Perhaps you can\u2019t escape a pervasive sense of emptiness at the core of your life.<\/strong><\/p>\n It feels like you\u2019re going through the motions, and keeping busy so you don\u2019t have to think too hard about it. Like you\u2019re waiting in an airport terminal for a delayed flight that never leaves.<\/p>\n Here’s the paradox: the more you achieve in life, the worse this feeling tends to get.<\/p>\n Arthur C. Brooks has spent years interviewing people caught in this trap. People who say their life is bursting with activity but devoid of depth.<\/p>\n In our age of endless scrolling, 20-second reels, and AI-generated slop, it\u2019s no wonder that people have told him their life feels unreal, \u201clike a simulation\u201d \u2013 full of false rewards, empty accomplishments, and fake experiences, all curated to pass the time as painlessly as possible.<\/p>\n The missing ingredient isn’t more success, or, worse, more technical solutions.<\/p>\n It’s meaning.<\/strong><\/p>\n [tcb-script type=”text\/javascript”](function (v, i, d, a, l, y, t, c, s) { y=’_’+d.toLowerCase();c=d+’L’;if(!v[d]){v[d]={};}if(!v[c]){v[c]={};}if(!v[y]){v[y]={};}var vl=’Loader’,vli=v[y][vl],vsl=v[c][vl + ‘Script’],vlf=v[c][vl + ‘Loaded’],ve=’Embed’; if (!vsl){vsl=function(u,cb){ if(t){cb();return;}s=i.createElement(“script”);s.type=”text\/javascript”;s.async=1;s.src=u; if(s.readyState){s.onreadystatechange=function(){if(s.readyState===”loaded”||s.readyState==”complete”){s.onreadystatechange=null;vlf=1;cb();}};}else{s.onload=function(){vlf=1;cb();};} i.getElementsByTagName(“head”)[0].appendChild(s); };} vsl(l+’loader.min.js’,function(){if(!vli){var vlc=v[c][vl];vli=new vlc();}vli.loadScript(l+’player.min.js’,function(){var vec=v[d][ve];t=new vec();t.run(a);});});})(window, document, ‘Vidalytics’, ‘vidalytics_embed_0rQG4DWwEA5yYW_x’, ‘https:\/\/fast.vidalytics.com\/embeds\/X8MCZ1gq\/0rQG4DWwEA5yYW_x\/’);[\/tcb-script]<\/p>\n WATCH: Arthur Brooks on why the most successful people often feel the most lost<\/p>\n Depression, anxiety, and a pervasive sense of emptiness have been rising for decades \u2013 across nearly all demographics.<\/p>\n If you\u2019re concerned with these trends, or have seen them in your own life, you naturally want a solution. The problem, though, is that rises in mental ill-being are a sign of a crisis in meaning, which cannot be solved by technical ingenuity or intellectual horsepower.<\/p>\n “What is the meaning of my life?” is a different species of question than anything we’re trained to answer. It can’t be optimized, Googled, or delegated. It must be lived.<\/p>\n And any instinct to tackle it through analysis or engineering is precisely the wrong approach.<\/p>\n Research shows that what we experience as happiness is composed of three elements, or \u201cmacronutrients\u201d: enjoyment, satisfaction, and meaning.<\/p>\n Most high achievers have gotten pretty good at the first two. They find enjoyment in their lives with the people they love, and take tremendous satisfaction in accomplishing goals. But the third macronutrient, meaning, often gets neglected \u2013 pushed aside by the pace of achievement, buried under busyness, postponed until there’s \u201cmore time\u201d (which never seems to arrive). And when meaning is missing, life feels gray. Perhaps pointless.<\/p>\n This problem has a remedy. That’s what this new science-backed retreat is about.<\/p>\n You can’t analyze your way into a meaningful life. You have to live your way there.<\/p>\n During your time at MEA\u2019s Rising Circle Ranch in Santa Fe, you\u2019ll step away from the noise, the devices, and the performative busyness of everyday life and do the kind of deep inner work that most of us have been postponing for years.<\/p>\n Working with expert facilitators trained by Arthur himself, you\u2019ll discover how to:<\/p>\n It’s an experiential, guided journey through the three questions that Brooks argues every person needs to answer \u2013 not once, but continuously throughout their lives:<\/p>\n Why do things happen the way they do in my life? Where am I going? Why does my life matter?<\/em><\/p>\n These questions form the backbone of what meaning means: The retreat is structured around all three \u2013 through teaching drawn directly from Brooks’ research, guided reflection, deep small-group conversation, and practices designed to move this work out of your head and into your actual life.<\/p>\n And you\u2019ll do this powerful work in an intimate setting surrounded by the beauty of the high desert and supported by MEA\u2019s legendary hospitality.