The greatest question of life is what good will I do with it? - Benjamin Franklin

2016 Seminars

The 3rd Third Seminars are held in Golden, Colorado, although at times they will be held in other parts of Colorado or broadcast from other locations.

Come for coffee or tea at 9:45
All seminars will be from 10:00 am to 3:00 pm Free beverages and lunch are provided. Those with dietary restrictions are asked to bring their own lunch.


 

Thursday
January 21, 2016

Enjoying Your Golden Years

Making the Most Out of Life



In 2010, according to the US Census, 13% of the American population was over the age of 65. By 2020 it is projected that 16% (or 55 million) American people will have passed through the senior gateway.

Are you enjoying life in this category? Do you contribute? Are you still learning and doing new things? Is your interest level growing or shrinking?

We all know people who start coasting downhill after retirement like crabby old guys. But there are those who provide senior wisdom and stay productive into their 90s. What makes the difference?

We each will describe people we know in these categories. What are the characteristics they embody? How can we get the most out of this special time?

On a personal level, we are each going to describe some things we did in 2015 that were productive, or that mattered, or was something new that we tried, and things that we learned.

After lunch you will be introduced to a new book Travels with Epicurus, about aging and its benefits.

It’s important to make plans for things we want to accomplish in this extraordinary time. We will start making a list of dreams, of things that matter to us. Based on that, you will have a good possibility for a productive and happy 2016.

Thursday
February 18, 2016
Myra Isenhart

The Healing Power of Forgiveness
Letting Go, Moving On


At some point in our lives we all seek forgiveness—in families, from friends, in workplaces, in communities or from ourselves—but the process can be painful and difficult. Full participation in the 3rd Third of our lives requires that we take stock of past burdens and leave them behind whenever possible. The study of forgiveness offers us an opportunity to resolve issues that could free up our energy for future ventures.

Forgiveness is the process of letting go. Until we learn to forgive others and ourselves, withholding forgiveness affects our health: physical, mental and spiritual. In this seminar, conflict resolution expert Myra Isenhart will help us explore the dimensions of forgiveness, common barriers to resolution, and what recent research finds is facilitating. Discussion will cover the practice of constructing successful apologies and how to facilitate forgiveness for others.

Holding on to anger is like grasping a hot coal with the intent of throwing
it at someone else; you are the one who gets burned.
--Buddha

Come join us for what will be a very interesting session!

 

Thursday
March 17, 2016

Women in the World of Conservation
Taking the Long View

During the last few decades women have been working and taking the lead in many areas. Fifty years ago women had limited career choices. Most were stay-at-home mothers and wives. Those in the work force generally were limited to being a teacher, a secretary, a stewardess, or a nurse. But with a change in cultural norms brought on by many factors including the choice as to if and when to have children, (due to the wide use of birth control methods), women have been assuming more responsibility in the work place and are contributing to our culture and society in greater numbers than we’ve previously seen.

The world of conservation is no exception. Films by Fulcrum has been filming interviews with conservationists during the past four years and of our one hundred-plus interviews, nearly a third are of women who are working for wilderness in the United States and beyond. Working to not only help others appreciate wild areas, but also working to ensure that the human species will not perish. Come see a sneak peek of Fulcrum’s latest film (now in production) about Women in the World of Conservation.

 

Thursday
April 21, 2016
Cathy Morrison

The Fascinating World of
Children's Book Illustration


Cathy Morrison, a children’s book illustrator living near Fort Collins, has illustrated many children’s and creative non-fiction titles. Ardent about her craft and educating children, Cathy does a lot of public speaking and volunteering at museums and libraries when she’s not at her drawing board. She is also one of the those special few who do all of her illustrations digitally. For nearly ten years Cathy has been illustrating with a Wacom Cintiq where she can simulate different kinds of media like watercolor, chalk, or colored pencil on her computer screen. The beauty of digital media is that changes can be made without having to re-illustrate an entire piece. The final digital file is ready for press. With original art, the printer needs to scan it to convert it to a digital file. Cathy’s way takes the worry out of sending original art to the printer as there is always the chance it could be lost, especially if the printer is far away, like many children’s book printers are, in China.

