Dear Old Souls,
The summer is rapidly giving way to fall as my thoughts begin their annual turn inward. Today, I am moved to ask the question: What does it all mean?
The following, adapted from my book The Making of an Old Soul , provides a sneak preview of my upcoming online retreats, exploring the highest stages of adult development.
I hope you are moved to join me in either or both of the brand new October or November interactive gatherings. Following the blog below, look for descriptions and registration links.
Fiercely Yours,
Carol Orsborn
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The ordeal of being true to your own inner way must stand high on the list of ordeals. It is like being in the power of someone you cannot reach, know, or move, but who never lets you go. …It is not easy to be sure that being yourself is worth the trouble, but we do know it is our sacred duty.
–Florida Scott-Maxwell, The Measure of My Days
Today, I am moved to ask the question: What does it all mean? Life review is a tricky business, certainly not for the faint-hearted. The more inner work we do, the more the need to keep things as simple as possible.
For starters, I can at least say for certain that I am many things today that I wasn’t months ago, let alone decades. I am less liable to be bullied, more self-nurturing, less worried about what others think and how things look, and generally more apt to bound out the front door eager to experience whatever new adventures may come my way.
I understand more about what it means to love and be loved, and how to tender compassion without strings attached. And yet, on any given day, I may also be devastated at some point, ecstatic at another, and for the rest I am often just doing–well–whatever.
On the last page of Carl Jung’s autobiography, written at the end of his life, the great psychologist puts it like this: “I am astonished, disappointed, pleased with myself. I am distressed, depressed, rapturous. I am all these things at once, and cannot add up the sum. I am incapable of determining ultimate worth or worthlessness; I have no judgment about myself and my life. There is nothing I am quite sure about…” Jung is as rapturous as he is deflated. And, too, when it comes to me and to all of us, it is, indeed, complicated.
At my best, when I am faced with questions of ultimate concern, I get a taste of the state for which I have so mightily striven over the years when I give up trying. As a most unexpected result, there are those moments, rare and precious, when I find myself simply living in the present moment.
When in the present moment you are feeling your lowest, conscious aging asks almost more of you than you can bear. At these times, however easy or difficult, all you can do is hold yourself tightly with as much compassion as you can muster for yourself, the world, and the human condition.
At the highest stages of the developmental pyramid, regardless of your circumstances, you let yourself feel whatever arises with no need to understand it or to do something about it. There must be something to it that Jung, Scott-Maxwell, Ram Dass, James Hollis and so many others who have touched this place of utter surrender ask us variations of the question: What is it that can’t be lost to you?
Sit empty long enough and the answer will come to you. Inevitably, inexorably. But know this: it won’t be because of anything you’ve done but by grace.
For me, the answer turns out to be simply this: “Let’s take a walk, hold hands, cry together, laugh, too, and if we have to say anything at all, let it be Amen.”
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UPCOMING EVENTS
October 17 @ 11:30 am – 1:00 pm:
The Making of an Old Soul, Part II for Sage-ing International. Open to new participants.
In Dr. Carol Orsborn’s The Making of an Old Soul, Part One, we examined the transit through the first eight stages of the life cycle to see how far our cohort of conscious elders has come in revisioning aging not as diminishment but as culmination.
This fall, Carol Orsborn returns to complete our journey through the four final stages of adult development where Stage 8 Conscious Aging is just the beginning and Stage 11 Fulfilling Life’s Promise the destination. The Making of an Old Soul, Part Two will gently guide you to identify where the cutting edge of your conscious aging is taking you and after a lifetime of seeking how to at last reap the harvest you deserve.
Registration Link: https://www.sage-ing.org/events/the-making-of-an-old-soul-ageing-as-a-fulfillment-of-lifes-promise-part-ii/
November 11 @ Noon to 2 pm Eastern:
The Making of an Older, Wiser, Fiercer Soul : A Virtual Retreat for Women hosted by Spirit of Sophia
The nearer we draw to the peak of human development, the subtler the psycho-spiritual challenges become. By popular demand, Dr. Carol Orsborn, who introduced Spirit of Sophia to conscious aging last December, returns this fall with The Making of an Older, Wiser, Fiercer Soul. All women are welcome as we continue our journey to aging as the fulfillment of life’s promise and more!
This interactive online retreat builds upon the work of a wide range of scholars and mystics from Carl Jung and Florida Scott-Maxwell to Ram Dass and Joan Chittister. In addition to sharing insights rooted in life stage theory, the retreat will include journaling and group discussion,
Registration link: https://spiritofsophia.org/the-making-of-an-older-wiser-fiercer-soul/
LOOKING AHEAD TO 2024:
A Gathering of Old Souls: Carol Orsborn’s first On-going Discussion for Women Who are Growing Older, Wiser and Fiercer
Tuesday, January 9 from 12:00 to 1:30 pm Eastern time – and then meeting the same day and time every other month. Hosted by Spirit of Sophia.
Stay tuned for further details on this and my forthcoming book with Inner Traditions, due fall of 2024.
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