Owning Wisdom with guest faculty Ben Katt & Chip Conley

Discovering The Hero’s Journey in Midlife

Jan 27 - Feb 1, 2025 in Santa Fe, USA

Led by: Ben Katt, Chip Conley

Find your path to wholeness and fulfillment by following the hero’s journey

When you’re dealing with the life-altering transitions of midlife, it can be all too easy to get sidetracked on your quest to live a life of meaning and purpose.

But no matter where you are in your journey, or how lost or stuck you feel, there is a proven map you can use to pinpoint your location and chart your route forward to the life you want to live.

And the map that reveals your path forward is the universal “Hero’s Journey” that’s common to the myths and stories of all the world’s belief systems.

As famed mythologist Joseph Campbell taught us, nearly all ancient wisdom traditions feature stories about a hero who is forced to venture out into the world and undergo a series of trials and adventures that help him become the person he needs to be to defeat the villain and return home to his village with the treasure.

All of these stories follow the same pattern – from legends about ancient heroes and religious figures such as Gilgamesh, Odysseus, Moses, Jesus, the Buddha, Mohammed, King Arthur, and Beowulf, all the way down to modern heroes such as Luke Skywalker and Frodo and his companions in Lord of the Rings.

The specifics may be different – but the stages we go through and the skills we must acquire to overcome the challenges each stage are the same.

And when you understand the stages and discover where you are in that journey, it becomes so much easier to understand what you need to do to advance to the next step and accelerate your progress to your desired destination.

In this Owning Wisdom workshop co-facilitated with Chip Conley and mindfulness teacher Ben Katt, author of The Way Home: Discovering the Hero’s Journey to Wholeness in Midlife, you will explore how the Hero’s Journey can help you chart your path forward and achieve your quest of living a joyous, meaningful, and deeply fulfilling life.

What you’ll gain

Through a combination of our MEA Owning Wisdom curriculum and Ben’s experiential Hero’s Journey and mindfulness teachings, you will:

Understand the universal stages of midlife and identify where you are on your journey
Discover the resources that will help you overcome the challenges and embrace the opportunities of each stage
Grow your capacity to hear the wisdom of your soul even during times of uncertainty
Learn how to navigate seasons of darkness and disorientation with confidence and trust in a positive outcome
Build a toolkit of rituals and practices to sustain you on your travels and adventures
Gather your companions and allies who will teach and support you on your journey
Design your midlife Hero’s Journey roadmap to help you stay focused and on target to your goals
Reclaim your sense of purpose and find more joy and meaning in everything you do

By the end of your five days with Chip and Ben and the other MEA faculty, you will be bursting with clarity and renewed purpose and feel energized and inspired to take the next big step on your Hero’s Journey.

Meet your faculty

Ben Katt

Author of The Way Home: Discovering the Hero’s Journey to Wholeness in Midlife

Mindfulness Teacher | Speaker | Coach

Ben Katt has been helping people experience deep transformation and create lives of greater joy, compassion, and purpose for the past twenty years. His first book, The Way Home: Discovering the Hero’s Journey to Wholeness at Midlife is a guidebook and memoir about the inner journey we all must embark on in order to live our fullest lives.

Ben is the founder of the WITHIN Prison Meditation Project, serves as a hospice chaplain, and writes regularly about identity, purpose, creativity, and belonging in his weekly STILL newsletter.

Ben is a certified advanced meditation teacher of the 1 Giant Mind technique, holds a Master of Divinity degree, and was an ordained minister for over a decade. Previously, he led The On Being Project’s work in supporting religious and spiritual leaders in the work of social healing.

Ben is an expert at adapting ancient personal development practices for modern contexts in order to help people wake up to who they are and why they are here.

Chip Conley

MEA Co-Founder and Author of Learning to Love Midlife: 12 Reasons Why Life Gets Better with Age

Bestselling Author | Entrepreneur | Innovator | Disruptor | Speaker

A three-time TED speaker on the big stage, Chip Conley is one of the world's leading experts at the intersection of business innovation, psychology and spirituality.

As one of the creators of the boutique hotel movement and the "modern elder" to the young Airbnb founders, Chip's been a disruptor and expert on entrepreneurship and business leadership. He’s a globally-recognized thought leader on the future of work and the competitive advantages of a multi-generational workplace.