Cathy will also walk us through the process of creating a picture book from an illustrator’s perspective – from selling a manuscript to signing copies at the book opening. How does the illustrator work alongside the author? What comes first, the words or the pictures?

Thursday
May 19, 2016
Rose Keating

Optimizing the Quality of Your Life

Consider this, what would happen if we had an accident resulting in something that needs the attention of a surgeon’s scalpel or keeps us in bed for more than a few days? What then? We are now sidelined with an injury that could be a major inconvenience. How do we continue with the fast pace of our lives? How do we conduct business or care for ourselves when our accident keeps us out of commission?

Rose Keating is back with another “how to” in being organized should anything happen that puts you out of the main stream for more than a few days.

She will touch on everything from documents to have in place, like Power of Attorney, DNR, Wills, etc. to organizing our passwords and accounts so that we, or our trusted others, can locate this information and keep things running.

She will talk about simple home improvements to keep us safe, putting security measures in place that protect our business affairs, and things we should consider when thinking about the need for in-home care.

Rose’s entertaining style that will keep this serious subject light and informative.

 

Thursday
June 16, 2016
Josiah Hatch and Bob Baron

Humor in Politics


Let’s face it, this is a long election year with several months of stumping and campaign promises to go. How will we cope with the ads, the big promises, the annoyances of a campaign year? For one thing we can listen to smart and savvy commentary from Josiah Hatch and Bob Baron who will regal us with stories of campaigns past, stories of candidates not behaving up to the level of the office they are vying for, and of some of the humorous things that political life in the fish bowl reveals.

Listen to what Aristotle, Cicero, Mark Twain, H. L. Mencken, Gilbert and Sullivan, Will Rogers, Walt Kelley, Winston Churchill and others said about the world’s second oldest profession.

So if you are suffering from campaign overload and have seen one too many tv ads about candidates spouting why they are better able to serve than their bumble-brain opponent, come and enjoy some laughs with Hatch and Baron while we look at the humorous side of politics.

 

Thursday
July 21, 2016
Greg Dobbs

Russia, the Middle East, and Space
Insight from a Journalist who Covered these Stories

A whole year’s worth of talks for The 3rd Third might not be enough to cover all the fears and threats and challenges Americans face and feel from the world around us. So Greg Dobbs will focus on just three, each of which he has spent many years covering.

First, how the Middle East has changed and the implications for the United States. Second, how and why Russia’s aspirations to be the superpower it once was are growing and therefore, once again, the implications for the United States. And finally, America’s aspirations to explore at least a little farther into space, which has implications for American power, American intellect, and an American legacy.

Greg Dobbs is a story-teller. So much of what he talks about will take the form of stories— anecdotes— metaphors for what has changed in and around the world, and what hasn’t.

 

Thursday
August 18, 2016
Lt Col Mike Daniels

The Civil Air Patrol
Keeping America Safe for 25 Years

Some may argue that the Civil Air Patrol (CAP) is one of the best kept non-intended secrets of our national defence. Celebrating its 75th year, CAP is the Air Force Auxiliary and educates more than 24,000 youth annually through their cadet program. CAP was founded by U.S. citizens, one week before the 1941 Japanese attack on Pearl Harbor, in order to use civilian aviation resources to help bolster the Office of Civilian Defense and later the Army Air Force.

On July 1, 1946 President Harry Truman established CAP as a federally chartered nonprofit, and in 1948 Congress designated CAP as the Air Force Auxiliary, giving CAP three primary missions: emergency services, cadet programs, and aerospace education. Recently, in 2014, Congress passed a bill that was signed by the President bestowing the Civil Air Patrol with the nation’s highest civilian honor, the Congressional Gold Medal, for the organization’s WWII service. CAP operates one of the largest fleets of single-engine piston aircraft in the world, flies more than 98,500 hours annually, maintains a fleet of more than 1,000 emergency service vehicles for training and mission support, and provides 475 chaplains and 450 character development instructors who minister to youth and adult members and help comfort survivors and victims of disasters.

Lt .Col. Mike Daniels, Director of Public Affairs will be joined by Cadet Officer Lt. Col. Charles Blome and Capt. Mary Cast, who is the Colorado Wing’s Director of Aerospace Education and a Squadron Commander to enlighten us about CAP, its mission and its outreach including the cadet and the Aerospace Education Programs.

