On Tenacity, Meaning, and Purpose

Last Thursday I received the sobering news that I have a rare form of Multiple Myeloma. I was ill much of winter and spring due to what I thought were the lingering effects of long Covid, but was in fact pesky upper respiratory infections enabled by a compromised immune system.

A simple blood draw ordered by a secondary physician discovered it. If something is off I encourage clients to press their physicians to look beyond the first or second obvious cause, and a fresh set of eyes can, as in this case, be potentially life saving.

The qualify of our lives - and our contentment - is determined primarily by how we respond to fortune - good or bad. This latest issue has sharpened my already staunch resolve to complete the More In Common podcast tour this autumn for my own closure, and far more to share with readers and listeners the stories of the people I meet during this historic election.

Nature is medicine, and I am looking forward to noteworthy Magical Year Retreats Healing and Life Transition workshops in Aspen, the British Virgin Islands, and beyond. Autumn is my favorite season in this spectacular valley I call home, and there is no better way to experience it than on foot or horseback. The mountain vistas and Aspen groves are a spiritual experience, golden leaves quaking in faint breezes and late autumn light provoke the feeling that one is breathing with the universe.

Finally, along the way finishing touches and final chapters on two forthcoming books arriving in 2025, Perimeter, An Odyssey, and My Magical Year, Healing, Rebirth, and Redemption in Oceans, Mountains, and Deserts.?

I'm invigorated by the kick in the pants this diagnosis gave me to share more publicly, and prior to my books' publication, share what is the culmination of a decade of work, and the summation of what I learned about American healthcare and medicine, my country, and myself by surviving - and thriving - during what were often anything but ideal circumstances.

My experience became a master class on human performance, longevity, and the well lived life and became the bedrock of my consulting practice’s methodology, and Magical Year Retreat's curriculum.

More to come. This is going to be fun.