I’ve always appreciated the four stages of learning (as outlined below), which offer a powerful guide to move our learning outcomes from freak-out to flow.

“I think you have to grow up twice. The first time happens automatically. Everyone passes from childhood to adulthood, and this transition is marked as much by the moment when the weight of the world overshadows the wonder of the world as it is by the passage of years. Usually you don’t get to choose when it happens. But if this triumph of weight over wonder marks the first passage into adulthood, the second is a rediscovery of that wonder despite sickness, evil, fear, sadness, suffering—despite everything. And this second passage doesn’t just happen on its own. It’s a choice, not an inevitability. It’s something you have to deliberately go out to find, and value, and protect. And you can’t just do it once and keep it forever. You have to keep looking.” Nate Staniforth (magician)

Imagine being the most powerful person on earth and then publicly embarrassed with one of the largest electoral defeats of a sitting U.S. President. Jimmy Carter left office at 56, ripe for a serious midlife crisis. What comes next when you rose and fell so precipitously?

“I am not entitled to have an opinion unless I can state the arguments against my position better than the people who are in opposition. I think that I am qualified to speak only when I’ve reached that state.” - Charlie Munger, Vice Chairman of Berkshire Hathaway

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.

Serendipity. I sat across from the doctor and listened in disbelief as he told me the prognosis. "You have a stress fracture in your foot from too much hiking. I'm looking at your chart. At 67, you might be too old to be hiking. Maybe you should consider doing something else."

I don’t know about you, but I strongly reacted to reading about Bryan Johnson, a wealthy entrepreneur from Venice Beach who is so enamored by the idea of becoming biologically young again that he’s spending $2 million per year to “live the dream.”

Steve Lopez is a columnist for the Los Angeles Times. His new book about considering retirement is "Independence Day: What I Learned About Retirement From Some Who've Done It And Some Who Never Will" and is featured in this NPR "Fresh Air" episode.

A Mexican cardon cactus can live 300 years, which is about 50% longer than a saguaro which is more likely found in the U.S. The patina of an old cactus is so unique.

The Tibetan bowl is a marvel. You ring it, and you instantly feel its vibration throughout your body.