ELDERHOOD with Stephen Jenkinson
Nov 3 (part 1 of 2): 7 pm – 9:30 pm
Nov 4 (part 2 of 2): 9 am – 4 pm (12:30-2 break)
at Sparkroot Farm, 4435 Moncure Pittsboro Road, Moncure, NC 27559
This gathering is a teaching offered by author and social activist, Stephen Jenkinson, MTS, MSW for anyone with a desire to be useful to those now inheriting an endangered and often dangerous world, those who have an instinct and a desire to be an ancestor worth claiming. Think of it as a radical training in elder-hood in an almost elderless time, this is for people of all ages.
“In a time like this, contemplation tethered to the troubled world is courageous. Contemplation worthy of the troubled time: that is something to bequeath to the young among us. Unvanquished give-a-shit: that is something the old among us might be nourished to see.
Trade faith and hope for a stranger love of life, one that befriends the darkening sky by learning it. We might yet craft an eloquence that serves the terrible beauty we are about to bequeath to the young. Consequence, after all, is the true companion of grown ups. This is a gathering at he foot of the Withering World Tree…for elders in training.” — Stephen Jenkinson
Imagine a future that replaces retirement with esteemed elderhood, where young people receive real recognition of their worth and purpose in life and a living example of enduring discernment and courage for the hard and often empty times that are upon us all. Stephen believes the esteem of parents and friends can only go so far: Others and elders must bring the rest. Grandparents who are grand not only for their children’s children, but for all the young ones, whose grandness comes from having wrangled wisdom from experience, from becoming more elder, less senior citizen. Grandparents now must be elders even – especially – when no one asks it of them. Come contemplate something of the skills of grace in a graceless time, of mentorship and true teaching, of fierce and exemplary grief and compassion.
About Stephen Jenkinson, MTS, MSW
culture activist, teacher, author
Stephen teaches internationally and is the creator and principal instructor of the Orphan Wisdom School, founded in 2010. With Master’s degrees from Harvard University (Theology) and the University of Toronto (Social Work), he has devoted years to revolutionizing grief and dying in North America, redefining what it means to live, and die well. Apprenticed to a master storyteller, he has worked extensively with dying people and their families, is former programme director in a major Canadian hospital, former assistant professor in a prominent Canadian medical school, consultant to palliative care and hospice organizations and educator and advocate in the helping professions. He is a skilled craftsman by word and hand, and lives an off-the-grid life.
He is the author of Die Wise: A Manifesto for Sanity and Soul (2015), Homecoming: The Haiku Sessions – a live recorded teaching (2013), How it All Could Be: A work book for dying people and those who love them (2009), Angel and Executioner: Grief and the Love of Life – a live recorded teaching (2009), as well as Money and The Soul’s Desires: A Meditation (2002), and former contributing author to Palliative Care – Core Skills and Clinical Competencies (2007).
Sparkroot Farm is a non-profit permaculture teaching farm and gathering place for the work of decolonization, village-making and re-imagining human culture. We tend a Green Burial ground. We are located within the Village at the Bend, and offer an opportunity to wander lanes, woodland trails and orchards, glimpse a working small farm, and wonder together what human beings born of a troubled time might still become.
Saturday FREE light lunch is offered.
Camping onsite is offered at Sparkroot Farm, and a list of nearby accommodations is listed at the ticket link.
Tickets not purchased in advance will be $175 at the door. Limited number of spaces available. Tickets will be available at the door only as space allows. Thank you!
If you are interested in attending Stephen Jenkinson’s Nov 5 Death Faire Keynote workshop at Abundance NC: “DIE WISE, Making Meaning at the End of Days” (just 5 miles from Abundance NC) in Pittsboro, click here for tickets.
