BY MARY-ELIZABETH HARMON
Founding Mother, Chard & Stripes
I turned 55 earlier this month while on vacation.
In numerology, 5 is the number of change, which makes 55 the “changenest” year of my life, given I’m unlikely to make it to 555 like Methuselah did.
On my birthday eve, I caught an interview of Netflix co-founder, Marc Randolph. He dropped a gem that got a knowing “Mmm” outta me. While the wisdom was about building a thriving business, we can all apply it to build thriving lives:
“Your obligation is to get it right for the future, not to protect the past.”
If we’re obligated to do anything, I think it’s to put love into the world.
Still, passive income and enjoying my work are things I want throughout my life, but I haven’t managed to finish products I can sell while I sleep, like some workbooks I have in mind and my “real” book.
And since returning from my trip, I’ve been excited about working on the Chard & Stripes Boutique, as well as some other stuff.
To get things right for the future—and make the most of my changenest year—I’ll be in uber gear shifting mode until next June.
And doing Chard Mail differently.
I billed Chard Mail as bite-sized stories with cheer & inspiration + ideas, tools, resources and lessons learned to make a great-feeling life & world.
But how can I supply that while not making a great-feeling life for myself, namely by running myself ragged doing more to right things for the future AND keeping up all I’ve been doing? Plus, my intention was always to share real-time stories about how I’m developing my soul work.
Things were slow going in the beginning, but now they’re picking up.
Until June 2023 (maybe longer) I’ll be putting less on this blog and sharing more with subscribers only.
Wanna get in on the action?
I’ve never lived the changenest year of my life before, so let’s see what happens.
If you’re 55+ and missed marking your changenest year, do it with me retroactively.
And if 55 is in your future, start marking it proactively now!
Dr. Mary-Elizabeth Harmon is a scientist turned storyteller and Founding Mother of Chard & Stripes, a “school” of prosperity making and word-of-mouth marketing platform for kind people, products and businesses in food, fashion & more. Subscribe to her newsletter here.