Chip Conley

In my early childhood, chocolate, vanilla, and strawberry were the only ice cream choices you had. And then along came Baskin-Robbins' 31 Flavors, and suddenly I screamed for ice cream all the time! However, it should be noted, I always came back to the same three wonderful flavors.

“There is nothing inherently ennobling about aging. Nothing. There’s no sign that anything lends old people steadiness or wisdom or magic from on high or from down below. If we don’t train young people and middle-aged people in elderhood, we will have no elderhood…

TED speaker and MEA Sabbatical Sessions teacher Ashton Applewhite is a fierce activist slaying the last socially-acceptable “ism”: Ageism. She writes: “The sooner growing older is stripped of reflexive dread, the better equipped we are to benefit from the countless ways in which it can enrich us.”

I’m a word nerd, if you haven’t noticed. Over the course of the past few years, I’ve “muled” nearly 1,000 books to Baja in my over-shoulder garment bag because I like to be surrounded by books, especially those in the genres of longevity, self-awareness, nature, and leadership. And, I’m a sucker for a great poem.

When I read this CNN story about five guys from Southern California who’d captured themselves in the same photo at a lake house every five years for 40 years, I immediately thought back to my three best friends in high school: Alan, Eric, and Mike.

Is it possible that intuition is to the gut as wisdom is to the heart and mind? When we have a flash of insight—whether it's intuition or wisdom—where is it coming from?

My meditation teacher Salliji told me, “As soon as a person does not take his or her existence for granted, magic appears.” Salliji taught me meditation and pranayama breathing techniques up until her mid-80s. She brought more peace to me by teaching me that my life would follow my breath. Shallow breathing leads to a superficial life. Agitated breathing leads to agitation. And, of course, peaceful breathing leads to peace.

"We had our chance." That was how a childhood friend of mine, who'd just turned 62, rationalized why he accepted the ageism he was now experiencing in searching for a job. Yes, he was frustrated by it all, especially given he was a straight white male, and this was the first time he'd had a target on his back due to an "ism." But it was eerie how he blindly accepted the ageism he was experiencing as an understandable rule of society.

My college girlfriend gave me a book of Henry David Thoreau (HDT) poetry not long after I said to her argumentatively, “Leave me alone, or I’ll find someone else who will.” HDT became my partner for the rest of my college career.

You know the guy I'm talking about. He's the brainiac or the walking encyclopedia who recites arcane facts but has no idea what "man-splaining" means. He's the one who knows Albert Einstein's birthday but forgets his own wedding anniversary. He's the "knowledge worker" who desperately could use a "wisdom worker" by his side when it comes to understanding humans.