How to Deal with Loneliness

Are you in your 60s and single? Whether you find yourself solo by choice or by chance, embrace your independence! You’re certainly not alone. There were just over 40 million adults ages 65 and older in 2014, representing 13 percent…

As part of humanity, we all experience loneliness occasionally. I know I have. When I was first divorced in 2000 and found myself spending major holidays like Thanksgiving and Christmas alone for the first time, I didn’t know what to do with myself…

The holidays aren’t always a happy time – for some they’re reminders that they are lone, whether they’re widowed, divorced, separated or simply away from family and friends. Add grief to that and it’s even more difficult. Loneliness is painful…

I encountered loneliness in my late teens. Even though I was born into a large family and connected with friends through school and university, I felt the acute existential loneliness that comes with an inquiring mind…

Learning to live solo can be very empowering – and expensive. As solo women, we often prefer to live alone, but we want to do so in an environment which also provides social connections, activities and the sense of community we crave…

Whether you are starting over because your marriage ended, or because you are a widow or an empty nester, it is a time to refocus your life. And with that new focus come new possibilities. Attitude is everything. You will never find happiness if you don’t look…

When I think about these two states of being – loneliness and solitude – they have such different connotations. And yet the border between them is porous. If we are lonely, can we just decide that we can cross over into solitude? It seems a bit like the old fairy-tale about spinning straw into gold. […]

Despite everything we know about the importance of maintaining social connections as we get older, finding friends after 60 can be a challenge. As we age, the easy social connections that we enjoyed as schoolmates, parents…

Globally, there are 604 million (plus) people in the 65 and older category. This has created a demand for research on how to live better as people move beyond the working years. Studies suggest drilling down on individual behaviors that affect the health…

I wrote an article for Sixty and Me on loneliness, which, for some reason, gathered a number of comments. The consensus – you can be alone but not lonely. OK, I get it. Because I am very much like these women. Being a speaker and performer…