Good morning from Merida, Mexico. I feel so incredibly fortunate to have been welcomed into the beautiful home and life of my dear friend, Pia Rosado. She is truly a special cat, and to be honest I really needed to land someplace. I’ve been through a lot. I left New York. I’ve been in Mexico City. I had this incredible experience at MEA, the Modern Elder Academy in Baja, Mexico. I needed, this moment to pause, and to metabolize all that I’ve experienced over the last few weeks.

I had originally thought that I would dedicate this week to talking about my beautiful experience attending a workshop called ‘The Magic of Cross-Generational Wisdom’ but the truth of the matter is I’m still unpacking it and I don’t even know exactly what to share but  I thought I’d just start by telling you this. I didn’t really know what I was getting myself into. I mean, I know what the Modern Elder Academy is, and I’m a big fan of Chip Conley who is one of the co-creators of the center. MEA bills itself as the world’s first midlife wisdom school, a community built on spreading wisdom and navigating transitions.

Whether you’re going for a sabbatical session or attending one of their amazing courses which range from cultivating purpose to learning to love midlife to rituals to navigate transitions, there are many different types of courses there. For example, the one I attended – The Magic of Cross Generational Wisdom – was a group of about 28 people ranging in age from 25 to 75. We talked about intergenerational excellence, the challenges that are baked into the system that isolate us and separate us, age diversity in the workplace etc.

I want to share with you some of the language and phrases that are baked into the discussions and the literature about the place. Things like ROI, which of course means return on investment, but in MEA language it’s ripples of impact. We talked about the fact that elders are meant to be relevant, not revered. We talked about healthspan versus lifespan and rewirement versus retirement. I think the net net here is that the old script of aging is learn, earn, adjourn  – or retire-  is quite frankly such old thinking. I think it all comes down to the fact that it’s not about living longer. It’s about the fact that we are in midlife for a much longer period of time and we don’t have the transition tools We haven’t spent enough time looking at this period and it’s important to pause

So anyway, I had an amazing experience. I went there with not a lot of expectation. I knew it would be a place for me to reflect, to put myself in the way of interesting people, to be intellectually stimulated, to be nourished physically, spiritually, emotionally. It far exceeded anything I could ever have imagined. Truly, I feel like I walked away with not only new perspective and food for thought, but a wealth of new, beautiful friendships and generally re energized.

I’ll end with a little story. So I fly from Mexico city to Cabo and there’s a person there with a sign that says MEA. I get on the van and it’s just me and a woman who is less than half my age. It’s funny because I knew I was going to this cross generational wisdom event, and the first thing I thought to myself was, okay, Constance, don’t ask too many questions. We  pull out of the airport and the scenery is ridiculously beautiful. The mountains and the contrast of the white billowy clouds against the crisp blue sky was stunning.

I’m sitting there thinking to myself, what can I say? What can I ask that might open up this conversation in a softer way than my usual 10, 000 questions. Well by the time we landed at MEA one hour later, I had made my first friend. Her name is Jada. For some reason, this is making me emotional because one of the first things she said to me was I work to find the gifts and talents of the people in my community. I thought, Whoa, here’s this young, beautiful girl, less than half my age, telling me that she works to find the gifts and talents of the people in her community. I said to her I’m guessing this is the first time you’ve been to a retreat like this. She giggled and said, yeah. I said to her, you’re one courageous woman. I didn’t go to a conference or a retreat anything like this until I was well into my forties.

That share was the beginning of our friendship. As it turned out, Jada was the youngest person in our cohort. I could go on to say so much about her, but let me just say this. I felt so lucky that Jada was the first person I met because not only did I admire her right away, I instantly knew that it was a special and unique learning opportunity for me. It was my first experiential moment in the magic of cross generational wisdom.

I want to urge any of you who may be curious about attending a conference or doing something new. I don’t want to belabor the point but there is magic in coming together with people in a small group setting to talk about something that interests you. It doesn’t matter what it is. Go seek out those groups where you can meet new people, learn something new. There is magic when you’re willing to raise your hand and to step outside your comfort zone. Trust me on that.

That’s all for now. Until next time from my heart to yours.