"Doing Your Thing" & other invitations
Living well, mysticism, midlife, and more
In last week’s newsletter, Laughing at Insults, I mentioned that I’ll be experimenting with a simpler format for weekly STILL offerings in the coming months… Well, the other day, as I was finishing David James Duncan’s splendid Sun House, I came across a line that captures why I’m trying to simplify the weekly invitation to stillness that I extend to you, my readers:
Of his tradition's great spiritual genius, St. Isaac of Syria, Ieronymos the Clairvoyant warns,
“Every day one page of Abba Isaac. Not more.... In Abba Isaac you will behold your thoughts, what they are thinking. Your feet, where they are going. Your eyes, if they have light and see. There you will find many sure and unerring ways in order to be helped... In the morning or at night, suffice it that you read one page.”
In other words, true wisdom, as short and simple as it may be—a line, a verse—has the capacity to draw us into the deep end of who we are and speak to us about our being and doing.
So, given that I’m trying to keep the Sunday morning STILL offering on this simpler side, without turning into some bloated think-piece or detailed update, I wanted to send this midweek offering with some updates about where you can else you can find me (a variety of settings!) and nurture your own inner life these days.
1. “Doing Your Thing”: Meaning and Money on the 50 Fires Podcast with Carl Richards
It was a gift to explore a theme I don’t usually get asked about, talking money and meaning on the 50 Fires podcast with Carl Richards, writer of the Behavior Gap weekly financial planning newsletter and the former Sketch Guy column for the New York Times for over a decade. Listen on Apple Podcasts or Spotify.
2. The Art of Living Well in Your Second Half
I’m honored to have an excerpt from my new book The Way Home featured in the debut issue of InHabit Magazine (alongside Canadian author and actress Evangeline Lilly of LOST, one of my all-time favorite shows!), which curates a blend of captivating profiles, thought-provoking essays and practical ideas to inform, inspire and empower those in midlife. Check out this gorgeous, free online magazine here.
3. Exploring Mysticism at The Contemplative Summit
On October 24-27, alongside spiritual teachers from a variety of traditions, I’ll be a part of Spiritual Wanderlust’s The Contemplative Summit, an online global gathering designed to support seekers, deep divers, contemplatives, and mystic misfits “on the path to wholeness and divine union.” Register here.
4. Talking Wellness & Wholeness with Diversity MBA
I’ll be speaking at the virtual publishing summit that is part of Diversity MBA’s annual conference. This theme of this year’s conference which promotes and supports inclusive executive leadership and management is “The New Age of Leadership: Creating Paths Forward.” If you’re interested in attending, I’ve got five free passes, available to the first who use them. Register here with the code PSG_NC24.
5. Workshop in Santa Fe at One of the World’s Greatest Places with Modern Elder Academy
If you are looking ahead to 2025 for personal development and transformational retreat opportunities, then look no further than the “Discovering The Hero’s Journey in Midlife” workshop, I’ll be co-facilitating with Chip Conley, three time TED speaker, author of Learning to Love Midlife (and other books), hospitality industry veteran (former AirBnb Head of Hospitality), and founder of the Modern Elder Academy (MEA) next January 27 through February 1, 2025 at MEA’s world class retreat campus in Santa Fe (named to TIME’s 2024 World’s Greatest Places to Visit list). Learn more and register here.