The Coming of Aging: Learning to Live from the Inside Out [Paperback]

Jean Deitch Shula (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: March 13, 2006

Jean Shula writes about the mystical, creative, wondrous year when she camped alone across the country, learning to rely only on the deep inner voice of her soul. With no agenda, no schedule, and no itinerary, she simply followed the leading of what she calls soulspeak, listening to the inside voice wherever it led. And lead her it did—right into the heart of earthy adventure and spiritual renewal. Facing daily situations that were out of her familiar box, she took on the integration of her past, and the joyous privilege of learning the valuable lessons that only come as we mature in both age and experience. Sometimes hilarious, sometimes achingly moving, this book constantly invites the reader to share in the great adventure that awaits us all: the coming of aging.

Product Details

• Paperback: 229 pages
• Publisher: PublishAmerica (March 13, 2006)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 1424125537
• ISBN-13: 978-1424125531
• Product Dimensions: 8.9 x 5.7 x 0.7 inches
• Shipping Weight: 0.8 ounces
• Average Customer Review: 5.0 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (2 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #2,553,706 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

2 of 2 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars A wonderful read!, January 31, 2007

By 

Harriet Buchicchio "Harriet Buchicchio, LCSW,... (MONTPELIER, VT USA) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: The Coming of Aging: Learning to Live from the Inside Out (Paperback)

What an awesome book! Jean takes us on a courageous journey on many levels. Just her pulling out of the driveway and heading down the highway toward the unknown is a true inspiration. Her persistance in her spiritual quest took more focus than most of us or should I just say "I" have or at least "think" I have. As someone who loves adventure I must say I am envious. Jean paints very descriptive pictures of her most important moments and she leaves the reader wanting to "know the ending" when indeed when the book was finished she was just beginning....again.
Thank you Jean for sharing your revelations with the rest of us.

2 of 2 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Listen, Trust and Act, April 21, 2006

By 

Desert Rose (Dana Point, CA USA) - See all my reviews

Amazon Verified Purchase

This review is from: The Coming of Aging: Learning to Live from the Inside Out (Paperback)

Jean Shula offers a practical perspective on how to achieve human fulfillment with an engaging writing style. Shula's creativity percolates to a perfect brew of ideas for gaining an awareness of how to live from the inside out. This is a story about awakening to the inner self.

Listen, trust and act is more than an anthem for a developmental process, it is a simple guide for immediate use. Like many recent retirees, I am facing that challenging question "what do you want to do with the rest of your life?" More of the same or commence a totally different path that for nearly 40 years remained a whimsical dream?

Shula has profound recommendations as we contemplate the journey that awaits us. Another favorite lyric poet wrote about this theme "and so we begin the longest journey of all, the journey into the self". And, Jean's lyric of redemption rambles through my mind. "We have earned our experience and those experiences redeems getting older as our badge of faithfulness. This faithfulness is what we give back to the world. In the divine cycle of life, this fruitfulness paradoxically keeps us young." These are words of wisdom for the boomer generation.

Other writers come to mind while ruminating over Shula's poetic and thought-provoking journal. Erica Jong, Betty Friedan, Whitney Otto, and Anais Nin advocated strongly that fulfillment for a woman is often tied to her relationship with a man. Shula offers a model for learning how to live from the inside out. Her epiphany led to a year of independence and wanting more and wanting to live with the energy she found along the path of her yearlong journey around the USA. She stimulates our thinking, encourages each reader to search for our inner voice. Individually, we speak a different language (thought process) and reflect our own professional and personal experience. We learn from Jean Shula and we learn from one another.

This book is not only for the boomer generation. It may have even greater importance for those at the beginning of their professional careers and personal relationships that involve building a family. All of us are searching for a chance to evaluate our lives from the inner core where the self meets the divine and turning our lives into a lifetime of creativity. Jean Shula offers an example of acquiring a meaningful and self-fulfilling life of deepening our commitment to confronting life's perplexing questions with acceptance of the mantra: listen, trust and act.