Home of TIAMAT
An ecology of practices developed by
5ToMidnight International to
awaken playful agency, foster relational depth, and
cultivate existential resilience.
How to Play your way to Transformation
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The first steps to self-knowledge and a meaningful life
for and with those who matter most.
From Ethan Hsieh
Founder and Artistic Director
5ToMidnight International
Transforming your person, relationships and view of reality is no easy task.
There are many different ways, paths, schools, courses and ideas to follow towards self-knowledge.
However, it’s hard to separate fact from opinion, distinguish ideology from truth and balance personal desire with common good. Many people are facing profound inner conflict, and it is oh-so-easy to fall into the trendy nihilism of meaninglessness. #depressionmemes
But once in a while, something shines through.
It can feel like a deep moment of connectedness, or an ‘a-ha’ moment of discovery.
It feels like the world opens up.
It’s incredibly motivating.
So you attend more workshops, listen to endless podcasts or audiobooks, maybe even decide to go to therapy.
Over time, it feels like there’s ground beneath your feet. You know yourself, you can tag yourself with all sorts of good words:
“empath, self-aware, real…”
But deep down, there’s still a quiet feeling that something isn’t quite right… Like there’s still something in you that’s unresolved. A flash of doubt and recognition that you can’t have possibly figured yourself out with nothing left to discover, right? Because that would be…
Oh, right.
Meaningless.
Who We Are
5toMidnight International is a growing fellowship of artists, facilitators, philosophers, and seekers—held together by shared questions, not fixed answers. Our mission is to create a space where individuals can develop existential resilience, reconnect with their playful agency, and engage in transformative practices that lead to personal and communal growth.
About 5ToMidnight
Find out more about the people who make the work possible.
What is TIAMAT?
Learn more about
The Integrative Approach & Methodology
of Active Transformation
Contact Us
If you'd like to organize a workshop together, invite us on a podcast or ask a question, click here!
When Self-Help Stops Helping
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From spending over a decade travelling the world training actors and non-actors alike, I’ve come to know intimately the difficulty of becoming a well-adjusted person. Personally, socially, culturally and existentially. I started to see how my work was impacting everyday people, not just actors.
They shared an increasingly common feeling that the world they lived in was not real, that life was not worth living, and that everything was just an illusion.
Even themselves.
No matter how they tried to fill that void, with
lots of dates, chasing that social media carrot or finding their tribe still came with the caveats of cult dynamics, coercion, manipulation and in some cases, abuse from the people they thought were “their people”.
Even though most of us can pull up a search bar or walk into a bookstore and find all manner of journals, courses, listicles to “Change/Manifest/Improve your life TODAY!”, many still struggle:
They’ve worked hard to meditate and be aware of their emotions...
but still experience loneliness and distance in their relationships
They’ve solved some major problem, be it addiction or depression...
but are still directionlessness around what to do next
They’ve “done so much work on themselves”...
but still feel frustrated around what it’s all for
They’ve travelled across the world for retreats or spent countless hours in online courses...
but still feel stuck in their personal growth
If any of those sound like something you’ve experienced, please know that these are not unique to you and have actually been around for thousands of years.
Why aren’t all the things that you “should be doing” actually connecting you into what matters most?
Personal transformation doesn’t have to be another full-time job.
What if you could play your way to a better you?
How We Teach
We embody the "ecology of practices" approach which takes there to be no panacea practice that solves all of life's problems. Rather we treat each practice as a process which trains certain capacities. Practices, therefore, need to be complimented and balanced in order to encourage holistic development.
Tiered Workshops
Our flagship programs walk a path from awakening to alchemy through structured containers of embodied learning, philosophical exploration, and collective practice.
Drop-In Events
Accessible, low-commitment samplers to tune into our ecology of practices.
Come curious, leave surprised.
Facilitator Training
For those called to hold space, lead with integrity, and steward others through transformative play.