Dear Friends committed to living and aging consciously:

 Welcome to the Spring, 2026 edition of Conscious Eldering Inspiration and Resources; The Journal of the Center for Conscious Eldering. While it can be difficult in these times of many painful endings to see signs of renewal in our lives, the natural world reminds us that all of its beings, including we humans, has a never-ending potential for regeneration. All is cyclical, and beginnings always come after endings. When we are feeling depleted of life and hope we must seek renewal so we can positively contribute to beginnings that support all life on our planet. Our inner sap can, and must, rise again, so that we bring revitalized selves to the task of serving a world that urgently needs our gifts and our healthy energies. Allowing ourselves to become depleted serves no one.. 

May the articles and poetry in this Spring edition of our Journal support your connection with nature's energies, your capacity for awe, your remembrance what truly brings forty the best of your human potential, and your trust in the regenerative power of ending and loss. These are the themes of the four articles, all submitted by invitation, that we have included.

We suggest that you slowly and reflectively read and savor this edition of our Journal. May it be a meaningful resource for your growth. And may you experience the beauty of new life this Springtime.

Scroll down to find info about our

Fall 2026 Choosing Conscious Elderhood retreat

Read More of Ron Pevny's Writing on Substack

Ron will now periodically be posting his writing on Substack. He will not be charging for access to his articles. You do have to subscribe to his Substack, which you can do by going to: roncce.substack.com/subscribe

And please tell your friends about this opportunity to be inspired by meaningful writing about conscious eldering.

All that Glitters Is Not Gold

by Ron Pevny

In these confusing times of ever-accelerating technological change, I find myself often reflecting  upon the most important gifts we elders can leave to our descendants.  The archetypal role of the elders has since time immemorial been to use their wisdom, the fruit of their lifetimes of experience and growth, to teach the younger generations about those enduring values that support the best of human potential—those values that define our humanity regardless of ever-changing external circumstances. What follows are some of my reflections about those values.

I am amazed at the depth of emotion that has been arising in me as I become increasingly knowledgeable about the unprecedented power of Artificial Intelligence to both improve and degrade human wellbeing. Proponents of AI, ranging from the ultra-rich whose fortunes are tied to constantly pushing the limits of technology to teachers of spiritual growth who claim that it is the next step in human evolution, have no difficulty finding venues and eager ears for their perspectives. At the same time, the human spirit needs strong voices—voices passionately speaking with elder wisdom—who remind the modern world and our descendants of our inborn native intelligence and what constitutes true human flowering, in contrast to the threats to our humanity posed by unthinking embrace of all that glitters technologically.  It is not all gold. 

The work of the Center for Conscious Eldering has always been to remind us of our human potential and the necessity of having healthy relationship to our planet home, our human community, and our innate capabilities. This is the legacy I leave to future generations—my contribution to human wellbeing and evolution, As I attempt to understand the role of AI in both supporting and diminishing human wellbeing—very much a work in progress—in this article I offer several passionate reminders of what it means to embrace our native humanity and potential for growth.

We grow by taking time to mindfully create, write, and think matters and problems through for ourselves rather than always racing to AI to get answers or ideas or summarizations.. The process of our endeavoring and the satisfaction we get from completing our efforts is at least as important to our wellbeing as the product. I heard from someone recently offering (for a fee of course) to use AI to write articles for this journal on any topic of interest to older adults. I responded that words created by human beings carry energy and experience as well as information. I want my journal to touch hearts as well as minds. So no thanks.

We honor and feed our humanity by allowing ourselves to do things slowly and with presence rather than and living our lives as multi-taskers, always seeking ease and speed.  Just because AI helps us do things easier and quicker does not equate to serving our development as capable human beings. 

We cultivate our abilities to think creatively by giving ourselves space to daydream, be quiet, allow and move through boredom, carefully observe what is in our internal and external environment, and savor the often-subtle possibilities in each moment, rather than feeding the addiction to constant stimulation conditioned in us by technology’s devices. We cannot hear the subtle voice of our inner wisdom when our inner and outer lives are filled with noise.

We can choose to learn from, and be supported physically, emotionally, mentally and spiritually  by the natural world in which we are intrinsically imbedded rather than living increasingly virtual lives in a virtual world.  Today, at a time when unbridled technology more than ever is undermining what is natural in and around us, we need the healing, heart-opening energies of nature. And yet most of us spend countless hours indoors connected to our devices, further disconnecting us from what is natural in ourselves.

