Emotions

I recently returned home to my wisdom watering hole at Modern Elder Academy. As the guy, who was once dubbed the ‘Youngest Modern Elder,’ I get a true sense of gratitude knowing I have started this migration earlier in life and get to continue to meet those who also chose it for themselves for years to come.

The first hotel I ever created became San Francisco’s notorious rock ‘n roll motel, The Phoenix (here’s the story of the legendary hotel). It was the beginning of a great adventure that allowed me to press the flesh with some of the most beloved musicians of our time.

"I want to live, I want to give, I've been a miner for a heart of gold, It's these expressions I never give, That keep me searchin' for a heart of gold, and I'm getting old.” - "Heart of Gold" by Neil Young

Marshall McLuhan, the communications guru is famous. Except that he’s not. It all depends on your age – and that’s a big deal. Here’s why.

This used to be my motto. I’ve leaned on it when I’ve needed courage in all areas of life, including dance; a passion that I have limited to the impromptu dance parties in my kitchen, where I can be free to really let go and enjoy the movement.

Years ago after one of my every-five-year big birthday extravaganzas, my friend Ben gifted me with the title “Social Alchemist.” He’s right. I’ve spent my life as a mixologist of people as a boutique hotelier, restaurateur and bar owner, as the head of all the global hosts for Airbnb, and as the founder of MEA, a midlife wisdom school dedicated to life-changing conversations.

Let’s explore the word dependency for a moment. If you look up the word “dependency” in the dictionary, the first word that comes up is “subordinate.” The next descriptor is “under the jurisdiction of.”

Last week was a rough one for me. I was a human pin cushion for a few days in San Francisco while I got updates on my prostate cancer.

“There are at least two ways to understand what it means to have our hearts broken. One is to imagine the heart broken into shards and scattered about. The other is to imagine the heart broken open into new capacity. As I stand in the tragic gap between reality and possibility, this small, tight fist of a thing called my heart can break open into greater capacity to hold more of my own and the world's suffering and joy, despair and hope.” ~ Parker Palmer in A HIDDEN WHOLENESS

I’m a bit of a New York Times addict. Among other things, I love that they can have two seemingly contradictory articles in the same year: one outlining the aging loneliness epidemic and the other extolling the virtues of solitude as we age.