Living an Examined Life: Wisdom for the Second Half of the Journey

Why I recommend it

I recommend this invitation to move beyond inherited expectations and take greater responsibility for the meaning and direction of one’s life. Hollis brings a Jungian perspective to the questions that surface at crossroads: whose life am I living, what old stories still govern me, and what is asking to emerge now?

What stayed with me

Growing older does not necessarily mean growing up. Maturity asks us to recognize the forces that have shaped us, stop assigning others responsibility for our unlived lives, and choose meaning even when certainty is unavailable.

Who it’s useful for

People navigating a transition, questioning a once-reliable identity, or wanting a psychologically serious companion for the second half of life.

A tension or limitation

Hollis’s Jungian language can feel abstract or universalizing, and the book offers questions more often than concrete practices. That spaciousness is part of its value, but it asks the reader to do substantial interpretive work.