Hello Fierce Ones,

We conclude our summer of classics with a special edition, featuring conscious aging thought leaders who will be presenting at The Sage-ing International 2018 Global Conference, of which Fierce with Age is proud to be a partner.What a joy to anticipate the company of like-minded seekers from around the world in Minnesota, Oct. 25-28 to share in workshops, rituals, interactive sessions, fireside chats, walks in nature, music and more.

See you back here in October with our regularly-scheduled Fall edition of our digest!

–Carol Orsborn, Editor-in-Chief of Fierce with Age

Use the promo code FIERCE to receive a 10% main conference registration discount.                                Links at the bottom of the Digest.

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THE REINVENTION OF RETIREMENT

“Our ability to retire the Doer, the Dominator, the Competitor, the Provider, that is, to stop identifying with them as who we are, is greatly enhanced when we meditate and experience pure awareness. A quiet mind helps us to watch the fears of uncertainty as they arise and to release the compulsive need to do more that no longer serves us.

It’s my intention to continue to contribute without the internal pressure of the Doer driving me from within. It’s my intention to write and teach for as long as I am able. But I will release old roles and responsibilities. And I will find a new rhythm and reinvent this stage of life for myself.

When I wake up now, I breathe into the open space and look around in wonder. I am no longer a role. I’m retiring the past. I’m retiring the future. I’m practicing Presence. I’m crossing the threshold from role to soul.”

–Connie Zweig, Blogger and author of  Meeting the Shadow and Romancing the Shadow as well as the forthcoming The Reinvention of Age

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HEALING COMMUNAL WOUNDS

“Elders are often neglected in US society, which tends to value people for their consuming power (‘I buy therefore I am’). Although our culture occasionally acknowledges elders for their past contributions, it rarely listens to them about today’s problems. It almost never includes them or seeks their gifts, which they have spent a lifetime developing…

In these critical times, when the world is undergoing astounding transformations, elders are more important than ever. They can be caretakers, and guides, as well as wise critics of greed and human selfishness, which wound our communities, all beings, and Mother Earth…Don’t enter retirement, enter refirement.”

–Matthew Fox, The Hidden Spirituality of Men

Thanks to John Robinson for this reference.

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DON’T JUST GROW OLD–GROW WHOLE

“I’m convinced that the challenge of aging isn’t to stay young, it’s not only to grow old but to grow whole–to come into your own.

The aging process is woven into human destiny.  It’s your time to embrace that challenge and figure out who you are now that you’re not who you were.”

—Connie Goldman, Who Am I Now that I’m Not Who I Was

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ORDINARY SAGES

“Much of the literature on wisdom promotes an image of the sage as a super-humanly wise person who is as rare as the snow leopard.

But for the past thirty years I have been observing, interviewing, and listening to the stories of ordinary sages—everyday people from all walks of life who have matured spiritually and gradually developed the qualities and skills we associate with the wise sage…

I have watched people intentionally develop into sages over time, which indicates that being able to manifest as a sage is a possibility to which each of us can aspire.

— Bob Atchley.,  Spirituality and Aging

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BIRTHING THE ENLIGHTENED ELDER

Aging, at its best, puts us on a continuum of increasing loss and the potential for pain.  As Dr. John C. Robinson describes:  There is “a gradual fading away of identity, as if who you were or think you are is no longer very important or even that real.”  There are memory failures, marginalization, erosion of physical and mental capabilities and more.

But Robertson suggests that these are not the obstacle but the means to fulfilling our spiritual potential.  “The self-idea, or false self, created and maintained by a dense construction thought, has enshrouded the Divine Self for most of recent history.

When the self-idea disappears, however, divine consciousness begins to fill and reorganize the personality in ways that transcend the ego’s limited vision…As we wake up from the illusions of mind, we transition from personal identity to the consciousness of Divinity, giving birth to the enlightened Elder.”

–John C. Robinson, The Three Secrets of Aging

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PILGRIMAGE TO THE ELDER WITHIN

“Since time immemorial, people have gone on pilgrimage to wild, natural places to connect with the wisdom, passion and callings of the heart…Indigenous people believe that the deep wisdom, spirituality of their wisdom keeping, are essential to provide direction for the life of their people.

We believe that the wisdom of true elders is absolutely necessary in our modern world as well, if civilization is to successfully face up to the momentous challenges that lie ahead of us.”

—Ron Pevny, Center for Conscious Eldering and author of Conscious Living, Conscious Aging 

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CONSCIOUS AGING:  NOT FOR EVERYBODY

While walking aging as a spiritual path is deeply personal, it bears implications for society at large. According to Rick Moody, this deeper embrace of the whole of life has emerged as a new cultural ideal at a specific moment in history representing “a genuinely new stage and level of psychological functioning . . .

The evolution of psychology toward a deeper view of the human person can now join with the societal transformation of institutions to create new opportunities for positive development in later life.”

As Moody teaches, conscious aging is not for everybody. But for those of us who have embarked on aging as a spiritual path, it is an exciting time, indeed, to be growing old.

—Harry R. Moody, Ph.D.  author The Five Stages of the Soul and Distinguished Visiting Professor, Creative Longevity and Wisdom Program Fielding Graduate University

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ARE WE WISE YET?

Engaging with irresolution in service of increasing wisdom is no small order, as you face the questions of meaning and purpose that beg to be answered in life’s second half. It is human nature to want the quick answer that will resolve all.

Against this tendency we would ask, instead, that you join with those from the many traditions whose spiritual leadership stems from being willing to ask questions and wait patiently for a response.  In fact, the true seeker remains passionately interested in the mystery, the inquiry, understanding the limits of his or her knowledge.  The fruits of such a spirituality include childlike wonder, astonishment, compassion, fascination, awe, and the invitation to go out and play.”

–Robert L. Weber and Carol Orsborn, coauthors of The Spirituality of Age

Robert L. Weber, Ph.D and I will be on hand at the conference to reprise our 2016 plenary presentation to ask the provocative question: “Are We Wise Yet?” If you come, please say hello!

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For Carol Orsborn’s Blog, Older, Wiser, Fiercer, click HERE