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Dear Friends committed to living and aging consciously:
We send you this newsletter in the depths of a Winter that, here in Colorado, is both beautiful (with abundant snow clothing cities and mountains in cloaks of white) and terrifying (as unprecedented Winter wildfire swept through cities near Boulder destroying the homes of a a thousand families).
Our lead article, by Ron Pevny, reminds us of the Guidance from Spirit that calls each of us to better know and shine our unique lights in the darkness to illuminate our personal and collective ways forward. Ron helps us discern what is true Guidance from the many other voices within and without. Kinde Nebeker's article on The Sacred Act of Grieving speaks of the value of seeing Grief with a capital "G" as a healing and regenerating force to which our life energy and passion is tied. How we respond to the pervasive grief that accompanies collective and personal upheavals makes the difference between aliveness and numbness. Our third article was written by Jack Williamson when I told him how inspiring I find his work of bringing together elders and "youngers" through his Intergenerational Writing course at the University of Colorado. Jack is demonstrating that elders and youngers "mentoring" each other can, and do, bring forth the wisdom, energy, creativity and commitment upon which the well being of the human family depend.
We also present poetry to touch your heart and stir your intuition. You will find information about our conscious eldering retreats and workshops as we look forward to post-pandemic life. We also present information about three books we highly recommend as resources for your conscious eldering, as well as two organizations and one individual we are proud to have as partners in the work of supporting the development of true Elders.
We include a lot in this newsletter. We suggest you not race through it but rather, savor it, perhaps one article or section at a time. May it support your growth into the conscious elderhood that is your birthright, but which requires your willingness to accept it as both gift and responsibility.
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Hearing the Voice of Guidance
By Ron Pevny
The world has been turned upside down. I need not repeat the all-too-familiar litany of environmental, social, political and pandemic upheavals assailing our sense of safety, normalcy and well being, thrusting us collectively into the powerful dynamic of transition. And, as we face these larger dynamics of breakdown of old structures and attitudes, we experience the “ordinary” and “normal” upheavals and losses that are inherent in personal lives and especially so in our elder chapters, and are thrust us into our own personal life passages.
We all relish, and tend to become attached to, those times when our lives are feeling stable, with no big changes happening internally and externally. We need such times to rest, integrate, and savor life. However, when all seems stable it is easy to begin to live on automatic. It is all too easy to: take our many blessings for granted; blind ourselves to our kinship with other living beings; depend upon our known personal qualities and abilities to guide us through each day; operate within inner and outer comfort zones and avoid moving beyond them; not have a sense of urgency about being in touch with the spiritual depths within ourself because we don’t feel the need.
And then, here comes change and there goes our sense of stability. We are thrust into transition and a state of inner chaos. Those qualities and attitudes that we counted on to make our lives good are seen to be inadequate in dealing with the changes in our overturned lives. Because of this, we individually and collectively, have the opportunity yet again to discover new, previously untapped inner resources to support us in creating a renewed life, one more grounded than before in authenticity, awareness, compassion, and relationship with our spiritual guidance.
We humans have long known that the most powerful times in life are usually times of transition. These are the times we feel most truly alive -- not comfortable, but ALIVE. It is in such times that all the comfort zones mentioned above are dismantled and we are energetically thrown into the state of unformed energy which is the necessary ground for all new beginnings. In writing about transition, Rabbi Zalman Schachter-Shalomi said, “all beginnings come from situations that are without form, and void.” And mythologist Michael Meade speaks of these dark seasons of life, those times of “dark gestation” which are necessary for the energies of a new chapter to emerge to “revitalize life again.”
It is when we are thrust into this void that our inner comfort zones are cracked open and we have the strongest, clearest access to the intuition, creativity, deep inner guidance—and energy to channel that guidance into new beginnings. Thrusting people at significant life turning points into this void was the role of traditional rites of passage and the intense preparation that accompanied them. In todays’ world, without such rites of passage, we are nevertheless individually and collectively thrust into the void. Yet we still have the opportunity to access the guidance and energy needed for the new beginnings that can renew our lives, deepen our growth, and help transform our world.
