This photo in Baja was taken nine years ago when Oren and I’d just finished renovating our hacienda home and the idea of MEA wasn’t even in my consciousness. You can see the non-descript playa home across the street which was renovated a year later into part of the campus and our dining terrace, but there were very few homes around us at that time.
Eight years ago, MEA opened its doors with a simple but quietly radical idea: that midlife is not a crisis to manage, but a threshold to cross. Not an ending, but an initiation.
Back then, the cultural script told us to cling to relevance, optimize productivity, and pretend aging was optional. MEA dared to offer a different story—one rooted in wisdom, regeneration, and the belief that our later chapters can be our most meaningful.
What began as a single campus has grown into a global community of Modern Elders—people who are long on experience and still hungry for purpose. Over these eight years, we’ve witnessed thousands of transitions: executives becoming mentors, artists reclaiming their voice, caregivers rediscovering themselves, solo agers finding love, and leaders redefining success.
MEA has never been about having the answers. It’s about asking better questions:
Who am I beyond my roles?
What is trying to emerge now?
How do I turn lived experience into contribution?
In a world obsessed with speed and youth, MEA stands for depth and ripeness. For slowing down enough to listen—to ourselves, to each other, and to what the world is asking of us next.
As we celebrate this 8-year milestone, we do so with gratitude for the teachers, faculty, staff, partners, and alumni who have shaped this living experiment. And with excitement for what’s ahead. And, a special thank you to my two co-founders, Christine and Jeff.
Because if the first eight years were about proving that midlife wisdom matters, the next eight are about putting that wisdom to work—for individuals, organizations, and a world in need of seasoned hearts and clear-eyed hope.
Here’s to becoming modern elders who are as curious as we are wise.
P.S. Speaking of modern elders, I was astonished to see our MEA guest faculty member Pico Iyer in the Academy Award contender “Marty Supreme” staring down Timothee Chalamet as the head of the International Table Tennis Association. Who knew Pico had this talent? Pico will be teaching with me again Aug 16-20 at our Santa Fe campus on the topic of “Seasons of Life: Finding Grace and Beauty in Change.” And Pico’s new TED talk on Silence goes live tomorrow, so check it out.