EPISODE NOTES
Retirement can be a relief, but it can also quietly steal something essential: the feeling that you have a reason to get up and go. From a sunlit morning in Malibu, we talk with author, filmmaker, and Creative Visions Foundation founder Kathy Eldon about purpose as a daily practice, not a résumé line. We dig into the difference between being driven and being purposeful, why purpose can change over time, and why the most meaningful work often starts after a major life shift.
KEY TOPICS DISCUSSED:
Purpose is not a single grand mission, and it does not end when work ends. Kathy Eldon and Bob Preston talk about turning grief into service, using creativity to heal, and finding everyday ways to stay connected to what makes life meaningful:
• Driven vs purpose and why money alone is not enough
• How travel and other cultures widen perspective and keep curiosity alive
• Dan Eldon’s story and the importance of being present for people we love
• Transforming loss into a force for good through storytelling and service
• Role models, mentors and why purpose evolves over time
• Ways to reignite purpose in retirement through joy, generosity, connection
• Creative Visions Foundation and the idea of creative activism
Kathy shares how early experiences, travel, and cross-cultural living shaped her worldview and strengthened her belief that we are connected. Then the conversation turns to the story that changed everything: the death of her son Dan Eldon, a 22-year-old Reuters photojournalist killed in Somalia after documenting famine and conflict. Kathy speaks with clarity about grief, resilience, and the power of “last words,” and how she chose to transform loss into a force for good through storytelling, service, and creative activism.
We also get practical about finding purpose after retirement: shaking up routine, following what brings joy, and letting that joy benefit someone else, even in small ways. If you care about holistic longevity, meaning, and connection, this one stays with you. Subscribe, share this with a friend who needs a spark, and leave a review so more people can find the show.
CALL TO ACTION:
Connect with Kathy: KathyEldon.com
Learn about The Creative Vision Foundation: CreativeVisions.org
Learn more about The Retired Mindset and The Seven Trails to Holistic Longevity: The Retired Mindset Website
Join us as we post new episodes weekly!
We would love to hear from you! Send Us a Voicemail
Connect with Bob: [email protected], LinkedIn, Facebook, YouTube.
Listen on: Apple Podcasts, Spotify, iHeart, TheRetiredMindset.com.
TRANSCRIPT
Welcome And Why Purpose Matters
Kathy Eldon 0:00
Well, people can have purpose. They can have they want to make a billion dollars. You know, that’s purpose. Uh that’s not my kind of purpose. I I want to, if if I put it in a nutshell, I want to help shift the consciousness of our world to help people realize that we are all one, we’re connected.
Bob Preston 0:26
Welcome to the Retired Mindset Podcast, where soul meets body. Hosted by me, Bob Preston. Embrace the retirement journey of transformative insights, inspiring conversations, with new episodes produced weekly. Hey mindsetters! Welcome back to the Retired Mindset. I’m your host, Bob Preston. On location today in this amazing spot on a glorious July morning in Malibu, California. Why Malibu, you might want to know? Well, I go where my guests are, and today, my guest and one of my favorite humans of all time, who I will introduce momentarily, has her office here in Malibu. So how cool and special is this?
Bob Preston 1:11
On this podcast, we explore what it means not to just live longer, but to thrive through what I call the seven trails of holistic longevity: soul, body, vitality, nutrition, purpose, connection, and spirituality. And each of these trails is hugely personal to me and what I consider to be a representation of the essential dimensions of human flourishing, especially as we move into retirement and the next chapter of life.
Bob Preston 1:41
Today, however, we’re focusing on one of the most important trails of all purpose. Kathy Eldon is an author, journalist, film producer, speaker, and founder of Creative Visions Foundation. Following the tragic death of her son Dan Eldon, a gifted young photojournalist, killed while documenting the conflict in Somalia, Kathy transformed unimaginable grief into a life of purpose, service, and global impact. Her journey reminds us that purpose isn’t always found in comfort. Sometimes purpose is forged in adversity. Sometimes our deepest pain becomes the birthplace and foundation of our greatest contribution. You will find this episode hugely inspirational. So have a listen and enjoy my episode with Kathy Elden. Kathy, so great to see you again. Oh man, this is awesome.
Kathy Eldon 2:44
Come on, I’m the luck one.
Bob Preston 2:44
Oh, and it’s so great to be here on location at Kathy’s beautiful space called Creative Visions. And I’m just so lucky and honored that you’re on the show today. Thank you.
Kathy Eldon 2:54
I hope you like it here.
Bob Preston 2:55
Yes. Happy belated birthday, by the way.
Kathy Eldon 2:58
We don’t talk about that very much. It’s done over. I’m not having another one from 100, all right? Let’s just forget it. But welcome!
Kathy Eldon 3:04
Kathy Eldon 3:04
Bob Preston 3:04
So happy to be here!
Meeting Kathy in Malibu
Bob Preston 3:05
Kathy, welcome to the retired mindset. And I always start by just asking my guests to introduce themselves. So if you’re cool with that, let’s roll and you can just tell us a bit about yourself.
Kathy Eldon 3:14
Well, first of all, I think the retired mindset slightly worries me because the idea of retirement is anathema. Yeah. I’m very lucky to have had parents who live to be 100. So to retire at this tender age is like, really? But I am a writer, a filmmaker, and the founder of Creative Visions, which is a wonderful organization that’s run by other people, to celebrate creative activism, which is really the belief that we all have a creative spark inside us that we can be using not only for ourselves but others. And we focus on storytellers all over the planet, and we’d love you to check us out at creativevisions.org.