The inner work of Conscious Eldering/Conscious Aging/Sage-ing is invaluable in helping us open to the guidance of Soul, Spirit (however we name it). But, how do we recognize guidance, and distinguish it from the many other voices within which clamor for attention, especially in the chaos of transition? Here are some realities about guidance it is helpful to be aware of when our comfort zone is being broken open:
· Our dream lives tend to awaken, and we may be aware of much more dreaming; for some people, strong guidance comes through dreams and learning to work with our dreams can be invaluable.
· Synchronicities are more likely to happen and we tend to be more attuned to their presence and messages; in that space of “dark gestation” synchronistic events can have a profound impact upon us. It has been said that synchronicity is God’s way of answering our prayers.
· Our emotions become stronger and we have less “control” over them; guidance is often imbedded in strong emotion.
· We have flashes of an uplifting sense of possibility that, at least momentarily, part the clouds of our confusion and gives us a glimpse of a positive future.
· Flashes of true guidance and strong emotions are usually mixed with messages from ego calling us back to the past or urging us to try to push our way into a new chapter to try to create a new beginning in which we don’t have to change – a beginning that likely is just another reflection of who we have been in the past.
I know of no prescription for infallibly knowing what is indeed guidance from our spiritual essence versus information from personality levels of ourselves, such as our emotions and our thinking minds. For me, distinguishing my inner guidance from the other voices in me has been, and continues to be, a challenging work in progress. In my current understanding and experience, these are key questions to ask ourselves in making this discrimination:
· Is what I feel guided to do grounded in trust (not blind trust but informed trust) or in fear? I believe that true guidance is not fear driven, although it may alert us to situations to avoid.
· Does what seems to be guidance bring out the best in me, or something less than my best? True guidance brings out the best.
· Does what feels like guidance open my heart or close it? Does it increase my compassion or diminish it? True guidance opens hearts.
· When I have had experiences that in retrospect I have seen to be guidance, what has that felt like in my body? In my emotions? By exploring this, we gain understanding of how our bodies and minds know what is genuine and what is not.
· When I have followed what seemed to me to be guidance, how has it turned out? Has some good arisen in my life? This doesn’t mean that it necessarily turned out just like I thought it would when I followed whatever voice it was within me, but rather that I can now see how following this voice resulted in something positive.
I believe that in these times of upheaval, Soul/Spirit is calling each of us to shine our light in the darkness, illuminating a path forward for ourselves and the human family. This call is our guidance. Our well being depends upon listening for it, and responding, with trust that bigger energies are at work than are obvious in times of crisis.
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The Sacred Act of Grieving
By Kinde Nebeker
Growing older brings many surprises. We might look in the mirror in the morning and wonder whose face that is looking back at us. We may notice the worries and upsets that used to send us through the roof don’t bother us anymore. We may see that having lived so much life has given us a perspective that can offer clarity, guidance and hope to others.
Elder years also bring loss. So much of who we have known ourselves to be begins to leave us. The strength, beauty, and capacities of our physical bodies are lost. The identity we enjoyed through our work evaporates. Our energy and ability (or motivation) to ‘produce’ wanes. More and more friends die. The world can seem like it’s moving on without us. All this loss causes grief. It is an intrinsic part of being a human who makes it to old age.
It is not easy because grief does hurt like hell. And in our modern American culture, we are not taught what to do with it. We think of grief of that awful thing we hope to avoid at all costs; that nasty situation that interrupts our ever-forward-moving life trajectory. Most of us had no understanding or modeling in our families or communities about how to welcome and be with grief. When we first encountered it as children, we most likely went through it alone and unsupported. If the emotions were overwhelming to us, we buried it as deep inside of us as we could, so we would never have to feel pain, confusion and aloneness ever again.
Today our culture is coming to understand the price of locked-away grief. Grief buried becomes a weight in the body and a rigidity in the heart. It narrows our vision and our ability to be creative and to love.
A major task for initiation into true elderhood is to do the work of grieving. Initiated elders connect with grief as an ally and intimate friend. They treasure the gifts that grief holds for them, and for their communities. Conscious elders are able call grief forward to flow and cleanse.
The disconnection from grief is a relatively new phenomena in human culture. Before the rise of science and rationality, of materialism as the primary epistemology, we knew how to call the Name of Grief. We could recognize and welcome it because we were in somatic and cultural contact with subtle energies. We understood that grief, when honored for its healing power, became Grief — a sacred force that the community held all together. We knew how to communicate with and participate in Grief with each other through ritual, movement, and sound. We respected its cleansing and transformational potential.
