Chip Conley

If Gilda Radner’s Emily Litella were still living, she might have uttered this question given all the finger pointing at pundits and pollsters this week who seemed to be hiding behind their “margin of error.” How much margin of error does your profession allow?

In a post from a few months ago, I outlined why reading John W. Gardner’s ruminations on public policy, leadership and life have been so valuable for me. He was a strong advocate for citizen participation and founded the Common Cause organization. His book “On Leadership” was particularly valuable in my early process of becoming an adult leader.

Hygiene has been a high priority during the pandemic. Many of us have become rightfully obsessed with washing our hands and shielding our mouths, noses, and eyes. And, yet, there’s growing evidence that one of the biggest risks of our COVID era is not just our physical hygiene, but our “psycho-hygiene.”

Keep compassionate. Keep compatible. Keep comradery.

Weird subject given I just had my 60th birthday. Here in Todos Santos, most gringos live north of town. What we call “El Otro Lado” or the other side. “The other side” has another meaning here at MEA, one that revolves around our love for the film, “Coco,” which is a Pixar ode to Dia de los Muertos.

Thank you to Alan Watts who wrote this (excerpted) as a reminder that a momentous life is full of moments. It’s not all about the destination or exit. A good reminder on my 60th birthday when I was originally supposed to be at the Esalen Institute in Big Sur, a place Watts called his “om away from home” for many years.

As I hit the big 6-0 tomorrow, I’ve tried reconnecting with Ian Brown’s “Sixty: A Diary of My Sixty First Year,” but I find his kvetching to be insufferable, so I turn to Henry Miller which seems apt since I was supposed to be at the Esalen Institute in Big Sur this weekend which was Henry Miller’s spiritual home.

“A psychologically-induced, trance-like state, where a person may regress from a stressful situation.” Born less than five miles from Disneyland, I’m preternaturally drawn to happy places. During my troubled teen years, the Magic Kingdom’s Main Street Electrical Parade was my first taste of “collective effervescence,” the sublime experience of feeling less separated and more connected to others while witnessing awe and wonder.

Joseph Campbell’s teaching opened me up to the value of myth as a means of understanding basic truths and sacred realities. Michael Meade may be the most revered mythologist on the planet today, and his “Living Myth” is one of my top three “listen down by the beach” podcasts that I enjoy.

Let’s keep the Japanese theme going from yesterday. When I joined Airbnb, CEO Brian Chesky told me he was obsessed with the Japanese documentary “Jiro Dreams of Sushi.” Then, three months later, we moved into our enormous new headquarters and there was a “Jiro” meeting room designed after the subway sushi bar depicted in the film.