Purpose

If you are familiar with my writing and work, you know how much I love to garden. It's not simply the act of gardening but the garden as a teacher. A garden is potted poetry. It's not beautiful because each section is beautiful, but because each part is beautiful in relation to the other.

What if you were to imagine your life as a Hero’s Journey? This could be due to a change of career or where you live, a divorce and starting to date for the first time in 30 years, going back to get a masters in midlife, or exploring a new spiritual path.

As Modern Elders, we often explore the path of unplugging from the “Whats” that have fueled earlier life chapters: the drives and ambitions we were pointed to in our early years and that marked our journeys during our young adult and midlife decades.

“If you had to choose a moment in history to be born, and you did not know ahead of time who you would be - you didn’t know whether you were going to be born into a wealthy family or a poor family, what country you’d be born in, whether you were going to be a man or a woman - if you had to choose blindly what moment you’d want to be born, you’d choose now.” - Barack Obama, 2016

When I hear the word “mantra,” I typically think of a word or phrase that one silently repeats to aid their concentration during meditation. Sounds quite liberating, right?

Have you ever met someone that is deep, wide and accessible like a mighty, meandering river? Recently, I was asked to speak at a 50th birthday weekend party outside Mexico City as the b’day boy wanted me to talk to his 80 friends about our second 50 years in the age of longevity.

I might as well have titled this post “Why I Breathe.” Writing has always been foundational in my life, my faithful guide for helping me figure things out—my emotions, attractions, repulsions, and curiosities.

I mentioned “The Soul of Money” author Lynne Twist in a recent Wisdom Well. I was writing about her in the context of how we serve the world. When Lynne taught at MEA last December, she spoke of money or currency being like water.

New purposes require new questions.

There was a time in my early forties when I once spent the better part of a day shopping for a soap dish and toothbrush holder that would perfectly match the brushed nickel faucets in my newly remodeled spa bathroom. Back then, I was extremely proud of my just-spicy-enough jambalaya and how well it paired with dry Gewurztraminer.