Last summer I was taken by the feeling that the time was right to start a new conversation about why we so often feel that our lives are out of balance– and how we can restore that balance. It had been almost a year since I had submitted the manuscript to Simon & Schuster for my upcoming book “Second Wind: Navigating the Passage into a Slower, Deeper and More Connected Life”, but the ideas I had explored kept buzzing inside my brain.
We’ve all been bombarded with news about aging but I’ve always felt the media never quite connected with what I saw as the biggest story of all. The Post War (Baby Boom) generation is moving away from the epicenter of adult power and careening toward a second tumultuous coming of age.
Publishing a book that explores and explains the impact of this generational shift is a fine thing (And I am proud of this book!) but it seemed to me that something more than a book was called for.
I felt we need a new, national conversation, one that includes many voices and differing points of view. And we needed to take this conversation directly to people where they live. Finally, I felt a strong desire to share the pulsing energy that these ideas and insights have brought into my life. I knew that powerpoint slide decks and hotel conference rooms were not going to cut it. I began to envision a mixed-arts performance in front of live audiences on a grand stage that would resonate with the power that only theater can wield.
And that’s how the Second Wind Tour‘s Live Events were conceived.
The Second Wind Tour is a 25 city rolling exploration of new ways of living, new ways of approaching health and wellness and, crucially, new possibilities at every age. Each half-day performance will be held in a premier theater with two acts. Act One will consist of five fast-paced theatrical monologues featuring a cast of speakers including myself and my good friend Dr. Janet Taylor. Act two will feature an inspirational film and live musical performance guaranteed to lift the heart and open the mind.
To make this happen I enlisted the help of more than three-dozen sponsors who shared a desire to spark a new national conversation to help people re-imagine their lives, their work, and their communities.
Seem interesting? Would you like to get involved? We would love to make sure that your voice is part of this new conversation. Nearly 20,000 people will get to see the Second Wind Tour’s Live Events— you could be one of them.
Strange as it may seem you CAN NOT buy a ticket to a Tour Event. Every member of the Tour’s live audience will be an invited guest. In order to attend you must be an invited guest of one of the Tour’s sponsors. Fortunately, you can become a Tour sponsor! In many cities we have Event Sponsorships available for as little as 300 dollars for 10 Live Event tickets and recognition on SecondWindTour.org. Click Here to learn more.
Feeling lucky? You can register to win a ticket to a Second Wind Tour Live Event by joining ChangingAging’s ranks of guest-bloggers. We will be giving away 50 tickets in every city. How do you win? Easy! Just submit a 200-500 word guest-blog post or write a post on your blog about catching a “Second Wind” in your life, work and community..
See you there!
Tour Dates
Mid-Atlantic
- New York, NY – 3/31
- Pittsburgh, PA – 4/1
- Newark, NJ – 4/2
- Baltimore, MD – 4/3
- Wasington DC – 4/4
West Coast
- Seattle, WA – 4/14
- Portland, OR – 4/15
- San Fransisco, CA – 4/16
- Phoenix, AZ – 4/17
- Los Angeles, CA – 4/18
Mid-West
- Columbus, OH – 5/5
- Chicago, IL – 5/6
- Detroit, MI – 5/7
- Ann Arbor, MI – 5/8
- Minneapolis, MN – 5/9
Southern
- Jacksonville, FL – 5/19
- Atlanta, GA – 5/20
- Memphis, TN – 5/21
- Kansas City, MO – 5/21
- Denver, CO – 5/22
Northeast
- Buffalo, NY – 6/2
- Manchester, NH – 6/3
- Boston, MA – 6/4
- Hartford, CT – 6/5
- Philadelphia, PA – 6/6
Hello Dr. Thomas
I noticed you will be in DC, Would consider a book signing in Northern VA?
Hi Bill: I completely agree that real movement of aging is not toward more heroic achievement, but instead represents a process of deepening, slowing, and opening the heart, becoming one with ones deepest self and the world (which is part of that deepest self), so I gotta say that a national bus tour is hardly this process. It’s ironic that our publishers and the popular press want this kind of big spectacle in place of simply being deeply who we are. I don’t envy the energy it will take for you to be “on” all the time but I hope it will become a meaningful experience nonetheless.
Ha, Dixie it aint, but we moved heaven and earth to make it to Denver!