My belief, taken from people like James Hollis, Ph. D., is that there is, for some people, a “second half of life” question that addresses the “soul” or “psyche” question of meaning and the unconscious psychoanalytic nature of what it means to be human. With that adventure of inward investigation comes, sometimes, enlightenment and choices.

The “first half questions” do have a lot of relevance. These challenges have to do with “building a container” (job, pay bills, define personal values and relationships). God knows we Americans have truly abused and misused this genre just as the article articulates.

My opinion is the “second half of life questions” — uncovering the unconscious and shadow aspects of self and culture and working to address them — has been even more ignored and dismissed than “first half” responsibilities.

Americans are profoundly arrogant and ignorant in our behavior and are seemingly devoted to that profile even to the gates of dissolution, irrelevance and demise. One never knows when a moment of clarity might occur and the insuring willingness, honesty and open mindedness. We will see what happens.