Bob Preston 3:50
Perfect. And we’ll talk about that at the at the end too. And a lot as we go through the podcast today.
Kathy Eldon 3:55
I’m also a grandmother of eight. Oh, wow. Credentials.
Bob Preston 3:59
Okay. One of the things I really like about Kathy is her purpose in life. So she kind of, you know, jokes about not being fully retired. She’s not really retired. That’s what I love about her. But hey, she has a retired mindset, and part of that is purpose. She has a big drive. And so I’d like to talk about that a little bit. I mean, you seem to be someone who really has a high degree of purpose in your life. And you don’t shy away from it, which is what I love about you. So looking back on your early life and career, were there signs along the way that purpose would become such a central theme in your life?
Kathy Eldon 4:35
You know, I have always been driven. And I think that’s something that is not necessarily easy for other people around you sometimes.
Bob Preston 4:43
Yeah.
Kathy Eldon 4:43
But I went to Wellesley College, which the year ahead of me was Clint Hillary Clinton. And wait, the year behind . But Diane Sawyer was the year ahead of me, actually, and Hillary behind me. And the whole modus operandi of Wellesley was non ministrare sed ministrari, which means not to be ministered under, but to minister. And so I think I grew up feeling like I never could do enough. I came out of a family of Methodists in Iowa who were very uh philanthropic and very community-oriented. So it was always like we tithed, you know, you got a dollar for your allowance and 10% of it was gone. You know, like really? That was a whole candy bar. But it sort of puts imbues something in you, uh, an ethic. But I’ve always felt like I’m not doing enough. And it’s always a lot of it has been other directed. And again, I attribute that to my father. And it was like, Kathy, you can’t it’s okay to earn money because then you can give it away, you know, but you should actually earn money .
Bob Preston 5:54
Well, money is a necessity. But you have to have passion and purpose in your life for it to be a meaningful one.
Kathy Eldon 5:58
Well, for sure. And he certainly had that, and he was an investment counselor, stockbroker, and he would make money for Mabel, who lived down the road, and he’d say, Mabel, we made $10,000 today. The the Y needs a new gym. You know, I think maybe if you want to give a thousand dollars and then I’ll come on board and match it. You know, he would he would maneuver these people that he made money for and make sure that he gave the money away. Probably 10% of it, I would imagine.
Driven vs. Purpose And Early Values
Bob Preston 6:25
Okay. So the way you describe yourself, uh it’s almost describing yourself as a very driven person. Do you think there’s a difference between being driven and purpose?
Kathy Eldon 6:35
I think, well, people can have purpose. They can have, they want to make a billion dollars. You know, that’s purpose. That’s not my kind of purpose. I I want to, if if I put it in a nutshell, I want to help shift the consciousness of our world to help people realize that we are all one, we’re connected, and whatever we do in Cedar Rapids, Iowa, or here in in Malibu has an impact. And I’ve been trying to do that probably in different ways for a really long time. I’ve made documentaries about journalists at risk, was the first documentary I ever made. Uh before that, I was a a journalist in Kenya in the wonderful largest newspaper, English language newspaper. And I wrote maybe three or four articles a week. And it was always about people who were making a contribution, whether they were artists or or or or creators or small businesses. I always tried to shine a light on people who were doing cool stuff that other people needed to know about.
Bob Preston 7:34
Well, that’s purpose. That’s really something to be purposeful about.
Kathy Eldon 7:35
And I was driven to do that. But but I think driven means you wake up in the morning and you know there’s something you’re meant to do. Yes. And I think a lot of the challenges as people grow older, especially people who’ve really been successful in their lives, or any people, they could be anything. But if you’re removed from that purpose and you’re suddenly having a lot of time to watch television or whatever, and I’ve seen it with my friends.
Bob Preston 7:59
So have I.
Kathy Eldon 8:00
It’s devastating, and you wear out and you go floppy, and and you know, it’s it’s how do you reinstill purpose in people who maybe have feel like they not don’t have it in the world.
Bob Preston 8:12
You’re completely talking my language. There we go. Yeah, no, this is what the podcast, my book, everything is all about. You know, keeping that.
Kathy Eldon 8:19
I’m so glad that you’re doing this.
Bob Preston 8:21
Oh, wonderful. So r And you mentioned having lived in Kenya.
Travel Builds A Wider Worldview
Bob Preston 8:35
So you’ve experienced a lot of different cultures, which is what I really like. And so how did living and working in different cultures shape your worldview?
Kathy Eldon 8:45
Oh man.
Bob Preston 8:46
And understanding of, I guess, what matters most in life?
Kathy Eldon 8:50
Yeah, I think we if you if you don’t travel, and the beautiful time to travel is of course when you’re retired and you have more time, but to try to do it before you are too old to be able to get on and off the bus. But to be able to travel is to see that whatever you were brought up with is a tiny glimpse of the what the worldview can be. Yes. And that the the sooner you get away from feeling like, okay, that’s the right way to do it, the more fun you’re gonna have in your life. And the I think the smoother your life is going to go.
