Category Archives: Getting Old

Djokovic Plays Erikson, Round 7

Posted on September 19, 2011 by hessd

I hate to abandon Roger Federer after so long, but since he lost to Novak Djokovic in the semifinals, I will have to examine Erikson’s Stage 8 with Djokovic in mind.  He is the one who actually made it to Stage 8.  … Continue reading →

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Federer Plays Erikson, Round 6

Posted on September 17, 2011 by hessd

It has taken me a little while to recover from the semifinals.  Even if you don’t follow tennis, you probably know now that Novak Djokovic won the U. S. Open and since you know how tournaments work, you know that … Continue reading →

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Federer Plays Erikson, Round 5

Posted on September 10, 2011 by hessd

In the musical, 1776, John Dickinson of Pennsylvania objects to the wording of Thomas Jefferson’s Declaration of Independence, which was before the Second Continental Congress for debate.  Jefferson had referred to King George as a “tyrant.”  King George, Mr. Dickinson … Continue reading →

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Federer Plays Erikson, Round 4

Posted on September 8, 2011 by hessd

Roger Federer had absolutely no trouble with Juan Monaco last night.  Did Monaco have a bad game?  Did it start too late?  Is Roger finally getting focused on the tournament?  He had better start to get focused, because he has … Continue reading →

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Federer Plays Erikson, Round 3

Posted on September 5, 2011 by hessd

The first week of the U. S. Open tennis championship is drawing to a close and we won’t know anything more about my guy until Monday, when he will be playing Juan Monaco of Venezuela. If you have not been … Continue reading →

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Federer Plays Erikson, Round 2

Posted on September 2, 2011 by hessd

I’ve been using Roger Federer’s progress through the U. S. Open to pursue my idea that Erik Erikson’s famous set of developmental stages can be thought of as a tournament in some ways.  To compensate for the fact that there … Continue reading →

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Federer Plays Erikson, Round 1

Posted on August 31, 2011 by hessd

The U. S. Open tennis tournament has begun.  This is my first chance since Wimbledon to play with my idea that the seven rounds of the tournament are (almost) like the eight stages in Erik Erikson’s developmental scheme—in a narrow … Continue reading →

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The Erikson Tournament: Stage 7 Explored

Posted on August 30, 2011 by hessd

This is going to be a busy sort of post.  I recommend it to people who are thinking of retiring, to fans of Erik Erikson’s epigenetic stages, and to anyone who has been following these posts and who thinks I … Continue reading →

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The VIP Treatment

Posted on August 16, 2011 by hessd

I’m going to take a look today at practicing being old.  You can laugh, but it isn’t as simple an idea as it appears.  I have placed it in my set of categories as “Getting Old, but being old isn’t … Continue reading →

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The Two Tournaments

Posted on July 27, 2011 by hessd

Today, I want to follow up the perspective on aging and dying that I called “rising above decline.”  As I promised, I will be using a tennis tournament to point to the differences that strike me. But first, a word … Continue reading →

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