Less than a week after snowballs melted in my gloved palm, I’m stretched out in a lounge chair, watching late January sunlight paint the distant mountain in watercolors. The morning air in Austin still carries winter’s bite, but the sun promises 70 degrees by noon. It’s warmer here than in Florida, but in a few days Florida will return to its sunny self. A cardinal flashes crimson against the live oak’s winter-bare branches, while somewhere in the distance, a tractor hums its morning song across the back 40.
This is the kind of morning that reminds you that being alive is a gift worth unwrapping slowly. The kind that makes you question why we spend so many precious hours under fluorescent lights when God’s own lightbulb is putting on a free light show.
Time Flies
I’m shocked that our first month of the year has already passed. Time slides by these days, faster than a rattler disappearing under a rock. One minute you’re making resolutions over champagne, next thing you know you’re watching Valentine’s chocolates go on clearance.
My grandmother used to tell me that the years speed up as you age, back when I was too busy being immortal to believe it could ever happen to me. Now I’m watching my hands turn into my father’s, and that face in the mirror has my grandfather’s smile lines.
Forced to Think
After last week’s unfortunate funeral for a friend, I’ve been rethinking my longevity plan. Am I doing enough? Am I going overboard? It appears my routine of supplements, strength training, stretching, and diet is working. But Thursday’s checkup with my MD buddy brought unexpected good news — grip strength matching guys 20 years younger, lung capacity of a 30-year-old, and all markers aced. Though he did mention I should plan financially for triple digits. Just got to dodge those buses.
Making Changes
Here’s the thing about aging: It’s not the enemy we make it out to be. It’s more like a dance partner who’s going to lead whether you like it or not. The trick isn’t fighting the dance; it’s learning the steps. That’s why my phone spends its nights in the kitchen now, far from my bedroom’s sacred sleep space. It’s why I chase that morning light like a cat after a laser pointer, and why my standing desk looks like something from a sci-fi movie. Staying vibrant and healthy has a lot to do with a lot of little things.
The Fountain of Youth
The real fountain of youth isn’t about popping pills or chasing miracle cures. It’s about staying in the game. It’s one of the reasons I host weekly model painting sessions on Wednesday nights, so I can make sure that I’m getting a dose of a social prescription at least once a week, so I can share laughs, stories, and keep my brain sharp with the challenge of painting portraits from life. It’s why I’m adding more artist retreats and painting trips when people younger than me are cutting back.
Keep ’Em Younger
My goal is to always have more social connections than a switchboard operator and move more in a day than most folks do in a week. The scientists say this kind of social butterfly behavior is better for longevity than any supplement, though I take about 30 a day. Something about how laughing with friends oils your DNA better than olive oil ever could (though it’s remarkably good for you and you should drink a liter of the pure stuff a day.). My grandmother used to say, “Make sure to make a lot of younger friends, because you’ll outlive all of the ones your age.” It was great advice, and unfortunately is ringing true. I’ve lost four good friends in the last 10 days, but I have tons of friends half my age.
Don’t Go Slow!
I’m not trying to outrun death — that’s a fool’s marathon. In fact, the key is to be ready for it, excited about the next chapter. What I’m after is the kind of life where I can still drop to the ground to pick up guitar picks that have fallen without effort, groaning, or pain. Researchers say deciding to “slow down” is like setting a 10-year timer on your life. So I keep moving — playing pickleball and basketball with my daughter, lifting weights until it hurts, working out till I’m breathless. MCT oil and lion’s mane in my coffee, daily intermittent fasting, avoiding my sugar addiction to keep my glucose from spiking, and taking peptides — it all adds up.
Here’s the truth: We’re not just trying to add years to our lives – we’re trying to add life to our years.
Maybe if we keep our phone radiation out of our bedrooms to keep our sleep pristine, we lift enough weights that it’s a struggle, and we work out till we can hardly breathe, eat the perfect diet, nurture enough friendships to fill a small concert hall, and keep moving like we’ve got ants in our pants, we’ll still be chasing dreams well into our hundreds.