Bob Preston 9:20
No question about it.
Kathy Eldon 9:21
I was lucky because at the age of 13, my father sold whatever we had, stock, and took the family on a on the grand tour. And in those days, there was still like the concept of the grand tour, and we went to 11 countries. Oh, okay.
Bob Preston 9:35
That was like where you’re in a bus and all that kind of thing.
Kathy Eldon 9:37
Um he he did it in a in an interesting way because back in the day American Express would organize trips. Okay. And they did it in a very upmarket way, which my father cottoned on to by the by the end of Paris. We were staying in pensions and you know, renting cars. But they had originally, we were it was really quite grand. And and I’m so grateful that my father realized that that was not the way to do it, you know, that we needed to learn how to rough it. I remember when we were flying, we went actually went to Russia in 1960, which is literally when we were the first, like there are 50 Americans had been there prior to me, for young people. And we traveled from Leningrad to Kiev, let’s say, and the plane didn’t have seat belts, and it landed in the military airport, and we had to get off on a ladder. You know, literally. So it was it was back in the day. We we were in Berlin, and it was the beginning of the wall. They were just the inklings of the wall. And we visited people who had escaped or left in a little refugee center. And it just, you know, to realize how lucky I was as a 13-year-old who didn’t have to worry about war. It was transformative for me.
Bob Preston 10:48
Right.
Kathy Eldon 10:48
But at that time, Cedar Roberts, Iowa, I could study four or five languages in in school. So I was already taking Latin and French and German. And then later I took a bit of um.
Bob Preston 10:58
And are you fluent in multiple languages today?
Kathy Eldon 11:00
I’m absolutely not fluent, but my accent’s not bad. But I learned Afrikaans when I was in South Africa as an American field service student at 16.
Bob Preston 11:09
Yeah.
Kathy Eldon 11:09
And had to go to an Afrikaans school.
Bob Preston 11:11
Okay.
Kathy Eldon 11:11
They say that neuroplasticity is improved if you’re speaking multiple languages. Absolutely. So I should try to relearn those. But no.
Bob Preston 11:20
You know, that’s that’s so interesting you talked about how I think especially, well, both in retirement, but also as a young person, how influential different cultures can be. And I would say in all cases, when my children did that, my youngest daughter most recently went to Dublin. But I think my second daughter, I think it had the biggest impact on. She went to a religious, you know, school, Point Lemonazarine, and she went to Paris abroad for a semester, and she came back a completely different person.
Kathy Eldon 11:52
A different person.
Bob Preston 11:55
Yeah. And it was so fun to see that and see them out meeting different people from different countries and experiencing different things. And it’s just a fabulous thing, I think, for college kids who are curious anyway, right?
Kathy Eldon 12:08
And the more you can do that, the better, at whatever age.
Dan Eldon And The Risks Of Truth
Bob Preston 12:14
So I’d like to ask talk to you about Dan. Yes, I think. That’s okay. So you have or had two beautiful children, right? Both Dan and Amy. And I guess what I’d like to do today is get into this if you would be willing to share a bit about Dan. Yeah. Right? And I love the phrase you quote from him as that, or you quote yourself, that the journey is the destination. So maybe you can tell us about that. And what does that mean to you?
Kathy Eldon 12:42
Well, I think that anybody watching or listening knows that there is no real destination, except maybe, you know, the f end of life. But the important part is to be fully present during the journey. And Dan was 22 years old when he was killed. This is my son. This is a a book about Dan that was published in 1998 and sold nearly 2,000 copies. He was a young artist. You can potentially journalist, right? Yeah, he became a photojournalist with Reuters News Agency. He was the first to go into Somalia and find out that there was a terrible famine that was impacting tens of thousands of people, probably hundreds of thousands of people. He did the photographs that awakened the world to this terrible famine. And he stayed on in Somalia for another year as the country spiraled into civil war. And he was sharing the story of that terrible war. On the day that he was due to leave Somalia, there was a bombing by UN forces of a house where they believed a warlord was hiding. Warlord wasn’t there. But the UN, a UN under American authority, bombed the house and killed 80 people and wounded another 200. Oh my goodness. And when the the the survivors ran to the journalists’ headquarters and said, please, you know, come and cover this. And it was so dangerous. But they said, we will make sure you’re safe. So the journalists arrived, and when they got on the scene, there were, you know, hundreds of people clustered, carrying away people in wheelbarrows. And the people were so enraged at what had happened to them that they killed four journalists, beat, stoned, and one of them being Dan? Yeah, one of them was Dan. Jen was the youngest at 22 years of age. He was the youngest photojournalist in Reuters’ history at that point. So that was my awakening to the I I knew about the dangers to journalists, of course, because especially in yeah. In in war zones. And I’d urged him to leave about two weeks before. And he said, Mama, I don’t ask me to leave. My job isn’t done yet. I and he I understood.
Bob Preston 14:58
Someone of his character would.
Kathy Eldon 15:00
Well, he was waiting, they were waiting for his replacement. So he said that the story isn’t over, my job isn’t done, and please don’t ask me to leave. And then I had the choice, as we all do as parents, to, you know, condemn him or say, you know, you must, you must. I said, okay, Dan, I’m I’m so proud of you. You’re living the life of your choice. I’m so proud of you, and I love you. And we agreed to meet two weeks later, and then you know, he he was killed. So it’s I my point now with everybody, and I’m going to speak about it tonight at a an event we’re having, is think about the people who you care about and what are your were your last words to them. If your last words were not, I love you, I forgive you, please forgive me, you know, those classic phrases, you don’t want to leave a mess. And I’m so blessed that Dan and I didn’t leave a mess, you know, that our last words were so loving and and it made it easier.
