Episode 16:6 Susan O’Connell on Zen-Inspired Senior Living and Finding Buckets of Joy

Susan O’Connell, Spiritual Director of the Zen-Inspired senior living communities, Enso Village and Enso Verde (in development), speaks to how Zen is a transformative foundation for elder housing, building a healthy community, and bringing joy into everyday living.

About Susan

Susan O’Connell is the Spiritual Director of the Zen-Inspired senior living communities, a collaboration between the San Francisco Zen Center and Kendal Corporation. Their first community, Enso Village, is opening in Healdsburg, California in November 2023, and Enso Verde, its sister property, will be opening in Simi Valley in 2027. These revolutionary new Zen-inspired life plan communities are the result of Susan’s leadership and vision over the past 15 years as Vice President and President of the Zen Center Board of Directors, and the wisdom and experience of the Kendal Corporation.

 Susan’s career wasn’t always rooted in Zen practices. In fact, she spent over 25 years in the entertainment industry working as a professional actress and developing and producing several films. It wasn’t until her visit to Green Gulch, the Zen Center’s Muir beach location, in 1987, that Susan’s interest in meditation was sparked. After a few years of exploring this new practice, she experienced a long series of losses and difficulties and in 1995 she decided to give up her Russian Hill apartment, give everything away and move into the San Francisco Zen Center in search of peace and refuge. Susan went on to receive priest ordination from Tenshin Reb Anderson in 1999, was head monk (shuso) in 2004, and was given Dharma Transmission in 2017.

Today, Susan gives regular Dharma talks via the Zen Center, and is known for speaking on and writing about topics such as “The Power of Joy”, and “Transition- A Way to See What Matters.” She is passionate about sharing her wisdom on mindful and positive aging and after 27 years at the Zen Center Susan is now a proud resident at Enso Village in Healdsburg, spearheading the spiritual direction of Enso Verde as it is developed, and living her life to the fullest.

Key Takeaways

• Zen is what you think it is. It’s simplicity, calmness, and about being present, in its widest sense. Beyond that, it’s about living an equanimous life, being able to be flexible, and move with whatever is arising from having a strong base, cultivated by meditation.
• Community itself can be a healing modality. In Zen-inspired senior living communities, you can integrate quiet, meditation, caring about the planet, and this leads to a sense of community that is healing in and of itself.
• Dual caregiving, which often occurs at senior living communities, is when a person who thinks they’re “well” cares for another who they believe is “not well,” and the care becomes oppressive.
• Try to have buckets of joy. It can be easy to get caught on the side of loss, but there can be joy in just being alive.