<\/p>\n These retreats are led by Jill Nykoliation, a master facilitator personally trained by Arthur Brooks and his team, and for the inaugural June retreat, by Kari Cardinale \u2013 MEA\u2019s Chief Content Officer, and the faculty member who developed the retreat curriculum in close collaboration with Arthur and his team. They know this methodology deeply, and Arthur trusted them specifically to bring it to life in the room.<\/p>\n They will guide you through:<\/p>\n Understanding your current relationship with meaning. Using validated research tools, you’ll identify your personal “meaning quadrant” and discover how much meaning you currently have, and how actively you\u2019re searching for more. This will be your baseline for everything that follows.<\/p>\n Naming the patterns that keep you stuck \u2013 namely, digital distraction. You will uncover the Meaning \u201cDoom Loop\u201d \u2013 and you’ll learn to recognize exactly how yours works, and why digital mediation might be making your problems worse.<\/p>\n Working through the three big questions of coherence, purpose, and significance<\/em>. Each gets sustained attention \u2013 through teaching, structured journaling, and intimate conversations built around deep listening rather than advice or fixing. Most people have never listened or been listened to in this way.<\/p>\n Exploring your pathways to meaning. Love and relationships. Transcendence. Calling. Beauty. Even suffering. You’ll identify which doorways are already open for you \u2013 and choose one to actively cultivate when you go home.<\/p>\n Committing to how you intend to live. The retreat closes with your Meaning Manifesto \u2013 a personal statement written and spoken aloud in community. You’ll also revisit your opening quadrant to see where you’ve moved.<\/p>\n MEA\u2019s Rising Circle Ranch sits on 2,600 acres of high desert outside Santa Fe \u2013 open sky, ancient arroyos, working horses, and a stillness you can feel in your body the moment you arrive.<\/p>\n MEA has built its reputation on creating environments where people can finally slow down enough to hear themselves think. The food is exceptional. The setting is beautiful. And the whole experience is designed so that by the time the real work begins, the place has already started doing something to you.<\/p>\n Plus, you\u2019ll have formed relationships with a new group of people who actually know you. Not your r\u00e9sum\u00e9 \u2013 you. People who’ve wrestled with the same questions, heard your honest answers, and are on the same journey.<\/p>\n This experience is for you if:<\/p>\n You don\u2019t need to have read Arthur\u2019s book, The Meaning of Your Life, to attend. All you need is the recognition that something in your life has to change, and the willingness to do the work and make it happen.<\/p>\n Arthur C. Brooks is a professor at Harvard Business School and the Harvard Kennedy School, a #1 New York Times bestselling author, and one of the world’s leading authorities on happiness and human flourishing.<\/p>\n His course on Leadership and Happiness has had a waiting list for years. His books \u2013 including From Strength to Strength, Build the Life You Want (co-authored with Oprah Winfrey), and his latest, The Meaning of Your Life \u2013 have reached millions of readers worldwide.<\/p>\n But Brooks didn’t take the traditional route to any of this. At 19, he dropped out of college to play French horn professionally, eventually performing with the City Orchestra of Barcelona. He earned his degree slowly, in hotel rooms and on tour buses, piecing it together between rehearsals.<\/p>\n He came to academia late \u2013 and left it for over a decade before returning in 2019, when what he found on campus stopped him cold: more anxiety, more loneliness, more depression. Students who were succeeding by every measure, but struggling to say why any of it mattered.<\/p>\n That observation sent him back into the research, and resulted in his new book. It\u2019s also why he designed this retreat \u2013 and why he was so deliberate about who he trusted to lead it.<\/p>\n Brooks is not, as he’s the first to say, a naturally happy person. He learned this. He tracks his own happiness on a spreadsheet. He has walked the Camino de Santiago. He has sat with the same questions he now teaches \u2013 and found that the only way through them is not analysis, but living.<\/p>\n That’s exactly why he teaches it. And exactly why this retreat exists.