You work overtime and get paid 1.5 times your normal pay rate. America works overtime, and the country’s longevity grows by 1.5 times (from 1911, when it was 52, to 2011, when it was 78). Pretty miraculous, right?

One of my happy places is in the middle of a culinary market, such as a shuk in Jerusalem amid sweet and savory halvah cakes, and pyramids of marinated olives, dates, apricots, paprika and za’atar.

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.

During my second Modern Elder Academy course, Living and Working on Purpose, I was inspired by the distinction Chip Conley shared about having a job, a career, or a calling. In my journal, I illustrated it as stairs leading to the ultimate goal: living out my calling.

At the end of last year, I wrote a post focused on the 5 best MEA-themed films of the year, but none of them are up for Best Picture this weekend.

As the Millennial generation tiptoes into midlife, I have some hope. Unlike past generations, which were more socially impacted by the tyranny of the linear, three-stage life—learn till your early 20s, earn till your early 60s, and adjourn till you die—Millennials and GenZ have popularized the idea of a quarter-life crisis.

In the more than five years we’ve been running MEA, we’ve seen people show up “running on empty.” Society used to assume that we were supposed to fill up our education tanks in early adulthood and run on that same tank of gas for the rest of our careers.

I see you. You’ve been loyally reading my daily blogs. You’ve joined us on calls with Esther Perel, Dan Buettner, and all kinds of MEA faculty members this winter. You’ve heard from a friend that MEA was a transformative experience and that it’s a good fit for you. You’ve checked out the MEA website, but you needed a reason to say, “Heck, I’m ready!”

My new work buddy is ChatGPT. To me, she identifies as female, although she didn’t actually tell me that. Since she doesn’t have preferred pronouns you can choose to assign whatever gender identity you like, or not.

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.