AGEING – Stepping-stones to Wholeness, The Courage to Age with Wisdom

“We have more old people on the planet than ever before, but fewer Elders.  And more than ever, we need Elders.  Elder is not about age but about committing with intention to the lifelong journey to wholeness and meaning-making.”    Sally Z. Hare.

Having the courage to age in a way that brings wisdom and wholeness requires that we look back, re-member and give meaning to our life-story.  In this way we can then bring all of who we are to our future selves.

How do you feel about ageing and your future self? For many of us getting old evokes fear, a sense of purposelessness and sadness as loss of capacity and loved ones become an increasing feature of life.  Parker Palmer suggests a more wholesome way of being with ageing, he says “I don’t want to fight the gravity of aging. It’s nature’s way. I want to collaborate with it as best I can, in hopes of going down with something like the grace of the setting sun”.

We invite you to join us at this Courage & Renewal® retreat, where we will explore the important themes of Ageing and Eldering including:

• Life reviews that can reclaim our stories, make peace with our past, and call on courage to name and claim our unlived lives
• Eldering as a journey to wholeness
• Living between Loss and Grief
• Facing our Mortality and looking at our Legacy.

During this Courage & Renewal Retreat, the Circle of Trust® approach, pioneered by Dr. Parker J. Palmer and developed through the Center for Courage & Renewal, will be used. The Circle of Trust® offers a safe, confidential, and sacred space where we can be alone and together as we inquire, reflect, and hear the wisdom of our own hearts and souls.

The invitation is to take time and space where we can:

• engage at a deep level with our true selves and the questions that might be alive in our lives as we age in an increasingly uncertain world
• renew our hearts, minds, and spirits by exploring how we might collaborate with the path of ageing
• embrace our past, present and future, our lived and unlived lives, our light and shadow
• experience the principles and practices of the Circle of Trust© approach
• connect with the support of the group, listen to others, and be listened to and witnessed
• arrive where we need to be and not in any set place.

We will be together as individuals and as a community in a way that honours both our solitude and connections. You can be yourself and move at your own pace.   Everything is invitational in large and small group conversations, with time for journaling, reflection, listening, sharing and silence. We will draw on poems, stories, music, and wisdom traditions to inspire our exploration of ageing and eldering.

You will have the opportunity to experience a Clearness Triad – a small group discernment process that offers everyone an opportunity to consider an issue that matters to them.  Through this process, we can access our own inner teacher and wisdom.

Throughout the retreat, all our inquiry and reflection will be supported and nourished by the beautiful natural landscape of An Tobar.  There will be opportunities outdoors, to commune with the environment and be ‘in your element’ if you wish.

Who is this for?

This retreat welcomes anyone who would like time to reflect on their inner life as they age. If you are curious about “going down with something like the grace of the setting sun” then this retreat may be for you.

Labyrinth photo credit: Willian Justen de Vasconcellos