Modern Elder Academy Draws a Line in the Sand
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The week at Modern Elder Academy was magical. I knew it was going to be good, I just didn't know how good. As part of the 9th cohort Beta testing the program, we spent six full days blissed out on food for the body, food for the mind and food for the soul. The gist of the Academy is to give mid-lifers a pause to think about what they want for the second half of life...hmmm....not a prison sentence! The curriculum was an interesting combination of business-y leadership training and soul work based on Chip Conley's book, Wisdom@Work. We were fortunate to have the fabulous Jeff Hamoui and charismatic Chip facilitating our cohort.
Our first morning's assignment rocked. Out on the beach, (OMG, what a beach!!), we're asked to create a line along the edge of high tide. Sticks from the previous cohort mark our starting place. Everyone scatters to find sticks. Wood of all sizes are abundant. I walk a few feet, gather a couple and head back to the growing line. It's so satisfying to push a stick into moist sand. I feel like a kid! So much fun! Within minutes, creativity starts to show up in size and placement. Some people work individually, some work together on a huge log dubbed, 'the telephone pole'. Someone is creating a circle with the sticks. I ask myself why I didn't think of that? Uh oh, a warning to be careful of 'compare and despair'. I'm into it now and run back and forth, gathering as many as I can. The line is really long now. It's turned into something. I'm not sure what, but something. We just got here and already we've created something as a group. I'm sad when time is called and sneak one more stick in a gap. A little later, gathered in the living room for our first morning Circle, Chip asks us to watch our line over the week. Which ones will survive high tide? For how long? By middle age, Chip suggests, we've gone through many high and low tides. How did we get through it? What resources helped us and how do we impart that wisdom to others? I don't think too much about what high tide is like until the first night when the roar of the waves drive conversation inside. At the end of the week, a small, brave group of sticks remain. We went through a lot at MEA, became a group, and together formed a line in the sand of our own lives. Bless you MEA for creating an environment and community that reflect the elder's resilience and capacity for growth and play. Bless you, dear Reader, for coming on this journey with me.