As we go about the daily tasks of life, such as shopping or banking, we can make the decision to prioritize interactions with other humans, which give energy and spice to life and serve as catalysts and mirrors for our growth. The interactions that are vital to human community are being replaced by (often stressful) interactions with AI on our phones and computers. We still have some choice.  Do we usually choose ease at the expense of human connection? 

It’s critical to remember that growth does not happen in isolation. We grow only by being pushed outside our comfort zones as we learn to better understand the strengths and weaknesses, needs and aspirations, of ourselves and others. If we are committed to growth in our elder years, we need kindred spirits to support and be supported by. Many participants in our conscious eldering retreats have teamed up afterwards to support each other in doing the challenging work of aging consciously. Imagine—Real committed human beings, with their strengths and flaws in a relationship of mutual respect and growth sharing their journeys!  As AI expands its hold on our psyches, do we choose to cultivate such real human relationships, or to have “relationship” with an AI bot, which is now being promoted by some, and which cannot share our experience of being truly human and requires little of us? 

Growing and developing wisdom are not the same as accumulating information, no matter how inspiring that may feel. For all Zoom’s benefits in providing a sense of connection and potentially useful information, talking to people and hearing spiritual teachers via small boxes on a computer screen is far from equivalent to sharing each other’s energies, personality dynamics, challenges, breakthroughs, experiences, and hugs while sitting with them in circle, face to face. Since the pandemic, I know that many people now won’t even consider in-person retreats or other growth experiences because they can “get the information, or do some practices, on Zoom.” Again, real growth and the development of our human wisdom require stepping outside our comfort zones. Stretching ourselves. Committing to prioritizing some growth experiences, if at all possible, in person with others.

As the world’s wisdom traditions have taught us since time immemorial, our minds have immense untapped potential. This age-old wisdom and more recent psychological breakthroughs have shown us numerous paths and practices to tap this potential. Our natural intelligence is readily available to us if we are willing to stretch beyond our perceived limits to discover and use it. The work of conscious eldering and many other pathways to genuine growth, is to help people learn to tap our innate intelligence in ways that support our planet’s ecosystems, thriving communities, and our obligation to bring forth the best of our humanity. The elder’s role is to help model for society commitment to the built-in natural potential of today’s and future generations and to stand up for those human values that must endure even as many of the enticing technological creations of the human mind threaten to undermine what is best in our humanity. It is our elder wisdom that can, and must, help modern society discern and support  what is truly golden in a landscape filled with ever-more pervasive and glittery fools gold.

Reclaiming Awe in These Times of Complexity:

Remembering What Is Larger Than Us

by Katia Petersen

Personal Reflection

Amid the noise and complexity of our era, awe restores proportion. This experience becomes a contemplative doorway into humility, gratitude, and reverence for life’s mystery. Whether encountered in nature, though music, silence, or relationship, awe reconnects us to the vastness from which we came and to which we belong. In cultivating awe, we strengthen resilience and remember that even in times of crisis and challenges, beauty remains.

Introduction

Awe is the experience of encountering something vast—something that stretches our usual frame of reference and gently rearranges our sense of self. Experiencing awe is often overlooked as an essential aspect of Spiritual Eldering. Awe invites us into moments of pure magic—through nature, beauty, creativity, or human connection—that soften the boundaries of the self and expand our sense of meaning. Research and lived wisdom alike show that awe strengthens compassion, resilience, and belonging. In later life, awe becomes less about seeking the extraordinary and more about learning to notice what has always been present, reminding us that we are part of something larger and still becoming. 

Awe in the Language of Spiritual Eldering

In the practice of Spiritual Eldering, awe becomes a quiet but profound teacher. It softens the edges of ego and loosens identities that have grown rigid over time. Those roles and labels that once helped us function, no longer tell the whole truth of who we are at this stage of our lives. Awe gently expands our perspective, moving us beyond fear, urgency, or scarcity, reminding us that life is larger, more mysterious, and more generous than any single chapter we have lived so far. Through awe, we are reconnected to meaning—not as an abstract idea, but as a lived experience. It restores a sense of belonging, to the earth, to one another, to the long arc of life itself. Awe helps us re-author our story beyond cultural narratives of productivity, decline, or usefulness, inviting us instead into a wider understanding of purpose that continues to unfold with age. Awe whispers a simple but powerful truth: you are part of something larger—and that larger story includes you.

