It started with co-leading Writing Down Dementia workshops, an idea that my friend and colleague Kim Fowler and I came up with to help us deal with our mothers' dementia. We began to remember, to reflect, and to write about our experiences with our loved ones and come to new understandings about ourselves in the process.
Then I started a book about my experiences sitting a Zen meditation retreat which morphed into a reflection on journeys both of the internal variety and travels from the past to exciting places around the world. As I wrote that book I found that my mom crept into it and my experiences in caring for her.
And now, I am writing a play that looks back at letters that I wrote a long time ago. In the process of looking back, I am also investigating my life now and how I have changed and grown. Fonda states, "perhaps the task of the third act is to finish up the task of finishing ourselves." "How am I supposed to live? What am I supposed to accomplish?" she asks.
By looking at where I have been, I hope to have a clearer understanding of where I am going. I am looking at how my third act (my last three decades of life) might be a time of health, well-being, giving to others, and creativity.
