sixtyandme logo

Stephanie Raffelock is a journalist, a blogger and an aspiring novelist. In her Sixty and Me column, she explores aging dynamically, living fully and loving well.

Latest Posts By Stephanie Raffelock

2 years ago

How to Use Your Daily Life to Inspire Your Creative Writing

In my previous articles, I’ve shared how you can create a writing life in your sixties and beyond. My intention now is to inspire you by providing some starting points for deciding what to write. Are you wondering how to begin? Are you asking yourself…

Read More
3 years ago

The Number One Healthy Aging Question Your Doctor Probably Isn’t Asking

There’s a lot of talk these days about “health care.” But I challenge that term. Are our medical expenses so high because we are caring for our health, or are they so high because those in the medical profession are only trained to address…

Read More
3 years ago

5 Autumn Rituals to Celebrate the Changing of the Seasons (Plus, My Apple Butter Recipe)

I love the changing of the seasons. Don’t you? This time of year I get to pull out my flannel shirts and thick socks, which after a summer of bare shoulders and toes feels cozy and warm. As the weather cools down, I delight in the autumn rituals…

Read More
4 years ago

5 Life Changing Books that Helped Me to Find Authenticity, Gratitude, and Meaning

Books teach us about who and how we are in the world. They speak to our loftiest ideals and our darkest shadows. Books reveal humanity’s path. Read More

5 years ago

5 Gratitude Practices to Help You Get Through Tough Times

I’m struggling with a bit of low grade depression these days. A combination of everything that’s going on in the world, a friendship that ended, some good old-fashioned family drama, a sense of feeling misunderstood…

Read More
5 years ago

Do You Feel Too Old to Follow Your Bliss?

A friend asked me a question the other day: “This writing thing of yours; is it a hobby or do you see it as a profession?”

Even after I’d given him my answer, I chewed on the question for a while. It didn’t really matter what my answer was – encore career or a hobby. For me, the more important truth was this:

Read More

6 years ago

4 Qualities That Help You to Embrace Aging

Aging. It’s happening and it’s weird. Some days I am relaxed in the process of it. Other days I am Don Friggin’ Quixote, battling the windmills with Pilates classes, hiking, and an overabundance of green salads and coconut water. Read More

6 years ago

6 Ways We Can Use Random Acts of Kindness to Help Others and Heal Ourselves

There is something about a random act of kindness that feeds us as much as it feeds the recipient.

Remember the movie, “Pay It Forward?” In it a young boy wonders how it would be if he did something nice for three people and asked those three people to do something nice for three more people? Pretty soon thousands of people were doing nice thing for other people by paying it forward. Read More

6 years ago

Accepting Aging: Letting Go of the Younger Self That We’ve Left Behind

A friend of mine is limping into his 60s with a sense of loss. Loss of youth, energy and significance. I understand all of that and believe that most of us go through a passage where we grieve the younger life we’ve left behind. Read More

6 years ago

This Authentic Baker’s Dough Recipe Will Take You Back to Your Childhood

You may remember this Baker’s Dough recipe from when you were a kid because before there was ever Playdough, there was Baker’s Dough. It’s the perfect thing to share over the holidays, especially if you are going to have kids running around. Honestly though, I know that adults love this one, too. Read More