For Sages (Elders) and Seekers alike, awe does not require extraordinary experiences. It often arrives through encounters that are already woven into daily life. It may emerge while standing beneath a wide sky, listening to the ocean, walking among trees, or noticing the turning of the seasons. It may arise through music, art, poetry, or moments of creative expression that open the heart. Awe is often present at life’s thresholds—birth and death, endings and beginnings—where certainty gives way to reverence. It can also be felt in acts of courage, kindness, or forgiveness, or in moments when we pause long enough to remember our life as a whole, not just as a series of tasks or events. In this way, awe becomes a companion through complexity. It helps us release regret without bypassing truth, allowing us to hold our lives honestly while softening self-judgment. Awe teaches us how to carry grief and gratitude together, without needing to resolve the tension between them. It strengthens our sense of continuity across generations, helping us recognize ourselves as both inheritors and stewards of wisdom. Perhaps awe helps us feel at home in not knowing—resting in mystery rather than rushing toward certainty.

Cultivating Awe as a Daily Practice

Cultivating awe as a daily practice does not require much time or effort. It begins with small acts of attention: a brief pause, each day to notice what touches your heart, what stirs within you, a walk taken without destination or agenda; listening to a piece of music as if it were a form of prayer. Awe, can also be awakened by recalling moments from our life story that once filled us with wonder, or by sitting quietly with a simple question such as, What still amazes me? Over time, these small practices strengthen our capacity for reverence and perspective. They help us meet the world—and ourselves—with greater presence, humility, and compassion. In the journey of Spiritual Eldering, awe is not an escape from the realities of aging or a denial of loss. It is a way of standing fully within life as it is, while remaining open to the vastness that surrounds and sustains us. Awe, in this sense, is something we grow into

.

Awe as the Beginning of Wisdom

For Abraham Joshua Heschel, awe is not a fleeting emotion. It is the foundation of wisdom itself. He shares that before we analyze, decide, or act, awe invites us to pause in reverence, and opens us to the mystery of being. Awe, in this sense, is about recognizing the depth of life that exceeds our understanding. As we age, awe becomes a teacher of humility. It helps us loosen our grip on certainty and control, inviting us into ethical presence and spiritual maturity. Awe reminds us that wisdom begins not with answers, but with inquiry and wonder.

Experiencing Awe Across the Lifespan 

From an early age, I was taught to notice the extraordinary woven into ordinary life and to pause long enough to realize that Awe was not something rare or distant; it lived in sunrise over my grandparents’ farm, in the quiet glow of sunsets before dinner, in the miracle of springtime growth, in the vast power of the ocean, and in the sacred arrival of a newborn child. I learned that wonder was always present, waiting for attention.

One of my earliest memories of awe comes from when I was about seven years old, visiting my grandparents. I was chasing butterflies through the milkweed fields, frustrated they would not stop flying so I could see them up close. My grandmother suggested that instead of running after them, I sit very still and quiet and perhaps the butterflies would come to me. I settled into the grass and waited. Before long, two butterflies landed softly on me and I held my breath as I studied the intricate colors of their wings, their fragile beauty, before they flew away. I felt something awaken inside me at that moment. A sense of magic beyond words. My grandmother smiled and said these special moments are always there for us to experience, if we slow down enough to notice. Perhaps this is part of what elderhood invites us into. The deepening capacity to stand still long enough for wonder to land gently upon us.

Katia Petersen PhD, is the President of Petersen Argo Inc. an organization focusing on Transformational Leadership. Over the years she has played leadership roles with several organizations that promote human and environmental wellbeing, bringing to her work decades of experience as a psychotherapist, educator, author, mentor, and activist. Most recently, Katia has served as co-creator of Sage-ing International’s new soon-to-be-released, practice-filled Spiritual Eldering Guidebook, which will be highlighted in the Summer issue of this journal. 

Katia can be reached at  katia.petersen57@gmail.com Tel. 415-902-6851

Age Well and Wisely with Nature’s Help

by Shanti Mayberry

If you would like to grow older with more vitality, clarity, calm, and joy, let Nature assist you. We often forget that we are not separate from the Earth, but living threads in her vast web of life. Yet modern culture—with its relentless materialism and human-centered thinking—has lulled us into believing we stand above Nature rather than within her. Cut off from her rhythms and wisdom, we spend most of our time indoors, tethered to screens and swept up in endless human dramas—a recipe for depletion and suffering.

