A New Vision of Aging

WHAT IS IT?

RECOGNITION RITES FOR A NEW VISION OF AGING -  HONORING ELDERS™ is a program that shifts attitudes about aging and older people to the position of respect and reverence that mature cultures demonstrate with their valuation and socially integrative use of their elders.

It offers a unique blend of ancient and contemporary knowledge that is the result of Dr. Tom Pinkson’s forty years of work bridging cultures, traditions, belief systems and peoples. Recognition Rites offers hope and a call to action, in a most timely and necessary manner.

It is a program that works authentically, integrally and skillfully with the challenges and opportunities for renewal on the Journey of Aging – Consciously.

A core theme of Recognition Rites is “Gerotranscendence” – growing into old age with a fortified spirituality and cognition that evolves from shifting definition of a separate self based on ego to an understanding of larger Self that is one with the creative power(Spirit)of the cosmos.

This opens the heart to the transformational healing power of love.

HOW DOES IT WORK?

In two steps:

Step One: A Series of Individual Guided Sessions.

Participants are led through a structured process of fourteen reflective questions by which to identify, gather and harvest the wisdom teachings of the participant’s life. Questions  entail finding your bearings, appraising your relationship to your self, examining the beliefs, values and goals that guide your life, your coping strategies, tracing its crucial turning points and exploring your relationship with the significant other who have journeyed with you.

They also addresses any unresolved relationships/situations in a healing context learning how to use the mind to open and heal the  heart for inner peace and loving relationships, thereby increasing  self-esteem and promoting mental and physical well being.

Sessions take place within the individual’s home and while they are not therapy, they are therapeutic. They help you realize your “Gifts of Being” – personal assets – to   share with others in addressing needs in the community.  This enables you to create and affirm a new and meaningful vision of your future as a contributor to social and cultural well being benefiting younger generations.

Step Two: A Ceremonial Event Honoring and Celebrating the Participant’s Life.

Evolving from the reflection questions you engage your creativity for late-life reinvention developing a dramatic way of introducing your new identity and your Gifts through a presentation in a public setting – a rite of passage crossing the threshold into conscious aging via a ceremonial act of power offered to invited guests from various areas of the honorees’ life.  Invitees to the Recognition Rite Honoring Ceremony are asked to come prepared to share how knowing the participant has impacted their lives.

The first part of the Celebration is the sharing from others to the participant. This way you get to hear what otherwise might only be shared at a future memorial service when you are not there to hear it.

The second part of the Celebration is where you present your new identity and shares your Gift(s) in an experiential manner – poetry, song, music, a ritual, a theatre piece, etc., something you have developed through the individual sessions that takes you beyond your comfort zone into an “Act of Power’ that dramatically delivers the message that you are crossing the threshold of longevity with the intention to age consciously, gracefully, powerfully and meaningfully.  This is a community event that enriches and enlivens all with new possibilities of their own conscious aging.

Every Recognition Rite is tailored to the uniqueness of your gender, values and belief system utilizing your favorite music, symbols, art, colors and key life themes, thereby helping you remember that the content of your Being is more important and defines more of who you truly are than the changing form of your physical body.

WHAT DO I GET OUT OF IT?

• Understanding the program’s underlying  motivation and background, its theory, delivery process and its results.
• An enhanced sense of self-esteem and worth.
• A vision and socially integrative purpose for one’s future.
• Strengthened coping capacities for addressing loss.
• Knowing how to develop a meaningful transitional rite of passage and celebratory event into aging consciously, skillfully and gracefully conducted before one’s selected community.
• Realization that you possess “Wisdom Gifts of Being” to share with others that meaningfully address needs in the community.
• A fortified spirituality which increasing evidence indicates is one of the best tools in facing the very real challenges of aging.
• Learning how to use your mind to create a sense of healing inner peace while opening the heart to the transformational healing power of love.
• Understanding that aging can be a growth-full adventure, a time of inner exploration and development leading to a new sense of who and what you really are and why you are here.
• A chance to tell your story – the sacred narrative of your life – and    be heard in an inter-generation setting where the wisdom teachings of your life are passed on to the next generation.

The entire event is filmed, edited and made into a DVD for the Honoree, along with a beautiful color, hard-bound Memory Book, which incorporates photos of the evening as well as old ones of the person’s choice – events, friends, relatives, pets, anyone or anything deemed significant – a wonderful keepsake for generations to come.

Follow-up Integration Session – Helping the honoree use the experience to chart a course for their future building on their Gifts and feedback they have received from their guests.

SOCIAL/CULTURAL IMPACT

Recognition Rites bring people of diverse background and belief systems together for an event that helps break down barriers of separation between races, ages, religions and social class.

They build community. They foster greater appreciation of diversity, of older people, of how love and appreciation enrich all our lives. Recognition Rites serve as a seed and stimulus for others in attendance to create celebrations for meaningful elders in their own lives.  The Good Medicine spreads through the hearts of people touched by what they have experienced.

Find out how to participate in Recognition Rites here.  Read some testimonials here.