Community is at the heart of Sixty and Me and as such, we want to ensure that we are covering the topics and questions that our community wants.

We had a fantastic response to our last community feedback survey, with some excellent ideas for future blog series and articles. If you took the time to respond – thank you. Your feedback helps us ensure that we continue to create a platform that focuses on topics important to you. It was also heart-warming to read the positive feedback so many of you gave.

It was clear as we read all your responses that there were many topics that you wanted information on that have already been covered within Sixty and Me. We hope this article will help direct you to articles on some of the topics you requested.

If you are looking for information on a specific topic, we also have the search bar functionality at the top of each page. If you have never used this, it is a great way to search our articles quickly and easily.

Below we list some of the most requested topics from the survey.

Health

Healthy Aging – What is the key to healthy aging? Do you have to have good genes to live to be 100? Or will some combination of fitness, supplements, vitamins, food and medicine do the trick?

Losing Weight After 60 – Like many women, we have learned the hard way that losing weight after 60 is tricky. This doesn’t mean that it’s impossible. But it does mean that it requires a solid commitment to exercise, healthy eating and stress relief.

Fitness Over 60 – Fitness over 60 is essential to getting the most from life. Learn how to start running. Get inspired to get in the best shape of your life. This is your time. Make it count!

Healthy Eating – There’s an old saying that “you are what you eat.” When it comes to healthy eating, this is definitely true. If you want to experience healthy aging, you need to make sure that you are giving your body the fuel that it needs. In this section, we discuss healthy recipes, nutrition for seniors and more.

Travel

Senior Tours – Senior tours offer the safety and security of a group, while still giving you the chance to explore. Find out about senior travel clubs, travel adventures and other amazing experiences here.

Solo Travel – Do you love solo travel? If so, you’ll love our articles on fighting the single supplement, staying safe while traveling and making friends on the road.

Senior Cruises – Whether you like river cruises or ocean cruises, this section is for you! Let’s discuss how to get the best cruise deals while making friends and exploring your passions.

Travel Tips and Plans – Which countries offer the best medical tourism options? Where can you find cheap hotel rooms? Do senior travel discounts still exist? These are a few of the questions that we attempt to answer in our travel tips section.

Managing Money

Retirement Planning – Retirement planning isn’t just about saving money. It’s also about making sure that you have the skills, passive income and passions to get the most from life after retirement.

Encore Careers – As we reach our 60s, we are not always ready to retire. In fact, more and more women are starting encore careers. Not satisfied to “age gracefully,” we are going back to school, becoming nurses, painters and teachers. If you are thinking about starting a new career, we have some tools to help you get started.

Managing Money in Retirement – No matter how much you have saved, managing money in retirement is critically important. Let’s talk about how to make your Social Security and pension money last longer.

Lifestyle

Marriage After 60 – Like most worthwhile things in life, having a happy marriage after 60 requires work. You need to adjust to your partner’s changing needs, while finding ways to grow together. Find out what the other women in our community have to say about maintaining a healthy relationship at our age.

Hobbies for Women – One of the hardest things about life in our 60s is finding meaning and purpose in everyday activities. The hobbies for women in this section were all recommended by the members of our community. We hope you enjoy them!

Life After Retirement – Life after retirement is complicated. Not only do you have to worry about your retirement savings, but you also need to find meaning in your life. Here are some retirement ideas to help you get more from the best years of your life.

Technology – There’s a myth that older adults don’t like technology. Nonsense! Let’s explore the best apps, websites, gadgets and services for dynamic older women, like us.

Dating

Senior Dating Advice – What is the best senior dating advice? Is it best to explore your passions, hoping that you will meet someone special? Or do senior dating sites offer a quicker way to find love after 60? These are a few of the questions that we have asked professional dating coaches over the years. Their answers may surprise you.

Senior Dating Sites – Looking for senior dating site reviews and tips? You’ve come to the right place! Find out which senior dating services have the best chances of helping you to meet the man of your dreams. Get tips and tricks from some of the world’s leading senior dating experts. Finding love after 60 is possible. Isn’t it time you met someone who deserves you?

