The Hero’s Journey: Crossing the Threshold from Stagnation to Generativity | Pat Whitty

**Pat Whitty** (0:00)
One day, this thought appeared to me. I don't know where it came from. It said, maybe I'm not as good as I think I am.

**Chip Conley** (0:07)
Yep, I remember you writing about this.

**Pat Whitty** (0:09)
And maybe I never was as good as I thought I was. And normally, that would have been a very disturbing thought. But for some reason, it wasn't. It was almost a comforting thought. And I could just accept that and let it go. And it was like I could truce with my ego.

**SPEAKER_3** (0:28)
Welcome to the Midlife Chrysalis Podcast with Chip Conley, where we explore how midlife isn't a crisis, but a Chrysalis. A time of profound transformation that can lead to the most meaningful chapter of your life.

**Chip Conley** (0:43)
Welcome to the Midlife Chrysalis, this is Chip Conley. Have you ever thought about doing a pilgrimage? You know, a long, devoted walk? There are many places to do that in the world, but the one that's most famous is the Camino de Santiago.
In northern Spain. And well, imagine doing that at 84 years old. Pat Whitty is an MEA alum. He's been to 8 to 10 workshops over the last 8 years or so. And he's somebody who decided, you know, over the course of a couple of years, it's time for me to actually do this thing I've been thinking about. Because it's not going to be any easier as I get older.
And so he spent 16 days hiking, walking 200 miles on his own with the Camino de Santiago. In this episode, we'll talk a lot about that.
But we'll also talk about the fact that he had a midlife crisis at 60
So it's not always 50 and what that meant for him. We'll talk about, you know, what it was like to come to an MEA workshop for the first time at around age 78 Realizing that he had a quarter of his adult life still ahead of him if he lived till 98 This is a good one for you, for me, but also maybe for your parents, for some of you. You might want to share this one because as Pat said, he's 84 and he's still got a lot of work to do on himself. So that's a beautiful attitude. I'll be back at the end with my three lessons from this episode. Pat Whitty, welcome to The Midlife Chrysalis. As someone who's still at 84 is, you know, midlife adjacent.

**Pat Whitty** (2:17)
Yeah, I'm still in midlife. Okay.
According to your demographic, I'm a little bit past it, but I'll take it.

**Chip Conley** (2:24)
Yeah. Let's actually explore for a second. Well, what do you think midlife represents? Like what is it? How would someone at 84 still be in midlife?

**Pat Whitty** (2:32)
Well, I think it would be all in your head how you feel. Of course, I'm very blessed that I've lived this long and maintain my health. That's partly due to genes, partly due to how I take care of myself. But a great part of it is the learning that I've embarked on, especially since my time with MEA. I've always been a learner, but MEA really accelerated that.
I've just been intensely curious. It's kept me, I think, I feel closer to 50 than I do 84

**Chip Conley** (3:05)
Yeah. You are a curious and wise person, that alchemy, that modern elder. Let's just talk. I want to go straight there. You are just a month back from coming back from the Camino de Santiago. You walked the Camino de Santiago at 84 years old by yourself. Yes. Not with your beloved Debbie.
I want to dissect this. What made you think about going?
What was the experience like for you?

**Pat Whitty** (3:34)
Well, there was more than I expected, to tell you the truth. I've been thinking about it for a couple of years. I wanted to do it. But like The Hero's Journey, the first step of The Hero's Journey is to call to adventure. And the second step is usually to refuse the call.
And I refused it for a couple of years because I couldn't afford it. I didn't have the time. But the main thing that motivated me was you. Because, yeah, what I kept hearing that question is you love to ask.
Ten years from now, what will you regret if you don't do it now?

**Chip Conley** (4:12)
Or learn it now, yes.

**Pat Whitty** (4:14)
And I thought about that and I said, wait a minute.
Ten years from now, I'm going to be 94
I might not even be here. And if I am still here, I probably won't be able to do the Camino anyway. So I better do it now if I'm going to do it at all. So I still couldn't afford it. I still didn't have the time, but I did it anyway. I just made the reservations and got it done. It started out mainly as what I would call an outer journey. I thought this is just going to be fun. It's going to be an adventure. I love adventures. It's going to be challenging, a different country. I'll get to see the countryside in Spain and walk through all these little cool villages and maybe meet a lot of nice people. It was all outer stuff, but it didn't take long for me to realize after a couple of days on the trail, no, this is really an inner journey. This is really truly a hero's journey. And then I left my familiar surroundings.