Cresting the Hill
Cranial Groove is a passion project of Mike and I, a married couple living in Central New York. Our podcasts and blog serve as a creative outlet and opportunity to reflect on where we are at this time in our lives. As aging Gen Xers, we liken life to the hill metaphor (or mountain depending on your trials and circumstances). The first 40+ years were promising. We moved through each clearly defined phase of childhood, adolescence, and adulthood with an unspoken assumption of sorts: that there will be enough momentum to carry us forward. And as we looked up the hill, we just focused on the top. The good stuff in life: partner, family, fulfilling career, a place to call home. Nothing was guaranteed but that’s what we aimed to get out of life, and its ups and downs largely pertained to how close or far we came to those goals. Now as we hover around 50, we realize the shortsightedness of youth prevented us from contemplating what lay beyond.
As we stand at the top of the hill, reality is sinking in. What awaits us on the other side is an inevitable set of losses. Your aging parents will die (that is if you’ve had the luxury of having your parents in your life up til now). Your body will start to fail you (if you’ve been fortunate to have your health in your younger years). If you have child(ren) they will leave you (although this one might change due to the economy). And eventually, you will leave your job (although on whose terms also depends on the economy). 50 is when you reach the top of your life’s hill, the apex of your life’s trajectory, the height of your bell curve and you realize that underneath your feet is a slippery slope. You stand firm for now but you know the rain is coming, the grass will get wet, and your feet will slide. How graceful your descent will be into this inevitable series of losses is out of your control, left up to too many unknown variables to reasonably try to account for. We are unprepared for this side of the hill. Most of our stories and entertainment come from the first half that now lays behind us. We are forced to grapple with larger questions of meaning making while ahead of us is the shame of irrelevance, a declining life force, and inability to find ourselves reflected in the larger narratives.
Hence, Cranial Groove. This project is one couple’s response to the position Gen X finds ourselves in right now. As we stand at the top of life’s hill, this project is about exploring the wisdom this vantage point allows. Our plan of action is pretty simple - write, record, and share. We’re not claiming to offer solutions, but perhaps some commiserate perspectives. We think one of the most powerful things one person can do for another is validate them. Make them feel seen. Feel heard. Feel like they’re not alone. If we actually manage to reach our target audience of fellow reflective Gen Xers out there, perhaps maybe you’ll see some aspect of yourself reflected in us. Maybe our content might churn up some of your own creative stirrings. Sooner than we think, we will be a dying breed. In the meantime, let’s look back on what made us the generation we are. Let’s reflect on what worked and what didn’t. And let’s share what we have learned.
