Good morning from New York City. Today is Day One of a new segment of Dear Constance. This idea came to me when I went back and started reviewing my goals for 2023. If you haven’t heard, I’m leaving New York City October 1st for five months, and I’m going through old notebooks and looking at some of the notes I made for myself at the beginning of the year. One of them says this. Experiment and make space and time for my voice to emerge. I also wrote down in my notes  ‘experiment equals conscious incompetence.’ In this spirit of experimentation, I’m introducing a new segment. I want to be playful and try this out.

So, Wednesday’s segment is going to be on questions. It could be questions that come from you, my friends and listeners. Questions I’m asking myself and sharing with you. Or in the spirit of David Whyte, beautiful questions. Beautiful questions are questions that can’t be answered by the strategic mind alone. They reorient our trajectory in life. Rilke called them lived questions. Gay Hendrix calls them wonder questions and he talks about humming. Hmm. Humming integrates the right and left hemispheres of the brain, and it takes us out of the purely intellectual sphere into the realm of mind, body, spirit.

Let’s start with our questions today. Given that I’m embarking on this new adventure. Actually, I’ve reframed it as an experiment versus an adventure because an adventure feels to me like I have to have something magnificent to report when in fact I’m going to be observing how I feel as I’m out there. I bought a one-way ticket on my first leg because I don’t want to over plan. I want to see how I’m feeling. So, these are three of the questions that I’ve been asked. The first one is where am I going? The answer is, I don’t know. I’m starting my trip in Mexico and I’m facing one of my big fears of traveling alone head on. I’m going to be in Mexico City for eight nights. Then I’m going to the Modern Elder Academy, and I’m going to be attending a five-day workshop called ‘The Magic of Cross Generational Wisdom’. I’m interested in the diversity in the workforce in terms of age groups, and I’m really enjoying working with some of the young people I’ve worked with this year. I am also noticing that I’m getting messages from younger listeners of Dear Constanc. I like to think that I’m not only speaking to ‘people just like me’, at least I hope not.

So, as I said, I have a one way ticket and I’m going to see how I’m feeling at the end. I may want to retreat into a quieter place. I may want to continue my adventure in Mexico. I don’t know. I’m intentionally allowing for discovery. I want to feel my way forward. Another question people have been asking me is, will I be sharing my journey? I think it’s fair to say it’s inevitable that I’ll be sharing things on the podcast, but this is not about documenting my adventure. I am bringing an adventurous heart to this but as I said before I’m thinking of it more as an experiment. I’m not doing this to prove something to other people or to report to the outer world. It’s deeply personal. experience. I’m facing my fears. I’m answering the whispers of my heart and I’m dancing with uncertainty because I don’t exactly know what it will bring me. And that is part of how I’m challenging myself.

The last question several people have asked me is, what does it mean to uplevel Dear Constance? I think I must’ve said that when I first announced that I was going on the road. The answer to that is simple. It’s about playing with some ideas I have in my head and having conversations with people.  I want to see if I can create short form content that is not just me speaking. I’m going to be redoing my website and of course now that I have a solid body of work, I’m asking myself what opportunities this might present. What ideas can I explore? , I think simply by going outside of my comfort zone, being willing to experiment and putting myself in the way of interesting people will infuse the whole Dear Constance project with ideas and fresh energy. One of the quotes I wrote in my new book that I’m taking on the road with me is this: “one of the riskiest things you can do is to play it safe.”

So let me end by asking you and encouraging you to please send questions. They can be via WhatsApp or on social media. I’ll be answering these questions on Wednesdays. I’ll leave you with that thought again. One of the riskiest things you can do is to play it safe. Until next time, from my heart to yours.