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“Beauty is a core moral value. It’s an essential piece of how we stay resilient and find joy, even with all the difficulties of life.” 

In this episode snippet, On Being’s Krista Tippett shares how her conversation partners, from poets to physicists, unveil beauty’s vitality.

“The same person can organize in different ways depending on the signals they get early in life. That’s why — What happened to you? — is so important. The timing and nature of these experiences plays a major role in how you unfold as a human being.” 

In this episode snippet, Dr. Bruce Perry, acclaimed neuroscientist, child psychiatrist, and co-author of What Happened to You?, illuminates how our experiences shape our brain development and thus our worldview and behavior.

This week, when we find ourselves in the throes of an old pattern, let’s reflect on the central theme of his book. Instead of asking, What’s wrong with me?, how might your response change if you asked: What happened to me? It’s in claiming our agency that we begin to heal.

Genevieve Roth is a maximalist. She quit her dream job to be the Creative Engagement Director for Hillary Clinton’s presidential campaign. Her team at Glamour Magazine sat teenage girls in the auditorium for an event with First Lady Michelle Obama, whilst dignitaries sat in the balcony. She takes the scenic route and celebrates business wins with chicken sandwich competitions. What inspires her zest for life? “I learned really young that the version of life I was living could be removed from me at any moment…Every cell in my body knows that the great privilege of being able to put one day in front of the other day is not a given.”  I often grapple with what it means to live every day as if it were my last and appreciate Genevieve’s perspective on building muscles around being a maximizer. In our conversation, we explore how she imbues her life with maximalist energy — from the creative bravery that distinguishes her social impact and culture change agency, Invisible Hand, to celebrating the love stories in her life and embodying the example she hopes to set for her daughter.

“If you slow down, I promise, pay attention and really look, you will fall back in love with the world and everyone in it.”When beloved illustrator Wendy MacNaughton was growing up, her grandmother showed her around museums and the city. The trips weren’t solely to expose her to art. Bernice had a deeper intention for her granddaughter: to teach her to pay attention. Decades later, looking, listening, and loving are pillars of Wendy’s life philosophy. As a graphic journalist — admired for her culture-shifting work in The New York Times, bestselling books, and children’s show, DrawTogether — Wendy’s journey offers her a unique vantage point into our shared human experience. She’s learned that “everybody is so much more than we think they are” and shares how honoring each other’s stories nourishes the connection that is integral to our humanity. We explore how Wendy developed her artistic lens by imbuing it with her social work background and distinguishing between what was deemed “good art” in art school and the art that she loves to create. Despite being fundamental to her life, Wendy took a 10-year hiatus from drawing. In sharing her homecoming, she beautifully illuminates what it looks like to live from, and continually return to, the truest part of ourselves.

Too often, we blame technology for our inability to focus; still, the issue is far greater than staring at our phones.  It starts with pre-commitments we make to ourselves; and in 'Stolen Focus',  Johann Hari does a masterful job of decoding the 12 causes of distractions and shares a framework to transcend them.

In Debbie Millman’s new book, Why Design Matters, she curates interviews from her award-winning podcast, Design Matters, where for 17 years she’s explored what it means to live a creative life with the world’s foremost creators. Revered for her enduring impact as a designer, educator, and brand strategist, what sustains the aliveness of her own creative spirit? “Life,” she says. “I’m living. I can’t imagine not being able to make things; That’s the life force for me…Just even making a day is what excites me.” In our conversation, we delve into just that, from the seemingly magical exercise she uses to design her life to choosing fulfillment over fear and how the lesson she is most grateful for — “Anything worthwhile takes a long time.” — maps the arc of her beautiful journey.

“If you’re not aware of what’s going on in your mind, you can’t transform it.” Dr.Richard Davidson has believed that strengthening our minds has the power to change the world since he was a teenager. He’s been a pioneer studying emotion, well-being, and our brain for decades. Yet, it was when he met His Holiness the Dalai Lama that the true seed of his life’s work was planted. The Dalai Lama encouraged him to study how practices like meditation impact our brain, and if they made a difference, to spread them as far as he could. Dr.Davidson advances this mission every day as the Founder of the Center for Healthy Minds and Healthy Minds Innovations and a professor at the University of Wisconsin-Madison. In our conversation, we explore Dr.Davidson’s world-changing work on the advancement of human flourishing, which he describes as “the process by which we can harness the innate capacities that every human being has.” He illuminates that we’re wired for love and offers daily practices to cultivate altruism, appreciation, and compassion. We learn that mental exercise is just as important as physical exercise and how to build habits that develop our awareness, emotional agility, and mind-body coherence. These practices are significant not only in enhancing our life experience. They change our biology and the impact we have on each other, all leading to his profound invitation that: “We have a moral obligation to cultivate love.”

Catherine St-Laurent and Rebecca Rottenberg Goldman believe that courageous choices are rewarded. This ethos has inspired their extraordinary societal contributions. Catherine’s as the Chief of Staff to the Duke and Duchess of Sussex and the Executive Director of Archewell Foundation, and previously at Pivotal Ventures and The Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation. Rebecca’s in helping found and lead Endeavor Global, Katie McGrath and JJ Abrams Family Foundation, Good Robot, and Time’s Up. Today, at their social impact firm, Acora Partners, they continue to design lives of impact by pursuing learning over mastery.  Community is a pillar for both Catherine and Rebecca. They illuminate the link between presence and potential in relationships and the transformative power of women coming together, both in impacting change and journeying through life. Intentionality in life and work contributes to a sense of fullness. Still, it leaves many of us striving to be there for everyone at once. Catherine and Rebecca share how aspiring for work-life blend, rather than balance, frees them to embrace their multitudes and show up as their full selves.

Often, what separates the world's elite achievers from the great ones is a level of inner confidence available to each of us, but unlocked by only a few.  After 3+ decades of leading the U.S. Military's enhanced performance programs, Dr Nate Zinsser joins Moe to unpack the mind games that get in the way of increased confidence and elite performance.