Watching as the world around us transition from season to season circling the year’s clock face, pass through clearly defined phases and then reconnect to begin again is a lesson in change, adaptation, and light. Yes, light. If we look – really look – with our physical eyes, inner sight, mental clarity and creative vision, we learn lessons that support and sustain us as we move forward.

Watching necessitates a pause. Framing a vast scene or a tiny fragment for a photo or mental image is an act of simplification, magnification, wonder and respect.

Last weekend here in Vermont we were flooded with gorgeous, brilliant colors topped with a dusting of snow on our highest peaks. This weekend we are Past Peak and Still Beautiful. As I noted this on my walk, I was startled to realize that this is a meaningful concept indeed! How often do we admire an antique, painting, vintage clothing or older friend? How much do we appreciate the athlete who has transitioned from the prime days of record-breaking achievement to an athlete who, with maturity, coaches, writes, and reaches out with shared skills?

What of the senior executive who mentors and the musician whose tone becomes deeply resonant? What of the model who turns to design, the performer who directs, the parents who grandparent?

Is any of this less? Perhaps the transition itself is the learning curve to land experience as something useful rather than degenerative.

And yet, though Past Peak may Still be Beautiful, there is a demand for strength and energy.

In the world of health and fitness, we teach that as our bodies age, the absolute priority is muscular strength to enhance bone health and joint stabilization, mobility and balance.

Quite a few experts have quite a lot to say about this subject. Here are a few resources if you’re so inclined.

In the following podcast, Dr. Gabrielle Lyons makes no bones about it (pardon the pun) – strength training, cardiovascular exercise and HIIT (high intensity interval training) are a must!  (She is also an advocate of substantial amounts of protein but I won’t touch a nutritional topic – so many options to be suggested!) https://drchatterjee.com/the-critical-importance-of-strength-training-and-eating-more-protein-with-dr-gabrielle-lyon/

Arthur C. Brooks is a popular author whose latest book is From Strength to Strength, Finding Success, Happiness and Deep Purpose in the Second Half of Life. I’m taking my time with this one as there are gems on each, page. You might also enjoy this podcast conversation of Brooks with Rich Roll:  https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XE0giQ4znNw

From the get-go Brooks is encouraging. Using science, experience, research and logic he proposes that the beautiful mind of a younger person utilizes “fluid intelligence” and later, mature folks use “chrystalized intelligence.” To tease you I will share his quote from British psychologist, Raymond Cattell:  “When  you are young, you have raw smarts; when you are old, you have wisdom. When you are young, you can generate lots of facts; when you are old, you know what they mean and how to use them.” (Is your interest piqued?)

I also love the way Brooks connects physical, mental and spiritual fitness. He, himself, has a practice that is significant and actionable. He advocates clearly defining one’s moral values, daily meditation and daily reading something by a great thinker, words of wisdom.

Within the principles of the Five Element Theory of Traditional Chinese Medicine, we have fully entered the time of year associated with the Metal Element and find ourselves involved with the process of refining, honoring wisdom and self-knowledge. (Past Peak but Still Beautiful?) As Gail Reichstein writes in her excellent book, Wood Becomes Water, Chinese Medicine in Everyday Life, the emotion associated with this time of year is grief. “Grief also teaches us what we value in our lives and in the lives of others, giving us the opportunity to redirect our energies toward becoming who we most want to be.”

Further study reveals that Metal represent both the seeking and that which is found. Coincidental to Brooks and Cattell, Reichstein writes that “the soul of Metal is wisdom …Wisdom turns experience into understanding, allowing us to know more about the present because of what we have learned from the past.” She further states that “The soul of Metal also creates teachers; those who pass their wisdom on to others.”  I think everyone is on the same page!

Continuity. A circle. As green leaves become vibrant with reds, yellows and oranges creating a spectacular vista, they then fall to the ground to become nourishment for future growth. But even in their transition, there is beauty. There is a time and place for value, opportunity, energies and self-actualization. There are lessons to be absorbed simply by sharing breath and space and light, by walking through the calendar year with the natural world as our habitat and companion. And, when we are “Past Peak, it is Still Beautiful.”

From Strength to Strength, by Arthur C. Brooks, Penguin Random House, 2022.

Wood Becomes Water, by Gail Reichstein, Kodansha America, 1998.