Guest Post

Three things have helped me get through this crisis so far – healthy food, music, and human connections. Food is obvious for survival, but with a little creativity on my part and support for my favorite local establishments, it’s also been a way to feel a bit more like my normal self.

Four years ago, at 57, I quit my plum corporate job to have more time for writing. Everybody said it took a lot of courage, but I knew I still harbored many fears. The fear that I now HAD to write, no more excuses. The fear that my writing wouldn’t be any good.

Like ‘Elder’, the Crone is another archetype ripe for discovery and a reframe, in these modern times. As I hit my late 40s, I found Joseph Campbell’s Hero’s Journey to be an incomplete, and at times overly gendered fit for my own wandering journey through the decades. I wondered if there was a Heroine’s Journey?

When I was 22, I got caught in a revolution in Venezuela. Caracas became the most violent city in the world with more deaths every day than anywhere else, including war zones. It was a scary place to be.

What can we learn from a Grammy winning guitarist? Recently a client was envisioning his evolving role in the organization. His goal was to develop younger leaders to grow and flourish in responsibility and authority.

My children are my favorite teachers. The other day, we were coloring when I mentioned to Summit that he should try to draw inside the lines. He replied, “Dad my lines are perfect,” and it stopped me in my tracks.

It has been a little more than nine months since my MEA experience with my fabulous cohort, SEAN. Like a healthy pregnancy, I’m giving birth to some new thoughts. In my cohort, there were three of us over 70 years old. I could have been the mother of the rest.

Thank you so much for your plentiful contributions of great books to read during this global pause. It was hard to select a top five given more than forty recommendations. So, here’s a top five along with an extended honorable mention list.

My parents were self-described Luddites. The last rotary phone in America lived at our house; when the device gave up the ghost, they purchased a push-button phone but kept the rotary service, so as you punched in a telephone number, you'd hear each digit being dutifully dialed.

My parents were self-described Luddites. The last rotary phone in America lived at our house; when the device gave up the ghost, they purchased a push-button phone but kept the rotary service, so as you punched in a telephone number, you'd hear each digit being dutifully dialed.