Wisdom Workshop

👋 Hello!

It’s me, Sean Waters. I am delighted you’re here!

I turned 42 last year, and I’m exploring a midlife emergence between by my work as an educator, philosopher, and musical artist. I love to write and play and make art, and people have called me a generous host.

I am an educational artist

With the Wisdom Workshop, I’ve designed the courses that I would want to take over and over again. I’m amazed by these testimonials, especially Paul Marcus, a retiring psychotherapist, saying: “It’s the most educational thing I’ve done outside of my education, and the most therapeutic thing I’ve done outside of therapy.”

I write by hand every day

I’m going into year twelve of a daily writing practice. Loosely following The Artist’s Way “Morning pages,” I write for mindful self-care and creative expression. Some writing makes its way to TikTok and YouTube and Clubhouse. I’m on my 245th cranberry red moleskin pocket journal. I recently graduated to an A5 Muji Open-Flat Lined Notebook. My new favorite pen is a Muji gel ink cap-type ballpoint .5mm.

I teach in the Department of English at Colorado State University  

I’ve been teaching for eighteen years at Colorado State University in Fort Collins. Currently, I teach College Composition (CO150), Writing Arguments (CO300), and Writing in Digital Environments (CO302). My Master’s thesis in English Education provides a way for high school English teachers to introduce philosophy using young adult literature.

I’ve taught World Philosophies, Logic, and Ethics

Also at Colorado State University and Front Range Community College. I wrote my Masters thesis in comparative epistemology: “Metaphysics, epistemology, and depression: the philosophical and pragmatic dimensions of the modern biomedical and Tibetan Buddhist approach to well-being.” I’ve been fascinated with East/West contemplative approaches to living well. I am a pluralist, pragmatist, existentialist, and positive psychology enthusiast.

I’ve made a living making music

I am an active recording and performing artist who has played 1000+ shows and 150k+ streams with  Sean Waters & the Sunrise Genius on Spotify or Apple Music. Most of those shows were logged with a group called the Seers, with pianist Brian Collins. Fun, bizarre fact: my mom had a dream she should name me ‘Seers’ when I was in utero. ‘Sean’ was as close as she could get in good conscience.

About the Substack

This newsletter is a extension project of the Wisdom Workshop, where we believe that wisdom is a kind of relationship, connect people and facilitating the art of living beautifully. In small learning groups, we connect with the work and play that truly matters, and I share the best of that here.

Why subscribe? Why pay?  

You’ll be joining in with hundreds of other readers, writers, creators, teachers, students, mentors and leaders who care about cultivating wisdom. Paid subscribers get the benefit of office hours, quarterly alumni and subscriber meetings, pop-up gatherings, pop-up DIY courses in philosophy and psychology, and more in-depth invitations to read, listen, reflect and grow.

I hope you enjoy! 

Yours truly, 

Last updated October 24, 2025.