MWC MONTHLY TOPIC
Rewriting Life in Longhand
Our August 2023 topic is found under our Emotional and Mental Health Pillar of Healthy Widowhood. Modern Widows Club Founder Carolyn Moor shares a preview of this month’s video:
Awhile back, someone asked me to explain widowhood and Modern Widows Club. This was my response.
Being widowed is like having a clean slate or chalkboard that you don’t want. You see the empty chalkboard before you. You stare at it a loooong time. You don’t want to pick up the chalk, but you get tired of doing nothing. Tired of being nothing.
So, you pick up the chalk and look at it for awhile until something comes to mind to write on the board. You write something, then reject it immediately and erase it, and go back to looking at the chalkboard. After talking to yourself, you realize how silly this is and find the courage to begin writing on the board again.
Suddenly you want to write everything, and you completely cover every square inch of the chalkboard. Overwhelmed, you step back and you realize what a relief it is to have “gotten it all out.” Then you begin to read what you wrote (but honestly don’t remember writing it).
Click below to watch Carolyn’s video.
LEGENDARY WIDOW ROLE MODEL
Joyce Carol Oates
Our August 2023 Legendary Widow Role Model is an educator and award-winning author who has written poetry, plays, criticism, nonfiction, 11 novellas, thousands of short stories, and more than 60 novels.
Over the course of her career, Oates has received hundreds of writing, literary, and lifetime achievement nominations, awards, prizes, and medals. Five of her works have been finalists for the Pulitzer Prize for Fiction.
Born in Lockport, New York in 1938, Oates began writing at the age of 14, ultimately publishing her first book in 1963. She was the first in her family to graduate from high school. She attended Syracuse University in New York, graduating as valedictorian in 1960 with a B.A. She received her M.A. from the University of Wisconsin–Madison.
Oates met Raymond J. Smith at the University of Wisconsin–Madison; they married in 1961. Smith became a professor of 18th-century literature and, later, an editor and publisher. Oates founded the Canadian literary magazine The Ontario Review in 1974 in partnership with Smith. In 1980, Oates and Smith founded Ontario Review Books, an independent publishing house. Oates has described their relationship as very collaborative and imaginative, a marriage of like minds.
After 47 years of marriage, Smith died of complications from pneumonia on February 18, 2008. In 2011, Oates published A Widow’s Story, a memoir about her extreme distress in the months following Smith’s death and her attempt to understand life without the partnership that sustained her for nearly five decades.
After 6 months of near-suicidal grieving for Smith, Oates met Charles Gross, a professor at Princeton. In early 2009, Oates and Gross were married. On April 13, 2019, Oates shared that Gross had died at the age of 83. In 2021, Oates dedicated her novel Breathe to Gross.
Since 2016, Oates has been a visiting professor at the University of California, Berkeley, where she teaches short fiction.
Read about our other Legendary Widow Role Models here.
#LEGENDARYWIDOWS
Rebuilding Life After the Loss of Love
Our new book Legendary Widows: Stories of Legacy will inspire you with 12 powerful stories of widows rebuilding their life after the loss of love. We are honored to feature stories from many backgrounds and circumstances around the globe.
Our book will leave you with the belief that widowhood is a stage of life in which to grow and blossom.
We invite you to order a copy for yourself, plus extras as gifts for the widows and widow supporters in your life! 100% of book proceeds fund Modern Widows Club programs to empower widows worldwide.
It takes a community to create something so beautiful and meaningful, and our book is no exception. With our sincerest gratitude, we thank every person who worked so hard over the past two years to make the book a reality. The 12 bios were created by two widow writers from the MWC Book Club, and Modern Widows Club Founder Carolyn Moor shares about how each widow inspired her as a mentor, leader, and advocate. A dedicated, hard-working team — project managers, writers, editors, proofreaders, fact checkers, beta readers, designer, and publisher — brought us to the finish line. This book would not be possible without each and every one of you.
MWC SPECIAL EVENT
A Remarkable Gathering for Widows and Daughters of Widows
Taking that first big step in a “new me” direction in widowhood can be hard, painful, and scary. But it’s also an opportunity to face fears head-on, to acknowledge and embrace our own strength, courage, and determination.
Over the course of one extraordinary weekend at our Widow Empowerment Event, you’ll connect with those who truly “get it.” Join insightful sessions and presentations and absorb the supportive and loving widow wisdom that surrounds you.