But that world is not available to most of us now. So, as we come to times in our lives where grief comes, or where grief needs to be unlocked in us in order to get unstuck, what do we do? How exactly, does one grieve in a good way? How can we come into relationship with grief and transform it into Grief?
Here are a few thoughts to help get you started to begin transforming grief into sacred Grief.
Acknowledge the Enormity of the Task
& Love Yourself Up for What You Are Doing.
If befriending Grief were easy, more people would do it. It is very challenging at first. You must appreciate what an amazing warrior, what a strong sorceress, what a beloved soul you are, to be undertaking such a thing. Take a moment to actually feel the warmth of love in your heart for yourself, and practice feeling it regularly.
Maybe you need help? Call a friend to help you get into the mood of loving yourself. Who is your greatest fan? Ask them to help you out, and receive the love they give.
Loving yourself is one of the greatest ballasts you can have in the storm of Grief.
Take Care of Yourself
Grief can be a massive and powerful energy. Take this process seriously and commit to taking care of yourself, first and foremost. Loving yourself includes caring for your body (healthy diet, daily movement, quality rest) so it can be strong enough to carry the potential intensity. It also includes caring for your heart and spirit. Grief comes primarily through the heart, so fortify that heart of yours with doing, thinking and enjoying things you love. Grieving does not preclude activities that bring you joy. Make a list of what lifts you up — inspirational reading, hiking a certain trail, listening to music you love, making art, time with friends or family (especially grandchildren!) — and do one thing every day that is not habitual.
Release Expectations
First we have to be clear that Grief does not pay any attention to our schedule. If we are dealing with a present grief, Grief will appear whenever It sees fit. If we are working with a past grief, we have more say about when we might open to the energy, but still we are not in control. Opening to Grief is an exercise in abandoning any agenda, utterly letting go of hope, completely relinquishing control. Grief will ask this of you, and your consent allows Grief to do Its work on you.
Call In Support
Remember that Grief is not meant to be engaged alone, ever. You do have support, so call it in.
~ Are there people in your life who can support you in the right way; support the strong one in you rather that try to ameliorate the suffering through soothing or activating the victim part of you? Let them know what you are going through, and ask them for what you need.
~ Who are your ancestors? Are there particular ancestors that you feel kinship with? Call them in through your active imagination and ask them to stand at your back, or whatever you sense would be helpful. Sense them and listen to anything they might want to tell you.
~ Do you have other-than-human allies and guides that have shown up in your life? Actively call them in to be with you, during intentional meetings with Grief, or whenever you need help.
Feeling is Healing
Grief becomes present to you through your body. It you can’t or won’t feel your body, you will not be able to receive what Grief is giving you. Emotions create bodily sensations. Feel deeply, with full attention and presence. What are the textures, movements, locations in the body of your emotional responses to Grief? Be curious and notice. Does this Grief burn? Is it jumpy, sharp, dull, heavy? Grief will change and respond to your open attention. What do you notice about the movement of this Grief? Is it slow, or fast, jittery or is it still and unmoving? It is the very act of being willing to feel that contains the medicine of healing
Kinde is a certified Integral Coach and wilderness rites of passage guide. She offers community grief-tending rituals biannually in her community, and is available for coaching — in developmental work and in ritual for grief and other aspects of personal transformation. Learn more at her website, New Moon Rites of Passage, or email her at [email protected]
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InterGen: Finding Common Ground Across Generations
By Jack Williamson
Who knows only his own generation remains always a child.
(Words from George Norlin, Engraved over the entrance of Norlin Library, University of Colorado, Boulder)
The recent devastating fires in Boulder County, CO has tragically changed the landscape for thousands of the members of our community.
As one news commentator said, “Our foundations are burning.” As a metaphor, it also seems true for our larger collective as the toxic winds of our national polarizations threaten to structurally destroy many of our ways of life. Many of us fear we are even dangerously close to losing our foundation--our democracy.
The urgency of this creates a renewed awareness about the importance of exploring better ways to find common ground together. We need to come together in the midst of both our imagined and real differences and divides before our national foundations become rubble.
