As the years go by, the question for each of us becomes more and more real: What does it mean to age? Despite the limitations that come as the body wears down, there are many gifts to inhabit by aging. So much is gained and so much is shed along the way. Now in his seventies, poet and philosopher Mark Nepo explores the rhythms of aging in the second half of life. More than ever, we are called to live a creative life as we age, which leads us to inhabit what the Chinese call the fifth season, that time in late summer when the glare is gone and only the color of things as they are can reach us.

And so, the second half of life is a turning point, a time of integration and transformation that helps us make sense of our experience. All seasons lead to this season, all experiences to this understanding of experience. In truth, we each must face living and dying from the inside of the one life we are given. But we can share the journey, which is the purpose of this retreat, to be a companion in your effort to enter the fifth season of your life.

“I confess, very simply, that it is humbling to age and exciting to be fully here. After so many years, I feel like a man who has been turned inside out by life and this has made me a student of the inside of everything. I think this is the journey of aging: to become a student of the inside of everything. And all along, I have worked to convey what I keep learning from the inside of everything. For what I’ve discovered there seems the blessing of life. I think, as we age, we meet in this inner field of presence, where there’s very little left in the way.” —MN