REVIVING DECEMBER

The times they are a-changin’.

Kelli Joan Bennett

and

Timothy S. Warren

Dec 21, 2024

CONTENTS
· What’s reviving us?
· Find Your Superpower
· Quote & Question
· Longevity Documentary Alert

What’s reviving us this month?

Change. It’s happening! Whether we want it to or not. In our body. In our life. In our world. We can feel change coming in our bones. Literally as well as figuratively these days. Hello DEXA scan. Our strategy is to steer all this change in the direction we want, hope and dream it to go.

Come gather ’round people
Wherever you roam
And admit that the waters
Around you have grown
And accept it that soon
You’ll be drenched to the bone
If your time to you is worth savin’
Then you better start swimmin’ or you’ll sink like a stone
For the times they are a-changin’

—Bob Dylan (Lyrics from The Times They Are A-Changin’)

We see rapid change happening in our five year old daughter. It is undeniably obvious. She wakes up bigger, longer and stronger and a new and improved, deeper and more complex version of herself every morning. Not only externally as she physically grows but also in her cognitive development and awareness of the world. It is truly remarkable to witness. At the same time, nothing is simple anymore. With every layer she puts down in her psychological schema the more expansive she becomes. Every interaction requires more thoughtfulness, deeper comprehension and greater nuance in our communication. She keeps us on our toes. Her change requires us to change and grow. We must evolve. As individuals, as parents, as a family.

Oh, to consciously evolve. Therein lies the true work.

New Health Programs to Explore

SUPERPOWER

The world’s most advanced digital clinic to help you live longer, prevent disease, and feel your best.

We learned about Superpower on X from Dr. Robert Lufkin, MD, a medical professor at UCLA and USC as well as an anti-sugar advocate and author of Lies I Taught in Medical School. He is on the Superpower Health Advisory Board. This in another option that, similar to Function (featured last month in the November Newsletter), is still in Beta mode. This one intrigues us. They are taking their offerings a step further than Function and it appears to offer a doctor-patient relationship of sorts given you will have access to a variety of longevity type prescriptions you could not get on your own. We were thinking about trying out Function first, but we are now considering starting with Superpower to see what it is like. We will keep you posted. The price point is comparable to Function at $42/month or $499 a year. SUPERPOWER

GATLAN (*For Men Only)**

Don’t let the old man in the door!

This new program is for men only from actor Josh Duhamel. He is sharing what he personally went through and wants to help other men navigate similar aging related issues. We discovered this one from Dr. Lufkin as well. He is developing it along with Josh. It is really only offering two products, oral testosterone and Glp-1 weight loss drugs. Seems to be an interesting angle. These are prescription based products thus he has partnered with an actual MD to make them available. It appears you fill out an intake form, get some blood work and then, if you qualify, you have the option to start either testosterone and/or GLP-1 inhibitors (Ozempic type meds). Not clear on the price points. It is an interesting concept. Not terribly comprehensive for overall health. Very narrow lens but could be useful if specific to your needs. GATLAN

RESPIN from Halle Berry (***For Women Only)

The Journey Continues.

Halle has decided to make perimenopause and menopause a no-shame, friendly, household name. Yay, Halle! We are here for it. Enough with the shaming and old school nonsense around earning a badge of honor for suffering through “the change” without any support. Or somehow you won the menopause lottery because you didn’t have any external symptoms therefore it was no big deal. It was a big deal. An entire organ system shutting down and grinding to a halt is, indeed, wreaking havoc on the inside whether or not there are any external symptoms—blood sugar rising, bone loss, cardiovascular disease, loss of libido, dry, painful vaginal tissue. All not nothing. This one seems similar to Gatlan where you join the membership and receive support and discounted prices to products Halle recommends. It’s not clear if there is extensive testing offered as well. Or it is more emotional support and all natural products? We are still investigating it as it rolls out. RE-SPIN

Quote & Question of the Month

“Each of us came here to do something. And as I see it, true health has nothing to do with diagnosing a disease or prolonging life just for the sake of it; it’s about finding out who we are, paying attention to how we’re called to grow and change, and listening to what makes our heart sing.”