InterGen, an intergenerational initiative at the University of Colorado (CU Boulder) bears witness to this hope for a better future. InterGen is an annual, semester-long, upper-division writing class pairing Boulder area Community Members (CMs), 60 years-of-age and older with CU students. (Our oldest CM so far has been 87.) CMs and CU students are equals in the classroom, mutually mentoring each other. Well, almost equals: CMs and CU students work in pairs collaboratively on the same assignments. However, CMs do not pay tuition and are not graded--a pretty great deal for CMs.
The theme of the course focuses on exploring the American Dream from differing generational perspectives and lived experiences. The curriculum is designed with first-rate writing instruction, research of topics selected together by CMs and CU students, classroom conversations on social and political issues related to the American Dream, a wide variety of writing assignments including a 4-6 page profile essay on the values, skills and interests of each person’s partner, and a final multi-media presentation by each paired team. Since the inception of this class over 6 years ago, over 120 participating CMs and an equal number of CU students continue to build bridges across generations. A good number of CMs and CU students maintain long-lasting friendships. Over 90% of all participating Community Members (CMs) and CU students have consistently reported that their InterGen experience has been so inspiring and impactful that they believe it should be offered in colleges and universities across our country.
Samples from end-of-course evaluations:
“This class has been timed and designed perfectly for me. My student partner and I have learned we both care about many of the same things. I can’t believe this kind of class is not offered elsewhere. Can I take this class again?” Mark, a retired federal judge
“My husband died just two weeks after my InterGen class began. I decided to stay in the class and found that it saved my life--literally. My student partner and I bonded quickly and deeply. We now have a forever friendship.” Susan, a retired national non-profit director
“My CM partner was the best! She got me and helped me turn my life around and actually saved me from ending my life while in the United States as a student from Thailand. She is my forever American grandma.”Ty, a male student
“The has been the best class in my four years at CU. I now feel closer to my CM partner than I do to my own grandparents. This is the first class I have felt genuinely valued, listened to and accepted for my ideas while learning a lot about writing and relationships.” Kat, a female student
Before the birth of our InterGen class, I was privileged to begin different intergenerational program called Cyber Seniors, engaging high school students with older adults living in retirement communities. The high school students serve as computer mentors for these older adults, based on the model of a 2014 documentary of the same title that can be viewed free on-line. The experience of watching young high schoolers and older adults forming admiring friendships became so inspiring that it aroused my curiosity: What might happen if we could find a way to pair university students with older adults in a different setting? Would they be able to find common ground across our decades of generational divides and learn from each other as mutual mentors?
After a year of brainstorming and planning, including receiving buy-in from CU Boulder for this class, we created a syllabus and in 2016 offered InterGen as a for-credit, semester class. For the first trial semester, we agreed that if 19 students registered for the class and if I could get an equal number of older adults from the Boulder community interested in participating in this intergenerational experiment we would give it the old college try. To our surprise, 38 students registered--double what was needed for a full-class. We had previously agreed to refer to the ‘older adult students’ as Community Members, to avoid using terms like seniors or other loaded terms. This was the birth of InterGen. Since then, we have typically received more than double the number of CMs applying to participate than we have been able to enroll, keeping a waiting list of at least a year.
Ron Pevny asked me to write this brief introduction of InterGen in the hope it might inspire some of you to consider a similar or different intergenerational initiative in your communities. If as a ‘Conscious Elder’ you may be interested in stepping into a similar creative and promising intergenerational space, you can reach me at [email protected] or (303) 453.9143; Intergenimpact.org. There is so much more that can be shared.
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Brooding
by Marilyn Loy Every
from her book "Tending the Fire - Poetry for the Emerging Sage", p. 108
Winter,
rising from mature darkness,
offers its faithful bidding
for brooding reflection…
a time to pause,
for deep stories to find my lips,
a time to gather
around a hearth of friendship.
a time to surrender,
fully exposed,
to the north light of Winter.
Curiously,
I find myself longing
for this blackness of Solstice,
for the peace it brings.
I am raw with musing,
searching deep understandings;
my life’s autumn is complete,
like a last chapter’s page
damp with ink,
drying…
ready to turn for the next.
What shards of light
are found in darkness?
what stunning stories
will a final season bring?
I sigh into deep pause,
I quiet…
my soul waits to be heard,
as I draw in replenishment
with brooding renewal,
taking in this clean, pristine
breath of my winter.
