“I’ve got nothing to say, but it’s okay.” (From “Good Morning,” by the Beatles.)
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I have been contributing to the Widow’s Voice blog on a weekly basis since February 2021. By my rough calculation, this means, God willing, that by the end of 2026, I will have churned out around 300 written pieces for publication here.
Over the years, I have written my fair share about how I have been and am still being affected by grief; about my relationships with Lee and with Robyn, about my relationships with friends and family, even about my relationship with Lola the pup. Yet, that still leaves a lot of room for miscellaneous topics.
And, as I’m sure my fellow contributors would readily agree, there are weeks when I feel hard-pressed to come up with something of the slightest interest. Believe me, it is a source of anxiety.
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On the flip side, because I am constantly on the lookout for topics of interest, I read a great deal. I have always been an avid reader.
It also happens that reading is a good thing: “Just as the cardiovascular system benefits from regular aerobic challenge, the brain appears to benefit from regular cognitive engagement — and reading is one of the most thoroughly studied forms of that engagement.” From “How Reading Affects Your Brain, Memory, Stress, and Overall Health, found at https://aboutbenefits.org/ (reviewed 7/20/26).
Indeed, among brain researchers, the concept of cognitive reserve, which examines the brain’s resilience against age-related decline, continues to be a fertile area of study. Especially for aging Boomers like me, any notion that a lifetime of intellectually stimulating activities, including reading, might help the brain maintain function despite the ravages of time, is worth my time and serious attention.
According to this article, “Epidemiological studies have found associations between higher levels of lifelong reading activity and lower rates of cognitive decline in older adults. These are observational associations, not controlled experiments — meaning researchers can observe a relationship but cannot fully rule out other explanatory factors, such as educational background, socioeconomic status, or general health habits that tend to co-occur with regular reading.”
That said, I also strongly believe that even if my reading habits do not yield a reliable and steady supply of interesting topics for this blog, I still get something positive from the exercise.
Inevitably, however, in searching for topics of general interest, I get detoured from time to time. For example, this past week I started off with the idea to write a post comparing the views and opinions among members of several generations regarding work, family, politics, etc., with my cohort of greybeards and ancients, only to discover there weren’t as many significant differences as I had assumed, and those I did discover weren’t of sufficient interest to merit a blog posting.
Instead, working against deadline, you get today’s post.