Bob Preston 15:54
Oh my goodness, that’s that’s so touching.
Kathy Eldon 15:56
Well, but you go through tough times with people, and we’ve gone through a patch, was not happy that I left my husband at the time. It was painful for everyone. But we came back together. Yeah, but really to urge people to remember that we nothing’s guaranteed. I didn’t know he was going to die that day. None of us know when we’re done. None of us know when we’re going to die.
Bob Preston 16:14
Yeah, we haven’t got a clue. Yeah.
Kathy Eldon 16:15
So think now, you know, think about, oh my goodness, your auntie who you haven’t talked to in a long time, or your funny little nephew, or whatever it is. If if you’re not, if you don’t feel like it’s concluded or in good shape, just pick up the phone or call, send a car or do something. Trevor Burrus, Jr.
Bob 16:31
Yeah, it’s amazing how many people will say, well, not today. That’s something I’ll do in the future. Yep. It’s kind of along that those lines. Or I’ll connect with that person later, or I’ll go, even, you know, I do this all the time, you know. I’ll just go work out later. Yeah, yeah. A lot of that. I know, right? But it just is a reminder to live in the moment at all times.
Kathy Eldon 16:55
Be here now.
Bob Preston 16:55
I think especially for people in our age group when we really don’t know how much, you know, there there it could very easily be no tomorrow.
Kathy Eldon 17:03
You can fall over and hit your head on it.
Bob Preston 17:06
Yeah.
Kathy Eldon 17:06
Yeah, no, absolutely.
Bob Preston 17:08
So you experienced a lot of grief?
Kathy Eldon 17:11
Yeah, and a lot of joy.
Bob Preston 17:12
Okay. Yeah, of course. Yeah.
Kathy Eldon 17:14
Intermingled. Everybody watching, I think it’s No, I know you’re a very joyful person.
Bob Preston 17:18
That’s what I admire
Turning Grief Into A Force For Good
Bob Preston 17:19
But I mean, what did that season of grief teach you about resilience and the human spirit? And how did you find yourself able to recover from that and live this life full of joy?
Kathy Eldon 17:31
I think none of our loved ones who die are going to want us to sacrifice our lives to that death.
Bob Preston 17:38
Yeah.
Kathy Eldon 17:39
And I I knew that for me I had to transform the horror of what had happened with four journalists being killed into what I called a force for good. And I accosted in a nice way the head of Reuters at the Memorial Service, and I said, Mr. Wood, we have to transform this into a force for good. And I literally said those words, and he said, I will do everything in my power to help. And he was true to his word. We brought in the head of the Associated Press, Lou Bacardi, back in the day, and together they did a book and they did a documentary and they did an exhibition that traveled, and they gave me the fuel for essentially a movement around awareness about journalists at risk and the importance of storytellers. So in 1998, when we started Creative Visions, I was aware of the, and I’d been a journalist, so it wasn’t unaware, but the power of storytelling, that in our world, it, you know, the tree can fall in the forest and nobody has a clue. But if you’re if you’re in that forest with a camera andor with a notepad and you’re taking notes as to what happens and get it out, you know, then it has relevance and meaning. So it gave my life brand new meaning and purpose. T
Bob Preston 18:50
And one of the things I’ve learned about storytelling is that it’s more powerful when there’s vulnerability. So when you’re able to admit that you’re vulnerable, and I do this a lot in my storytelling, because I’ve gone through some crazy stuff. And I think it was probably five years ago that I started realizing I had to change some things. And that was what inspired me to originally retire. Now I’m kind of not retired anymore, but anyway, that is what it is. But I’m passionate about retirement, and that’s what started me on this journey. I like that.
Kathy Eldon 19:21
What does the word retirement come from? Re- I don’t know.
Bob Preston 19:25
Like the the or origin or Yeah.
Kathy Eldon 19:27
Well, you look that up because I did study Latin. A re is over, but tire, T-I-R-E, I I don’t know. Let’s figure it out.
Bob Preston 19:35
Well, I tell you how I define it as a as a new beginning. Yeah. That’s wonderful. Yeah. So, Kathy, I think another thing that’s very apparent here is that you’ve used that purpose and determination as part of your healing. So what I guess, what role and you know, and when did you begin that sense that purpose might become part of that healing? It sounds like it was very soon after Dan’s death.
Kathy Eldon 20:02
You know, interestingly enough, I doodle. And I I’m I don’t even say I draw. Yeah, exactly.
Bob Preston 20:08
Dan well for sure.
Kathy Eldon 20:10
I am an inadequate doodler. He was a highly proficient dood doodler or draw you know artist. Right after Dan’s death, I I drew a lot of grieving characters. And it, you know, it was for me creating.
Bob Preston 20:29
And the other your other book too.