Beauty

Fashion for Women Over 60 – Fashion for women over 60 is about finding the perfect balance between looking and feeling your best. Let’s help each other to find the best dresses, shoes, jeans and more for women our age.

Makeup for Older Women – Don’t listen to the anti-aging hype. Makeup for women over 60 isn’t about looking younger. It’s about looking and feeling your best. Find the best makeup for mature skin. Get makeup tips for older women from a professional makeup artist. If you have a makeup question, we have the answer!

Hairstyles for Older Women – Nothing makes us feel better than an amazing haircut! But finding haircuts and hairstyles for older women is a challenge! Whether you have short, medium or long hair, we have solutions!

Mature Skin Care – We all know that taking care of our aging skin is important. But finding mature skin care products that work is frustrating. Let’s work together to find the best moisturizers, face creams and natural skin care solutions.

We hope that this article has helped you find some articles you may have missed or didn’t know existed. Over the coming months, we will be covering many of the topics you suggested – from friendships and travel to beauty and finances.

Make sure you follow us on our Sixty and Me Facebook, Twitter, Instagram, YouTube and Pinterest accounts to keep up with the latest articles, join in with discussions and meet your fellow community.

What are you most looking forward to reading? What topics do you enjoy seeing articles on? Do you prefer receiving content in written format or video format?

Tracy Tutor’s Navy Pinstripe Blazer at Her Office

Million Dollar Listing LA Season 13 Episode 2 Fashion

Although we may not all be potential buyers for Tracy Tutor’s new million dollar listing (especially tall people apparently), we’re definitely all potential buyers for her super chic and affordable navy pinstripe blazer. Which in our opinion would work well no matter what your height (if you’re under 5’2” it may even look cute as a dress!). 

Fashionably,

Faryn

Click Here to Shop Her Zara Blazer on eBay

Click Here to Shop Her Dior Necklace

Originally posted at: Tracy Tutor’s Navy Pinstripe Blazer

How often have you wondered what your life would look and feel like if you could magically bottle up a moment’s worth of joy and fulfillment to experience all the time?

Some will say this is not possible. What if it is?

In my personal life experiences, coupled with over a decade of research into what it takes to liberate yourself from myths, rules, and limiting beliefs about what you can do, be, and have, I kept coming back to gratitude as the key to unlocking sustainable joy and fulfillment.

You have likely heard or read about how powerful and liberating gratitude is. Yet, as someone who has spent most of my life learning the fine art of practicing it, I will admit, at times it is not as simple as it sounds.

With a 21-day affirmation, I will share with you how to gracefully ease into the practice of sustaining your sense of joy and fulfillment through gratitude. To get started, let us re-establish and re-frame what gratitude is and how it shapes our perception of life.

Where Do You Start Loving Your Life?

When it comes to gratitude, the first place to start is where you are right now. This precise moment in your life is worthy of celebration – is it not?

What if the idea of feeling good about yourself seems like a cruel fantasy when you take into consideration the current state of the world or what others are telling you is possible, based on your age?

Sustainable joy and fulfillment are very real possibilities when you allow yourself to realize that today you are the youngest you will ever be. Therefore, where do you start loving your life, and loving who you are but from a genuine place of gratitude for where you are right now.

What Does Gratitude Do for You?

Author Maya Angelou once famously wrote, “When you know better, you do better.” What you know at this stage of your life gives you the freedom and creative license to enjoy more of life on your terms than perhaps you allowed yourself in the past.

This is where the power of gratitude is tapped into, amplified, and sustainable.

Gratitude melts away the burden of fear and dissolves limiting beliefs because it reframes your perception of life, from the inside out. Gratitude also creates a more joyous set of experiences for yourself and those you love.

You may agree with this, but when you look in the rearview mirror at your past, you might perceive a time from your youth as being far better than where you are now. Or you may see a past filled with pain and disappointment, which could affect your willingness to be grateful for your life today.

