Twyla Tharp – sound familiar? She’s a dancer, choreographer and all-around creative person. Her first book was The Creative Habit and now she’s giving us her take on aging with Keep It Moving: Lessons for the Rest of Your Life.
Tharp mixes stories from her life and work with a series of suggestions and exercises for a life that moves instead of contracting and stagnating.
This is one of those books where if you get just one thing out of it – one new habit or activity – you’ll be immensely better off. Which of these things speak to you? They’re all chapter titles or exercises.
- Take up space
- Practice pushing back
- Your body is your job
- Jump for joy
- Hope less, plan more
- Build your stamina
- Bounce back
- Build a second act
- Shut up and dance
Tharp’s writing style is very matter-of-fact no-nonsense. For some reason I had a Katherine Hepburn-ish voice in my head as I read it. It’s more her ideas and suggestions than her writing style that is the draw here.
I liked her Hope Less, Plan More chapter the best. She talks about anticipation and visualization and wants us to put this into practice: “each day, expect one miracle.”
I learned a variation of this in a work training class. Every morning you repeat the following to yourself:
“Have a wonderful thing happen today that I would never expect. Let me appreciate something new today that I’ve never appreciated before.”
These simple statements set you up for success! Thank you Dr. Beree Darby 🙂
If you’re feeling a little sluggish or old, pick this book up and get inspired to move.
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