An Origin Story
A mid-life launch into the unknown
Part I of three
During the pandemic and recent years, I’ve felt an increasing pressure to live my life now, or risk missing the opportunity. As a result, at the late stages my fifties and of mid-life, I have made a radical change to embark on new paths and pursue utterly different interests.
In February of 2022, I hopped on the bandwagon of The Great Resignation and left my employed position at Tufts University for this new life. I have a small head-start on what so many of my peers are thinking about a lot these days: the end of employment, the chance to do what employment has gotten in the way of for decades, and the drive to find meaning in the second phase of life. I’ve exited the repetitive, stressful days, evenings and weekends involved in carrying the burdens of my employer. As I write this, seven months later, my health and outlook are improved far beyond any expectations.
To remain engaged and creative in the world, I will be indulging a long-time fascination with the concept of transcendence, a concept I’ve gradually come to see as the foundation of what life is all about. This theme will likely interweave the ideas, studies and activities of the rest of my life. What is transcendence and what it its place in a modern life? In daily life? I hope that this blog and the ideas pondered and exchanged within the community may answer those questions in a helpful way, supporting a robust conversation as we all move forward, together.
At every stage I hope to encourage conversation and exchange. If that interests you, please respond to questions at the end of Part III.
Why a transition now?
When I left Tufts, I left behind my role as an architect and designer after thirty-plus years. That role was the core of my identity since college, though one may argue I’d left that 12 years earlier when I closed my design firm during the during the Great Recession. It was a very hard decision to leave Tufts, and an easy one too. I set aside obsessing over multiple dimensions and deep layers of the dozens of initiatives I watched over for Tufts, as well as leadership of my staff and collaborators. It was all-consuming, and I could never do enough. It was a world that required my complete focus and all of my physical energy to maintain my professional responsibilities, at the expense of virtually all of my personal goals. I had to weigh the fear of staying against the fear of leaving, and the latter was lesser. It was no longer worth it to me to postpone the things I’d always wanted to do: study, writing, travel - and I exited the working world. It was no longer worth the toll on my physical and mental health. I’d gotten my first job at 14, worked throughout high school and college, put myself through graduate school and applied myself to the many years of working architects hours (i.e. long and hard days, with much free overtime expected to prove your devotion to the profession). Over the years my roles shifted from starving artist to good compensation and benefits as I began to see a vague something to save for, a time after the rat race. Then, I walked away with what I hope is enough retirement savings to get me to the next thing, whatever that may be.
Of course, then inflation skyrocketed and the stock market dove. Oh well.