Welcome to a community dedicated to restoring the wisdom of elders to our world.
The elder path is a path less traveled, but it leads to a totally different experience of growing old.
Consider being a fellow pilgrim on the El Camino del Anciano, the path of the Elder.
The customary Older path is heavily traveled and extremely well-worn. Nothing grows on it anymore. Some of you are unconsciously walking on it right now. If not, you will someday find yourself at the trailhead as you begin that last third of your life's journey.
Thoroughly barren, the Older path is deeply rutted from heavy traffic, leaving behind jagged holes and unevenness carved by loss of identity and purpose, fear of death, regrets, meaninglessness, loneliness, isolation, and powerlessness in today's world.
Slow and careful walking prevents you from stumbling into these deep marks of despair.
The path of the Elder is very different: it is a creative path, a courageous path, and a path of autonomy and emancipation. Each step opens you to greater freedom, a higher purpose, and the ability to locate yourself in the present moment.
An Elder's path starkly contrasts with those who just grow old. Elders think, relate, understand, and perceive the world and themselves profoundly differently than those on the Older path.
But what must be realized is the Elder path also has costs. The path is steep, sometimes arduous and requires commitment.
A little about me…
I’m Dr. Marc Cooper
By the end of my consulting career, my client list included national and international healthcare organizations, hospitals and hospital systems, for-profit and nonprofit boards, healthcare provider groups, business incubators, C-suits, insurers, VCs, vendors, Fortune 500 companies, think tanks, and State and National Professional organizations.
In between, periodontist, academician, businessman, performance coach, industry consultant, owner, writer, and all the duties and responsibilities that come with those titles.
On the entrepreneur side, I founded a national consulting enterprise that I later sold in 2017. “First mover” on a problem that no one else knew how to solve at that time. It was a hit.
The existential side of me got captivated in the late 70s with transformational programs, retreats, communities, travel, eastern teachers, religious teachers, new practices, new people. I never stopped.
The Elder side of me emerged over the last 30 years out of relationships with Native American Elders, Buddhist Elders, and Jewish Elders. Wisdom, grace, humor, self-deprecating, noble, empathetic, honorable, seeing the whole, understanding beyond knowing, true inner peace. Elder was that calling that just got stronger over time.
Put all that in the funnel and outcomes me.
An Elder for our times, a contemporary elder, cannot forgo their lineage, their roots as an Elder. Elders have been inexistence for thousands of years and have always enshrined the responsibilities of the Elder archetype: repair your world, restore integrity with core values, and bring forth equanimity. These accountabilities have shaped and will always shape being an Elder.
Right now, you must admit, the world is not working. No peace, compassion, honor, respect, truth, ease, grace, or openness exists. We need Elders at the table, not around the table.
But sitting at this table is by invitation only. The opening challenge is becoming an Elder worthy, able, and wise enough to secure an invitation.
WHY SUBSCRIBE
Elder Wisdom isn't just about aging; it's about awakening. This Substack is for those who refuse to drift into irrelevance and instead step into contemporary elders power, wisdom, and responsibility.
Discover how to grow old with a higher purpose, a sense of real relevance, and with greatly reduced anxiety. Learn to see the world through an Elder's perspective and develop a commanding presence through your found higher wisdom.
Receive thought-provoking essays, reflections, and practical guidance on embracing elderhood and making a meaningful impact in your later years.
By subscribing, you join a movement to restore elder wisdom to our world—a world that desperately needs guidance to enhance peace, equity, and integrity.
I'm curious how you think of a contemporary elder and how you feel about yourself growing old as an Elder.
Read this first to explore these questions together.
