child and I couldn’t wait to “grow up”. I enjoyed hearing their stories and their philosophies of life. Unlike most young people, I did not have an attitude that old people were to be ignored – I sought them out.

Part 1 is called “The Divine Messengers” and it addresses the issue of aging itself. Many of us older ones are in the active act of denying their own aging – until it is much too late – how often have you heard, “He just dropped dead! He was so active! There was no sign at all!” But this could be no further from the truth. We all have all kinds of signs of our aging – usually starting around the age of forty – if we pay attention and we are honest with ourselves.

Zweig addresses the issue of retirement – “To Retire or Not to Retire” is one of the sections in chapter 4 – and she calls retirement itself one of the “Divine Messengers”. She says that retirement can be a spiritual practice: “A quiet mind helps us retire fixed ideas, a need for others’ respect, and a need to control, all traits that no longer serve us.” (Zweig, 116).

But she adds, “Unfortunately, we live in a culture that hypes only achievement and consumption and dismisses contemplative practice and spiritual development, even in late life. But these inner values have been woven into the social fabric of other cultures, such as the Christian monastic traditions, Buddhism, and Hinduism”. (Zweig, 117).

Because I am disabled, I “retired” from active work ten years ago. Many of the issues in part one I have been struggling with for many years, since I was only fifty-one years old when I stopped active work. The idea that we must be gainfully employed to be worthy is a toxic idea, especially in the American culture. As I grow into my sixties, this is becoming easier but I still try to stay busy throughout the day – like I have some kind of “real” job. The truth is – my only real job is to become a spiritually evolved person.

Part 2 is about “Life Review and Life Repair”. I am actively working on this right now. I have been transcribing my hand-written diaries for the past year – I am up to the year 2002 – and reviewing all the issues that have plagued me in the past. And yes – I have changed some of the way I have viewed some of the major events of my life.

There are only three chapters to this part but they are powerful. I know I will be rereading them in the future, as I continue my work with my diaries.

Part 3 is called “From Hero to Elder”. I think the main theme of this section is “acceptance”. It’s not easy getting old. There are so many more health issues to deal with – it can become demoralizing and depressing. And yet – we have a wealth of wisdom to offer the world. And what is wisdom? Zweig quotes Monika Ardelt, a sociology professor at the University of Florida in Gainesville: “Wise people are able to accept reality as it is, with equanimity.” (Zweig, 292).

Zweig expands on this, concluding, “To perfectly realize wisdom is to gain the highest awakening, enlightenment, and liberation.”

Again: acceptance.

Part 4 is “Life Completion” and it only has two chapters. I imagine many people might skip this part altogether – maybe until they are near the end of their own lives – but I beg you, please, do not. This is a vital part of this book, and a most necessary part. I remember my grandmother telling me that you never know when “it’s your time so you have to be ready” – this becomes more true the older you get. So don’t skimp out on part 4!

Throughout the book, there are interviews with spiritual teachers such as Ram Dass and Father Thomas Keating; Jungian Analysts James Hollis and Lionel Corbett; Agism Crusader Ashton Applewhite; Poet, Novelist and Activist Deena Metzger; among many others. There is Shadow-Work in the various parts of the book to help us with the issues raised within those pages – for there are always shadows lurking. In the Appendix, there is a “Shadow-Work Handbook for Aging Consciously” – fifteen important questions – certainly not to hurry through – perfect for journaling or working with a therapist or recovery sponsor or a very close friend.

In closing, I would say that The Inner Work of Age: Shifting from Role to Soul, by Connie Zweig is not the kind of book you read only once. It’s a book you read once and then you read it again and again – you get out your highlighter and you highlight important passages – you mark the pages with colored tabs – you talk about it with your friends and family – you buy copies of it for special friends for their birthdays and the upcoming holiday season. You do what I do – you highly recommend it!

References
Zweig, Connie. The Inner Work of Soul: Shifting from Role to Soul. Rochester, VT: Park Street Press, 2021.

 

The Inner Work of Age: Shifting from Role to Soul on Amazon

 

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About the Author:

Polly MacDavid lives in Buffalo, New York at the moment but that could easily change, since she is a gypsy at heart. Like a gypsy, she is attracted to the divinatory arts, as well as camp fires and dancing barefoot. She has three cats who all help her with her magic.

Her philosophy about religion and magic is that it must be thoroughly based in science and logic. She is Dianic Wiccan but she gets along with a few of the masculine deities.  She loves to cook and she is a Bills fan.  

She blogs at silverapplequeen.wordpress.com. She writes about general life, politics and poetry. She is writing a novel about sex, drugs and recovery.