Inspired by his experience of intergenerational mentoring as a “modern elder” at Airbnb – where his guidance was instrumental to the company’s extraordinary success – Chip founded MEA and has since dedicated his midlife years to reframing the concept of aging and helping people navigate midlife with a renewed sense of purpose and possibility.

This workshop is for you if...

Struggling to find yourself and longing to live a life of greater meaning and purpose

Excelling at the game of life but something’s missing and you’re not sure what it is

Dealing with midlife transitions involving endings and loss and uncertain how to find your way forward to your next chapter

Ready to let go of what’s no longer working so you can create room for what’s to come

Excited to embark on your life’s next adventure but aren’t sure where to begin or what you need to navigate the journey successfully

Interested in spirituality and curious to explore the deeper mysteries of life

Searching for practical tools to help you feel grounded and connected to the universe around you

Wanting to cultivate a regular mindfulness practice that makes it easier for you to connect to your inner self

Do this powerful work on our beautiful regenerative ranch in Santa Fe

Santa Fe, USA

Rising Circle Ranch

An upscale regenerative ranch featuring traditional Pueblo architecture and spanning nearly 2,600 acres of wildlife, hiking trails in the arroyo, with ancient petroglyphs, and awe-inspiring beauty. Close to historic Santa Fe, an artisan’s mecca.

Big-sky desert country
Breathtaking nature
Interaction with horses and donkeys
Evenings around the campfire
Star-gazing

Meet your MEA facilitators

In addition to the powerful sessions conducted by Ben Katt, you will be guided through the core MEA Owning Wisdom curriculum by our seasoned faculty members:

When you answer the call, you discover who you are and what you’re capable of achieving

Embarking on the Hero’s Journey requires you to leave the familiar, get help from others, befriend the darkness, wander in the wild, face your death, defeat the villain, and return home with a gift to share with others.

This is the archetypal journey that all heroes experience when they answer the call to rise to their potential and find their path forward to wholeness. Now it’s your turn.

Are you ready to embark on a life-changing journey of self-discovery?

People come for the workshops,
but they stay for the community

This is truly MEA’s “secret sauce” and something you can only experience in person: the powerful connections you will make, not only with your fellow participants and the incredible MEA faculty, but also the deeper sense of connection you will feel to your own inner self and the natural world around you.

Research into aging shows that your relationships play a HUGE role in your health and wellbeing later in life. At MEA, you will make deep and lasting connections and become part of a larger community that will make your life richer and more meaningful.

Many of our alumni cohorts have stayed in close touch for years after their workshop and we have a growing number of local alumni chapters all over the world. It’s a joy for us to see them continuing to offer each other community, friendship, and support as they create thriving midlives for themselves. So if you have been feeling at all disconnected or isolated on your journey, we would love to have you join us!

Have we mentioned the food?

The MEA experience was designed by Chip Conley, a world-renowned boutique hotelier, and from the first bite you will taste the difference.

All of the ingredients are locally sourced and organic, and the food is made from scratch in our kitchens by incredible chefs.

The delicious breakfasts, lunches and dinners will leave you feeling nourished inside and out – not to mention blended drinks made with fresh fruit and other top-shelf ingredients.

Each retreat center has multiple kitchens that always have snacks and beverages available. At MEA, we believe that thriving is delicious!

Your workshop includes

5 days and nights of lodging at our boutique luxury retreat center in Baja or Santa Fe with all of your meals, snacks, drinks and other amenities included
Daily sessions and experiential activities to help you connect with your inner self, envision your desired experience, and release what no longer serves you
Meditation covering a range of practices to soothe your nervous system and help you cultivate greater mindfulness and presence in the moment.
Movement to get the energy flowing and build your strength and agility as you chart your course forward to the life you want to live.
Incredible bonding experiences with the most amazing humans you’ll ever meet.
Three delicious, chef-prepared meals plus snacks throughout the day prepared from scratch with the freshest local ingredients.
Festive gatherings to cultivate connection and celebrate the joy and beauty of life.
Prices start at $5,000

Ready to start your journey?