Chip: Language is funny. Well, that’s not too eloquent. Okay, language is illuminating. One of my closest friends for 35 years has been Gabriel Galluccio. While I’m struggling (and enjoying) learning a second language, Spanish, living in Mexico, Gabriel knew seven languages by the time I met him in San Francisco.

This is a question that MEA mastery faculty member Dr. Bill Thomas asked on the cover of his popular book from 2004 (subtitle: “How Elders Save the World”). When I read his book, it was the first time I’d seen the African proverb: “When an elder dies, it’s like a library burns down.”

I once had my astral chart done by a wise man in Nepal. He predicted that I would have a child in my late thirties and publish a book and become a serious writer in my fifties. He was off by a few years. I had my son at forty-four years old, after multiple miscarriages.

Have you ever been asked, “What three people—historical or present—would you invite to your ideal dinner party?” Well, it probably says a lot about my desperate need for a therapist that my top three would be psychologists: Abe Maslow, Viktor Frankl, and Carl Jung.

Lately I've been thinking a lot about exploring edges. Edges are where wisdom is found. Some edges we are more familiar with: the edge of a table, or the edge use case for a new product you're putting into the market, or even the edge of your own comfort zone in a new relationship or in a new job.

Krista Tippett’s podcast “On Being” is one of my top three listening pleasures when I shuffle down our three-mile beach here in El Pescadero with my AirPods on and Jamie frolicking in the waves beside me.

This is the second part of my interview with Elizabeth White, author of “55, Unemployed and Faking Normal: Your Guide to a Better Life”. If you missed the first part of the interview (posted yesterday), click here.

Chip: When I was writing “Wisdom@Work,” I had the good fortune of getting to know Elizabeth White, whose TED Talk from 2017 floored me. Then, I read her book entitled “55, Underemployed and Faking Normal: Your Guide to a Better Life” and I fell in love with her.

I have a confession to make. I don’t have the world’s best breath. It’s not camel breath. It won’t drop you to your knees. But by no stretch of the imagination is it inviting, which explains why, in my house, I tend to get the cheek much more than the lips.

Being smart is about having insightful answers. Being wise is about having catalytic questions. Most questions start with Who, What, Where, When, Why, and How? My friend and author Simon Sinek suggests we start with Why, but sometimes a “Why question” can be seen as disrespectful or lacking in empathy, especially when you’re questioning someone’s motives.