Our Indigenous ancestors knew something we are only beginning to remember: Mother Earth is our great teacher, healer, provider, and guide. They lived by her cycles, listened to her seasons, and honored her laws. In doing so, they remained rooted, resilient, and deeply alive. By learning how to reconnect with Nature, both inner and outer, we can awaken this ancient ancestral Earth bond to support our wellbeing, especially as we age.

Reconnecting with Nature is not difficult, but it does take conscious effort to overcome our culture’s trance of separation. There are many ways to connect, such as birdwatching, mindful gardening, sky gazing, tree communion, grounding exercises, or aligning your life with seasonal cycles—to name just a few of the ways. Each practice helps you slow down and become more heart-centered and receptive to Nature’s spiritual presence. You are no longer standing apart, but a participant in a sacred, living communion. The more we expand our relationship with Nature, the more we may feel a sense of wonder and awe awaken as we attune to the wild creativity that surrounds us. 

One of my favorite restorative Nature practices is sky gazing for increasing relaxation and expanding perspective. To do this, you can either lay down on the ground outside or on a chaise lounge and begin to softly focus on the sky, allowing clouds to drift by like thoughts in the mind. Continue to look at the spaciousness of the sky until your thoughts disperse like clouds and your body calms down as worries and problems diminish in the vastness of space.

Another wonderful practice is birdwatching, which research studies found to strengthen the areas of the brain that regulate focus, memory, and present moment alertness. It is America’s fastest growing hobby for which you only need binoculars and a local bird guidebook. When I became an amateur ‘birder,’ over 30 years ago, I was amazed to see all the beautiful and nuanced colors of birds who had appeared to be a dull brown or gray to the naked eye, but when viewed through binoculars proved to be bronze, dark red, sienna, beige, and so on. It’s also easy to find birdwatching groups, such as Audubon, that host regular gatherings and offer opportunities for nature-oriented social connections. 

In my new book, Come Home to Nature, available on Amazon this summer, I offer many simple, practical methods to restore your relationship with the Earth—no matter where you live. These accessible practices invite healing, guidance, love, and awakening back into everyday life. They have revitalized my own health, joy, creativity, and sense of belonging. Through them, I discovered a profound truth: we are held within a vast field of living intelligence and love. We are never separate. We are never alone.

As you begin this path of Nature Reunion, your sense of self will gradually widen, like a river expanding into its estuary. You will remember that you are part of a vast, breathing community of earth beings, each one pulsing with life and awareness. Plants and trees may start to feel like old friends, companions who greet you without words. The loneliness that often shadows modern life will begin to soften. In its place will arise a quiet, steady truth: that the world around you is alive, aware, and brimming with beauty.

There are many other benefits as well. Science supports what our hearts already know: Nature connection enhances immunity, lowers blood pressure, reduces anxiety and depression, calms the nervous system, fosters creativity, improves cognitive function, restores attention fatigue, increases our sense of happiness, and can impact pro-social and pro-environmental behaviors. It also invites the body into the parasympathetic “rest and digest”state and awakens the body’s self-healing capacities. So whatever health issues you have, reconnecting to Nature and the wisdom of your body (your inner nature) may be the medicine you need.

Our bodies also mirror processes in Nature. Like our planet, we are 70 percent water and our circulatory systems resemble the rivers that remove wastes and deliver nutrients. The interconnected underground fungal communication network of forests is like the structure and function of our nervous system, responsible for carrying information to all parts of our bodies, just as the underground tree network carries messages to the whole forest. Tree branches mirror the networking of our respiratory system, both of which carry out the process of carbon and oxygen exchanges. Our human life is an interdependent process with all of Nature. We are Nature expressing herself in human form.

Interdependence is the fundamental truth of our human existence. It is as obvious as the nose on our face, since every breath we take depends on the oxygen exhaled by plants, algae, and trees, who in turn require the carbon dioxide we exhale. We’re inextricably joined in this planetary reciprocal breath cycle. Our existence is relational, not separate or independent.

Impermanence is another essential lesson that Nature teaches, and is one of the most difficult to embrace as we age, since we will all face loss of various kinds, and must eventually let go of everyone and everything we love. Nature’s cycles are ongoing process of change and transformation, and that is true for our own life seasons. We begin in the bright spring of childhood, full of curiosity and fragile beginnings. Youth arrives like summer — expansive, passionate, radiant with possibility. Adulthood ripens into autumn, a season of depth, harvest, and the golden maturity of experience. And finally, we enter winter — a time of slowing, reflection, and withdrawal into Spirit. When we recognize ourselves as part of this great rhythm of change and transformation, aging feels like a natural turning of the wheel. Death itself becomes less an enemy and more of a completion — a return to the soil from which new life will someday rise.

