In this reflection, I consider the effects that Falling Upward (2011) had on me after I first read it in 2014. In this book by Franciscan monk Richard Rohr, comments on many aspects of living in the second half of life, but he is most emphatic that falling down is often necessary before we can fully stand up and enjoy the benefits that may be available to us as we age. Rohr sees life as a Journey, where the traveler leaves a series of comfortable situations willingly or unwillingly, moving from the first to the second half of life to be tested and attempt to meet new challenges. He uses examples from life and literature to reinforce his central ideas. For instance, he narrates that the poet Homer wrote about how Odysseus journeyed and struggled for ten years to get home to Ithica after fighting in the Trojan War. Once he was home, he had to struggle and fall again before he could re-take his kingdom and finally be proclaimed a Hero. Thus, Odysseus only enjoyed the fruits of his life in the second half because of his struggles in the first half. Although most of us are not kings, queens, or famous people, we may need to go through the same life cycles as the heroes we admire before we can achieve some of the higher goals of our lives.
I first read Falling Upward to help me decide what I might do at age 62 after a nationwide recession caused me to retire early from a long career as an educational administrator with the state of Virginia. Fortunately, this involuntary separation also afforded me extra years of pension and the opportunity to think about my situation without feeling that I was defeated. The book and this time off my career helped me to think of the time I still might have an opportunity for greater growth. I did what I needed to in my work career, but being a government bureaucrat did not fulfill me. So I thought I might be able to use this time to think about trying to do something much differently with my life. According to the Monk’s suggestions, I needed to get up from my fall, take stock of my life, reflect on my position, and plan some future options. With the time off and means to do it, I first went to visit my three daughters and some old-time friends. I spent a few years traveling and tried to rejoin the workforce in some strained and humbling situations. I wrote government grants and was Dean of the newly formed Fortis College in Richmond. This turned out to be another bureaucratic job that I thought I was finished with. Getting back to the book discussed here, I decided to make a basic list of what I enjoyed doing most. This task revealed that I most liked teaching, reading good literature, writing, playing, and listening to music, and communicating my interests to other people. Once I clarified those values, I realized that I needed additional knowledge and skills before I could effectively communicate my enthusiasm to others. Once I had determined the direction I wanted to head in my second half, with a clearer direction.
One of the first post-retirement gifts I received was a birthday certificate from my wife to take piano lessons. I continued lessons for several years with 2 different teachers, and still practice piano and guitar regularly and these help to recharge me. During my uncertainty period, the most illuminating and unconventional idea that came to me during a meditation was to pursue a Master’s Degree in English Literature from Virginia Commonwealth University (VCU) in Richmond. In about 2 ½ years, I developed an interest in classic literature, researched, wrote, and defended an MA Thesis on Edgar Poe and Nineteenth-Century Science, and graduated at age 66 with a Master of Arts Degree in English Literature. I added this to my other Master’s and Doctorate Degrees I had previously earned in Education. While conducting my research at the Richmond Poe Museum, I was asked to serve on the board and be a volunteer tour guide. Ten years later, I still volunteer for the museum. Also, not long after graduating, a VCU-RAM colleague asked me to teach English Writing and Research Classes at Richard Bland College and I worked there for three years as an adjunct Assistant Professor of English. Although I enjoyed working with the students and helping them to learn critical thinking and become better researchers and writers, by 2022 commuting fifty minutes and grading undergraduate essays became like a full-time job again and more than I wished to handle. During these years I also edited 5 books and three Ph.D. dissertations and have tutored six school-aged students in weekly writing classes.
However, my biggest payoff for trying to fall upward has been that I have been able to volunteer to teach classes on literature, and music of the decades from the 1930s to 1970s for the Osher Lifelong Learning Institute (LLI) through the University of Richmond and 2 other area sites for adults “greater than 50.” Because I benefited so much from Rohr’s book, one of the first classes I taught at an LLI site (in Chesterfield, VA) in 2016, was Falling Upward. Two students from that class are the ones I remember most: one quit after my first session because she realized her life’s calling as a volunteer for the disabled. She still writes to me. Another student refused to accept any reading assignments because she said, “I am retired.” She was belligerent in her stand, and I never heard from her again. I have been with the Osher LLI program at the University of Richmond for over six years now and have taught several books by John Steinbeck, Mark Twain, and Charles Dickens, as well as other great classics by J.D. Salinger, Harper Lee, J.R. Tolkien, and Amy Tan. My music and culture classes have been focused on the decades between the 1930s and 1970s. During the COVID-19 pandemic, a video with me and two other instructors demonstrating model Zoom teaching practices was posted online and was featured at an Osher teacher training workshop. About 7 years ago, I formed the very successful RVA Classic Book, which I am still active in. I have written about some of the books that our club members have discussed on this Website I originated about seven years ago. During this period, I have posted about 100 blogs discussing literature, culture, music, poetry, and general commentary. Recently I have joined an Osher Memoir Writing Group and am starting to write blogs like this to reflect on my life. I am also in the process of forming an Osher Vinyl Record Lover’s Special Interest Group. At this point, I feel like I have fulfilled much of my initial vision imagining myself as a new person with a new whole direction.
So I thought that it was a good time to share what I had learned and how I put my plan for my second half together with others to possibly learn from. For that reason, I have just started teaching Falling Upward again at the University of Richmond Osher LLI Program. In this class, I would like to reflect on how the ideas Rohr proposed in 2011, and republished again in the revised 2024 edition, are received by present day senior citizen learners. I also want to reflect on which of the monk’s ideas may still be available for me to apply in the second half of the second half of my life. I don’t think that Rohr has fully explored the options still available to seniors in their later stages in Falling Upward. However, I plan to report on my conclusions about this topic and what I learned from others while teaching this class in a future column(s). Your comments on how you have used or plan to use Falling Upward are also welcome here. Or you can write me at ellisonms2@alumni.vcu.edu
by 
