Not every old woman is an elderwoman, however. Becoming an elderwoman presupposes that we have spent some of our time already on personal development of one kind or another and are continuing to grow in awareness. It assumes that we have become to some degree conscious and aware of ourselves and our inner processes and of the impact our lives have

gentle, subtle influence, often wielded at a very local level, within a small group of family and friends or a local community. The point I am trying to make is not that tomorrow's grandmothers will be Amazons, but that they will be women whose global vision informs their lives in a way that my own grandmother's never did.

it makes sense to me that the increasing lightness of old age lends itself to a conscious divesting of "stuff" and a deepening understanding of the meaning of "living lightly on the earth."