Midlife desperately needs a makeover. Too few of us dream of glory and glamour in our second half. But best-selling author Chip Conley, a hospitality entrepreneur who co-founded the Modern Elder Academy, thinks differently.
In his book “Learning to Love Midlife: 12 Reasons Why Life Gets Better With Age,” Conley, 63, asks: “What if we could reframe our thinking about the natural transition of midlife not as a crisis , but as a chrysalis - a time when something profound awakens in us, as we shed our skin, spread our wings, and pollinate our wisdom to the world?” With the American population rapidly ageing , there’s a new urgency for reframing midlife as a promising time of positive transformation. Conley shared his thoughts on how to achieve this with The Washington Post. The following conversation with Conley - which was conducted via email - has been edited for brevity and clarity.
Q: Who was your role model for midlife transformation? A: My father. He is a bit of a rebel but took the safe path in corporate America . Both his father and my mom’s dad only worked for one company in their 40-year careers.
At a time when my parents had two kids at Stanford and another one about to go to [the University of California at Berkeley], Dad decided to start his own business in his late 40s. His perspective on both society and politics started to soften and he sprouted a newfound curiosity about purpose and meaning. .
.. He’s a great example of someone [whose] life - as he n.