Kathy Eldon 20:30
Yeah, thank you. Oh, yes, yes. Oh, not if I had any drawings in that one, in The Heart of Life, that one. I think for me, just getting it out and expressing in whatever way, and some people will write poetry or they’ll they’ll write music or they’ll but it for me that early to on in my journal, just getting words out and and drawings was important. And then Amy and I, two years into Dan’s death, after Dan’s death, when everybody says, you know, the first year, you’ll go Thanksgiving and Christmas and you’ll be much better. That’s rubbish. I’ve not met a single person who felt better after a year. I really urge you to not not not be afraid of claiming the fact that you’re not better after a year. And that into well into the second year, Amy, who at the time of Dan’s death was just turned 19, dropped out of college, and then she re-enrolled a year later to go to Boston University to become a peace correspondent, not a war correspondent. But she was desperate and and called me and said, I can’t remember his voice, I can’t remember the stories that he told. It’s all getting hazy. And I said, Create, I called it an angel catcher. You know, find write down stories and and anything at all that you can remember about Dan. And she came back from college with this little jammed book full of pictures and thoughts and and stories. And I I realized it was a good idea. And so we actually created Angel Catcher right there, that book. Uh the blue one. Make sure I’m not in the way here. That’s now a bestseller. It’s still selling after all these years.
Bob Preston 22:07
And a journal of loss and remembrance.
Kathy Eldon 22:09
How wonderful. It became the the precursor to a whole series. The one behind it, the blue one, is a journal to help you become who you really are, and that’s about purpose. Interestingly, it just reminds me of that. These were the ones that so we did Angel Catcher, Soul Catcher about finding purpose in life. And then when we didn’t have the right men in our lives, we did Love Catcher. So out of the original pain of loss came a book series.
Bob Preston 22:39
And a new purpose.
Kathy Eldon 22:40
A new purpose and a husband. I mean, imagine that.
Bob Preston 22:44
You know, and it’s interesting because grief doesn’t necessarily always have to be connected with somebody’s passing either. That’s what I’m finding. Times come up in life where all of a sudden something is taken away from me. It could be the loss of a friend. I know my last daughter is in college at UCLA, and I’m very involved in a parent group there, UCLA Parents Council. And so many of my friends like almost grieve the fact that they’re empty nesters, but then they realize, okay, well, this is kind of cool. But there’s that sort of, oh, everything I’ve done for, you know, it’s kind of gone. Oh, it’s so hard. And so I think it’s really important to recognize those things.
Kathy Eldon 23:22
Yeah. I remember grieving for a solid year before each child went away to college. And then it’s quite remarkable because once they’re gone, you know, you kind of figure it out. But man, that’s a hard transition.
Bob Preston 23:34
It is. Yeah. Kind of being comfortable, letting them fly. Yeah. And and however I want to put this, sort of being okay with that, letting them discover themselves and not hovering as a parent, which we were used to, right?
Kathy Eldon 23:48
Well, especially now, my goodness.
Bob Preston 23:50
Yeah, for sure. So this is an interesting question.
Role Models Mentors And Purpose
Bob Preston 23:54
You talked about purpose and how much there was in your childhood and with your parents. Do you think that purpose is kind of God-given or divine, or do you think it’s kind of discovered or created along the way? Where do you where do you where do you see purpose?
Kathy Eldon 24:09
I think I think you having role models is really important. And a lot of people probably do not have the privilege or gift of growing up with role models who model behavior. And we can look at politically leaders who maybe grew up with role models who maybe weren’t ideal, I know, uh, who weren’t, yeah, and and and all varieties of people who grew up with role models who we wouldn’t necessarily want to have them model. Sure. So to have the kind of m role models that give you a twinkle in your eye. And and my father, my mother is up there with her arms outstretched at probably 85. My father was playing tennis at 93, nationally ranked at Wimbledon. I was like, really? Yeah, he he was nationally ranked at Wimbledon at 93, or internationally ranked. But to be able to have a role model is really helpful. And so if you haven’t got a role model, then I think you look around. Find a mentor.
Bob Preston 25:09
Find a mentor. Find a coach, yeah, sure. Somebody who’s a good friend who you can uh depend upon.
Kathy Eldon 25:14
Yeah, who who makes your eyes sparkle. And for me, Jane Goodall. Oh my goodness.
Bob Preston 25:19
Oh my goodness.
Kathy Eldon 25:20
Oh my goodness. Especially with your background in Africa. Well, and just that that incredible woman who she incredible didn’t suffer fools. She was so awesome, but she could captivate a five-year-old and you know, his her his own.
Bob Preston 25:36
Talk about someone with purpose.
Kathy Eldon 25:38
Oh my goodness. Absolutely. Right to the she was going to be speaking at at Pasadena High, and my granddaughter, Arabella, age 10, was going to be hearing her. And that and and they were all sitting waiting for her. A thousand kids were waiting for her, and she had died. And so it became a lesson in, well, you know, grief and death for these little kids. But imagine that, right? I think was she 93?
Bob Preston 26:01
I can’t remember. Oh, I see her age was 93. Yeah. I can’t remember when she was two or three years ago, right? Recently. Maybe last year. Yeah. Yeah.
Reigniting Purpose After Retirement
Bob Preston 26:11
What would you say to somebody who is in retirement or maybe thinking about retirement or at a stage in their life where they’ve lost purpose? Yeah. And what would you do to encourage them and how to find it?
