It’s been a few weeks and I’m still reflecting on Saturday night’s high school reunion. Forty years ago, a group of 84 young women left for university believing they would seize the world. Then last Saturday, 56 of them, exactly 66%, reunited in Sydney, Australia.

I’m reading more books than ever. I have a long list in the not-yet-purchased queue, and a good 8+ that I’ve started but not finished. I wander between books rather than hunkering down with one at a time. It’s a bit of my wiring, I suspect. My style has always been to maintain a plethora of options, to ride each wave to the next wave to yet another wave, rather than riding one crest all the way to the comfort of shore.

To ferment is to distill something down to its essence and preserve it. We do it with beer, wine, yogurt, kimchi, and kombucha.

So, this Medium article (https://bit.ly/3uo1nAn) by Tris Harkness with the provocative title above caught my eye. Here’s her opening two paragraphs:

At your intergenerational family Thanksgiving dinner, did you have a spirited discussion about the President’s age? Based upon an informal survey of a dozen friends, “talking turkey” about Joe was the #1 topic at the dinner table.

Older Americans hold most of the country’s wealth, but they also are the fastest-growing age demographic when it comes to their percentage of the economy’s spending, as evidenced by this graphic below that was in this recent Wall Street Journal story (https://on.wsj.com/3GdIWkE). While the historical narrative has been that older people are more affected by economic turbulence (especially inflation), this story suggests that their finances are relatively healthy. They have less need to borrow, so they’re not as affected by higher interest rates and are less at risk of layoffs than other consumers.

A few weeks ago, I made my usual trek to work. I got in the car and tried to catch up on texts and emails pausing to remind myself of my goal for the week. What I had re-defined success would be for me twenty-four hours later. I took breaths, found integrity, thanked my driver, and hurried across the stars that line the Hollywood Walk of Fame. Somehow, I was already normalizing passing by the giant marquis inviting others into this project, through the lobby of the iconic Hollywood Roosevelt Hotel, past the Marilyn Monroe mirror, down the steps Shirley Temple learned to tap dance on and into the theater.

Since I’ve become a part of the MEA community the past two years, the notion of “purpose” has become more conscious to me since it's one of the MEA pillars. I’ve enjoyed hanging around with purpose…learning about others’ relationship with purpose and exploring mine.

This was shared by a friend. The source states that it was borrowed and they don't know who to credit it to, but thank you, whoever you are! If you have not yet seen this, you may find some important life lessons. It feels like a good Thanksgiving lesson.

At the beginning of the holiday season, transitions seem particularly difficult. What we are exposed to and learn at MEA is how the “messy middle" is a challenge that we are often not prepared for.