COMP CLOSED | Book Giveaway | The Pomegranate Journal

How do you live in an older body while remaining open to the fullness of life?

This book is for anyone, irrespective of age, who is curious about growing old and what may lie ahead:

• the need for language that embraces the joy, the wonder, richness and freedom of the ageing experience as well as the challenges.
• why ageing is like living in a foreign country.
• the power of passion and creativity to take the body beyond its limits.
• memory loss is not a fixed thing.
• new faculties that emerge as we age: intuition, creative problem solving, more emotional control as the limbic system grows calmer with age.
• cultures that respect and even revere older people, including Juliet’s experience of having her feet kissed by a young Indian man.

‘The old resources and strategies forged in my youth, like going to the gym, seeking distractions, or believing in invincibility no longer work. Fortunately, the pomegranate is giving me new seeds of wisdom. One of these seeds is sustaining me right now.’

Juliet Batten, author of Growing into Wisdom and Spirited Ageing takes you into the intimacy of her own experience of ageing from seventy-five to seventy-seven. Along with the challenges, she shares the gifts and surprises of growing older, all held by the unfolding metaphor of the pomegranate.

‘This is a beautiful book, combining the page-turning quality of a good novel with the insights and wisdom of a writer, teacher, and seeker after truth.’ — Elspeth Sandys, novelist and playwright

‘A gentle and bravely honest record of one woman’s experience of “getting old”. With an artist’s eye and a psychotherapist’s insight, Juliet Batten creates a work that is part-journal, part-guide book and part-poem as she seeks out the solace of nature.’ — Fiona Farrell, author

Juliet Batten is a multiple award-winning writer and the author of ten non-fiction books, including two memoirs, three about the seasons of nature, and two about ageing from midlife to old age.

She has taught English, Women’s Studies, and Environmental Studies at the University of Auckland, and was a director of the Queen Elizabeth II National Trust for ten years.

As an artist she has held many solo exhibitions and coordinated collaborative art projects. She also has the advantage of being a few years ahead of the baby boomers, which allows her to show the way for others.

Her writing, teaching, and art reflect a deep connection with nature and seasonal change, as well as commitment to spiritual growth through all stages of life. Growing into Wisdom (Tandem Press) provides a guide through midlife and Spirited Ageing provides a blueprint for positive growth in later years.

Her books A Cup of Sunlight (2005) and Dancing with the Seasons (2010) won the Ashton Wylie Award for an unpublished manuscript. Spirited Ageing (2013) was a finalist in the Ashton Wylie Award for a published book. Sun, Moon, and Stars: seasonal celebrations for children and families, tamariki and whanau was runner up for the published book award in 2020. There’s more about Juliet at https://www.julietbatten.co.nz/about-me/

Terms and conditions

1. 1. You must be a GrownUps member and receive our newsletter to be eligible to win.
   2. Competition closes on the 3rd May 2022, winners will be notified via email by 5th May 2022.
   3. As a competition winner, you must confirm you have received our email notifying you of the win within three days. If we have not heard from you in three days the prize will be redrawn, and your prize will be forfeit.
   4. Winners are drawn at random by the GrownUps administration team.
   5. GrownUps employees and family are not eligible to enter.
   6. By entering the giveaway, you approve for GrownUps to use your name on social media as winner of the competition.
   7. One entry per person.
   8. Prize in non transferrable.
   9. You must reside in New Zealand – the prize will only be posted within New Zealand.
   10. You must be over 50 years of age to enter, check your details are correct in your membership dashboard.