Kathy Eldon 26:25
I love that question. I wrote a poem. I I have a book called Boundless, which is coming out next year. The Boundless that I did is the precursor for it, but it’s gone. You can’t even find it anymore. But I wrote a poem about why is my creative tap run dry? You know, this this wonderful fuel of creativity and inspiration. Why is it no longer working? You know, I do everything right. I go to bed at at 11 and get up at 7. I eat sensible foods. I, you know, why would I not be full of inspiration? Well, it’s not very boring.
Bob 26:56
Come on, you are not boring. But you’re the least thing.
Kathy Eldon 27:03
When I get in that mode, it’s like, well, I do everything the same. I go to the same coffee shop. I’m, you know, looking at my phone, whatever. Just shake it up, man. You know, jump on the train. I’m I’m hoping to go this weekend. Uh I haven’t done it for such a long time, but LA actually has a train system. And we can go to the LA County Museum of Art and go, you know, do something. And I’m I’m essentially, if I’m not working, I’m kind of boring. And, you know, you get hooked on some sort of television series or just nonsense or streaming. And I think we just have to shake it up. We don’t want to be boring. That’s not a good role model, is it?
Bob Preston 27:40
No.
Kathy Eldon 27:41
You’re not boring. No.
Bob Preston 27:42
You’re so right. I am not boring. But I do have writer’s block. I’m working on a book, and like I’ll just get to the point where, oh my gosh, I just need to refresh. And so I’ll hop on my bike and ride on the strand. Yeah. Down to Marine Del Rey or Venice or something. Yeah. And then I come back an hour or two later, I’m like, okay, let’s go. Yeah, let’s do this. Let’s do this. That’s so funny. You’re very impactful with your sense of purpose. But how for the average person does purpose need to be impactful to that degree? No.
Kathy Eldon 28:10
I think you could grow the best damn orchids in the world, you know, very quietly in your little back bedroom, you know, with a window. I don’t I I think I don’t say ever that you have to start anything. You know, just don’t worry about starting anything that’s external to you. But what do you love? What do you love? What gives you enormous joy? And it could be making the best plum jam. I just made plum jam the other day. That came to mind. But whatever it is that makes your eyes sparkle, you know, just enjoy that that journey. The journey is a destination. Go for it. Wake up with purpose. You’re going to, you know, make you’re gonna make five things of plum jam and give away three, or I don’t know. You know, it it’s great people.
Bob Preston 28:56
People take up baking bread or you know, these things and then give it away to people. For sure. Yeah.
Kathy Eldon 29:01
Find something that gives you joy. And I’ll tell you, what will give you even more joy is if it impacts somebody else in a positive way. So if there’s a kid down the block or across the hallway who just needs a little nurturing, you know, you a lot of kids don’t have grandparents. And the idea of being a stand-in or an extra is very exciting. I I when my son was killed, I decided that I was going to adopt very godchildren all over the world. And I must have about 30 now. That’s anymore lately. But they’re they, you know, they’re special people in my life.
Bob Preston 29:37
Do you know them all personally? Are these people you’ve got to do? No, I choose them. Because I mean, there’s a way to support people from afar and uh or become you know, pen pal, so to speak.
Kathy Eldon 29:45
Oh, yeah, totally. I mean, they’re all over the planet and they’re like very grown up. But I also am helping with for so little money put a number of kids through school in and and college, university in Kenya. And that gives me enormous purpose and meaning, you know. Um, in fact, the people I’m focusing on, we had a wonderful cook when we were in Kenya. His name was William, and he was illiterate, and his shopping lists were hilarious because he knew how to spell, so he would sound everything out. But William was with us for 17 years, and I I adored William. And when I left, it was really painful for all of us. And anyway, William has grandchildren, and I think I don’t know how many, like six maybe, and two of them are in graduate school in Kenya. Wow. And it’s so little money, it’s like $700 a year or something. You can actually put a kid.
Bob Preston 30:37
Look at the impact you’ve had.
Kathy Eldon 30:38
Oh my lord. You know, and we we did that also. We we started an orphanage in Kenya through under creative visions with my former husband, wonderful human Mike Eldon and his wife. But just the lives you can impact, and and we would say $12 a month or $20 a month, and you’ll change somebody’s life. So that’s purpose, right without even leaving your, you know, your checkbook here at home.
Bob Preston 31:02
So inspiring, Cappy. It really is.
Creative Visions And Creative Activism
Bob Preston 31:05
Segue. Why don’t you tell us a little a little bit about Creative Visions?
Kathy Eldon 31:08
Oh man. I mean, yeah, how long do we have, right?
Bob Preston 31:12
Okay.
Kathy Eldon 31:13
We started in my back bedroom, very small flat in West Hollywood with no money. My dad actually had $100,000 that was going to go to the IRS because he’d sold some stock or something, share in a company. And he had three children, surviving children. He gave each one of us $100,000 as a foundation, not in our pockets at all. And when he died, he left like $7,000. You know, he he was kind of like a trust or it was a was a basis, it was a nonprofit donation that we could use however we wanted. My sisters spent it within two or three years in C-Raps, Iowa in Wisconsin, community-oriented, wonderful, you know, giving it away. I started Creative Visions Foundation, and now in our I don’t know what it was 1998, now in our 28th year, we’ve, or 30, whatever, we’ve given away money that passes through us. Right now it’s $12 million a year, comes through us just for our fiscal sponsorship program. So we enable that money to come through us. We just got a six million dollar grant for our youth empowerment program. We have hundreds of thousands of kids who are part of our youth empowerment around the world are being touched by. I am, I wake up every day just like pinching myself because I have an incredible team of women running the organization. And I get to be uh, you know, an ambassador, chief inspirer, you know, whatever my role is. But I I love what we are able to do to help people find that creative spark and nurture it and then use it, especially around the world of storytelling, art, music, dance, drama, and mostly film.