What these two examples have in common is that they separate you from your present moment, which creates unsatisfying feelings based on lack. Therefore, the more you practice gratitude, the more you look at your past through a new, healthy lens of appreciation.

The 21-Day Affirmation Journey

Changing how you view your past reframes your perception of gratitude in the present. It removes the pain of past mistakes and acknowledges that you not only know better at this point in your life, but you are doing better.

This is less about pretending you are happy and more about no longer viewing your mistakes or lack of perfection as signs of not being good enough just as you are.

To further reinforce your worthiness for a life of sustainable joy and fulfillment, I invite you to say the following affirmation to yourself for the next 21 days.

I am grateful for my life.

I am valuable.

I am appreciated.

I am acknowledged.

I am loved.

I love back.

I play and laugh.

I enjoy being me.

I am good enough.

In order to for these words to take root into your subconscious and reprogram any lingering feelings of disappointment, I invite you to say the affirmation three times in a row, three times a day for the next 21 days.

I encourage you to say these words out loud and allow yourself to arrive at an empowered state of being where you see yourself embodying them, knowing they are absolutely true for you.

How have you used the power of gratitude so far? How has it helped you reframe your mind? What was your life like before you embraced practicing gratitude?

I had just finished a book reading at a local bookstore, and the first question came from a man who was sitting toward the back of the room. He shared that he had begun a “small downsizing,” and that the first question he got from a neighbor was, “Are you getting ready to die?”

Everyone in the room laughed, as did I. And then I said, “Well, what you might have said to him was ‘Actually I’m getting ready to live.’” Everyone went, “Oooooooooo!” It was one of those moments when you thank whomever you give thanks to for providing that kind of answer to you at that moment.

Downsizing Your Home Is Certainly Not All Sweetness and Light

If you’re getting ready for a major downsizing of your home, does that feel like too much of a stretch? If so, I completely understand. In my book, The Upside of Downsizing: Getting to Enough, I talk about the emotional journey I took as I did a huge downsizing of my home.

It most definitely was not all sweetness and light and feelings of liberation. It often was hard and exhausting and painful and sad. And that’s not to be overlooked or minimized. And yet…

And Yet, Enough

When I got to my new, much smaller apartment, I realized I had enough. I had enough space. I had enough stuff. Having gone from a 2000-square foot house to an 800-square foot apartment, and having gotten rid of piles and piles of stuff – some of it very important to me – I knew I had enough.

A Very Freeing Feeling

It was a very freeing feeling! I didn’t need all that stuff piled up in the garage. I didn’t need all of the clothes and coats and socks and t-shirts squeezed into closets and drawers. I was absolutely fine with what I had.

Including enough space.

I didn’t need any more rooms. I didn’t need any more closets. I had enough of everything. Was it easy? No. Was it freeing? Yes. In retrospect, and thanks to the man in the audience that night, what I now realize I am is free to live in a new and different way.

Now a Careful Shopper

What have I noticed so far? Well, I buy much less than I used to, and I’m much more careful about what I do get.

For example, one of my very favorite things to do is go to art and wine festivals in the late summer. If you haven’t been to one of these festivals, most last a weekend and involve booth after booth of things people have made or unique products that often are hard to find in stores.

It’s fun to grab a drink and wander among the booths, “window shopping” without the windows. Inevitably, while doing this, I have found all sorts of things I didn’t really need but thought it would be fun to have. Or very often, I would find what I thought would be the perfect holiday gift for a friend.

Now a Looker Rather Than a Shopper

That has all changed now. I still like to wander around and look at things, but I usually don’t buy anything because I have no place to put it when I take it home.

As for presents, most of my friends and I have agreed to give each other a great big hug for a present instead of yet one more thing neither of us needs.

I also notice that, although I sometimes miss my big yard and garden, especially in the spring when it’s time to plant, it is a relief not to have to worry about taking care of the yard and trees and critters who inevitably get in and eat things.

Downsizing Your Home = Easy to Get Up and Go

It also is much easier to get ready to travel and not have to worry about getting things watered and looked after. Now I just water the plant on the balcony, tell the cat sitter to water it once while I’m gone, then lock the door and leave. For those of you who like to travel, this is incredibly freeing.

