Life Transitions   

We will read the bestseller Being Mortal and discuss issues related to aging and ultimately dying. Topics include aging, dependence, letting go, hard conversations and courage, among others. Required textbook: Being Mortal: Illness, Medicine and What Matters in the End by Atul Gawande (2014), ISBN: ‎978-1250076229.

If you were unable to manage your own affairs or were to die, would the person named in your will, trust or power of attorney know what to do with your accounts, property and related matters? Even a close family member or friend may not know all the details you take for granted or can find easily. We will learn how to document important information for agents and get started creating our own agents’ guides. Prerequisites: None; participants can create an agent’s guide even if they have not yet created estate-planning legal documents. Materials (optional): Laptop or tablet to assist with in-class exercises, or print emailed exercises and other handouts and bring to class.

Since coming to widespread public attention in 1975 through Raymond Moody's popular book Life After Life, near-death experiences continue to be both compelling and controversial phenomena. We will challenge ourselves to understand the many different and highly conflicting views about NDEs using Bruce Greyson's book After and other sources as our guides. Required textbook: After: A Doctor Explores What Near-Death Experiences Reveal About Life and Beyond by Bruce Greyson (2021), ISBN: 978-1250263032.

Your life is just beginning. The integrative stage of life (from retirement to death) presents us with our greatest opportunity: to trade what Jungian psychologist Jim Hollis calls our "provisional adulthood" for an elderhood that is fuller, more authentic and more whole. We will clarify our life trajectory (past and future), appreciate the triumphs and challenges of our adaptation to the 20th/21st centuries, consider a wide scope of character strengths and virtues, and create a roadmap for our wonderful future. Prerequisites: Participants should be willing to read and listen, and have an open mind and a sense of humor.

We will cover issues that we encounter as we grow older and the possible solutions that devices and other technologies can provide. Each day, we will begin with research on a particular area (social interaction, health, housing, the future) then showcase various tools, gizmos and technology to help us with each of those areas. Participants will be invited to discuss experiences and problems that they have had with tools and technology.