Chip Conley

During my seven and a half years of full-time and part-time leadership and advisory work at Airbnb, I was fortunate to be in more than one hundred mentor relationships. Often, I was a “mentern,” a mentor, and an intern at the same time. I was learning as much from these young folks (almost all Millennials) as they were from me.

If you’re a massage slut like me, the title of today’s blog probably sent your heart racing. You know you’re an aficionado when you can recite your five favorite massages of your life and where you got them.

Have you ever met someone that is deep, wide and accessible like a mighty, meandering river? Recently, I was asked to speak at a 50th birthday weekend party outside Mexico City as the b’day boy wanted me to talk to his 80 friends about our second 50 years in the age of longevity.

The people who brought you the word "encore" (relative to age) have another new word for your consideration.

I was listening to an astronomer the other day who lamented that the universe had entered a boring middle age. He believed the early history of the universe was like a cosmic 4th of July fireworks display, with galaxies colliding and merging and stars being born.

My welcome mat to midlife was the film "American Beauty," which debuted when I was 38. Observing Kevin Spacey's twisted turn from middlescence to adolescence was a cautionary lesson in how I didn't want to live my 40s.

As quoted above, William James was a philosopher, historian, and psychologist, but he might as well have been a marriage counselor. Feel free to send today's post to your spouse or partner, especially if you have a personal tote board regarding your relationship or if you feel pleased that you are winning the game of logic when it comes to you and your partner.

Thanks to Tash from Australia for turning me onto this TEDx talk that demonstrates how essential it is that we “retire to” something as opposed to “retire from” a job.

I’ve just arrived back—with a big smile on my face—in El Pescadero, our dusty, sandy fishing and farming village in southern Baja. The first thing I noticed was the waves. And not the ones in the beautiful ocean.

“If a previously unidentified virus was found to diminish life expectancy by over seven years, considerable effort would probably be devoted to identifying the cause and implementing a remedy. In the present case, one of the likely causes is known: societally-sanctioned denigration of the aged.” - Dr. Becca Levy