IN ISSUE 8: Nick Cave on ageing, Jon Baptiste on music & life with illness, Miriam Margoyles on not giving a fuck, the best albums of 2023, the Sunday papers live & the secret to ageing well.
A 10 minute read, with the added serendipity that might just change your life
Editor’s letter
Welcome,
“When a man is tired of London, he is tired of life; for there is in London all that life can afford." said Samuel Johnson, to the man who would end up being his biographer, James Boswell. He was responding to Boswell's question regarding whether his affection for London would wear thin should he choose to live there, as opposed to the zest he felt on his occasional visits. There… surely you’ve learnt something already this issue! The point for me of this though, is that when I feel I would prefer to spend all my time outside in the countryside, I remember this quote and feel I may have failed at life if I leave London. I successfully answered it for myself by wondering whether it is London that is becoming tired of life as opposed to me…
PS - I took that learning - to ‘blame’ my surroundings as opposed to myself from the 25-year-old, best-selling spiritual book, ‘Awareness’ by Anthony De Mello.
Midlifer is for those of us who are not tired of life - wherever we live!
Chris.
This week’s cuttings
We scan all relevant media to find anything that is valuable for living some good midlife years.
Nick Cave on the Art of Growing Older
“The perilous time for the most highly gifted is not youth,” the visionary Elizabeth Peabody wrote, “The perilous season is middle age when a false wisdom tempts them to doubt the divine origin of the dreams of their youth.” But what does Nick Cave think…?
‘A call to action to love ourselves’: how women in their 50s can leave the shadows
As roles and circumstances change, women in their 50s can look inwards and find a deep acceptance of themselves says counsellor Lucy Cavendish in a long piece in the Observer.
It can tell how long your relationship will last with one sentence. People on TikTik believe it - it must be true. (official!)
60-year-old qualifies for next year’s Paris Olympics
Venezuela shooter Leonel Martinez qualified to compete at his second Olympics in 2024 — 40 years after his first Olympics - the 1984 Los Angeles Games.
What took it so long? The irony is that what was the coolest office company in the world is having some of its properties taken over by the un-coolest property company of the last century - but one that knows how to run a business - Regus.
Are you stuck in a midlife friendship drought?
Yes, it’s in the Daily Mail but it’s actually about a situation too many midlifers find themselves in. An answer needs to be found that helps everyone maintain friendship groups.
I’m a midlifer, when will I start caring less about everything?
This enlightened state is the biggest perk of middle age, explains Emma Jacobs, who is still waiting for it to hit and cites Miriam Margolyes as an example of someone who demonstrates the power of ageing and ditching self-consciousness. “What can I do? I have to say what I believe to be the truth. Now I’m 82, I don’t give a flying fuck. If I want to say something, I’m going to say it.” says Margoyles.
Health news
There is so much weekly health news for midlifers. We try to round up the factual, positive and helpful into one place.
What it’s like taking the new breast cancer drug, anastrozole It has been hailed as a breakthrough for thousands of women with an elevated risk, but what are the side effects? By Charlotte Lytton (The Times). Blood test on NHS will bring faster diagnosis of Alzheimer’s Tests could lead to new treatments, which rely on early detection (Guardian) What is the secret to ageing well? (A BBC Podcast) Humankind has been in search of an answer for millions of years. But one man believes he may have found the beginnings of an answer, and it’s hiding in a convent. Hannah Fry tells a tale of a single scatter graph which might reveal the key to longevity.
A new quiz…
Talking of ageing… it’s a few celeb’s birthdays this week.
Which birthday are the following celebrating this week? (answers below)
A. Gordon Ramsey. B. Tilda Swinton. C. Tamzin Outhwaite
How to start something new?
Public Speaking.
In midlife, we get asked to do ‘things’… run the local quiz or cycle club, become a school governor, scout leader, magistrate, non-exec board member or chairperson - and all these involve some level of public speaking. It’s actually a skill that's good to master for midlife opportunities.
What better place to learn from, than the ten most popular TED Talks of all time? No. 1 (with 75 million views) is genius Sir Ken Robinson (RIP) on whether schools kill creativity. A must-watch if you’ve never seen it.
A cultural week
This is my type of event - a bit different, social, involves the outside…and it’s in London :) A day-long regular event built around the content of the Sunday papers. The next event is on November the 19th and tickets are selling fast.
Robbie, Barbra, Beckham & Baptiste tell all
It seems most people have watched the Beckhams on Netflix. This week we have Robbie Williams on Netflix and Barbra Streisand in very long book form divulging their inner life secrets. The one I am looking forward to, and is already Oscar-tipped, is the documentary ‘American Symphony’ featuring ‘jazz musician Jon Baptiste (he wrote/sang all the songs in Disney’s Soul movie). Baptiste sets out to compose a symphony, and then his life partner, author Suleika Jaouad, learns that her cancer is back. The documentary is a meditation on art, love and the creative process.
The lists are starting to be published. Uncut magazine is first. Their top 3 albums are 1. ‘False Lankum’ by Lankum (Irish folk). 2. ‘Seven Palms’ by Paul Simon. 3. ‘Cousin’ by Wilco.
I’ll be asking for your votes for the first Midlifer readers poll a bit nearer the end of the year.
Remembrance Day: five beautiful novels about war commemoration
One last thing…
It’s had more publicity than almost anything else this week, the end of the Caramac chocolate bar, after 64 years. It’s gone the same way as WeWork, which lasted just thirteen years. I’m going to nip out to a Booker’s warehouse and see if I can buy a whole box of Caramac for a final Christmas blowout. A retailer that probably sold the most Caramacs and whose own demise probably hastened that of the chocolate bar is Woolworths - we’ll finish with the best Christmas advert - theirs from 1982.
Talking of tired of life…
If you want to know the 12 ways you could be breaking the law in your own back garden, read the Saga newsletter!
Answers to the quiz
Happy birthday to A. Gordon Ramsey 57. B. Tilda Swinton 63 C. Tamzin Outhwaite 53
See you next week!
Please share this issue, or if it was forwarded to you, please subscribe below, we publish once a week, every Thursday. Plus, please email us anything you think would benefit from being shared with Midlifer readers at chris@chrisward.cc
