Synona™ is a movement for Lifetime Development, helping individuals become increasingly capable of living lives that genuinely belong to them.

Through online gatherings, in-person experiences in Chapel Hill, NC, and private first conversations, people practice hearing themselves more clearly and advancing one another’s lives.

The four lifelong practices are Discern, Design, Develop, and Steward.

At a Synona™ gathering, you make time to reflect on your own life, ask thoughtful questions, and exchange earned wisdom with others. Gatherings may include a short teaching, private reflection, and Bounce™ conversations that help you explore something real and choose your own next step.

Bring a decision, a transition, an idea, a possibility, or simple curiosity. You decide what to share. No polished life required.

Bring a question, decision, transition, idea, or possibility that deserves your attention. Simple curiosity is enough, too. You choose what you share.

A pencil and paper can help you capture what you discover. A piece of dark chocolate (85%+) may help you retain information, hey, it’s worth trying, right?

Check your gathering reminder for practical details, including what to bring for an online session or a visit to the gardens.

Bounce is the practice of advancing one another’s lives. One person brings something they want to explore; a Bounce™ Partner listens, asks thoughtful questions, and offers perspective only with permission.

The Bringer decides what fits and what to do next. A maverick center Bounce™ is a Bounce™ with yourself, making room to hear your own internal guidance before inviting someone else’s perspective.

Your maverick center is your internal guidance: the place from which you discern what feels true, aligned, and yours to do.

We practice listening inwardly, then engaging our brains to consider facts, consequences, responsibilities, and earned wisdom. Inner guidance becomes useful through choices you test in your actual life.

Yes. LivingSynona™ is the online expression of the Synona™ movement for Lifetime Development. You can participate from wherever you live through our online gatherings.

It offers thoughtful company for the life you are already living. See the LivingSynona™ page for current gathering details and how to request to join.

MaveradoSynona™ gathers in the Asian-inspired gardens of Maverado, home to Synona™ World Headquarters in Chapel Hill, North Carolina.

Come for a thoughtful conversation, reflection, and real-life practice. Visit the Experience Synona™ page for current opportunities and how to reserve your place.

Synona™ participation is supported by voluntary donations. If giving would be a hardship, you can participate fully at no cost, with no explanation needed.

For LivingSynona™, we invite a suggested donation of $25 a month to help cover operating expenses and fairly compensate the steward who prepares and cares for the gatherings. Smaller or larger gifts are welcome. A Meeting with Your Lifetime™ is offered once at no charge.

Give in a way that fits your life. Your welcome is not measured by your wallet.

Visit the Experience Synona™ page and choose an online gathering, an in-person experience in Chapel Hill, NC, or A Meeting with Your Lifetime™. Use the sign-up form or request a conversation so we can help you take the next step.

Ongoing participation begins with an invitation and mutual discernment about fit. You are welcome to inquire even if you do not already know someone here.

Synona™ brings the development of your whole lifetime into ongoing practice. Some of the components of a lifetime are work, relationships, raising kids, self realization, best use of a lifetime, making a difference.

People help one another hear themselves, learn from lived experience, and take steps they genuinely own.

Questions come before opinions. Perspectives are offered with permission. Someone else may have wisdom you can use; the decision remains yours. Over time, what one person has learned becomes something another person gets to begin with.

Use the Request a Conversation page or email Diane@MaverickCenter.com.

Tell us what you are curious about and whether you are interested in LivingSynona™, a Chapel Hill experience, or a private first conversation. You do not need to arrive with the right words.

No. Retirement and later life are welcome seasons for Lifetime Development. Your experience can help someone else, and your own next chapter still deserves attention.

Perhaps there is something you want to create, a conversation you want to host, or a direction you are finally ready to explore. Synona™ is interested in what your life is asking now. Becoming has no retirement party.

Now is a good time. You can begin Lifetime Development at any stage of life, with whatever deserves your attention today.

A decision, a transition, an unfinished vision, or the sense that there is more to your life can be enough to begin. You do not need a crisis or a fully formed plan.

Synona™ primarily serves adults. For younger people, around fifteen can be a good starting point, with a participating adult alongside them. Learning to hear yourself, think carefully, and choose your own next steps gives you practices to carry forward.

And if fifteen is several decades behind you, your remaining lifetime deserves your attention, too.

Maverick Center’s private consulting is a separate paid professional service. Synona™ participation is donation-supported, and A Meeting with Your Lifetime™ is a private first experience offered once at no charge.

If you are considering private consulting, ask about the service and its fee before booking. We want you to understand what you are choosing.

Sessions are one-on-one, usually by telephone.

No. Synona™ offers Lifetime Development through reflection, thoughtful conversation, shared wisdom, and practical next steps. It is not a licensed therapeutic or clinical service.

Participants remain responsible for their choices and well-being. Synona™ can sit alongside therapy, coaching, or other support individuals choose for their lives.

No. Synona™ does not require a religious belief or political affiliation. People from different backgrounds participate without being asked to adopt a particular worldview.

Freedom of conscience matters here. We practice listening respectfully and helping one another advance lives that remain our own.

Synona™ is an ongoing practice of Lifetime Development. Gatherings may include short teachings, reflection, and conversations that you can use between gatherings.

You return with new questions and what your experience has taught you. There is no graduation from having a lifetime.

No. You decide what to share, what to keep private, and when to pass. Listening is a valid way to participate.

Bounce™ conversations are expected to remain confidential. Participants agree to ask permission before sharing another person’s stories or experiences outside the gathering. Your life stays in your hands.

Synona™ primarily serves adults who want to keep developing their lives through thoughtful conversation, reflection, and shared wisdom.

Bring a student age 15 or older, or an elder who would enjoy the company and conversation. Young people ages 15-17 must attend with a participating adult. Every generation has something to learn and something to offer.

Participation begins with an invitation and mutual discernment about fit. You are welcome to inquire even if you do not already know someone here.

Please leave pet dogs at home for now. They haven’t evolved to talk yet, but they are taking over, so it may just be a matter of time!

Seeing eye dogs are welcome.

Lifetime Development is the continuing practice of discerning, designing, developing, and stewarding a lifetime as it changes.

At Synona™, we practice hearing what matters, shaping our next season, developing the capabilities to live it, and caring faithfully for what has been entrusted to us. We keep learning how to live the life that is actually ours.