“Man lives in two worlds.”
Programs
Second Life Academy offers Life Review sessions, Creative Workshops, and Wisdom Collaboratives to provide structure and assistance for those seeking ways to better realize the opportunities beyond the midlife passage. Our programs follow a four-part curricular model designed to blend study of ideas relevant to meaning and purpose in life with experiential learning and collaboration.
“What youth found and must find outside, the man of life’s afternoon must find within himself.”
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Participants engage with a wide range of educational content - exploring philosophical, psychological, and spiritual perspectives to build a robust intellectual foundation. This study of ideas provides the theoretical context for personal growth and meaningful transformation.
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Through meaning-centered Life Review sessions, individuals reflect on their past experiences to uncover patterns and gain deeper understanding. This process fosters self-awareness and helps participants identify the lessons and wisdom derived from their life experience.
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Participants undertake creative projects that allow them to express their insights and experiences in a wide variety of activities. These projects serve as a form of ritual initiation, helping individuals to articulate and embody their newfound understanding in tangible and impactful ways.
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In wisdom collaboratives, participants work together to integrate their insights into practical applications. These collaborative efforts enable them to share their wisdom with others, fostering a sense of community and collective growth.
“The afternoon of life is just as full of meaning as the morning; only, its meaning and purpose are different.” — Carl Jung
Foundations
Life Review | Patterns of Experience
Integrated Life Review illuminates symbolic patterns. Life Review is a meaning-centered approach that allows each individual opportunity to recollect, reflect on, and reconsider events across the stages of life. In this collaborative process, new insights and understanding foster healing, inner development, and increased clarity about our freedom to make independent choices.
Midlife Quandary | Quest & Initiation
Internal changes associated with life’s middle passage create disturbances in our sense of the status quo—giving rise to fundamental questions of identity, purpose, and meaning. A sequence of small group workshops titled the Midlife Quandary provide orientation to these experiences of change and establish a foundation for other SLA offerings.
Workshops
Workshop themes are designed to address the interests and capabilities of SLA members working collaboratively in small groups. These topics may also be pursued in one-on-one sessions and are available on demand.
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Making Time Matter: Explore strategies for prioritizing and managing your time effectively in the second half of life, ensuring that your actions reflect your evolved values and long-term goals.
Don’t Under Think It: Harness deep thinking and mindfulness to address the unique challenges of midlife, making well-informed decisions that align with your true self and current stage of life.
Out Living Your Life: Examine how to live a meaningful life in your later years, focusing on legacy and making a positive, lasting impact on the world and those around you.
Eye of the Beholder: Discover the power to perceive beauty beyond midlife, learning how shifting your perspective can transform your experiences and enhance personal growth.
Fathers & Sons: Delve into the evolving dynamics of the father-son relationship as both grow older, exploring ways to strengthen bonds, heal old wounds, and foster mutual growth.
Sacred Embrace: Explore the spiritual and sacred aspects of relationships, seeking deeper connections and understanding through reflective practices and new qualities of engagement.
World of Mirrors: Examine reflections of your inner life experiences and relationships, gaining insights into how to live the symbolic life.
Fishing for Light: Photographers, filmmakers, and other visual artists seek out moments of clarity and insight through focused experiments with light.
In Your Dreams: Explore the symbolic language of dreams and how it relates to personal growth and self-discovery.
Midlife Movies: Analyze and discuss films that explore themes relevant to midlife transitions and personal evolution.
Midlife Myths: Explore the messages mythology offers on the subjects of aging, wisdom, and transformation.
Midlife Muse: Engage in creative activities designed to inspire and rejuvenate during the midlife phase, tapping into newfound sources of creativity and passion.
Real Friends: Delve into the essence of authentic friendships in adulthood, exploring dynamics, challenges, and the importance of genuine connections.
Ring of Truth: Reflect on capacities of intuition and conscience as ways to discern authentic dimensions of truth.
True Vocation: Explore and redefine one's sense of calling in the second half of life, aligning career aspirations with personal fulfillment and meaning.
Art of Amends: Explore techniques and practices for making sincere and meaningful apologies and reconciliations.
Song Medicine: Discover the therapeutic power of music and songwriting in promoting emotional healing and personal growth.
Happy Holidays: Navigate the complexities of holiday seasons with strategies for maintaining well-being and finding joy.
Do Be Do Be Do: Reflect on the balance between doing and being in life, exploring strategies for living authentically and purposefully.
Be the Grownup: Embrace maturity and responsibility through discussions on adulting, decision-making, and personal accountability.
Transitional Man: Life is a laboratory, and in this section participants explore changing social values and the compositing of role models.
Re-Blowing Glass: Engage in creative workshops focusing on glassblowing as a metaphor for reshaping and transforming life experiences.
Get Over Yourself: Foster self-awareness and personal growth by exploring ways to overcome ego-centric behaviors and perspectives.
Song Medicine Cafe: Participate in a community-focused event where music and storytelling are used to share personal narratives and foster healing.
Life After Life Review: Hear insights from near-death experiencers and engage ideas and methods for applying their unique wisdom.
Meaning in Retirement: Explore the opportunities and challenges of retirement, focusing on finding new purpose and meaning in this life stage.
Wisdom Collaboratives: Engage in collaborative projects that benefit from collective wisdom to address personal and societal challenges.
Rites of Middle Passage: Explore rituals and practices that mark significant life transitions, working to develop your own initiation into the second half of life.
Magnum Opus
Wisdom has essential value for our individual work and the well-being of our communities—local and global. Second Life Academy members select and work toward a capstone project designed to harvest and share aspects of wisdom they have discovered through their course of study. These wisdom collaboratives vary widely and benefit from meaningful engagement with community members.