<\/p>\n \u201cMy friend Arthur C. Brooks clearly articulates how to live a meaningful, compassionate, and purposeful life.\u201d<\/p>\n The Dalai Lama<\/p>\n His Holiness<\/p>\n \u201cGreat advice for cultivating happiness. Arthur is fantastic.\u201d<\/p>\n Rich Roll<\/p>\n Creator Of The Rich Roll Podcast<\/p>\n \u201cArthur Brooks is America\u2019s most soulful social scientist. From the day I met him in 2007, it was clear that his life\u2019s work was to increase human flourishing. Over the years he has transformed from data geek to passionate preacher, teaching us all how to live, work, and age well in our rapidly changing society.\u201d<\/p>\n Jonathan Haidt<\/p>\n Thomas Cooley Professor Of Ethical Leadership At New York University Stern School Of Business And Author Of The Anxious Generation And The Righteous Mind<\/p>\n \u201cAs I follow the principles that Arthur Brooks presents, I am becoming happier. I\u2019m actually having fun, too \u2013 a word that previously didn\u2019t exist in my vocabulary.\u201d<\/p>\n Oprah Winfrey<\/p>\n Global Media Leader And Coauthor Of Build The Life You Want<\/p>\n \u201cEvery conversation I have with Arthur leaves me with a clearer perspective on what it means to live a meaningful life.\u201d<\/p>\n Simon Sinek<\/p>\n Author Of Start With Why And The Infinite Game And Host Of The Podcast A Bit Of Optimism<\/p>\n \u201cArthur Brooks guides us to figure out how to live by focusing on the why. These pages can show anyone that meaning isn\u2019t lost, just waiting to be found.\u201d<\/p>\n Sheryl Sandberg<\/p>\n Founder Of Lean In<\/p>\n Arthur has spent years building a body of work he believes can genuinely change people’s lives. The two people he trusted to bring this work to life are the ones who know it most deeply \u2013 one who helped build it, and one who was specifically trained by Arthur himself to lead it.<\/strong><\/p>\n Jill spent thirty years in the business of understanding why people do what they do. As founder and CEO of Juniper ParkTBWA, she shaped brand strategy for some of the world’s most recognized companies \u2013 work that was always, underneath the business language, about human motivation and meaning.<\/p>\n She has since turned that same depth of attention toward individuals. As a personal coach, she works with people navigating pivotal moments \u2013 the kind where the old map stops working and a new one hasn’t appeared yet.<\/p>\n Jill worked directly with Arthur Brooks to learn his Meaning of Your Life framework from the inside \u2013 not just the concepts, but how to help someone actually move through them. She is the facilitator Arthur trained and trusted to lead this work in the room.<\/p>\n Kari Cardinale has spent nearly thirty years figuring out how ideas become experiences \u2013 how insight that lives on a page or in a lecture can be translated into something a person actually carries home.<\/p>\n As MEA’s Chief Content Officer, she has built programs that have reached thousands of people navigating the second half of life. She has collaborated with hundreds of thought leaders in the longevity space and produced global summits on aging and human flourishing.<\/p>\n For this retreat, Kari worked in close collaboration with Arthur Brooks and his team to develop the curriculum \u2013 translating the framework from his book into a live, structured, multi-day experience. She joins Jill as co-facilitator for the inaugural June retreat.<\/p>\n Arthur Brooks has spent years looking for a place where this work could be shared with people who are serious about implementing it in their lives.<\/strong> When he found Modern Elder Academy, he stopped looking.<\/p>\n MEA is the world’s first midlife wisdom school, founded by Chip Conley in 2018, with world-class retreat centers in Baja and Santa Fe, New Mexico. Rising Circle Ranch is a 2,600-acre regenerative ranch surrounded by the beauty of the high desert. It offers intimate small-group workshops offering transformative experiences and the legendary hospitality for which renowned hotelier Chip Conley is famous.<\/p>\n MEA was built on a conviction that Arthur shares<\/em>: <\/strong>that the second half of life isn’t a decline to manage \u2013 it’s a passage into something deeper. Since opening its doors, MEA has welcomed thousands of people at turning points in their lives to rethink their stories, repurpose their gifts, and design a more meaningful next chapter. <\/p>\n MEA\u2019s programs are grounded in science and built around their proven MEA Method, which has been designed in collaboration with academics from Stanford, Harvard, UC Berkeley, and Yale, who have dedicated themselves to understanding modern midlife.