You Are Never Too Old to Pursue a Dream

One woman finds meaning in her senior years through writing.

Dr. Susanne T. Eden Ed.D.

I never set out to write this book. As it turned out, I had no choice. I was compelled. So how did I, an 80-something-year-old woman with a long career in education, come to write a book about health and aging?

At age 60, serious chronic illness forced me to take early retirement to focus on my health. Initially I depended on mainstream medicine. Although I had excellent doctors, I came to understand that healing the physical body would only take me so far. Against the wisdom of the day, I began to look for practices that would address the whole self.

For the next 20 years I travelled an amazing journey, transitioning from “healing from the outside” to “healing from the inside.” I explored various complementary treatments that included massage therapy and acupuncture, all of which provided relief from symptoms, but this still wasn’t enough. What I was looking for was a holistic approach to address the root causes and allow me to live fully during this final stage of life.

My arduous journey through the maze of information and entrenched beliefs about health and aging became Healing from the Inside: Living Fully as You Age.

The journey of healing from the inside has no a formula. It’s a process unique to every traveler but, by offering my story to inspire others, along with practical tools that offer support, I believed I could save others the time and frustration this healing journey had cost me.

Initially, I rejected the idea of writing a book. At the age of 80, I felt I was too old and lacked the energy that a book demanded — or so I thought. In 2020, a friend with a newly minted degree in computer science suggested a blog. He assured me that it was easy. So I took on-line courses and enlisted professional help. Despite my efforts in creating a blog, it became clear that what needed to be said required more than a blog.

Gradually a conceptual framework for a book began to take shape and, although dreading the work, I grew increasingly fired up. During this period, I was going through a personal transformation as well as a major shift in understanding holistic healing. From a writing perspective so much was fomenting in my head and in my heart that writing coherently was a struggle.

But then I discovered the power of journal writing. What began as a gratitude journal soon morphed into what I call the “transformational journal” that involved writing for understanding — a way to discover who I am, how I got here, and who I’m meant to be. This process of reflection and writing eventually brought forth the book.

I wasn’t new to writing. In my early career as an educator, I worked in educational publishing and, after returning to the classroom, continued to serve as a writer and consultant for several companies. Since my days in publishing, however, everything had changed. I’d self-published a book in 2008 titled Play Works. Despite glowing reviews, without the marketing team that a publishing company provides, the book gathers dust.

Self-publishing may appear easy, but it’s not. For me, the writing process itself hasn’t changed. You can have a brilliant book, but if no one knows it’s out there, it’s doomed to anonymity. Amazon, the major distributor today, adds an estimated 250,000 to 300,000 books each month — the bulk of which are self-published. Unless someone has an established reputation, getting any attention for a self-published book is nearly impossible.

At the same time, I do have advice to offer for prospective writers:

1. Believe in yourself.Don’t let anyone, least of all yourself, diminish your passion for writing. Nothing defeats a writer more than self-criticism and fear of failure, disappointment, and self-doubt. There’s no right or wrong way to write a book. Believe in yourself and honor your individual style and process.

2. Treat writing as a non-linear process. Some authors and some genre may benefit from doing an advanced story board or detailed outline. For me, the process was much more fluid. You don’t have to know the details before you begin. Writing feels like a living thing deep within that twists and turns until it finally surfaces. Writing doesn’t respond to command. Writing flows. I never imagined that this book would take six years from start to publication. The more depth you put into the work, the longer it’s likely to take.

3. Take up writing at any age.We’re so conditioned to believe that once we turn 60 it’s all downhill. But I can’t believe what I’ve accomplished and continue to do so. For me, the satisfaction of publishing this book represents a major achievement. Writing this book has enabled me to learn and grow intellectually as well as spiritually. I look back at the anxiety I felt about attempting such an ambitious project and the times when ideas seemed to have deserted me and I’m grateful that I never gave up.

The process of writing Healing from the Inside has given me a purpose and will remain a source of inspiration and support for those who need it long after my voice is silent. The number of copies sold is irrelevant.

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Dr. Susanne T. Eden spent her career providing leadership to educators across Canada as a teacher, author, consultant and staff developer. Among her achievements, she is a past President of the Canadian Association for Young Children and past Chair of the Board of Governors, Seneca College, Toronto Ontario. Now 87, she shares her personal story of healing and personal transformation in her book, Healing from the Inside: Living Fully as You Age (Sept. 13, 2025), inspiring others to approach the gift of aging with optimism and purpose. Learn more at www.susanneeden.com.

Healing from the Inside: Living Fully as You Age

As you age, the phrase “the best is yet to come” doesn’t have to just be a slogan. It can be reality. Aging, although there are certain inescapable challenges involved, doesn’t have to mean decline. With a proactive and holistic approach to health and wellbeing, you can live more fully in your golden years. Susanne Eden is living proof: a senior who took early retirement due to debilitating chronic illness and damaging medication, she now has regained much of her vibrancy and enjoys a level of energy and zest that she hasn’t felt for years.

Eden argues that placing trust in medicine that treats physical illness to the exclusion of the inner self is not the answer. She describes a path to healing that involves more than pills and procedures. It is called healing from the inside. Now, she wants to share what she’s learned with you.

If you are willing to take responsibility for your health and wellbeing, the strategies described in Healing From the Inside have the potential to improve the quality of your life at all levels, physical, mental, and spiritual.

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Category: Contemporary Women Writers, How To and Tips