—Gladys McGarey, MD (from The Well-Lived Life)

How are you called to grow and change?

A CALLING. An inner urge or strong impulse, especially one believed to be divinely inspired.1 Ahhhh, the power of motivation to create change and growth. It is such a comfortable trap to stop growing, changing, evolving just because we reach a certain age or gain a certain level of success in fill in the blank. We feel this deeply in our bones as well because we have found ourselves behind the metal bars of feeling stuck oh so many times in our lives. What if, similar to our five year old daughter, we wake up a whole new and improved version of ourselves? What if we choose to evolve every day? What if, instead of slowing down after 50, we speed up our rate of evolution to change, develop and grow? It is worth contemplating, reviewing and reminding yourself of how you are called to grow and change.

We’ll go first…

Kelli’s Response:

How am I called to grow and change? Oh my. Deep breath. Well, that feels like a big one to try to answer off the cuff. Where to start? Personally, professionally, physically, mentally, spiritually? YES, to be called to grow and change in all of the above in some way, please! But what and how, specifically, am I called to grow and change? I need to do a deep dive to land on specific answers for each category. Off the top of my head, I can make this blanket statement: I long for change. Deep, real, substantive, meaningful change. Oh, to keep one’s core values but ditch all the crap that is not working for us or serving us! I am beyond tired of all of my own ancient BS. Thought patterns. Habits. Automatic responses. Limiting belief systems. It is time to grow. It is time to change.

This question also brings up a moment for me that happened four years, three months and 15 days ago. I woke up on September 6, 2020, from a dream where we had moved back east to Tim’s hometown of Darien, CT. Where we filmed our 2016 documentary High School 9-1-1 on Darien EMS—Post 53, the teen run ambulance service Tim served in all through his high school years. It felt right. A calling to change our geographical location. More than likely fueled by the fact that we were in the middle of a pandemic, and we couldn’t go outside because we were also in the middle of crazy California wildfires that had the air so filled with smoke, you couldn’t breathe. Plus, I had a 10 month old with zero familial support or childcare. I was insanely sleep deprived and a bit desperate for change. It felt exciting. We quickly found a home we were interested in, and Tim’s parents took us via FaceTime to look at it. We loved it. We put a bid in. We lost it by 52k. We would go on to lose the next one we bid on. And the next one. And the next. We are still in the same home. It did not happen. Or, at least, it has not happened yet. I wrestle with what, exactly, it all means. I do still feel like a geographical change is coming. But for now, we are trusting the “No’s”. I will grow where I am planted.

Tim’s Response:

In my last post I wrote, “if I’m not working, I’m dying”, which upon reflection brings me to how I’m called to grow and change: Creating a work/life balance. I’ve never had it if I’m being honest. When I’m in production, I tend to be in 24/7 work mode. Six hours of sleep (if I’m lucky), the phone and computer always within arm’s reach. When one show ends, I’ll roll to the next show or, at the very least, trying to make what’s potentially next happen. Even when I take a vacation, I find my mind thinking about work…which defeats the whole purpose of a vacation.

With our daughter, it never has been more apparent the need to really be present with her in everything we do together and not let my mind (which it often does) drift back to work. “What do I need to do?”, “What hasn’t been done?”, “What email hasn’t been sent?”, “What phone call needs to be returned.” The reality is that my work ethic (obsession) isn’t going away but in 2025 I want to (I’m going to) establish a stricter “disconnect” schedule…and stick to it. In the end, I know it will actually make me more productive and a better producer but, more importantly, a better husband and Dada.

Longevity Documentary Alert

We have been keeping an eye out on the development of this documentary for a few years now. They have finally finished the film and have released it for rent or to buy on Apple TV and Prime Video. We just watched it. We found it a bit dry. Lots of talking heads and it never drops you into anyone’s actual story. However, it was super informative about what the latest longevity science is up to. We deem it worth checking out. Longevity Hackers Documentary

Until next year, we wish you a love-filled Holiday Season and a Healthy, Happy Age!

With love and gratitude,

—Kelli & Tim