Chip Conley
Regenerate, a Poem.
Following on yesterday’s rumination on the word “retire,” a word I think should be retired, today I focus on the word “regenerate” since MEA is dedicated to regeneration, not retirement.
Retire, a Poem.
With credit to David Corbett who inspired me with a run-on sentence in his book “Portfolio Life,” here’s what the word “retire” conjures up for me. Tomorrow, I’ll repeat this exercise with the word “regenerate.”
When Was the Last Time You Were Truly Touched?
One of our MEA alums, Liz Gebhardt, is in a class at UC Berkeley's Greater Good Science Center, which was started by MEA guest faculty member Dacher Keltner. Dacher describes an experiment he and his colleagues did:
“Who Knows Only His Own Generation Remains Always a Child.”
Inscribed over the University of Colorado Library entrance is this quote by Dr. George Norlin, former president of the University. It’s an etched-in-stone reminder that the power of cross-generational connection and collaboration could genuinely improve the world.
Jane Goodall's Definition of Wisdom.
Jane Goodall went to Tanzania to study chimps the year I was born, 1960. During her six decades of championing chimps, she showed the world how much we have in common with these beautiful primates. Her compassion toward wildlife and nature has led her to be considered one of the world's leading futurists.
Midlife Crisis or Mid-Course Correction?
One difference between being 25 and 50 is that the older you are, the more life you've lived and the more patterns you've witnessed. Teasing out our life narrative from the disparate experiences we've encountered helps create some meaning in our lives. If we're listening and attentive, hopefully, that life wisdom will serve us in the future.
Stand Up and Show Your Soul.
"Ours is not the task of fixing the entire world all at once, but of stretching out to mend the part of the world that is within our reach. Any small, calm thing that one soul can do to help another soul, to assist some portion of this poor suffering world, will help immensely."
Weird Elders.
"In old traditions, those who acted as elders were considered to have one foot in daily life and the other foot in the otherworld. Elders acted as a bridge between the visible world and the unseen realms of spirit and soul. A person in touch with the otherworld stands out because something normally invisible can be seen through them…"
3 Ways We Evolve in Midlife.
“We spend the first half of our lives defining ourselves by the sentences: I am what I do…I am what others say about me…or I am what I have." - Henri Nouwen
62 Bits of Advice I Wish I had Known Earlier (Part 2).
As a follow-up to yesterday’s Wisdom Well blog post, here’s part 2:
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