Becoming an Intrepid Elder: Growing Older with Grace, Purpose, and Passion

Each of us is growing older…fact of life. We can be “old”, or we can become an Intrepid Elder… …one who is known for their fearlessness, fortitude, and perseverance and respected for their wisdom and experience.

For most of us, when we retire ( or are facing retirement), it’s astonishing to realize that we have 20 to 25 years left to walk this Earth. The real questions become “how do I create an active, purposeful, and happy life that will take me into this New Future? How do I find the path to becoming an intrepid elder…one who can grow old with grace, purpose, and passion?”

Nature of the Workshop

Based in the principles of “ageing to sage-ing” and drawing from conscious eldering work, this workshop is designed to help you lean into the space between who you were and who you can become. Becoming an Intrepid Elder means that you move through

the uncertainties to a more meaningful and productive future…developing the mindset, the tools, and the skills to accept and savor each moment, to learn from it, to make good choices, and to move forward. It provides a space where you can be present in the now, look within, examine what is important to you, rethink your choices, and begin to master the habits of ageing well, building on what is already working for you.

Taking a wholistic approach, the workshop focuses on:

•  Examining alternate ways of thinking about what it means to grow older
•  Helping you answer the questions “who do I want to be?” and “what path do I want for myself?”
•  Expanding aspects of being – your body, your emotions, your mind, and your spirit – sources of strength that will guide  your journey forward
•  Releasing what you no longer need, replacing the space with what serves you now, restoring your passion, vision, and motivation to be living well for what is to come
•  Creating a map and concrete methods for leading your life as you go forward, prepared for whatever happens
•  Learning with and connecting with others who can provide support help you expand your options

Audience

This work is open to anyone looking toward the “third act” of life with an interest in

exploring how to grow older with grace, purpose, and passion….anyone interested in

becoming an Intrepid Elder. It is particularly appropriate for those who might be approaching

retirement or who are in the process of “reinventing” themselves after retiring.

“I wish I had lived the life I wanted rather than the life that was expected of me.”

…Anonymous Quote from the Bed of a Dying Hospice Patient

Facilitators

Among other things, Jan Flynn, Ph.D., is a businesswoman, a family business consultant, a retired University business professor, a mother, a grandmother, an avid horsewoman, a cattle drive cook, a quilter, and a certified Bar B Que judge. After 20 years in industry working for three major Fortune 500 companies, she spent 20 years teaching business strategy and international management at Georgia College and State University in Milledgeville, GA. For the past 15 years, her academic and consulting work has focused on transition from one generation to the next in family businesses. Seeing her older clients struggle with letting go and moving on to the next phase of their lives, she began to explore the work of ageing, particularly as it relates to embracing growing older with grace and purpose. Jan is a Certified Sage-ing Leader with Sage-international and has done work with the Center for Conscious Eldering. She holds a Bachelor’s and Master’s Degree from Auburn University and a Ph.D. from Purdue University. She has been an active part of the Hope Springs Community for almost 25 years. Jan lives on beautiful Lake Sinclair in Central Georgia. She can be reached through email at jan.flynn@bellsouth.net.

Dennis Stamper, MSW, CSL is a Certified Sage-ing Leader with Sage-ing International and a Retreat Guide with The Center for Conscious Eldering. He worked for many years directing wholistic programs assisting individuals with chronic pain and for 20 years served as a pastor and hospital chaplain. His interest in Sage-ing began when he first attended a Conscious Eldering retreat. Since then, he has become passionate about helping others discover and grow into their own elderhood. Dennis enjoys leading

Sage-ing workshops and retreats as well as speaking with groups and individuals about conscious aging. 

His TEDx talk, “What do Elders Know and Why is it Still Important” was delivered in 2018: https://youtu.be/8RA1ZGQledM 

Contact: stampers@charter.net

Registration

Please see the ticket information below.  

We want this experience to be open to all who are interested.  To this end, scholarship money may be available.  Please contact Barbie Luna at director@hopespringsinstitute.org to discuss scholarship opportunities.