MEA

I was listening to an interview of Franciscan mystic Richard Rohr (https://bit.ly/493V9pi), where he was describing one of his favorite ideas, Carl Jung’s two halves of life:

This summer, Travel & Leisure magazine published an article (https://bit.ly/3FqZoNU) about the 24 most beautiful places in Mexico and our little farming and fishing village, Pescadero, was at the top of their list.

I feel like a little kid at Christmas time who has asked for a bunch of gifts and can see the shape of the presents under the tree—a Hot Wheels track, a GI Joe, and a basketball. I can hardly wait to rip open the wrapping paper and start playing. Of course, as a 63-year-old, my gifts nowadays are the friends and thought leaders we attract to MEA—the gifted facilitators we are fortunate enough to co-lead workshops with. And believe me when I tell you that next July is shaping up to be a time of many gifts.

For those of you who’ve experienced an MEA workshop, you know that we’re a midwife for midlife epiphanies, and magic often shows up in the middle of the classroom. I’ve suggested that part of what’s happening is “collective effervescence,” when our sense of ego separation dissolves, and a sense of communal joy arises based on our shared mission or ethos.

When I attended my first MEA informational Zoom, Kari Henley (now Kari Cardinale) introduced us to the “polishing the pearls of wisdom” gesture, and tongue-in-cheek called it “a little cultish.” Sometimes that notion comes back to me, especially when I try to explain MEA to others. How do you explain a program that has such a loyal following of people who say “that was the workshop I didn’t know I needed” or “I feel such a sense of deep belonging with the community”?

Radiant Chip caught my eye in the sky in Jan 2019 Something sparkling on that magazine cover made me love him.

My love of language seemingly knows no bounds. Turning a phrase or punning a witticism never fails to uplift me. I think I was a Mad Man in a past life—a true word nerd at heart.

Recently, I was being filmed at my home in Galisteo, NM, near our new Ranch campus. It was a lovely late summer day, and I was talking about the “midlife chrysalis,” the subject of my upcoming TED talk, which will go live on November 13.

A deeply religious friend used to tell me, "When the day of reckoning arrives, we'll have to face some uncomfortable truths." I had never associated this idea with midlife, a life stage Brené Brown says we need to “unravel.” (https://bit.ly/3roPjO8)

Wisdom is a tricky topic. You know it when you see it. So, we’ve always had a complex relationship with the proclamation that MEA is the world’s first midlife wisdom school. Anyone who professes they’re wise probably isn’t.