Attendance is now full for this five-week session on Drawing a Map of Your Life.  If you would like to be added to the waitlist, please contact the office at 202-935-6060 or [email protected] if you need a ride. 

One of the most important and satisfying tasks of elderhood is telling the story of how you came to be the unique person you are. Each of us has been shaped by events, experiences and relationships. Our characters have been formed by crises we have lived through, achievements and disappointments we have managed, and the full spectrum of ways we have touched others and been touched in return. The story of a long life fully lived is the great gift elders offer – to their families and future generations, and to themselves.

A fun and creative way of telling this story is by drawing your life’s journey as a map. Maps use images to symbolize where we’ve been, what’s impacted us, what we’ve learned, and how we’ve changed. Peaks of accomplishment and swamps of despair, crossroads of big decisions and shores of new beginnings – images are truly worth 1000 words!

David Oldfield has been inviting older people to construct maps of their lives for many years. He will share stories and illustrations from his recent book, An Atlas of Aging, which features the life maps of 20 older adults from around the world.