The Wake That You Create

In his newsletter this week, Chip Conley talked about the wake “that we create in our lives – what we do with our legacy, our purpose — what [psychoanalyst Erik] Erikson wrote about when he said, ‘I am what survives me.’ ”

“On a daily basis, what is the wake that you’re creating?”

— Chip Conley

This is particularly timely for those of us in the world of architecture and design, since so many of our friends and colleagues are celebrating the lives of several giants in our industry – Helmut Jahn, Art Gensler, Ed Friedrichs. All of them left great wakes behind them, for all of us.

What is it that will survive you? What are you creating on a daily basis with the work that you do?

I became a fan of Chip Conley when he founded Joie de Vivre Hospitality in San Francisco — “unique accommodations in vibrant San Francisco neighborhoods.” (Today the brand is JdV by Hyatt.)

When he wrote The Rebel Rules: Daring to Be Yourself in Business in 2001, I was hooked. In it, he “shares his success secrets. He focuses on the primary traits — vision, passion, instinct, and agility — that characterize today’s fast company leaders.”

After selling the JdV brand to Marriott, Mr Conley worked with Everfest and Airbnb in chief strategy roles. Then he began focusing on Wisdom@Work: The Making of a Modern Elder, and founded the Modern Elder Academy (MEA) in Baja California Sur, Mexico. One of my “modern elder” friends attended the MEA midlife wisdom school last year, and it is now on my bucket list.

Chip Conley: A Wake

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Thank you for reading!