The Art of Midlife: Courage and Creative Living for Women

by Linda N. Edelstein

Overview

The subject of midlife has been dominated by the woes of aging—menopause, divorce, hormone replacement therapies, aging parents, and fleeing children. Now a broad-ranging new work by clinical psychologist Linda N. Edelstein, Ph.D., The Art of Midlife, describes the freedom and authenticity that can be made a cornerstone of the middle years. She describes three healthy and predictable phases. First, women relinquish old ways, untying themselves from the past and mourbaning the losses of youth and its illusions. By placing less emphasis on the needs of others, women can live more creatively and enjoy the present. The women Dr. Edelstein studied have been able to move to the next step, in which they reconnect to themselves. They regain their authentic voices, simplify life, and allow long buried aspects of themselves to emerge. Finally, women refocus their futures. With courage, they embrace new people, ideas, activities, and work—and pursue adult dreams regardless of external rewards.

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9780313360725
Publisher:	Bloomsbury Academic
Publication date:	04/30/1999
Pages:	232
Product dimensions:	6.00(w) x 8.90(h) x 0.60(d)

About the Author

Linda N. Edelstein, PhD, is a writer and clinical psychologist in private practice in Illinois, and an Associate Professor at the Chicago School of Professional Psychology in Chicago. She lives in Evanston, Illinois and has two daughters.

Table of Contents

Relinquish the Old
"Freedom Is Daily, Prose-Bound, Routine Remembering": An Overview of Midlife Creativity
"The Terrible Weight of All This Unused Life": Relinquish the Old
"Glowing Coals under Grey Ashes": Midlife
"First It Was in Black and White and Then It Was in Color": Creativity and Insight
Reconnect to the Self
"She Must Braid Us All Together": The Psychology of Women
"I Am Her Only Novel": Relationships with Parents and Their Dreams for Us
"There's Still So Much I'd Like to See": How We Are Formed by Social Forces
"Once You Are Real You Can't Be Ugly": Authenticity
"Finding a Fortune in the Lining of an Old Coat": Aggression and Creativity
"The Long Meandering Fingers of Ice Will Thicken": Problems in Creative Living
Refocus the Future
"Life Shrinks or Expands in Proportion to One's Courage": Finding Courage
"Don't Dream It, Be It": Turbaning Points
"I Have a Brain and a Uterus and I Use Both": Women and Work
"Let the Beauty You Love Be What You Do": Achievements and Dreams
Bibliography
Index

What People are Saying About This

Laura S. Brown

This book offers readers a practical blend of science and common sense for building a middle stage of life that exceeds expectations. Edelstein debunks the myths that have plagued women, and offers in their place solid data and real-world, useable solutions for embracing mid-life with joy and creativity.

Editorial Reviews

Although much has been written about midlife and the psychological changes that happen with it, most of what is published has focused on studies of men. Edelstein, a clinical psychologist, here focuses exclusively on women. Although somewhat aimed at the self-help crowd, this book is a more serious look at the psychology of midlife and how women have successfully dealt with it. The book is divided into three parts--"Relinquish the Old," "Reconnect to the Self," and "Refocus the Future"--and uses interviews with women who have creatively and happily moved into the second half of their lives by relinquishing, reconnecting, and refocusing. This book will be disappointing to readers looking for a quick fix but will enlighten those interested in learning more about this stage of a woman's life.--Elizabeth Caulfield Felt, Washington State Univ. Lib., Pullman Copyright 1999 Cahners Business Information.

Library Journal

A clinical psychologist shifts the focus of women's midlife from such horrors as menopause and empty nests to the freedom and authority that is possible. She identifies three healthy and predictable phases: relinquishing and mourning old ways, regaining authentic voices and simplified lives, and refocusing the future to embrace long-buried aspects and new people and goals. Distributed in the US by Greenwood Press. Annotation c. Book News, Inc., Portland, OR (booknew.com)

Booknews

The author provides and excellent review of the tasks and opportunities inherent in the middle years of a woman's life. She uses an elegant theoretical model to describe the process of change at this stage and richly illustrates it with numerous clinical vignettes and marvelous literary references, chosen with particular aptness that makes them linger in the reader's consciousness. . . . Written in a user-friendly manner, the book is not only a valuable resource in terms of providing information and validation to midlife women, but is also a useful tool for those male clinicians still pondering what a woman wants. Finally, it is well indexed and has a comprehensive, diverse, interesting bibliography that encourages rather than overwhelms.” —Bulletin of the Menninger Clinic

“Dr. Edelstein, in her excellent book . . . describes midlife as a complex internal process for women dealing with claiming their own creativity and letting go of impediments. . . . I recommend this book . . . as it voices poetically and accurately complex tapestries of midlife growth and change.” —Voices: The Art and Science of Psychotherapy

From the Publisher