• I. Discovery


• 1. Heartsong


• 2. Strategies, Tactics, and Counting


• 3. The Family Body


• II. Parallel Universes of Time and Space


• 4. The Crucible of Time


• 5. Uncharted Territory


• 6. Portrait of Healing


• III. New Landscapes


• 7. Creative Detective


• 8. Coals and Diamonds


• 9. Mirror Mirror


• IV. Process of Uncertainty


• 10. Illness as Partner: Intimacy, Vulnerability, Love and Anger


• 11. Grand Rounds: Listening and Hearing as Healing Resources of Creativity


• 12. Elements of Style for Doctor/Patient Communication


• V. Congruence


• 13. Heartsong to the Inexplicable: A Calendar of Days


• 14. Eating Fried Eggs


• 15. The Phoenix and the Fairy


• VI. Epilogue


• A Note on the Future of the Arts in Healthcare


• Personal Acknowledgments


• Professional Acknowledgments


• Appendix


• Timeline


• Boomer Study Summary


• What is a Lucid Moment?


• Gene Cohen Bibliography


• Endnotes


• Further Reading


• About the Authors


• Afterword

Wendy L. Miller is the Co-founder of the Create Therapy Institute, an Integrative Arts Medicine Studio, and the Executive Director of Projects on Intergenerational Communication at the Washington, DC Center on Aging. Gene D. Cohen was the founding director of the Center on Aging, Health and Humanities at George Washington University in Washington, DC where he held the postions of Professor of Health Sciences and Professor of Psychiatry.

Through their scientific research and clinical practice, husband and wife team Gene D. Cohen and Wendy L. Miller uncovered new clues about how the aging mind can build resilience and continue growth, even during times of grave illness, thus setting aside the traditional paradigm of aging as a time of decline. Sky Above Clouds tells the inside story of how attitude, community, creativity, and love shape a life, with or without health, even to our dying.