Interview with Jane Seskin: Life After 65 in Short Funny Poems

I interviewed a fascinating woman named Jane Seskin who wrote a book of short and humorous poems about aging called “Older, Wiser, Shorter: The Truth and Humor of Life Over 65”

Watch our interview on YouTube

Jane is a licensed clinical social worker and has written 13 books, non-fiction articles, and poetry online. Many have been published in Cosmopolitan, Woman’s Day, and the Metropolitan Diary column of the New York Times.

She is also a practicing psychotherapist who counseled survivors in the Crime Victims Treatment Center in New York for twenty years.

I read her short relatable poems and couldn’t put them down. I’m sure you will enjoy them too.

Below are highlights from our interview which you can watch above in the video.

What inspired you to write poems about aging?

I started writing poetry about forty years ago because it was a fast way to capture what I was feeling throughout my life, I’ve written about being single after my husband died. I’ve written about the work I did as a clinical social worker dealing with battered women. And, when I retired, I started writing about “Hey, I’m getting older. What does it feel like?” I wanted to witness my own aging.

And that’s why I started writing about things we experience but don’t seem to talk about. I wish women would be able to be more vulnerable with each other and talk about the things that are troublesome so we can connect.

We also talk about loss as we age. The loss of things we were able to do and can no longer do.

Tell us about how you wrote your own obituary

This came about because I was standing on the corner waiting to cross the street and I saw a friend come by on the bicycle with a red helmet. She was an architect and was in my women’s group. One year later she died unexpectedly. I went to the funeral and listened to people speak. But no one talked about her red helmet and her love of bike riding. When I thought about it, I wondered “What is it I want people to know about me? What is the legacy that I’m going to leave behind? What are they going to say?”

So, I sat down and listed all the things I wanted people to acknowledge about what my life had been like.

What do you want your readers to take away from your collection?

We persevere. We are persistent. If we get knocked down, we get up. We try hard to have a sense of humor because you need one as we age and discover our own frailties. And that we really pledge allegiance to ourselves. We honor and validate ourselves.

Talk about vows that we can make to ourselves

Vows are what we say we are going to do and what our intention is. It is an affirmation that you say again and again until it is internalized.

The vows at the end of the book that I hope people will write on their own are about what you wish for yourself. Do you wish you were kinder every single day? You might say, “I will be kinder to everyone I meet today.”

I’m going to take advantage of all that is in front of me.

I’m only going to eat things I enjoy.

If you think a book is boring, you can vow to only read things that are interesting and not boring.

This is a vow from the book.

I will ask for what I want and need with the knowledge I may not get it.

Truthfully, it’s about me being able to do the ask.

It’s important for us as women to be able to ask of anyone anything and be able to say, okay, I can’t get it, or you will not get it for me, or you will not help me get it. But maybe there is another way I can go around this and still get what I want.

It’s going deeper and trying to understand what I want, what I need, and how to get it. That’s how we grow.

We are too old at this point to tolerate.

What is the biggest challenge that you’ve found in aging and how do you cope with that?

My joints.

I feel my joints and my age when I have walked too far. I make it a point to go outside every single day and walk. I’m not terribly athletic and walking is my athleticism. Even if it’s just around the corner, around the block, to the supermarket I will do that because I think it’s important that we go out each day and we participate in life.

We should be able to yeh ourselves when we accomplish things.

What have you gained personally in your journey to self-discovery?

I love to write so I’m doing something that makes me happy. I also love to edit. It’s playing with words. That gives me enormous pleasure. Reading gives me pleasure. Being with friends gives me pleasure. And being able to laugh gives me enormous, enormous pleasure.

I also think it’s important that we advocate for what we believe in. I believe in non-violence after being a social worker in the environment where I was in a hospital setting.

I think it’s important to stand up against rude behavior, for non-violence, and for communication that is kind.

She talks about how she got started writing and got into social work. (Watch the video for more details.)

What else would you like the audience to know about you?

I love jazz. I’ve never met a piece of bread I didn’t like.

I’m supported by a really great group of friends. The idea of connection and community is very important to me, and I would hope for other women in terms of building their own communities.

Purchase “Older, Wiser, Shorter” on Amazon here.