“St. Louis will be my third time attending WEE. Each time I go, I learn something new about myself, something that helps me focus on my personal growth in widowhood, on the life I want to live. The first time I attended, I was so scared. I almost didn’t get on the airplane. I’d only been widowed for a year, and I only knew a few people there from meeting them on Zoom. But I’d made a commitment to myself to choose forward movement in widowhood. I’m so glad I went. WEE helps me recognize and tap into the power that I know is inside myself to build and once again live a joyful life.” – L.R., MWC Wister (widow + sister)
Whether you’re a first-time WEE attendee or will be joining us again, after this weekend you will know more about yourself and the healthy widowhood process.
ADVENTURE TRAVEL
Embracing Growth Through Adventure Travel
Stepping out of your comfort zone and challenging yourself can be difficult. In widowhood, your self-esteem and confidence may feel especially fragile because your #1 supporter isn’t here to cheer you on.
Although at times it may feel like the last thing you want or need, it’s important to work towards challenging yourself in every phase of widowhood. When you step outside your routine and begin exploring new experiences, your life can be rocked!
Modern Widows Club offers many ways to connect, find camaraderie, and build lifelong friendships, including our communities, clubs, and special events. We’re excited to announce another opportunity for you to transcend boundaries and say “yes” to new things: adventure travel.
Modern Widows Club, in collaboration with AdventureWomen, invites you to create new connections with other like-minded women — and yourself! — as you embrace the great outdoors and explore the world.
These life-changing journeys are active explorations in a small, welcoming, and safe group. You’ll meet new people (including connecting with local women) and challenge yourself with physical activity. Full of empowering discoveries, and in a range of activity levels, the trips are carefully crafted to push you outside the box and do things you never thought you could.
To learn more about adventure travel, click below.
Not looking to do adventure travel? Sign up for the MWC Travel Club and join your Wisters (widow + sisters) for a variety of domestic and international trips, excursions, getaways, and cruises!
WELLNESS WINDOW
How to Strengthen as We Age
By Tara Gidus Collingwood, MS, RDN, CSSD, ACSM-CPT
The stats don’t lie. The National Institutes of Health have determined that adults lose approximately 3-8% muscle per decade after the age of 30. Once you hit 60 years old, the loss happens even more quickly.
But this is ONLY if you don’t USE them! If you work your muscles regularly you won’t lose them at all — and in fact you can even gain muscle as you age instead of losing it. At the age of 48, I am stronger and have more muscle than I had at 28!
With more muscle mass, you burn more fat, reduce risk of diabetes, have lower blood pressure, improve cardiovascular health, have lower risk of injury (especially from falls), and improve body image and self-esteem. With over 600 muscles in the human body, they are all important to our movement and ability to do everyday tasks, every single day.
Click below to continue reading Tara’s article.
Tara Gidus Collingwood is a Registered Dietitian Nutritionist, Certified Personal Trainer, and fellow Wister. You can find her at dietdiva.net.
#WEE2023
Meet Our WEE 2023 Speakers!
Throughout August on Facebook and YouTube, join Modern Widows Club Founder Carolyn Moor LIVE for conversations with our WEE 2023 speakers!
These discussions are a special opportunity to learn more about our dynamic speakers, the powerful work they do, and the topics they’ll be discussing at WEE 2023 in St. Louis, Missouri, September 22–24.
The next interview is tomorrow, August 4 at 12:00pm ET with Tara Gidus Collingwood, The Diet Diva (and our “Wellness Window” columnist). Then on Tuesday, August 8 at 5:00pm ET, meet Christi Andringa, Speaker, Writer, and High Performance Coach.
To learn dates and times for the other upcoming live conversations with our WEE 2023 speakers, please follow us on social media, and check in regularly! Facebook | Instagram | LinkedIn | YouTube | Twitter
To learn more about WEE 2023, or to view the agenda, click below.
MWC BOOK CLUB
Join Us for Our August Book Club
Our virtual Book Club for widows meets on Zoom the third Monday of each month. Our next meeting is August 21 at 8pm ET. We’ll be discussing A Widow’s Story by Joyce Carol Oates.
An acclaimed book about love and loss, A Widow’s Story is an intimate, achingly personal memoir about the unexpected death of Raymond Smith, the author’s husband of 45 years.
This is a moving tale of life and death, of love and grief. It illuminates one woman’s struggle to comprehend life without the partnership that had sustained and defined her for nearly 50 years.
Click below to sign up for our Book Club, then join us August 21 for a thoughtful discussion.