“Mirror, Mirror, on the wall …”

No, this isn’t about Snow White but maybe we can learn something from her. It is interesting when I stop thinking about wellness for the “other guys” and take a look in the mirror at those of us who write these periodic essays. I feel good about what Dr. Wagner has created and what we’re doing to make this website a fulfilling experience for those who visit and read our essays. But just the fact that we are creating interesting and guiding notes from our own lives means we ourselves are practicing wellness and increasing our own wellbeing.

Ever since I met Dr. Wagner back in 1967 I have been impressed with his devotion to education and continuing self-improvement. I can’t recall a time in those 45 years when “Jerry” wasn’t aligned in some way with an educational institution. And that was in the midst of his creating companies and achieving highly admirable business success. In fact, he’s one of the few I know who, over the years, has made a successful transition from the academic world to the business world and back. So I decided some years ago to emulate his formula, never hoping to reach his levels, but simply to enjoy what I knew he gained by his open and extremely creative mind.

In California, regardless of what the pundits have to say about our state, we do enact some interesting ideas that often go unnoticed by even some of our most important residents. One feature in particular has made what I believe are important contributions to the wellbeing of our senior citizens. If you are 60 years of age and over, you can attend any of the California State Universities, take courses in any subject, and pay a nominal fee per semester. Many have taken advantage of this offering and most have significantly improved their lives. One such individual is my long-time friend, Edward Marouk, at a young 86 years of age. He’s within a semester or two of earning his Master’s Degree in Art, with a sculpture major. That’s just the culmination of his work because he’s been attending Fresno State for at least the last 30 years, while earning his keep as a practicing attorney here in the Central Valley for the past 50 years. The outcome of his “going back to school” has been fame in the legal profession for some very important sculptures. He recently completed, and the school dedicated, a sculpture of David Snodgrass, a past Dean of the University of California Hastings College of Law in San Francisco during the 1950’s when Ed attended. (Snodgrass himself inadvertently practiced senior wellness. He hired almost the entire faculty of the law school from retired judges and attorneys over age 65 because WWII had taken all the younger teachers. Because of that, Hastings is considered one of the finest developed law schools in the nation). Ed also has several bronze portraits of Judges on display here in Fresno and his work has been featured in legal magazines. His sculptures have been widely sold throughout the Western U.S. If you knew him, you’d say his attitude and willingness to learn new concepts have made him seem far younger than his 86 years. He attributes that to both education and humor, a worthy combination.

Yes, of course, the five elements of wellbeing are important and we should not focus on only one to the exclusion of the others. But what we are all doing and writing about is itself a wonderful act of increasing our wellbeing and contributing to others through this website. Following in his footsteps, I have used Jerry Wagner’s experience to enrich my own life through my association with educational institutions. Having been involved in science and business most of my career I decided to challenge things a bit by enrolling in Fresno State, in art, and start my 6-year struggle with sculpture. I finally was able to convince a committee that I knew enough about art and art history and carved enough alabaster to earn a Master’s degree in Art. That was in 2008 and I am now enrolled in the Geography department embarking on an original research project looking at the distribution of wealth within major U.S. cities. Why is this important? Because I believe that personal wellness and growth come from a variety of sources with continuing education as one of the most important of these.

Just imagine for a moment what you might learn simply sitting in a classroom full of college students, most of who are thumbing away on their smart phones or peering intently at the screen of their laptops or iPads while the professor is trying to point out something on the white board. Technology has changed the classroom in ways hard to imagine when many of us were first attending school. But these experiences with the young students and their methods of learning are mind challenges that broaden our perspective on life and learning.

While I fully agree that reading at home alone is often a nice way to enrich your life and stimulate your mind, I am also convinced that jumping into the middle of college classes and learning to “swim” in that new environment is a worthwhile experience. If your State has a similar way to encourage seniors and others to get back to school, I heartily endorse that way of maintaining your health and wellbeing. We are enriching our own lives while we hope we are doing the same for countless thousands who have or will visit our website.