Finally, in the midst of the uncertainties and converging crises of this era—political, economic, and ecological— we all need respite and refuge: a place, a practice, a way of grounding that helps us restore our soul and remember who we are. Nature freely offers us this sanctuary. We only need to surrender and connect to be welcomed back Home by our loving Mother Earth.

Dr. Shanti Mayberry HHP, Ph.D. is an ecological psychologist, Nature therapist, Natural Health practitioner, and grandmother, who lives with her extended family and beloved cat near a wildlife preserve in Southern California. She is also a co-founder of the Inner Balance Health Group. Contact  doc.shanti@yahoo.com for more information.

The Fire, the Threshold, and What Comes After

by Bill Petrie

It was May 2005. I heard my wife, Julie, scream. I ran upstairs and found a roaring flame erupting out oft he gas heater in our bedroom. I heard myself say, “The house is going to burn down. Get out now!” I ran to my study for my laptop, looked for our dog, and shot downstairs to make sure Julie was safe. When I saw that both she and the dog were out, I tried to go back upstairs. But, by then, the heat and flames were already too fierce. Within half an hour, the house had burned to the ground. Only the contents of the garage remained.

At the time, I was in the midst of a very demanding training as an African Traditional Healer, and money was very tight. We had cut back on almost everything, including contents insurance. So, the losses were immense. Our photographs and family memorabilia were gone. My library of thousands of books, including rare editions, was destroyed. Precious inherited objects were reduced to ash. Even small sacred things that had carried deep meaning for me disappeared in the fire. It felt catastrophic.

That evening, standing on a neighbor’s balcony and looking at the blackened remains of what had been our home, I knew in a flash that my marriage was over. Not because Julie was a bad person. Quite the opposite. She is warm, kind, and deeply good. But something in me knew, with a certainty I could not argue with, that this part of my life had ended.

To say that it was awful would be an understatement. At first, I was simply in shock, functioning on adrenaline and survival instinct. But as the days passed and I began to reflect. It seemed impossible not to wonder at the name of the final initiation in my healer training: the Fire Ceremony.

I was struck, too, by another fact. After the fire, the only object left standing in the ruined house was a statue of Shiva Nataraja. Now, I am not a Hindu, but the symbolism was hard to ignore. Shiva Nataraja is the image of the divine dancer within the circle of fire: creation and destruction, ending and beginning, death and renewal, all held within one movement.

I had been thrown into a major transition. The old life had gone. But what was to come in its place was not yet visible. Now, all of us who are elders know that one of the hardest things about such transitions is that the destruction is obvious, but the new life is not. One is left in an in-between place: stripped back, uncertain, disoriented, searching for a way to live that has not yet taken shape. The old identity no longer fits, but the new one has not yet formed. We feel lost in a liminal space.

Fortunately, I already had a grounding in Buddhist teaching, and the understanding of impermanence was a real support. Everything changes. Everything passes. However painful the loss, nothing in life is fixed. I was also familiar with the Medicine Wheel as taught to me by Stephen Foster and Meredith Little. Like the circle of fire around Shiva, it speaks to a reality that modern culture often forgets: life is not linear. It moves in cycles. There are seasons of emergence, flourishing, decline, death, and renewal. Endings are not mistakes in the process. They are part of the process. These teachings did not make things easy. But they did provide a context.

I would never have chosen the deep transition that the fire forced me into. It dismantled structures, identities, and attachments that I had assumed would continue. It threw me into grief, confusion, and uncertainty. Over time, however, I came to understand that part of the message was that the path of the African Traditional Healer was not to be my path. This was extraordinarily difficult to absorb. I had invested deeply in that training and endured initiations that were anything but superficial. To walk away from it felt unthinkable. 

And yet, slowly, painfully, I came to see that I had to. I had to walk into the unknown. Today. I am deeply grateful that it happened. Many of us who are moving into elderhood are dealing with our own transitions: losses of role, certainty, health, energy, identity, relationship, future assumptions. But we are also living at a time when the wider world is in transition. Old structures are fraying. Shared certainties are breaking down. The future is unclear. It is entirely natural that many people feel frightened, ungrounded, or overwhelmed.

