Apprenticing Life As We Grow Older with Mark Nepo

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There are no shortcuts in navigating growing older. As we pass into the second half of our lives, we will face the challenge of accepting the forces of limitation. Some of the limits will be imposed on us by our own bodies and not being able to do what we have always done. The reality of aging is that it is an apprenticeship into life with the invitation of new ways of seeing, feeling, and being while not turning away from its limitation. Even though the losses and limitations are real, so are the rewards and gifts. This deep dialogue explores the challenges and gifts of growing older. (hosted by Justine Willis Toms)

Bio

Mark Nepo is a poet and philosopher and a most eloquent spiritual teacher. In 2015 he was given a Life-Achievement Award by AgeNation and in 2016 was named by Watkins Mind Body Spirit as one of the Most Spiritually Influential Living People. He was part of Oprah Winfrey’s The Life You Want Tour in 2014 and has appeared several times with Oprah on her Super Soul Sunday program on OWN TV. As a cancer survivor, Mark devotes his writing and teaching to the journey of inner transformation and the life of relationship.

Mark Nepo is the author of many audio learning projects and over 20 books including:

• Reduced To Joy (Cleis Press 2013)
• Seven Thousand Ways to Listen: Staying Close To What Is Sacred (Free Press 2012)
• The One Life We’re Given: Finding the Wisdom That Waits in Your heart (Atria Books 2016)
• More Together Than Alone: Discovering the Power and Spirit of Community in Our Lives and in the World (Atria Books 2018)
•  Drinking from the River of Light: The Life of Expression (Sounds True 2019)
• The Book of Soul: 52 Paths to Living What Matters (St. Martin’s Essentials 2020)
• Surviving Storms: Finding the Strength to Meet Adversity (St. Martin’s Essentials 2022)
• Falling Down and Getting Up: Discovering Your Inner Resilience and Strength (St. Martin’s Essentials 2023)
• You Don't Have To Do It Alone: The Power Of Friendship (St. Martin’s Essentials 2024)
• The Fifth Season: Creativity in the Second Half of Life (St. Martin’s Essentials 2025)

His many audio learning courses include:

• Staying Awake (Sounds True 2012)
• Holding Nothing Back (Sounds True 2012)

To learn more about the work of Mark Nepo go to www.marknepo.com.

Topics explored in this dialogue include:

• What signifies the turning point when we realize that we are aging
• How a metaphor for aging is like the light of a meteor
• What are some of the different skills required of us in the second half of life
• What is the significance of Homer’s tale of Odysseus
• How we continue to deepen and expand and not turn away from accepting the limitations
• What does it mean to befriend life
• What insight did Mark have from the back surgery that he had in his 70s
• What are some life-enhancing questions we can ask ourselves as we age
• Why staying engaged to our inner life is important as we age
• How recalling our mastery leads to confidence
• There are many kinds of human intelligences: mind, heart, and somatic
• What does the example of the artist Claude Monet have for the process of aging and the paradox of limitation
• What are the challenges in being a caretaker of a loved one as we are also aging and facing limitations
• Why it is important to be honest and admit being exhausted when needing a break from caretaking
• What is the analogy of the Beaver and the inlet
• How, even though our physical lives are facing limitations, our inner self can be quite expansive
• Why it is important to continue to engage in the creative arts as we age
• How we hold one another’s stories and history
• Why aging is not a time to isolate. We must continue to pursue kinship but forgo the need for approval
• What are some questions we can ask to forge new friendships

 Host: Justine Willis Toms    Interview Date: 5/9/2025   Program Number: 3841

Music Playlist

Album: A Windham Hill Retrospective

Artist: Alex DeGrassi

Opening Essay: Track 02 Causeway

Music Break 1: Track 03 Western

Music Break 2: Track 04 Window

Music Break 3: Track 06 Blue Trout