Sharing a bale of hay with Chip touring MEA’s Rising Circle Ranch outside Santa Fe, I asked if “reverent” was one of the five Ranch words. No, it was Sunmount’s, in-town campus. Thinking of the Blessed Mother statue in the courtyard, the Chapel’s mosaic façade and the envisioned Library, I agreed.

To be liminal is to be human. Whether we admit it or not, we are in a constant state of evolution and transition. Father Richard Rohr says it is a “graced” time, but it often doesn’t feel like grace because it may force us out of our comfort. The Latin word “limen” means “threshold,” which can be scary if we don’t know where this threshold leads.

Bob Hope (100), George Burns (100), Phyllis Diller (95), Betty White (99), Carl Reiner (98), Milton Berle (93), and Jerry Lewis (91). These comedians lived long, funny lives. Norman Lear, Mel Brooks, and Dick Van Dyke are either 100 or just about to become a centenarian. Maybe “laughter is the best medicine.”

Poop and pop, those are my post-surgery marching orders for the first week after my surgery. All my organs in my prostate zip code are going through some serious “shock and awe” drills which means I careen from constipation to having a very messy sleep - and I thought I was just passing gas all night.

Hey, you! Yeah, you on the couch, with the potato chips and bonbons dripping down your unwashed sweats as you watch Seinfeld reruns at two in the afternoon! You don’t have to live this way.

Wise, poetic wisdom, that’s the brand of Maya Angelou. One of her most famous quotes has defined how I’ve tried to live my life: “I've learned that people will forget what you said, people will forget what you did, but people will never forget how you made them feel.” Our very first MEA cohort five and a half years ago named themselves after “Maya.”

On a recent hike, I overheard a friendly, light conversation. As it danced across a variety of topics, one conversant was the Learner—she was asking questions and reflecting on the other’s answers with interest and appreciation. The other was the Answerer.

In my youth, I made a significant move from New Orleans to New York in pursuit of my deep passion for live theater. However, as I entered my 40s, I felt a profound calling within me, leading me to relocate once again, this time from New York to San Francisco.

On the last morning of the annual MEA alumni reunion (now called “Homecoming”) in Santa Fe, I had a conversation with alum Lynn Ogden who was glowing from her weekend experience. Knowing that I was one of the first board members of the Burning Man non-profit, she asked me what MEA could learn from Burning Man.

MEA faculty member Dan Buettner popularized the idea of “Blue Zones,” where nine attributes in the culture create the longest-living people. But what if certain places in the world represented “Wisdom Zones,” where a constellation of influences creates a deeper and wiser culture?