Bob Preston 32:51
So let’s talk about creative activism. I know this is a whatever you want to call it, mantra, a motto, a tagline, label, whatever you want to call it. So tell us about that and how that fits into creative vision.
Kathy Eldon 33:03
Well, activism is often given a bad rap. You know, activists do things that stir things up. And of course, we often need to be stirred up, but creativity can be used to activate others. And I coined the phrase creative activism, and I even trademarked copyrighted it back in the day because I wanted people to use it right. So we I I would like to think that we’re all creative activists, that we use our creativity to activate that part of ourselves that wants to do good things in the world. Right. Good things not only for ourselves, but also for others.
Bob Preston 33:36
So you don’t necessarily mean dissenting and getting out there and marching and being act act, you know, an activist.
Kathy Eldon 33:42
Yeah, I don’t think an activist has to be against. I think we can also we can really be for. I’m for, I’m yeah, I’m against injustice of any kind, but I’m for you know humanity and I’m for youth empowerment, and I’m for the environment being safe and air being safe. You know, I’m really for the future of kids. I think if we all framed everything, uh especially for our generation around the future of our grandchildren, that that everything would shift. I think a lot of the rhetoric and the nonsense about, you know, glycosify, we don’t want our children to be poisoned. We want forever chemicals to be removed.
Bob Preston 34:19
Yes.
Kathy Eldon 34:19
It’s not about big business, it’s just about the future of kids. Do we want them to breathe? Do we want them to eat it properly?
Bob Preston 34:26
You know, well, I think we got a lot of work to do to take care of our future kids and our future, you know, uh heirs and whatnot. So I’d like to, I guess, change the topic a little bit and make a shift here. As you know, I’m a big advocate for holistic longevity. We talked about that before I got started. Yeah. Before we got started today. And do you believe that purpose contributes to holistic longevity? I mean, it’s one of my trails and my model. I’ve told you a little bit about that. So what do you think of that?
Kathy Eldon 34:54
You know, holistic just means all of it. Integrated, sure. Yeah, integrated all of us. So if we’re really good at nutrition, but we’re not good at exercise or with any higher purpose, I think we’re, again, we run the risk of being extremely limited in what we can who we can be in the world. So I think to strand all this together, and sometimes different aspects will be more important. It’s like in a uh a rug, you know, the red can go in and out of, you know.
Bob Preston 35:26
Sure.
Speaker 4 35:26
The red’s always going to be there because it’s maybe the the warp or the weft or whatever. But but it’s not like every day you’re just like purposeful. But I think it it’s part of that that the whole. It’s part of who we are as a whole. Yes. And and and it’s something to aspire towards. You don’t have to have all of those things working equally well all at once. I might exercise part of it always, but you know, or you might veer off one of the trails for periods of time.
Bob Preston 35:53
Yeah, yeah. Find your way back. And it’s still like I I completely agree with what you’re saying. It’s an integrated, and that’s kind of what helped me come up with my theory. I’m a big believer in that. Absolutely. Yeah, and there are a lot of people that are talking about longevity from a sense of nutrition or for medical wellness or physical wellness, but very few people are looking at it in the in a in a holistic model. Trevor Burrus, Jr. Exactly.
Kathy Eldon 36:16
No, you you exemplify it in the most beautiful way.
Bob Preston 36:20
I love that. You’re you’re so kind. You’re just a lovely person, and I you like to have fun. I’m having a great time today. So we’re gonna have a little fun here. If you’re cool, if you call it, I’m gonna have it.
Kathy Eldon 36:29
I’m ready. Bring it
Lightning Round And Final Words
Bob Preston 36:30
So I call this a lightning round.
Kathy Eldon 36:32
ight. Heck yeah.
Bob Preston 36:33
Okay, I’m gonna put you in the hot seat. Okay, yeah, you seem like you’re up for it. You’re you’re you’re buck buckled in rhetorically. Yeah. Uh so I’m gonna just throw out some cues and you just blur out your response, right? Just go for it. Chocolate ice cream. That’s your favorite, huh? Okay, well, biggest myth about purpose.
Kathy Eldon 36:53
That it has to be one thing. It can change.
Bob Preston 36:56
I love it.
Kathy Eldon 36:57
It must change. I think it has to evolve.
Bob Preston 36:59
A daily ritual that keeps you grounded.
Kathy Eldon 37:01
My Yorkshire gold tea. And I don’t know if grounded, it elevates me. It’s full of caffeine. Okay, okay. Yeah, and I would say that’s very important to me. That’s a daily ritual.
Bob Preston 37:12
What gives you hope right now?
Kathy Eldon 37:15
Hope is the opportunity that we have to fuel the all the children of the planet with the right education and the right nutrition and the right sense of purpose that we can turn this world around.
Bob Preston 37:31
Who or what are you still becoming?
