Chip Conley

I’m often asked which cultures in the world most value elder wisdom. We all know that the western world sent their elders out to pasture long ago. But, even in places that have culturally respected elders - like Asia and Latin America - we’re seeing more and more young people seek out Google instead of Grandma when they want the answer to a question.

Living in Baja, it’s easy to forget just how brutal the winter can be on one’s emotions. I recently read a New York Times review of “Wintering: The Power of Rest and Retreat in Difficult Times” in which the author describes “wintering” as “a fallow period in life when you’re cut off from the world, feeling rejected, sidelined, blocked from progress or cast into the role of an outsider...However it arrives, wintering is usually involuntary, lonely and deeply painful.”

Curiosity can help us live richer, more vital lives. So how can we cultivate it? In this SuperAge podcast with my friend David Steward (founder of AGEIST), I discuss where curiosity comes from, how to fuel it, and what purpose it has in our lives.

Earlier this month, 51-year-old Peter Mel put himself in a club with only one member: riding the “Biggest Barrel” and the “Biggest Wave” at Northern California’s Mavericks winter surf break captured in this article.

As many of you know, we’ve been brainstorming how to create MEA Regenerative Communities, a 21st-century multi-generational alternative to the archaic 20th-century retirement community. Our co-founder Jeff Hamaoui has been pioneering this effort with Baja Sage, not far from our MEA campus, and some of you are planning on buying a home there.

Each year, Money magazine publishes its well-known top 10 “best places to retire.” And, each year, I scratch my head wondering about their criteria. It’s not that I quarrel with lovely places like Madison, Wisconsin, Boise, Idaho, or Asheville, North Carolina.

Much like today, eighteen years ago, San Francisco was in a world of hurt. The combination of the dot-com bust, 9/11, and a recession meant “The City” was having a crisis of confidence. Nowhere was that more evident than in the hotel industry which was preparing for a battle royale with the local hotel union as it was time to negotiate a new contract while we were at the bottom of a ditch.

As we get older, time becomes a luxury. Yet, I still play a decades-long game of believing a full calendar makes me a worthy human. During COVID, I learned how to trick my age-old habit of filling up every sliver of my day.

Would be interested in your perspective on this New York Times article focusing on Joe Biden’s wisdom. I don’t bring it up to be political, as Wisdom Well does its best not to venture into political waters very often.

As discussed in yesterday’s post, one of the most valuable modern skills we can learn is how to master transitions in a world that is constantly changing. It’s not something that we learned in high school or college. It’s not something that your company formally teaches you.