Chip Conley

“There are at least two ways to understand what it means to have our hearts broken. One is to imagine the heart broken into shards and scattered about. The other is to imagine the heart broken open into new capacity. As I stand in the tragic gap between reality and possibility, this small, tight fist of a thing called my heart can break open into greater capacity to hold more of my own and the world's suffering and joy, despair and hope.” ~ Parker Palmer in A HIDDEN WHOLENESS

Last week, I co-led a workshop with Wisdom 2.0 founder Soren Gordhamer called “The Emergence of the Wise Leader” and we had an impressive collection of wisdom seekers and wisdom keepers.

Many years ago, I told a lovely older woman she was a role model for me as I deeply appreciated her poise and presence and how plain-spoken she was. She told me something I’ll never forget, "I am you twenty-five years from now.” Wow!

“Doing is never enough if you neglect Being. The ego knows nothing of Being but believes you will eventually be saved by doing. If you are in the grip of the ego, you believe that by doing more and more you will eventually accumulate enough 'doings' to make yourself feel complete at some point in the future. You won't. You will only lose yourself in doing. The entire civilization is losing itself in doing that is not rooted in Being and thus becomes futile.” - Eckhart Tolle, A New Earth

“Never have I enjoyed youth so thoroughly as I have in my old age...Nothing is inherently and invincibly young except spirit. And spirit can enter a human being perhaps better in the quiet of old age and dwell there more undisturbed than in the turmoil of adventure.” - George Santanaya

A big thank you to MEA beta alum Liz Gebhardt who turned us onto cyberlibertarian John Perry Barlow’s principles for being the adult in the room.

Defining life stages is a modern phenomenon. “Adolescence” was introduced to the world in 1904 by psychologist G. Stanley Hall. His published works helped society realize that our teens are in a transitional life stage between childhood and adulthood. Before that, you hit puberty, and you were suddenly an adult.

In 2019, 57% of Americans in their early 60s were still working. This number was just 46% in 2000. Improved health and shifting industry patterns—more jobs in offices, fewer in factories—played a significant role.

I'm so honored to be included in LinkedIn's question that they asked a few thought leaders: "What’s your best advice for people who are job seeking or making a career transition this year?"

I’m a “wisdom rebounder.” I hang around wise people and soak in their turns of phrase. Someone like MEA co-founder Jeff Hamaoui.