Though April is hardly an autumnal month, we are seeing the results of an autumnal process—leaf mould. All the spectacular daffodils, shy violets, sunshine yellow primroses, ringing bluebells thrive in leaf mould and appear gloriously to remind us that there is life beyond winter!
Leaves fall from trees and lie on the ground, year after year. Slowly the leaves break down, aided by miraculous fungi, and transform into an unsurpassed substance. The process is slow. Huge piles of leaves morph into just a few inches of leaf mould. This crumbly matter provides frost protection, adds much needed nutrients to the soil while reducing water loss and suppressing weeds.
Each of our lives has created this life-giving substance. We too have transformed our experiences, thoughts, ideas, impressions into the rich matter of our elderhood. Author Richard Beynon, in encouraging writers, tells them, “The experiences and memories we accumulate over time are not unlike leaf mould. Year by year, just as the leaves of a million trees rain down upon the ground, so an infinite number of sensory impressions – all those sounds! all those smells! - form strata of unremembered memories within us, from which, unconsciously, we draw inspiration for, among many other things, our writing.”
While we may not be wordsmiths, we are all people whose piles of ‘leaf mould’ have created a vast store of life—life teeming with much needed nutrients for our world. Our accumulation of decades contributes to the health of our communities, just as leaf mould nourishes the soil.
The lessons we have learned are the oak leaves; the daily doings of life are the hazel leaves; the tears we have shed are the willow leaves; the acers are laughs we have shared. Each of these “trees”—the aspects of who we are—contribute to our individual wholeness, and also to the health of the forest of the tribes in which we live. Honouring our life’s fullness, exactly as it has unfolded, brings integrity to the soil of the world.
Our lives are leaf mould for what comes next, leaving a mark on the future. The “unnumbered memories” Benyon mentioned come to awareness as we gently excavate our past, harvesting the richness of our many relationships, our myriad accomplishments, our numerous struggles, our countless inhales and exhales. Each of these bits of life contribute who we are as elders.
The Elders’ Bookshelf
The ElderReader is having a bit of a rest from reading the appropriate books to fill our bookshelves. Instead she’s reading cosy crime!
In the News
10,000? What’s the Minimum?
According to Nuffield Health “The idea of walking 10,000 steps a day comes from a hugely successful marketing campaign launched ahead of the 1964 Tokyo Olympics. The number was chosen because the Japanese character for 10,000 resembles a person walking, and the idea caught on.
This brilliant ad campaign saw a relatively arbitrary number become the global standard for step tracking. It’s important to remember that this number doesn’t apply to everyone.
10,000? Really? Certainly there are elders who walk 10,000 steps a day, tracked by one of the many apps/trackers available. Certainly also, there are many of us who don’t, and who probably feel vaguely guilty that we are neglecting the ‘right thing’ for our health.
A recent article in the Guardian gives that latter group support and validation. It seems the minimum number for reducing the risks of early death and a cardiovascular event is 2,200 steps per day. Phew! Many of us, with a little mindful attention, can achieve that goal. Walking to and in a local park, or simply around the local streets, or to the corner store for the proverbial pint of milk, or walking the dog all contribute to the step count.
In addition to those conscious steps, we walk around our homes. Each of those steps count too. My house has 17 steps to the first floor. I walk up and down those steps countless times a day. Each return trip is 34 steps. Three return trips gets me over the 100 step threshold…2,100 more to go! Yesterday I walked to the train station, through the local park. The app on my phone (or my mini computer) read 1,945 steps. No problem reaching the minimum threshold yesterday, even though I rode the bus back home.
The Guardian article tells us, “The study, published in the British Journal of Sports Medicine, found that every extra step above 2,200 steps a day – up to about 10,000 – reduces these risks, regardless of how much of the remaining time is spent sitting.
Although the results also showed that any number of daily steps above 2,200 a day was linked to lower rates of death and heart disease, independent of a person’s time spent being sedentary, the benefits increased the more steps people took.”
Certainly, it is beneficial to stay fit by walking or other medium intensity exercise for 150 minutes a week, it is a relief to know that 2.200 steps a day will make a huge difference in our life expectancy.
We don’t need to fall prey to an advertising campaign that was designed 60 years ago!
P.S…
Dear Reader,
You’ll be receiving one of our fortnightly substack posts tomorrow. The fortnightly schedule and the New Moon almost coincide the month.
Happy reading.