<\/p>\n At Rising Circle Ranch, the landscape is vast and quiet. The spaces are designed for reflection and connection. The food is exceptional. And there is something about the high desert \u2013 the scale of it, the stillness \u2013 that does half the work of getting you out of your head before the first session even begins.<\/p>\n This isn’t a hotel conference room or a seminar. It’s a beautiful container built for transformation. And it’s where this work belongs.<\/p>\n “My experience with MEA was amazing in many respects\u2026<\/strong> I am still absorbing new insights from my time there. It gave me the opportunity to create new ideas and visions for my next chapter, and new supportive friends. The pace of the program was perfect, weaving small group discussions, with larger group interactions and quiet time to be alone. Evenings around the fire pit star-gazing and enjoying light banter with my new compadres was nourishing and soulful. I highly recommend enrolling in an MEA program \u2013 it will invite change in the best way.”<\/p>\n Catherine Gallagher<\/span><\/p>\n \u201cI arrived at MEA with a big question, hungry for an answer:<\/strong> “What form should my next decade take? What was the name of my next “container” of creation?”… I’m back home now and loving this easeful, spaciousness where I get up every day and play in curiosity and wonder.<\/strong> It’s as if my already phenomenal life just expanded exponentially –and got simpler and sweeter, too! I’m so glad I invested in MEA in this season in my precious life!\u201d<\/p>\n Lynn Young<\/span><\/p>\n \u201cFinding yourself – this is what happens, among a group of other souls who are also finding themselves. The experience has given me the ability – and capacity – to allow myself to see further, feel more and understand more completely – in very real ways.\u201d<\/p>\n Jeffrey Holloman<\/span><\/p>\n \u201cI left MEA with tools to navigate the next phase of my life with clarity and a commitment to maintaining a growth mindset.<\/strong> I learned that self compassion is non-negotiable and that kindness is a super power! I am now implementing small steps for greater joy in my day to day life, setting goals and holding myself accountable. I am so grateful for the magnitude of this experience.\u201d<\/p>\n Vandi Hodges<\/span><\/p>\n \u201cAbsolutely life changing!<\/strong> I have been sober for 36 years and have been looking for something to bring me to the next level. I believe I have found my tribe here. Everything about MEA resonates with me completely. It is lovely to have a community of like-hearted people and I am truly excited to see where this adventure leads me.\u201d<\/p>\n Susan Chevalier<\/span><\/p>\n Ideas gleaned from a book are valuable \u2013 but they’re not sufficient to achieve lasting transformation. <\/span><\/p>\n What you need is time away from your routine, your devices, and the performative busyness of everyday life. You need physical space that invites reflection instead of distraction. And you need other people \u2013 not a crowd, but a small group of honest humans who are wrestling with the same questions.<\/span><\/span><\/p>\n That’s why Arthur has partnered with MEA to turn the material covered in his new book, The Meaning of Your Life, into a live, immersive retreat experience.<\/span><\/span><\/p>\n Over several days in a small group, you’ll step away from your routine and really work on the meaning of your life. You’ll be guided by MEA faculty Arthur has personally trained to deliver this work.<\/span><\/span><\/p>\n You’ll explore your life story, your beliefs, your relationships, your habits of distraction. The work will live in your body \u2013 through ritual, nature, quiet, and shared experience \u2013 not just in your head.<\/span><\/p>\n This experience is for you if:<\/p>\n You’ll leave with a life more seriously examined \u2013 and a clear sense of what you’re going to do differently.<\/p>\n This June, we open the doors on this retreat for the very first time \u2013 and Arthur will be there. He’ll join the group to teach the final afternoon session of the June 14\u201319 retreat \u2013 a rare chance to work directly with the person whose research and ideas underpin everything you’ve spent the week exploring.