‍"Middlescence." Adolescence, as a word, didn't become popularized until a bestselling book with that name came out in 1904. Before that time, society believed that we became adults at puberty. But we now know the teen years to be a liminal space between childhood and early adulthood. While MEA didn't invent the word "middlescence" (MEA faculty member Barbara Waxman popularized it - she has a workshop coming up CONSCIOUSLY CURATE YOUR LIFE Feb 12-17), it's been stuck in the ivory towers of academia, and it's ready for prime time. This word describes the liminal period between early midlife and later midlife when so many transitions are occurring: menopause, empty nest, divorce, career change, and parents dying. It's time for society to realize that middlescence needs rites of passage just like adolescence does.

⸺ Chip Conley