But it matters how we understand what is happening. If we do not see these times as a transition, we are very likely to fall into blame. We look for individuals, groups, or nations to hold responsible for the fact that the world no longer feels stable. We regress psychologically. There must be a villain. There must be someone to punish. We look backward with longing, idealizing a past that was never as coherent as we now imagine it to have been. That unconsciously driven way of meeting collective uncertainty only deepens insecurity as well as a sense of hatred.

To see our current moment as a transition is not to become passive, nor to deny injustice or danger. It is to recognize that we are living through a profound unravelling of old forms, and that this inevitably generates fear, grief, disorientation, and struggle. Joanna Macy, author of Active Hope, used the phrase “The Great Unravelling” to describe this phase and also pointed toward the possibility of a “Great Turning”: a difficult, uncertain movement toward a more life-sustaining civilization. Whether that outcome happens is not guaranteed. But it certainly becomes less likely when fear drives us into tribalism, reactivity, and blame.

Another dimension of the Shiva symbolism is pertinent. Shiva dances on a dwarf representing ignorance.In psychological terms, one might say that liberation depends in part on seeing through the distortions of ego: fear, inflation, projection, certainty, and self-righteousness. We all know how easily threat pulls us into these states. This is why inner work matters so much in times like these.

Perhaps one of the tasks of elderhood is precisely this: not to deny fear, but to metabolize it sufficiently that it does not rule us. In this process, we recognize that we need our threat systems; they are part of how human beings survive. But we know that we also need our capacities for reflection, relatedness, compassion, and perspective. Without those, fear quickly turns into othering, and othering into conflict. That is no small thing.

As elders, or as those growing into elderhood, we may not be able to fix the world. But we can help to hold a steadier, wiser position within it. We can remember that breakdown and renewal are often intertwined. We can resist the pull toward simplistic blame. We can bring a longer view. We can model the capacity to stay in relationship, to remain reflective under pressure, and to trust that the collapse of one form does not mean the end of life. We can hold steady to the understanding that something else is trying to be born.

Bill Petrie, who lives in the UK, works with thoughtful adults who are in transition in midlife and beyond. He can be reached at bill@billpetrie.co.uk or through his website: www.billpetrie.co.uk.

Help Me to Believe in Beginnings

by Ted Loeder

God of history and of my heart,

So much as happened to me during these whirlwind days:

I’ve known death and birth:

I’ve been brave and scared;

I’ve hurt, I’ve helped;

I’ve been honest, I’ve lied;

I’ve destroyed, I’ve created;

I’ve been with people, I’ve been lonely; 

I’ve been loyal, I’ve betrayed;

I’ve decided, I’ve waffled;

I’ve laughed and I’ve cried.

You know my frail heart and my frayed history – and now another day begins.

O God, help me to believe in beginnings

And in my beginning again,

No matter how often I’ve failed before.

Help me to make beginnings:

To begin going out of my weary mind into fresh dreams,

Daring to make my own bold tracks in the land of now;

To begin forgiving that I may experience mercy;

To begin questioning the unquestionable

that I may know truth;

To begin disciplining

That I may create beauty;

To begin sacrificing that I may accomplish justice;

To begin risking that I may

make peace;

To begin loving that I may realize joy.

Help me to be a beginning for others,

To be a singer to the songless,

A storyteller to the aimless,

A befriender of the friendless;

To become a beginning of hope for the despairing, 

of assurance for the doubting,

of reconciliation for the divided;

To become a beginning of freedom

for the oppressed,

of comfort for the sorrowing,

of friendship for the forgotten;

To become a beginning of beauty

for the forlorn,

of sweetness for the soured,

of gentleness for the angry,

of wholeness for the broken,

of  peace for the frightened and violent of the earth.

Help me to believe in beginnings,

To make a beginning,

To be a beginning,

So that I may not just grow old,

But grow new

Each day of this wild, amazing life

You call me to live

with the passion of what is most sacred

And of what is most holy…..

A Poem to Fend Off Despair

by Randy Crutcher

Take a little walk

down the road or street

make a note of who

you meet or greet

Is it with suspicion

or contempt

your own humanity exempt?

We live in a world

of colliding extremes

often filled with hateful memes

and the horizon of doubt

seems to stretch on  and far out

Even so, with all that’s possible

who’s to say what’s certain

or plausible?