<\/span><\/p>\n Immediately following the June 14-19 retreat, Arthur Brooks and his wife Esther will lead The Meaning of Us \u2013 an intimate weekend workshop designed specifically for couples. This is your chance to take everything you’ve uncovered about your own meaning and explore it side by side with your partner, guided by two people who have spent their lives not just studying this work but living it together.<\/span><\/p>\n Learn more about this special weekend here.<\/a><\/p>\n Please note spaces are limited and expected to fill quickly.<\/p>\n ATTEND BOTH AND SAVE:<\/span> <\/span><\/strong>Register for Meaning of Your Life and the Meaning of Us couples workshop and<\/span>save 10%<\/strong> <\/span>on both.<\/span><\/p>\n Contact our advisors to make it happen. <\/span>Book a call here<\/a>.<\/p>\n \n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\tJuly 20-25, 2026 \u00b7 5 days\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/p>\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t $4,500 shared room | $5,700 private room<\/p>\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\n\t\t\t\t\t \n\t\t\t\t\t\t\tLimited spots available\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/p>\n\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/article>\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t \n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\tOctober 15-20, 2026 \u00b7 5 days\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/p>\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t $4,500 shared room | $5,700 private room<\/p>\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\n\t\t\t\t\t \n\t\t\t\t\t\t\tLimited spots available\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/p>\n\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/article>\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t \n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\tNovember 19-24, 2026 \u00b7 5 days\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/p>\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t $4,500 shared room | $5,700 private room<\/p>\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\n\t\t\t\t\t \n\t\t\t\t\t\t\tLimited spots available\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/p>\n\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/article>\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t \n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\tDecember 7-12, 2026 \u00b7 5 days\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/p>\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t $4,500 shared room | $5,700 private room<\/p>\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\n\t\t\t\t\t\u201cI feel like I\u2019m living in a simulation\u201d<\/h2>\n
We’re in a Purpose Crisis. Arthur Brooks Has Spent a Decade Studying Why.<\/h2>\n
Without meaning, happiness is impossible<\/h2>\n
The Meaning of Your Life retreat was built on a simple, radical premise:<\/h2>\n
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<\/strong><\/span><\/li>\nThis isn\u2019t a lecture series or a seminar.<\/h2>\n
Meaning = Coherence + Purpose + Significance<\/p>\nWhat Our Time Together Will Look Like<\/h2>\n
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<\/span><\/p>\nThe Arthur Brooks Retreat Experience, Set on a 2,600-Acre Ranch Outside Santa Fe<\/h2>\n
You won\u2019t just leave with a journal full of notes. You\u2019ll leave having done the work \u2013 and been transformed by it.<\/h2>\n
Who This Arthur Brooks Purpose Retreat Is For<\/h2>\n
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This experience is NOT for you if:<\/h2>\n
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<\/span><\/p>\nHe Found Happiness the Hard Way (Now He Makes It Easier for You)<\/h2>\n
Meet the MEA Team<\/h2>\n
Jill Nykoliation<\/span><\/h3>\n
Kari Cardinale<\/span><\/h3>\n
Why Arthur Brooks Chose MEA for This Purpose Retreat<\/h2>\n
What struck Arthur wasn’t just MEA\u2019s mission. It was the place itself.<\/h2>\n
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<\/span><\/p>\nYou can’t get a fully meaningful life from a book.<\/h2>\n
What You’ll Leave With After This Purpose Retreat<\/h2>\n
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Special Offer<\/h2>\n
** A special opportunity to learn from Arthur himself **<\/h3>\n
Join us for the first-ever workshop \u2013 where Arthur will teach the final afternoon session \u2013 and stay for an extra weekend with Arthur and his wife, Ester Brooks<\/h2>\n
Choose Your retreat<\/h2>\n
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