Kathy Eldon 37:34
I am becoming a whole person still. I think there are areas. Who do you want to be when you grow up?
Bob Preston 37:40
What do you want to be when you grow up?
Kathy Eldon 37:41
I feel a lot, I told you already, Jane Goodall’s my role model. And I I would like to feel that there’s more that I can communicate about what I’ve learned, hard-won knowledge, in a way that that can be entertaining but useful to other people. And so I would like to think that I’m just getting going. I I don’t think I’m a write-off yet. I I like to think that I’ve got a lot more ahead.
Bob Preston 38:05
I have no doubt about that. So and I I love your attitude that kind of, you know, retirement’s not an option.
Kathy Eldon 38:12
Yeah, well, and I think, you know, it’s beautiful. Those people who are thoroughly enjoying it, I’m in no way amenigrating that that as a possibility. I just think for me, it with my role models, they just never quite made it to retirement.
Bob Preston 38:27
So, given that, what does retirement mean to you?
Kathy Eldon 38:30
It’s something that other people do, and it’s lovely, and I’m so glad that people are enjoying it. I I I would like to think that I because you know, if you’re if you’re an artist or a writer or you know, where you’re not in nobody else is is required in a way, if you just want to do it for yourself, you can just keep going forever, and that can be part of your, as it were, retirement. I I I don’t even know how to answer that question.
Bob Preston 38:55
Yeah, yeah. Well, I think you have. I mean, I for you know, whether you want to call it retirement or you know, you’ve you’ve done so many different things and you’re filled with purpose. And I think, you know, even with what I’ve done in my short retirement, it’s always been with purpose and and connectivity and community and all those kind of things. I mean, that’s what it’s like.
Kathy Eldon 39:16
You know, after the age of 55 is probably why people know me more than before the age of 55. Yes. Because I’ve done a whole load of films and a whole bunch of books and you know, the foundation. So it’s like I’m just trying to think of people who after the age of 75, you know, Picasso and great composers, and you know, they’re all sorts of remarkable role models for us of business leaders. Trevor Burrus, Jr.
Bob Preston 39:39
But Kathy, that’s why I’m I call it the retired mindset. I consider myself retired, but I’ve got this mindset that won’t and this creativity in myself that won’t quit. Yeah. And so I’m gonna use that, whatever that might be. I’ve started this podcast, I’m writing a book, I’ve started my platform, and that to me, I still consider myself retired. But that doesn’t mean I have to sit around and watch TV and you know, age in my golden years. I hate that term, by the way. It’s just the most absurd term. Okay, finish this sentence.
Kathy Eldon 40:08
A meaningful life is one where you are aware that a lot of the joy and meaning comes from your interaction with others and what you can offer others.
Bob 40:21
Love that now. In the interest of time, we need to wrap up
Bob 40:26
You and I could sit here, I think, and chat all day. So maybe we’ll continue. Yeah, maybe we’ll yeah, right. Well, someday you’ll I’m sure you’ll have a chance to but I’ll see you tonight so we can talk more tonight. But we need to wrap up. And so be that as it may, what final message would you leave for our listeners about purpose, I guess, at our age group or in the next chapter of life? I mean, I think some people who listen and watch and read the book are going to be in their 30s and 40s because they want to prepare for or train. I call it training retirement.
Kathy Eldon 40:58
Yeah. I would say the best is yet to come. Just make that true.
Bob Preston 41:03
I love that too. And if listeners wanted to learn more about you and Creative Visions Foundation, where can they find that information? For me, it’s Kathyeldon.com and creativevisions.org. You’ll find lots and lots. Dan Eldon collection, you can learn about Dan’s art, which is on every wall here. And yeah, thank you very, very much, Bob, for giving me this opportunity to. Thank you so much for being on the show. And I’ll share those links with our listeners and the uh podcast notes and also to the foundation. And I’d like to share some of Dan’s artwork too. So if you’ll share that with me, I’ll put that in. Kathy, this has been so fascinating. I loved every minute of our conversation. It’s everything I was hoping for today. So I hope it met your expectations for taking your time. Unbelievably relevant for our listeners and audience and anyone in retirement or someone who’s like I mentioned who’s looking to retire. So I think it’s just fantastic. Your work is just helping us understand that purpose is not optional. Nope. Right? You have to have it in your life. It’s a foundational piece of what I advocate for. And to your point, it has to be part of this integrated, what I call holistic approach. And so I guess to our listeners today, if any of this today resonated with you, share it with a friend. I think that’s kind of our obligation is to be out there, be leaders, be sharing. Inspire others, right? By sharing the podcast, sharing more about Kathy, or better yet, you know, reach out to someone you’ve been meaning to reconnect with and say hello. Talk to a friend, you know, reach out to someone, uh, make contact. Don’t let these chances slip by, as Kathy you referenced earlier. You never know, you know, when something’s going to change in your life. You’ve experienced it. But until next time, mindsetters, thanks for joining us. And remember that in retirement, soul meets body. Thanks so much, Kathy. Thanks again.
Kathy Eldon 42:55
Thank you.
Bob Preston 42:56
Thank you. As we wrap up today, a quick plug to please pay it forward by sharing this episode with a friend. And if you like what you heard, please subscribe to get access to all of our future episodes. And always remember that in retirement, soul meets body.