After World War II, there was so much prosperity that it seemed like a grand idea for everyone to have his/her/their own everything. Suburbs grew fast. Many of us grew up in a single family home in the classic nuclear family. Suddenly everyone had air conditioning, and his/her/their own car, and nursing homes for elderly relatives.

Before passing, David Bowie suggested, “Aging is an extraordinary process whereby you become the person you always should have been.” I would offer a corollary to that. Aging invites you into an intimate relationship with yourself such that you know who you are and what you want.

Within the last two days, I heard the above titled expression three times. My reaction was, "Is old bad?" And then, I saw my friend Kevin Kelly's quote, "The chief prevention against getting old is to remain astonished." Why not replace the word "old" with "boring"?

We’re a crispy society. We’ve burned hot the past few years, full of uncertainty, polarity, and complexity. And as a result, we see burnout as the explanation for why people aren’t returning to the workplace or are “quiet quitting.”

“There is nothing you know that you haven’t learned from someone else. Everything in the world has been passed down…if you understand it as I do, mentoring becomes your true legacy. It is the greatest inheritance you can give to others. It is why you get up every day - to teach and be taught.” - John Wooden, “A Game Plan for Life”

So many of our beliefs about aging come from a social narrative full of myths. The National Institute on Aging recently featured 10 commonly-held misconceptions about aging. I decided to grade myself from A-F on how well I could myth-bust these misconceptions. I gave myself an A if I was aware enough to myth-bust the misconception entirely and an F if I believed in the myth hook, line, and sinker. I recommend you do the same.

As I see the commercials for Wakanda Forever, Black Panther 2 movie (a just-released sequel to the 6th highest-grossing superhero film of all-time), I immediately think of the extraordinary experience those of us had a few weeks ago at the first-ever Black Modern Elders workshop.

I read Chip’s post “Longevity is Becoming "Shortevity“ and couldn’t help but think that the problems shortening our longevity: overdoses, suicide, cardiovascular diseases, obesity, gun violence— are all problems of not belonging to one other.

We have so much fresh goodness coming your way next year with new thought leaders like Esther Perel, Dan Buettner, Kathy Smith, Dr. Richard Schwartz, Russ Hudson, Light Watkins, Marc Freedman, and Lynne Twist (none of whom were on our 2022 workshop calendar). Of course, we also have many of your favorite regular MEA faculty. You can check out our full 2023 workshop calendar at this link.

Ever seen the movie Bill and Ted’s Excellent Adventure? Two teenagers used a time machine to collect historical characters for the ultimate history class presentation—a “show and tell” extravaganza. They brought in Napoleon Bonaparte, Billy the Kid, Socrates, and more. A great adventure indeed.