Staying Vital
There is no retirement for me. Have you seen the statistics on what happens after retirement? I work hard to stay busy and to mentally keep up with the brilliant 30-year-olds I surround myself with in my business. I do my best to surprise them with an occasional “How did he know that?” moment. This is why I read like a madman, continue to attend conferences and learning events, and take a half dozen or more courses a year online. Again, it all adds up
So now my phone spends its nights in splendid isolation down the hall, like a teenager who’s been grounded. And wouldn’t you know it? I’m sleeping deeper than a philosopher at a calculus lecture. Sleep is the number one anti-aging drug. The more you can get, the more your brain recovers. My next step is to stop all screen time one hour before sleepytime.
Learning from Experts
But here’s the thing about trying to stay young — it’s not about popping more supplements than a health food store’s inventory. Sure, Harvard longevity expert Dr. David Sinclair (who I suspect has a portrait aging in his attic somewhere) talks about NAD+, berberine, and resveratrol with the enthusiasm of a kid describing ice cream flavors. I do exactly what he says, but between you and me, I think the real fountain of youth is getting our weight under control and just refusing to sit still long enough for time to catch up with us.
Staying vital is a full-time job. It’s the hardest work I’ve ever done, but the reward is bigger than the rewards of employment. More time with family and seeing my own kids age, and being there for the special moments in their lives is the best gift I can give all of us. It’s never too late for new New Year’s resolutions. After all, it’s still January for a couple more days.
Eric Rhoads
PS: This year for Valentine’s Day, replace that box of chocolates with a walk in the park. Our loved ones prefer our attention over calories, but if you must, get DARK chocolate.
Valentine’s Day is the deadline to sign up for the Plein Air Convention in Lake Tahoe and Reno before the price increase. This is expected to be the biggest we’ve ever done, probably because it’s the most beautiful place we’ve ever gone. It’s 75 or more instructors teaching plein air painting, (including pre-convention workshops from landscape legend Scott Christensen and Joseph Zbukvic, the world’s best watercolorist, making a rare appearance from Australia. We also have a Plein Air Basics course for newbies. There are FIVE stages, a giant Expo Hall, and we all go painting together daily. It’s the world’s largest paint-out, and painting with your friends is a gas! Sign up at PleinAirConvention.com.
PS 2: I’m feeling pretty guilty. I flew back to Austin to host my annual Watercolor Live online event, which had record attendance from 20 countries and every state. My gym is in my garage, which, though heated, could not keep up with the unexpected frigid temps, so I missed a week of workouts, and I regret it. But I’m back to it now that it’s warmer.
Watercolor Live was a giant success, and I’m grateful that people have come back five years in a row and brought their friends. I learn new things every year.
PS 3: My next online event is Acrylic Live in March. Hundreds have already signed up.
PS 4 On February 9 I’ll be hosting my first WINTER ESCAPE retreat in St. Augustine, Florida, which promises to be warm by then. It’s sold out, but there are still seats at my spring Adirondack Publisher’s Invitational retreat and Fall Color Week in Door County, Wisconsin, with some of the best color scenery in America. Sign up soon, though. And stay tuned; I’m about to announce another big painting trip.
I like your Sunday Coffee writings…you may be talking in the manner of an observing painter’s brush.
Myself, I’ve been painting for decades, mostly watercolor. Also had an early wave of throwing & handbuilding with high-fire clay.
(4 yrs. at Pewabic Pottery -in the days when it offered college credit courses). Also studied/trained in Japanese woodprint for 6 yrs.
During my clay period I taught 25 years visual art in elementary public schools. Your statement about staying active & social is soooo true.
I too work out regularly in one-hour sessions at home, follow the full sleep rule, eat safe with wide variety of foods (no fast foods),
still ski some in northern Michigan, and stay social with friends, family, & art buddies at model sessions & painting landscapes outdoors.
We may be in a duration race!
Great Pep-talk! Again I feel like your comments are uncannily relevant to a supplement taking, biking oldie here (you have some new supplements on me, I must say). I attend a drop-in Painting class, as well: partly to remind myself that I can say or do things that are relevant to my kid’s generation. Thanks so much for the weekly encouragement!
Loved your loud and very clear message. A life well lived and I ditto so much of your message. Can’t believe I will be 85 next month and loving it. I usually walk three miles a day and love being out of doors. Being a painter never gets old. We’re always learning and in the moment. No worries and lots of sleep and everything you just mentioned keep us youngsters.
HI, I am trying to find out if you have my correct address for Acrylics Live 2025 before you send out the vip pack. Sharon Vinson 1107 NW 3rd street, Abilene, Kansas 67410 When I did Watercolor Live, I lived in WY but have moved.