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“And God said, Let there be light: and there was light. And God saw the light, that it was good . . .”
Genesis 1:3-4 |
Every website has a story behind its creation. Here is the story behind
Viva * Sparkle!The inspiration for Viva*Sparkle was a combination of multi-generational influences, the 2009 Singularity Conference, a visit to the Grossman Wellness Clinic founded by Terry Grossman, M.D. and feedback to an earlier website: letsgetyoungagain.com. I have long been interested in longevity. In the early 1980s I read and followed some of the suggestions in Life Extension: A Practical Scientific Approach (Warner Books, 1982) by Durk Pearson and Sandy Shaw. But that approach, though it probably has had an effect on my life, gradually evaporated from my consciousness. I have been fortunate to have ancestors, at least on my father’s side, who lived into their late 80’s and 90’s, although some, particularly males, developed dementia and heart problems in later life. The natural selection on my mother’s side also contributed some evidence of long life, but the poverty of Welsh coal miners also led to early deaths through trauma and lack of medical treatments. My father only recently passed away and until the last few days he clung to life with an intensity and fervor, that in spite of seriously declining capabilities, reflected an intense love for life. My son, Adrian, also has this love of life and a desire to live for a very long time. He also (fortunately for me) harbors a belief that he can gradually educate his father and so he continually sends me self help books and articles and prods me to action. Some of the books he has sent me have been particularly influential — these appear on this site with some of my comments regarding them. A few years ago Adrian gave me a very special gift. He had recently (about 2005) visited the Grossman Wellness Clinic and as a result gave me a Christmas gift of a session at the clinic. Although interested in longevity, I had by this time become rather inured to the likelihood of an aging process in which I would deteriorate physically and mentally and eventually die at an age of 80 or so years (if I lived that long). Indeed, that process was apparently already moving forward with the development of heart disease which led to stents being inserted in my heart in October of 2004. I demurred and put off going to Denver to visit the clinic. Adrian persevered and would bring up the matter of ‘the gift’ every year as well as giving me more to read on subjects related to it. Finally in the fall of 2009 he suggested that we both attend the Singularity Conference in New York. I was close by in Saratoga Springs, NY and thought this would be a good chance to have a little ‘quality time’ with my son while seeming to respond to his need to improve me. Attending a conference with Adrian is always a treat — he seems to know all the important people and they seem to know him. We always have invites to the best parties. This event proved to be pivotal in my evolution towards a firmer commitment to longevity action. Let me expand. The night before the conference we attended a reception at Peter Thiel’s penthouse near Central Park. Here Adrian pointed out Aubrey de Grey, whom he knew of, but had never met. We introduced ourselves and Aubrey gave me a most lucid and succinct ‘sales pitch’ on why I should take action on promoting my personal longevity. Here, too, I met Peter Nygard and his son Kai. Kai and Adrian had been friends for a few years and they both harbored a concern for their father’s health and the need for their fathers to do something about their personal longevity programs. I think it is fair to say that Peter and I were equally skeptical of our son’s suggestions! The next day at a break I was talking with Peter Nygard when he asked me about doing something about longevity. I suggested that he speak with Aubrey and he said he had, and then repeated his question to me. So I mentioned that Adrian wanted me to go to Terry’s clinic and Peter asked me why I hadn’t. So I asked him why he hadn’t and the upshot was that we each agreed to go if the other would. An undercurrent in all this was the fact that Peter’s mother and my father were nearing the end of their lives with very similar physical deterioration. Both were in the care of the Canadian health care system. We both admired our respective parents and were concerned that for all the medical and financial resources available, this deterioration was still occurring and there was no seeming way of halting and/or reversing it. Why couldn’t laparoscopic surgery replace defective aortic valves? Why couldn’t stem cell treatments help alleviate mental and heart deterioration problems? Why, why, why . . . ? A few weeks later we both went to the Wellness Clinic for the day and went through a one day evaluation process. As a result of this two things happened for me personally:
And that, briefly, is the first part of the story of why this site was created. If Aubrey and Terry are right, I will be here for many years to extend and improve its content. So I thank them and also Peter Nygard, his son Kai and my son Adrian. This led to the creation of letsgetyoungagain.com However, it turns out that much of the material is of interest to people who are much younger than I am — people who perhaps do not ‘warm’ to a suggestion that there is a need to ‘get young again’ — they are young! So in addition to serving those who want/need to get young again it seems appropriate to serve those who want to stay that way! And with my returning youth, I find that I am also gaining a much stronger sense of wanting to live — a ‘viva’. And not only that, having a life with continually more ‘sparkle’ — There you have it: VIVA*SPARKLE Hoping that this site will help YOU be HEALTHIER, HAPPIER and have continued YOUTH! © Kenneth Scott 2011, 2012, 2013, 2014 |
