12 Journals • 12 Topics • 12 People • 12 Months
The Centerpiece of the Farther On experience is the Journal Circle. 12 journals, on 12 topics essential to healthy aging, passed among 12 people, over 12 months. Journaling transforms the inward experience of aging from monologue to dialogue.
Monologue is the way most people face the challenges of aging--alone. Farther On’s Journal Circles open the "conversation" to the thoughts and feelings of others walking "alone, together" into the mysteries and challenges of growing old, whose truths and meanings combine with our own to enrich us all.
As we make our way through this largely uncharted and unarticulated time of life, the 12 journal themes direct our attention to topics essential to thoughtful aging, coaxing out our innate wisdom with topics that are too often avoided or ignored, but which refuse to simply go away.
Each month the journals pass among the 12 individuals in clockwork fashion. Month by month we come to know one more person in the Circle through their unique responses to topics we now will write on ourselves. At the conclusion of the 12 month cycle, your original journal will come back to you, along with the eleven entries from your fellow travelers.
The Journal Circle experience culminates in a Final Gathering, where 12 people who may have never met before come face to face for the first time. Each Final Gathering is designed by the journalers themselves, who find their own way to honor their completed work and "bless" each other's journeys going forward. Final Gatherings can be held anywhere, and most often occur in a quiet, wilderness setting--
a desert, a river, a mountain, a canyon--where nature reinforces the inner lessons of the shared journals.
Journal topics roughly fall into four cardinal directions, each essential to mindful aging.
The Centerpiece of the Farther On experience is the Journal Circle. 12 journals, on 12 topics essential to healthy aging, passed among 12 people, over 12 months. Journaling transforms the inward experience of aging from monologue to dialogue.
Monologue is the way most people face the challenges of aging--alone. Farther On’s Journal Circles open the "conversation" to the thoughts and feelings of others walking "alone, together" into the mysteries and challenges of growing old, whose truths and meanings combine with our own to enrich us all.
As we make our way through this largely uncharted and unarticulated time of life, the 12 journal themes direct our attention to topics essential to thoughtful aging, coaxing out our innate wisdom with topics that are too often avoided or ignored, but which refuse to simply go away.
Each month the journals pass among the 12 individuals in clockwork fashion. Month by month we come to know one more person in the Circle through their unique responses to topics we now will write on ourselves. At the conclusion of the 12 month cycle, your original journal will come back to you, along with the eleven entries from your fellow travelers.
The Journal Circle experience culminates in a Final Gathering, where 12 people who may have never met before come face to face for the first time. Each Final Gathering is designed by the journalers themselves, who find their own way to honor their completed work and "bless" each other's journeys going forward. Final Gatherings can be held anywhere, and most often occur in a quiet, wilderness setting--
a desert, a river, a mountain, a canyon--where nature reinforces the inner lessons of the shared journals.
Journal topics roughly fall into four cardinal directions, each essential to mindful aging.
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Looking Back
focuses on the lives we have led-- the personal achievements and inevitable hardships that have shaped our characters and provided the plotline we carry into the next chapter of our lives. |
The Passage of Time:
Locating Yourself Now |
Making Amends:
The Graceful Art of Repair |
Three Stories:
Critical Moments that Have Etched Your Character |
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Looking Ahead
embraces the possibilities and the challenges that we will negotiate in our future. |
Kinds of Power:
As Some Decline, Are Others Growing? |
Settling:
Coming Home to Yourself |
Facing Death:
Embracing the Inevitable |
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Looking Inward
explores our evolving sense of self, our quest for purpose and meaning, and our changing center of gravity, as we leave the structured world of work. |
Parts & Wholes:
Keeping Yourself Together As You Age |
How Are You Fooling Yourself:
Seeing Through the Illusions We Live By |
Self Worth:
Valuing Yourself As An Elder |
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Looking Outward
anticipates new possibilities for active, creative engagement in our world and in our communities and lays the foundation for the role of the new elder in modern society. |
(Re)Awakening Your Genius:
Bringing Forth Your Greatest Gifts as an Elder |
Blessings & Cursing:
Revitalizing An Ancient Responsibility of Elders |
Thresholds & Initiations:
Passing Into Elderhood with Dignity and Grace |
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Writing in these journals is profound and fulfilling in and of itself—not because it is easy but because it is hard.
As we wrestle with these deep themes, we more fully appreciate how we have come to be the people we are, and what we most desire for our futures. Getting started is simple. Gather a circle of 12 people--friends, family, colleagues-- with whom you'd like to share this intimate and illuminating experience. Order each of the 12 journals. Distribute one to each in your circle, and determine the order in which they will be passed amongst you. At the conclusion of your year of journaling, find a time and place to meet so you can reflect together on what you've written and celebrate your mutual accomplishment. A Handbook for Journal Guides - a simple walk through the logistics, basic costs, and timelines of a year of journaling - can be found below. You will find tips and 'best practice' suggestions on the Farther On FAQ page. The price of each journal is $25 which, essentially, constitutes each person's tuition for the year. |