 

Thursday
September 15, 2016
Dick Kreck

Rich People Behaving Badly
Dick will tell stories from his new book!

Public respectability does not always translate into tidy private lives, and our interest in the naughty behavior of the rich and famous will never be satisfied. Former Denver Post reporter Dick Kreck takes us back through Colorado’s history to show that the foibles of people—rich or poor—remain the same. Included are socialites such as Louise Sneed Hill, who created and ruled over Denver’s “Sacred 36” circle of society; Jane Tomberlin, who met and fell in love with a “prince” in an elevator at the Brown Palace Hotel; Irene Nolan, who cavorted late into the night with her family priest; and prominent Denver clubman Courtland Dines, who was wounded during a frolic with two silent-screen stars in his Hollywood apartment. Rich People Behaving Badly exposes the scandals, murders, infidelities, financial misdeeds, and just plain misbehavior from Colorado’s past.
NOTE: Bring a Colorado story of Rich People Behaving Badly that you may know. Whoever brings the best one will win a copy of Dick's new book!

Thursday
October 20, 2016
Don Yale

The Middle East
Understanding the "Modern" History of the Region


Welcome back for another in-depth look at the Middle East with Donald Yale who will take us on a journey through the “modern” history of the area starting with the founding of Islam at the beginning of the 7th century. What were the conditions that existed in this region and the territories surrounding it at that time? What enabled the growth of the Islamic empire over the next century spreading from Iberia on the west all the way into India and China on the east? We’ll investigate the internal wars, tribalism and the Sunni-Shia split that occurred with the Islamic prophet Muhammad’s death in 632 that set off great conflict over the question of his successor. That conflict is still going on to this day.

We’ll touch on the Golden Age of Islam that lasted from the 8th to the 13th centuries when science flourished. Literacy was high as a large part of the population was reading the Qur’an. But many factors were starting to take a toll. Islam started to weaken in the 13th and 14th centuries due to Mongol invasions from the east and with the loss of population to the Black Death pandemic in 1346–1353.

There was also the Ottoman Empire growth and collapse, colonialism, and the first Arab awakening. The Sykes-Picot Agreement (a WWI era pact between Great Briton and the French Third Republic) that defined the borders of most of the Mideast and led to the current conflict between Israel and Palestine.

Donald Yale has been studying this area for years from both abroad and on the ground in the Middle East. He has met with governmental and other parties in Israel, the West Bank, Egypt, Tunisia, Morocco, Russia, Ukraine and Azerbaijan. Come join us as Donald makes sense out of this politically and socially complicated geographic area and its people.

 

Thursday
November 17, 2016
Page Lambert

Writing Your Story--
Exploring the Tipping Points of
Our Lives

Discover How Weaving Major Life Events into a Narrative Reveals Meaning and Purpose

Imagine the narrative of your life unfolding as a novel. Imagine yourself the hero or heroine in a story. How would you write your “plot points?” What were the inciting incidents in your life? In your family’s life?

Robert Hopcke, author of There Are No Accidents: Synchronicity and the Stories of Our Lives, reminds us that “Synchronistic events bring to our attention the way that our lives are stories, the way our lives have a structure: a plot. As in fiction, synchronistic events bring about a different way of seeing ourselves, a broader perspective on our lives, a deeper understanding of the world. The meaning of our lives is not written simply by what we know about ourselves, but comes from a much deeper place, from our innately human capacity to experience wholeness through living a symbolic life….”

Lisa Dale Norton, author of Shimmering Images: A Handy Little Guide to Writing Memoir advises us to, “Think of the events in your life after which everything was different, events after which your life flowed in a direction different from the life you lived before the event.”

During this seminar, Page Lambert will share some of the synchronistic and story-worthy moments in her life, later helping us step back from our own lives to discover the thematic threads that form the patterns of our existence.



To register call: direct 303-928-8220, or 303-277-1623, ext 220, or register via email here. You will receive a confirmation.


Map to Seminars

Missed a seminar? Let us know. If there is enough interest, we will hold the seminar again. Email your request to Seminar Repeat / Ideas.