Take another walk 

on a crisp new morning

look to the eye of a storm that’s forming

Be the hand that reaches out

to hold another’s

recognizing the sisters and brothers

that grace your world

and bless your passage

They are the rock you stand on

midst raging waters

through sweeping wildfires

they never falter

Isn’t this the way it’s always been

when despair creeps in

and hope grows thin

We search for the light

Beyond the present fight

at least a glimmer

and then just as we think

it’s all grown dimmer

another hand reaches back

a face flashes a smile

a wordless connection

we’ve dropped our protection

Two rocks to stand on

Take a little walk.

A Vision 

By Wendell Berry

If we will have the wisdom to survive,

to stand like slow-growing trees

on a ruined place, renewing, enriching it,

if we will make our seasons welcome here,

asking not too much of earth and heaven,

then a long time after we are dead

the lives our lives prepare

will live here,

their houses strongly placed

upon the valley sides,

fields and gardens

rich in the windows.

The river will run clear,

as we will never know it

and over it, birdsong like a canopy.

On the levels of the hills will be

green meadows, stock bells in noon shade. 

On the steeps where greed and ignorance cut down the old forest,

an old forest will stand,

its rich leaf-fall drifting on its roots.

The veins of forgotten springs

will have opened.

Families will be singing in the fields.

In their voices they will hear a music

risen out of the ground. They will take

nothing from the ground

they will not return,

whatever the grief at parting.

Memory,

native to this valley,

will spread over it like a grove,

and memory will grow into legend,

legend into song,

song into sacrament.

The abundance of this place,

the songs of its people and its birds,

will be health and wisdom and indwelling

light.

This is no paradisal dream.Its hardship is its possibility.

I Must Go Into the Earth

by Nancy Wood

in Many Winters

When the hand of winter gives up its grip to the sun

And the river’s hard ice becomes the tongue to spring

I must go into the earth itself

To know the source from which I came.

Where there is a history of leaves

I lie face down upon the land.

I smell the rich wet earth

Trembling to allow the birth

Of what is innocent and green.

My fingers touch the yielding earth

Knowing that it contains

All previous births and deaths.

I listen to a cry of whispers

Concerning the awakening earth

In possession of itself.

With a branch between my teeth

I feel the growth of trees

Flowing with life born of ancient death.

I cover myself with earth

So that I may know while still alive

How sweet is the season of my time..

A Prayer from Malidoma Somé

to the Ancestors 

We call upon our Ancestors, 

Spirit of the earth we walk upon, 

Spirit of the universe. 

We have come to a crossroad, 

to a time when every word matters, 

to a time when we must reevaluate ourselves and our actions.

Our heart is fragile 

our body is shivering

in front of the unknown 

our back is heavy with past burdens 

burdens we do not know how to be rid of. 

We ask that you shower us again with love and compassion 

make peace rain on our heart and soul 

teach us how to see each other

with a brand-new eye 

help us to appreciate and welcome

each other. 

We need your blessing to move on, 

we need your strength to make it through this time of turbulence 

Ancestors, hold us in

your peace and warmth

Upcoming Conscious Eldering Programs

Retreats

Ww have one more Choosing Conscious Elderhood retreat scheduled in 2026.  We will return to magnificent Ghost Ranch in New Mexico for our annual Fall retreat, our 25th in that stunningly beautiful and spiritually powerful place. We are also seeking to find more opportunities to present our inspiring weekend workshops and one-day introductory programs. If you know of a faith community, senior living community, or other organization that might be willing to sponsor one of these, please let us know.

Choosing Conscious Elderhood

September 14-20 at Ghost Ranch, New Mexico

Please consider joining us if you seek an empowering vision for your elder chapters, tools for helping make that vision reality, and the warmth of a supportive community of kindred spirits sharing and growing together in person. Our programs provide a powerful opportunity to have your idealism acknowledged, your hope rekindled and your dreams for a vital, passionate elderhood supported? They offer you the wisdom of skilled guides and the heart-and-mind-opening energy of the natural world, to open you to the rich possibiities of your later-life chapters--for growth, purpose, spiritual deepening, and giving your elder gifts to support a healthy society and planet.

If you need financial assistance to participate in a Choosing Conscious Elderhood retreat, please contact us. We have a small scholarship fund. And if you are in a position to contribute to this fund, we would love to hear from you.

For Organizations, Faith Communities, etc:

We are available to present our highly impactful weekend workshops or custom designed programs for groups who would like to sponsor one in their area. 