Your Gift
by Tom Garcia
Yes, your gift
the one you’ve been witholding
or avoiding
the one that comes to mind when you say
“I don’t know what my gift is.”
that one....
the thing you live
that can’t be contained
and brings you joy
expressed through you
without pretense or effort
“Oh that,” you say, “it just comes naturally.”
Your gift calls to you
not for anyone’s approval
but for your own appreciation
to love and honor
as you would a child
full of curiosity and wonder
have faith that its presence
is there for a reason
for you to nurture and share
Be An Elder
by Arden Mahlberg
Cherish knowing, Relish not knowing
Take joy in finding, Muse at losing
Celebrate remembering, Humor forgetting
Utilize courage, Explore fear
Be cautious with strength,Respectful of weakness
Savor oneness, Befriend separation
Appreciate fullness, Explore emptiness
Recognize satiation, Listen to hunger
Enjoy ascent, Value decline
Be happy for those with good fortune
Listen to the unfortunate
Smile at beauty, Muse upon ugliness
Relax into brightness, Inquire of darkness
Be humble in wisdom
Compassionate toward superficiality
Be an elder, Be a mentee
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On Aging
by Rumi
From his extensive poem “Mathnavi”
Why does a date-palm
lose its leaves in autumn?
Why does every beautiful face
grow in old age wrinkled
like the back of a Libyan lizard?
Why does a full head of hair get bald?
Why is the tall, straight figure
that divided the ranks like a spear
now bent almost double?
Why is it that the
Lion's strength weakens to nothing?
The wrestler who could hold anyone down
Is led out with two people supporting him,
Their shoulders under his arms?
God answers:
"They put on borrowed robes
And pretended they were theirs.
I take the beautiful clothes back,
So that you will learn the robe
Of appearance is only a loan."
Your lamp was lit from another lamp.
All God wants is your gratitude for that.
For Those Who Have Far to Travel
by Jan Richardson
If you could see the journey whole,
you might never undertake it,
might never dare the first step
that propels you from the place
you have known
toward the place you know not.
Call it one of the mercies
of the road:
that we see it only by stages
as it opens before us,
as it comes into our keeping,
step by single step.
There is nothing for it
but to go,
and by our going
take the vows the pilgrim takes:
to be faithful to the next step;
to rely on more than the map;
to heed the signposts
of intuition and dream;
to follow the star
that only you will recognize;
to keep an open eye
for the wonders that attend the path;
to press on
beyond distractions,
beyond fatigue,
beyond what would
tempt you from the way.
There are vows
that only you will know:
the secret promises
for your particular path
and the new ones
you will need to make
when the road is revealed
by turns you could not
have foreseen.
Keep them, break them,
make them again;
each promise becomes
part of the path,
each choice creates the road
that will take you to the place
where at last you will kneel
to offer the gift most needed—
the gift that only you can give—
before turning to go
home by another way
Reaching Back From Here
Nancy Wood
in Many Winters
Reaching back from here
All that I remember of my life
Are the great round rocks and not
The unimportant stones.
I know that I experienced pain and yet
The scars have healed so that
I am like the tree covering itself
With new growth every year.
I know that I walked in sadness and yet
All that I remember now
Is the soothing autumn light.
I know that there was much to make my life unhappy
If I had stopped to notice how
The world sings a broken song.
But I preferred to dwell within
A universe of fields and streams
Which echoed the wholeness of my song.
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Upcoming Conscious Eldering Programs
After two years in which all of our in-person workshops and retreats had to be cancelled due to COVID, we join so many of you in eagerly looking forward to again sitting in circle at beautiful retreat centers exploring resilience, passion and purpose in life’s elder chapters. In addition to the retreats listed below, we plan on offering online courses based on the new year-long conscious eldering “growthbook” Ron Pevny and Katia Petersen will be focused on writing this Winter.
We would love to again present our shorter weekend conscious eldering workshops, but probably will do so only if invited by an organization that will handle promotion and registrations. Completing this new book precludes spending lots of time on logistics and promotion beyond that required for our longer retreats.
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. 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 for in-person retreats, 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.
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Choosing Conscious Elderhood
Ghost Ranch, New Mexico
May 1-7, 2022
This retreat is full. However, if you would like to be placed on the wait list,
please contact us soon.
