Active Wisdom:
An Inquiry Into Our Elderhood
Elderhood Through Time
An exploration of history and potential.
The Invitation
Who is this invitation for?
People who are seeking to find their unique purpose as elders in their family and communities, and who know they have a genuine wish to share their wisdom with the people and projects that they care about. This is never meant to be done in isolation. And so, we call a circle of people to come together, across time-zones and cultures, to explore what we may each, and all, learn about Active Wisdom. To learn about the term Active Wisdom and its author, Mary Catherine Bateson, click here.
What is the Purpose of this online program?
The aim of this introductory 12-week program is to provide the opportunity for us to come together to explore this time in our lives and to dream ahead to the next phase of our life's journey. This is not about how old we are, but more about sensing that we have the potential for more joy, more fun and more activities that support our own and others wellbeing. At the heart of this gathering of people is a celebration of the interplay between our spirit, our emotions, our bodies, and our minds, and how our deep connection to the Wisdom of Mother Earth naturally supports this exploration?
What will happen on the program?
We will invite us to reflect on the life we have lived so far and to take time, in a circle of others, to appreciate what we have gained. This ground of wisdom will then support us to dream out ahead and see what is calling to us from the future. At the intersection of our passions, our gifts and our contributions is a fertile territory for renewing our purpose of being alive in this world today. We will explore opportunities for us to give back what we have received from our life, so that those who follow us can benefit from our wisdom in action.
What will be required of me?
To Attend each of the 6 2-hour Zoom calls. We will record each call, however, there is no substitute for the learning that happens when we are together in each other's company.
In the two weeks between each live call we ask that you meet with two other members of the course who will be your Learning Triad for the entire journey, in order to share your experiences working with the Live Withs and the practices that are recommended for each session.
We also ask that you post one learning each week into our shared online community space and read the comments on what you have shared.
Journey Outline
To see details about the flow of the inquiry, click each box below
Welcome and Introduction
In this first session, we welcome everyone to the program and provide an orientation to our online space, including agreements and protocols that will support our time together.
We will take time to introduce ourselves to each other as we begin building the energy of our community. Using the technology that underpins our community engagement and learning, we'll step onto the path of inquiry into our Elderhood together.
We will explore the stage of elderhood called Active Wisdom, first spoken about by Mary Catherine Bateson in her Book "Composing a Further Life", and how this resonates with this time in our lives.
An ancient tradition is holding our inquiry in connection with the wisdom of the Earth. We believe this wisdom offers rich and relevant guidance for exploring the territory of Elderhood.
My Wellbeing
My Wellbeing explores how caring for my own health and happiness nourishes my capacity as an Elder to be of service to the people, the projects, and the communities I love.
Healthy longevity is a wonderful consequence of many aspects of progress in the last 150 years in areas like sanitation, medicine, and nutrition. We are now living an average of 30 years longer and have access to a lot more support for much healthier lives.
In this session, we use ‘The Wheel of Wellbeing’ to discover what is needed to maintain the territories of our lives, and achieve more wholeness and balance in a way that sustains our activities with vigor and resilience.
My Development
My Development is the doorway to adventures that enable us to respond to the opportunities and challenges of flowering into our Elderhood with openness and trust.
We never stop learning and with more time and resources available to us, stepping into an exploration of what expands our openness to adventure, expands our potential and leads to more joy and more fun.
In this session, we use ‘The Wheel of a Life Well Lived’ to reflect on our life experience so far and reveal the wisdom that is ours. We touch the learning edge of our development to bring more resonance and alignment with our life purpose.
My Vocation
My Vocation explores how our passions, gifts, and contributions deepen our understanding of what is important to us as Elders and how to bring our dreams into manifestation.
We experience the joy of playing with others whose experiences are unlike our own to offer new windows into mutually rewarding and sustainable ways of fostering our individual and collective intentions.
In this session, we sense into what is ours to do out in the world in a way that stems from our deepest passion as an Elder, and we strategize ways to give back to life in purposeful and joyful co-creation.
My Freedom
My Freedom awakens us to our audacious self that can presence new beginnings, new horizons, and new expression with ease and grace.
We explore how freedom of expression can be a wonderful playground as we step into our time of being an Elder. Imagining the future within this stage of Active Wisdom can sustain us and deepen our understanding of our unique evolutionary purpose.
In this session, we explore how Love and the light of the Divine, flows from our ancestry through us to those that we care about.
This is often called seven generations thinking and opens up the narrative or story of our lives as the fulcrum for our creativity, our love of living and our legacy.
Completion and New Beginnings
Every completion holds the promise of a new beginning.
In our final session we will honor our journey and savor what we have experienced together as a community of Elders.
Gathering a harvest of the gems of our learning, we will set intentions that will call us to the actions we wish to take in order to expand more fully into our Elderhood.
Exploring the nature of co-creation, we'll open up ways to sustain and grow our Active Wisdom during this vital and rewarding time in our lives.
SIX LIVE 2-HOUR ZOOM SESSIONS
Each 2-Hour session will include personal reflection, small group work, community time and new content to explore.
"SIX LIVE WITH"S
Each session will include a “Live With” - something specific to explore as a direct application of what you are learning within your own context and situation.
A LEARNING TRIAD FOR DEEPENING AND SUPPORT
Each week of the journey you will share a Zoom call with two of your fellow travelers. These calls are to create a space for shared learning.
A HOSTED PRIVATE ONLINE COMMUNITY FORUM
Designed to extend the learning ecology of this course and have a safe place to share our experiences and questions with each other outside the sessions.
2 DEDICATED GUIDES AND 3 SKILLED ALLIES
This kind of inquiry is best undertaken with skilled companions. Our team will travel with you for the entire journey, offering their support and wisdom to assist you as you zero-in on your own Elderhood.
DATES
Coming in the Spring of 2020 - stay tuned!
TIME
10am - 12pm PST | 1 - 3pm EST | 18.00 - 20.00 GMT | 19.00 - 21.00 CET
COST
All-Inclusive Fee: $498
NOTE: All sessions will be recorded and made available on our site, along with other resources within 48 hours, so that if you have to miss a session, you can catch up.