Inner Nature: Enduring Aging

By Vidya Rajan, Columnist, The Times This week, a Penn’s oak tree fell over in my neighborhood. It was on the grounds of the London Grove Meetinghouse, and we were all familiar with this venerable tree. It’s falling was a sad passing. Word spread on the grapevine, and we all went to pay our respects. A Penn’s oak is an oak which was presumed to have been alive when William Penn landed in...

ReFirement At Any Age: Individuation

By Gail Supplee Tatum, Columnist, The Times Individuation. I had not heard of this principle until recently. It intrigued me to learn more and eager to share it with you. My interpretation is that it’s a recipe for an amazing blessed-filled life if you understand it and practice it. Here are my findings… Individuation is a profound psychological concept that was first introduced by Swiss psychiatrist...

Inner Nature: The need for sleep

By Vidya Rajan, Columnist, The Times The death-like appearance of sleepers has fascinated people for millennia; death is even euphemistically called “eternal sleep”. But why do we and other animals need sleep? A good night’s sleep is considered a key to a clear head, and most of us sleep between 6 and 8 hours. But some notoriously high achievers, including Leonardo da Vinci Nikola Tesla,...

Becoming The Best U: Improving your resiliency

By Nancy Plummer, Columnist, The Times Question: I lost my job during Covid and since then I can’t seem to pull myself out of my funk. Other friends of mine lost their job too, but they seem to have dealt with it just fine. Heck, one of my friends decided to start her own company after getting fired from her last job. She’s loving life! What’s wrong with me? What do they have that I don’t? Bess...

Inner Nature: Wasps, ants and bees

By Vidya Rajan, Columnist, The Times Summer. A time to kick back, relax and read, or listen to podcasts. I enjoy podcasts, especially science podcasts. Two of my favorites are The Infinite Monkey Cage from the BBC and Ologies with Alie Ward. Both are erudite but also light-hearted and don’t take themselves too seriously – which is one of the failings of politicians, economists and some scientists,...

ReFirement at Any Age: Ubuntu

By Gail Supplee Tatum, Columnist, The Times Ubuntu is translated as, “I Am Because You Are, You Are Because I Am” Lately, I’ve been doing a lot of thinking and reading about how we humans are all connected. We are different, but by the same token, we are the same. It seemed only natural that I share this concept of Ubuntu with you so that you may experience what this could mean in your...

Inner Nature: The nature of instinct

By Vidya Rajan, Columnist, The Times One of the unexpected sights driving around my neighborhood in Chester county is seeing an adult male peacock with a magnificent tail walking about the streets. Peacocks are native to the tropics, and are the national bird of India. This peacock was probably bought as a pet, maybe as a pair, maybe alone. He’s since become feral, and has no partner. He has...

Becoming the Best U : Fining summertime memories

By Nancy Plummer, Columnist, The Times Question: Summer is my favorite season and yet I never seem to make the most of it. I feel like every year I turn around and it’s September and I’ve done nothing exciting or memorable. Any advice to make this summer a great one?  Rochelle – Philadelphia Answer: I understand Rochelle. I think most of us would say they let summer slip away. In the...

Inner Nature: Sentience

By Vidya Rajan, Columnist, The Times Two books released over the last two years: Lars Chittka’s “Mind of a Bee” and Stephen Buchmann’s “What a Bee Knows: Exploring the Thoughts, Memories and Personalities of Bees” have thrown into turmoil the question of sentience – the capacity for feelings – of honeybees, and whether we humans truly understand the capabilities of minds that operate...

ReFirement at Any Age : Be the change you want to see

By Gail Supplee Tatum, Columnist, The Times Living in this world can be challenging and hard to understand but it can also be inspiring. How is that possible, you may ask? Well, if we can’t change the way something looks, maybe we can change the way we see it. How we do that is by clearing our minds of judgment and just look at a person or situation and make the effort to fully understand what...