September 25 - October 1, 2022
Several spaces are still available
Next Step
for graduates of a weeklong Choosing Conscious Elderhood retreat
April 10-15, 2022
Hope Springs Institute Retreat Center, Ohio
This retreat is nearly full. If you are interested and have participated in Choosing Conscious Elderhood, let us know asap.
Aiming High
Cultivating Purpose and Intentionality in Life's Later Chapters
September 11-15, 2022
Hope Springs Institute Retreat Center, Ohio
For Organizations, Faith Communities, etc:
We are available to present our 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
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This short yet powerful book, written by the inspiring authors of The Power of Purpose and Claiming Your Place at the Fire, reminds us that our bodies, minds and souls need a reason for getting up in the morning if we are to LIVE each day in our elder years rather than merely existing. Our wellbeing depends upon living the precious days of our elder years with a Purpose that is larger than comfort and security. While it may require effort and inner work to unearth and identify specific gifts -- our signature gifts -- that can be our most valuable contribution to life, Richard Leider offers an umbrella statement of purpose that we can all choose to embrace and commit to: "each day I will make it my priority to in some ways grow and give." Living with this as our purpose naturally opens the doors to increased understanding of our potential unique contributions and growth possibilities. To my mind this quote sums up the message of this valuable book; "It is ironic, but also poignant and promising, that as we age and our bodies fall increasingly subject to entropy, we are able to counteract that physical reality with the emotional and spiritual work of becoming more compassionate, as our heart, mind and spirit come together in harmony." This coming together is Purpose.
Ron Pevny
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"A beautifully written and important book about aging and elderhood. Pevny reminds us that consciously moving into our greater years is a major rite of passage, and he offers skilled guidance through the many questions and challenges, endings and new beginnings, that arise."
Meredith Little, Co-founder of the School of Lost Borders
Since Ron's book was released in 2014, many elder wisdom circles and discussion groups have found it to be an excellent resource around which to center their discussions and group practices. A facilitator of several of these groups has created a study guide for this book. Contact Ron for information on how to obtain this guide.
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Those who have been on my retreats, workshops or vision quests, or who have appreciated the poetry included in these newsletters, know that I feel the poet whose work most eloquently speaks to my understanding of life's passages is Nancy Wood. Nancy was a non-Native poet whose path took her to Taos Pueblo, where she was chosen by the elders to communicate to non-Native culture through her poetry their age-old indigenous wisdom about endings and beginnings; inter-relationship with the earth community and the human community; about meaning, purpose and wholeness. Many Winters and her several other works of poetry emerging from her many-year experience at Taos, can be found on Amazon or through bookstores that can order out-of-print books. The uniqueness of our conscious eldering philosophy and practices is strongly grounded in the indigenous wisdom so beautifully reflected in Nancy Wood's poetry and Frank Howell's artwork.
Ron Pevny
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The Human Values in Aging Newsletter
The newsletter you are reading is not intended to provide a comprehensive listing of many workshops and other resources available these days to help support people in aging consciously. That job is well done by Rick Moody in his monthly Human Values in Aging newsletter. To receive it on the first day of each month, send an email to [email protected]
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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
*The new Sunrise Movement - an intergenerational collaborative effort between EAN and Sage-ing International
To learn about EAN and its initiatives and programs, visit www.eldersaction.org
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Another of our partner organizations is Sage-ing International, the pioneering organization in promoting the principles of conscious aging, or "Sage-ing". Their work is grounded in the work of Rabbi Zalman Shachter-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.
We would especially like to recommend an eight-session series offered by Sage-ing International that will begin on January 18th, called "World Wisdom Perspectives and Cultural Traditions on Aging and Spirituality." Featuring diverse thought leaders such as William Martin, Dr. Anita Sanchez, Drew Lede and Ragu Ananthanarayanan, this series will show the universality of the wisdom and call to growth that in contemporary Western society is known as Sage-ing/Conscious Eldering..
To learn about Sage-ing International and their greatly expanded offerings of online workshops and seminars, Elder Wisdom Circles, and their training program for Certified Sage-ing Leaders, visit www.sage-ing.org.
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Ron Pevny, Founder and Director
970-223-0857
3707 Coronado , Fort Collins, Colorado 80526
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The person who has a why to live can bear almost any how
Friedrich Nietzche
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