Every day, 10,000 baby boomers turn 65. In Conscious Living, Conscious Aging, Ron Pevny provides concrete ways to make retirement an even more meaningful time than the years that came before, persuading readers that fulfilling emotional and spiritual needs is as important as tending to physical and financial security.
During his 50s, several events turned Pevny's focus toward "conscious aging," especially a request to create a program to help with the rite of passage into "sage-hood" and a heart arrhythmia caused by a tumor in his lung. The health crisis provided a sense of urgency and led him to found the Center for Conscious Eldering in Durango, Colo.
Pevny believes aging can accentuate the best or the worst in an individual, and aims to help readers clarify their purpose in order to live with intention rather than simply out of habit. Throughout, Pevny draws on well-established archetypes from Joseph Campbell and Carl Jung, and each chapter focuses on a different way of starting this journey: experiencing nature, resolving regrets, asking for and accepting forgiveness, releasing the past, building a legacy and so on. At the end of each chapter, Pevny includes a "Story by the Fire," highlighting how a person successfully navigated the transition to retirement. In addition, concrete exercises and recommended resources guide readers to continue down the path begun with this book, which Pevny proposes is "not another academic work. Instead, I hope to offer you a guidebook to support your journey toward conscious elderhood." --Kristen Galles from Book Club Classics