I foresee a time when it will be easier to find things because there are fewer places to look! I can’t say this has happened yet because it’s too soon after I moved, and I’m still looking for where I or someone else put things while we were unpacking.

I’m sure this will happen at some point, however, and that will be a relief because most of us don’t like to spend time looking for something we can’t find.

Have you considered or gone through downsizing? What ways have you found to prepare for life afterwards? These are some of mine. I would love to hear the story of your post-downsizing experience in the comments below.

Although suicide isn’t a subject most of us like to talk about, the fact is that September is National Suicide Prevention Month. Suicide is an issue that has been occupying my mind for more than five decades. It all began when I was 10 years old and my grandmother took her life in my childhood home – her bedroom was next to mine, and I’m the one who found her.

How Can We Know?

Ironically, my grandmother took her life on Labor Day weekend in 1964. She was caring for me when my immigrant parents went to work. Although her death certificate never specifically stated suicide, it did say that she died from an overdose of sleeping pills.

I suppose I’ll never know the whole truth, but what I did learn after reading her diary years later was that she’d been depressed prior to taking her life. Unfortunately, depression, other forms of mental illness, and substance abuse are common precursors to suicide.

Back in the 1960s, there was little talk or awareness about the warning signs of suicide. Today, there’s a push to raise public awareness about the topic, and also to connect survivors with postintervention services.

In pre-Covid-19 times, there was a large national event held in cities across America called The Out of Darkness Walk, which was a fundraiser geared to suicide awareness. My hope is that it will return in the years to come.

Writing Helped Me Cope

When my grandmother died, my mother gave me a journal so I could write down my feelings. I discovered at an early age that writing helped with the healing process. Children tend to be quite resilient, but as I grew older and when I found my grandmother’s diary, I had many questions about why she took her life.

In fact, I began to miss her more and more the older I got. I was so sad that she was never able to share my growing-up years with me. However, I was grateful for all the time I did get to spend with her, and for everything she taught me.

She encouraged me to follow my passions, always dress nice, and take the high road. I can only imagine what other lessons she would have imparted to me. To help me further understand her life and death, and to honor her, I wrote my first memoir, Regina’s Closet: Finding My Grandmother’s Secret Journal.

Other Tools to Heal from Loss Due to Suicide

If you’ve had a friend or loved one who committed suicide – whether you feel the agony of guilt or not – there’s no doubt that you’ll need certain tools to help you heal from this type of loss. Here are some that might offer you comfort:

Try to Live in the Present Moment

Accept what happened, and trust that with time, everything will fall into place. Do mindful meditation and relaxation exercises, which include deep breathing. This is especially important in the early-morning hours and before going to bed at night.

Seek Support

Speak to friends, family members, therapists, or spiritual advisers. The more you reach out for assistance, the easier it will be to heal. Many people use social media as a support system, as it helps them feel encircled by the thoughts of caring individuals. Be in the company of those who make you feel better rather than those who bring you down.

Write Down Your Thoughts

There’s nothing like journaling to allow your feelings to flow. You might also consider writing a letter to the deceased loved one, expressing what you feel.

Engage in Fun or Relaxing Activities

Consider doing whatever distracts you – whether it’s being in nature, going to a movie, getting a spa treatment, reading your favorite book, writing letters, or participating in an athletic activity. Follow your heart.

Practice Self-Care

This means being mindful of what makes you feel good, but it’s also about eating balanced meals and being sure you get enough exercise.

Be Patient with Yourself and Others

Healing from grief takes time. It’s important to cry when you feel like crying, and sitting and contemplating when you feel like contemplating. As time goes on, you’ll develop a greater sense of peace and acceptance.

Remember, no one is an island. When we’re experiencing deep emotional pain, we must reach out and seek the help of those who are able to be our guiding lights.

Have you experienced the loss of a loved one due to suicide? What were your initial thoughts? How did you cope with the loss? What tools helped you the most?