Contact us to explore possibilities.

for details on our programs and registration information, please visit

www.centerforconsciouseldering.com/events

A gift for you:

Two Interviews from Turning Points

Two years ago, Ron Pevny and Katia Petersen created a 12-interview video series featuring thought leaders whose highly regarded work contributes much to the growth of conscious elders. Called "Turning Points", this series focuses on the personal journeys of these leaders--their dark nights, epiphanies, struggles and breakthroughs. These are powerful conversations which deeply touched listeners. Below you will find links to two of these interviews. Listen carefully, consider how how these accounts of their turning points can be important on your own journey, and savor the wisdom they have shared with us..

Richard Rohr https://youtu.be/B0HBXIrMKNQ

Joan Borysenko https://youtu.be/qAU00uVusEo

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Ron Pevny's Recent Interviews

The publication of the new edition of Ron’s book has resulted in many invitations to be interviewed on Aging, Wellness and related podcasts, radio shows, and summits. Here are links to several of these interviews:

The Banyen Books of Vancouver Podcast with Ross McKeachie

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RAUGkTKu3_Y&t

The Finishing Strong Podcast with Jamie Whyte

https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/finishing-strong-with-jamie-whyte/id1665911385?i=1000696270285

Glowing Older Podcast with Nancy Griffin

https://www.glowingolder.com/listen/episode/ebd7a653/episode-206-ron-pevny-on-life-transitions-and-conscious-eldering

Beth Mauroni:  Conscious Living Summit presentation

https://drive.google.com/file/d/13hYaoR9jpGl1q2WmpJmnWdzBcxjKj96c/view?usp=sharing

Jeff Armstrong:  Aging Well Podcast 

https://youtu.be/Ecsx8pTCi8U

https://www.buzzsprout.com/1907855/15445065

With Richard Cohn President of Beyond Words Publishing on Healthy Life Net

 https://healthylife.net/RadioShow/archiveBW.htm

Rejuvenaging Podcast with Dr. Ron Kaiser

https://shows.acast.com/rejuvenaging-with-dr-ron-kaiser/episodes/embracing-elderhood-with-purpose-and-passion-a-conversation-

Elevating Your Life Podcast with Paula Vail

 https://youtu.be/tWHv3BfliRM  

Les Grands Createurs Podccast with Nathalie Lavoie

https://youtu.be/6hJnWkzL6lQ?si=6Mx04mtUJLzsAie0

Angels, Positivity and Love Radio Show with Michael Andre Ford

https://youtu.be/NOyq1cKLe_8

 The Integral Centering Podcast with Robert Strohmeyer

 https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZDTaVd_l2Po

 Incredible Life Podcast with Dr. Kimberly Linert

www.youtube.com/watch?v=pWB4Qzo6PqU

One of our partner organizations, the Elders Action Network is an educational non-profit organization fostering a budding movement of vital elders dedicated to growing in consciousness while actively addressing the demanding social and environmental challenges facing our country and planet. They work inter-generationally for social and economic justice,environmental stewardship, and sound governance. They offer their multiple talents and resources in service to the goal of preserving and protecting life for all generations to come. Anyone committed to living and serving as a conscious elder in invited to join them in this critically important endeavor. EAN offerings include, among others,

* Bi-weekly Elder Activists for Social Justice Community Conversations

*The growing and influential "Elders Climate Action" initiative

* The Empowered Elder--EAN's foundational program

* Intergenerational environmental and social action projects

*The Elders for Regenerative Living initiative

To learn about EAN and its initiatives and programs, visit www.eldersaction.org

Another of our partner organizations is Sage-ing International, the pioneering organization in promoting the principles of "Sage-ing/conscious aging, Their greatly expanded offerings of online workshops and seminars, Elder Wisdom Circles, and their training program for Certified Sage-ing Leaders is grounded in the work of the late Rabbi Zalman Schachter-Shalomi, who introduced conscious aging to the world with his workshops at Omega Institute with Ram Dass and others, and via his seminal book, From Age-ing to Sage-ing.

To view their website, visit www.sage-ing.org

This Summer, Sage-ing International will be publishing their new, comprehensive Spiritual Eldering Guidebook, filled with essays and practices designed to support groups and individuals in working toward becoming Conscious Elders, which they call Sages.. Ron Pevny has contributed a chapter focused on the reality that the transition into elderhood is at its core an extended rite of passage. We will provide an overview and more information about this Guidebook in the Summer edition of Conscious Eldering Inspiration and Resources.