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ABOUT OPUS II
Today we live longer, healthier lives and have access to a world of resources at
our fingertips. These phenomena bring with them unprecedented opportunities and
challenges.
People in and approaching
midlife and beyond
are experiencing a time of our life so new we have yet to agree on a name for it.
Most often called The Third Age, the Bonus Years, or the Second Half of Life -- I call it
Opus II .
Improvising on Mary Catherine Bateson’s book title and concept Composing a Life
(Grove/Atlantic, Inc, 2001), I see each life as a work of art (or many works) that we
create with or without intention.
By this time of our lives, we have all created at least one significant opus, i.e.,
composition, in our lives. It might be a marriage, family, children, business,
career, work of art or avocation. Midlife and beyond, offers us opportunities for a
second (third, fourth..) opus, in our lives. As individuals and a society, we have
only just begun to understand, prepare for and make the most of this time. Due to
rapidly changing demographics and social trends, e.g., work and retirement –
ours is a new world.
Opus II works with groups and
individuals in this life phase to ponder and answer such questions as:
Who am I?
Where have I been? Where am I now? Where am I going?
How do I create a life of
meaning, integrity and passion?
How do I create
an enduring
legacy ?
What do I want my legacy to be?
What is
the best use of my resources —time,
energy, skill, knowledge, talent, innate gifts, caring, creativity, wisdom
and finances?
How can I
make a positive difference in the world?
On a concrete level:
How do I want to
balance work (paid
or not) and leisure in my
later life?
How do I ensure
financial security
for 10, 20, 30, 40 years and manage my finances over time?
Where do
I want to live,
geographically, and in what type of home?
What are my
lifestyle goals?
How do I maximize my
physical health?
Who are the
most important people in my life and how do
I want to make the most of these relationships, e.g., spouse, significant
other, children and grandchildren, siblings, friends?
Are
faith, spirituality
and/or religion important to
me and how do I want to incorporate and practice them in my life?
With thirty years experience in the field of aging (gerontology), a passion for
adult development and lifelong learning and a life of managing change, transition and
personal growth, Sharon Sokoloff is a unique resource with whom to explore and enjoy
these issues.
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