"Whoever you are, no matter how lonely, the world offers itself to your imagination, calls to you like the wild geese, harsh and exciting – over and over announcing your place in the family of things." ~ Mary Oliver (from "Wild Geese") Perhaps Mary Oliver's reminder is and appropriate response to midlife loneliness. After all, when "the world offers itself to your imagination", you can certainly ...
Midlife Blog
Midlife Loneliness
Good morning, midlifers. I have an addition to your reading list that sheds a ray of hopeful light on midlife loneliness — both why it's common, and how to counter it — that I highly recommend whether or not you've personally experienced midlife loneliness. Coincidently Josh Cohen' s "Why is midlife such a lonely time?" appeared in The Guardian yesterday afternoon, about 24 hours after three ...
Independence
Here's to a happy, healthy Independence Day, American friends! (Plus a much wider wish for independence—real, autonomy striving, responsibility ensured freedom—to creators and explorers and teachers and dreamers all around the world.) At the risk of sounding pedantic, I invite and encourage you to shoehorn a few minutes between the bunting and the barbeque, between the parade and the fireworks, a ...
Reunion
I've just returned from my 25th high school reunion. For the mathematically challenged (and I am one), that means that I graduated from high school 9,125 days ago. Approximately. Plenty. It feels like yesterday. Well, it does except for a quarter century's already fuzzy adventures and misadventures that have accrued since executing one of the most clever and ...
U-Curve, Roller Coaster, Adventure
Optimistic words in the Harvard Business Review about the midlife crisis phenomenon (or mid-career crisis) from Hannes Schwandt, a postdoctoral research associate at Princeton University’s Center for Health and Wellbeing. While a mid-career crisis can be a painful time in life, it can also be an opportunity to reflect and to reevaluate personal strengths and weaknesses. Whether you ...
Gesamtkunstwerk
Gesamtkunstwerk? Gesundheit! I'll pass on poetry for this afternoon's look at Gesamtkunstwerk. It's tough enough to splutter off the tongue, much less massage into melody. Ever interested in matters curatorial, I recently discovered Swiss art curator, critic and historian Hans-Ulrich Obrist who is currently working as the Director of International Projects at the Serpentine Gallery in London. My ...