In this episode of Authbition, Andrew DiMeo and Stefanie Morejon sit down to play The Whole Mind Game on the tension between Pursue and Surrender.

What begins with stories of travel, creativity, and life transitions opens into a deeper conversation about effort, trust, control, openness, and what it means to move toward something without gripping too tightly.

Together, they explore the best and worst of both sides:

Pursue can bring clarity, fire, and momentum.
Surrender can bring peace, flexibility, and flow.

But each has a shadow.

This episode is a live exploration of what happens when we stop treating those two forces like opposites — and start looking for the best of both.

Shaler McClure Wright reads her essay, “I’m an American Worn Down and Weakened by Rancor,” and joins me to explore the tension between being quiet and speaking out.

Read her essay here:
https://medium.com/the-narrative-arc/im-an-american-worn-down-and-weakened-by-rancor-fa7cc66556c5?sk=v2%2F9401e8ff-0492-46c8-8b1a-7d5f808e5389

Through the Whole Mind Game, we wrestle with silence, responsibility, courage, and ego — and land on a shared idea:

Leadership Without Ego.

A thoughtful conversation about listening, writing, and leading in a divided America.

In this episode of Authbition, I sit down with nurse and writer Pamela Bonse for a conversation about aging, imagination, and the hidden cost of a life spent caring for others.

Pam reads two stories. The first is a dreamlike reflection on the phases of her life — a tender meditation on time, identity, and what it feels like to grow older inside a body that has served others for decades. The second is a piece of fiction — a chilling, playful preview of a future Halloween episode that proves her storytelling has range.

We also play the Whole Mind Game, exploring the tension between being selfless and selfish. When we boil it down, the best of the best is this: Be a leader.
The worst of the worst? Burned out and alone.

Care and self-care. Service and sustainability.
This is a conversation about how to give — without disappearing.

In this episode of Authbition, I sit down with writer and thinker Susan Brearley for a conversation that stretches from volcanic ash to unconditional love.

Susan reads her essay What a Glorious Day: The Other Side of Paradise, a story set on the island of Montserrat after a volcanic eruption reshaped both landscape and life. What begins as a retrieval mission in a closed zone becomes something deeper — a meditation on loss, memory, resilience, and what we carry forward.

From there, we explore one of the most powerful tensions in The Whole Mind Game:

Patience and Intolerance.

When does patience become self-erasure?
When does intolerance become protection?
Is there a way to hold both without collapsing into “hell” — the worst of both worlds?

Together, we search for what Susan coined in real time on the show: the Forever Zone of Universal Connection — a state of unconditional love that protects without hardening, and opens without surrendering dignity.

If you’ve ever struggled with boundaries, compassion, protection, or the tension between openness and safety — this conversation is for you.

SHOW HIGHLIGHTS
(Insert timestamped highlights here once transcript is available)

🌿 Learn more about Susan’s work with the Garden of Neuro Institute:
https://www.gardenofneuro.org/

📖 Read Susan’s essay on Medium (friend link):
What a Glorious Day: The Other Side of Paradise
https://medium.com/contemplate/the-other-side-of-paradise-7ddce666c463?sk=5a6d2a2c7c2c37484275f975352a5d97

Resources

In this episode of Authbition, I sit down with Maria Keckler for a wide-ranging conversation about work, care, ambition, and the voices we learn to silence in order to succeed.

Maria reads from two of her essays — Learning to Land and The Black Room. Together, they trace a quiet arc: from momentum to presence, from professionalism to truth, and from exile to reintegration.

At the heart of the episode is The Black Room, a haunting childhood story about a voice Maria silenced for decades — and the cost of keeping it hidden. From there, the conversation opens into one of the most consequential tensions of our time: empathy and efficiency.

Through lived experience, reflection, and a round of the Whole Mind Game, we explore:

• why efficiency can create the illusion of impact

• how empathy becomes exhausting when unsupported

• what happens when systems scale productivity but exile humanity

• and how wholeness begins when the silenced voice is finally allowed to speak

This is a conversation about work, healthcare, leadership, faith, and the parts of ourselves we hide to survive — and what becomes possible when we stop.

⏱ Start Where You’re Curious — Listener Highlights

0:00–2:51 — Maria’s background, curiosity, and early influences
3:03–9:21 — Leaving security to build work that matters
21:25–27:35 — Empathy in healthcare, lived not theoretical
30:06–34:05 — Why “soft skills” are actually structural skills
37:07–44:01 — Storytelling as generosity and care
1:14:38–1:25:36 — The Black Room (Maria reads)
1:39:13–2:16:14 — The Whole Mind Game: Empathy <> Efficiency
2:16:14–end — Closing reflections on discernment and wholeness

If you listen to only one section, make it The Black Room.

Essays referenced in this episode

The Black Room — Maria KecklerRead free (friend link):
https://medium.com/write-your-world/the-black-room-47ed071b0920?sk=v2%2F17b890de-a568-48db-8acc-5c9d6b59f2bf

Learning to Land — Maria KecklerRead free (friend link):
https://medium.com/the-springboard/learning-to-land-2b0094e9f749?sk=v2%2Fce338ab2-93b0-494c-8a80-83e119537206

In this episode of Authbition, writer Stephanie Wilson reads her essay “How Am I to Accept Death?”—a quiet, luminous reflection on time, presence, and what it means to let life be enough.

Through memories of her father’s final days, moments of waking in the dark, and the awareness that comes when life briefly stops us in our tracks, Stephanie explores how acceptance isn’t found in resignation or fear—but in reverent gratitude for what we’ve been given.

This is a conversation about noticing time while it’s still happening, about loving life deeply enough to release it, and about discovering that abundance isn’t measured by what we achieved or missed—but by what we truly lived.

Read along or explore more of Stephanie’s writing on Medium:
https://medium.com/age-of-empathy/how-am-i-to-accept-death-61fe745b2e40?sk=v2%2F753883f0-08a9-4fbb-bba9-f29213afc046

In this episode of Authbition, I’m joined by Pascal Gambardella, a physicist-turned-psychologist and coach with firsthand experience inside the Human Potential Movement.

We explore how personal growth practices can be both life-changing and dangerous—sometimes at the same time. Pascal shares his story of transformation through a program called Lifespring, alongside the ethical failures and real harm that later came to light.

Together, we play The Whole Mind Game twice, working through two critical tensions:

Frightening and Exhilarating — why growth often feels intense and alive

Responsibility and Victim — where agency ends and care must begin

This conversation is for anyone who teaches, coaches, mentors, leads, or seeks personal development—and wants to think more carefully about the responsibility that comes with influence.

This isn’t an argument against growth. It’s a conversation about clarity, restraint, and perspective, and what it takes to help people change without distorting reality or causing harm.

Friend Link to Pascal's Essay Here:https://medium.com/illumination/the-dark-side-of-the-human-potential-movement-68ea96fc431f?sk=v2%2Fe753a264-9230-481f-bfff-7cb629f7de8f

In this episode of Authbition, I sit down with writer Elle Becker for a deeply human conversation about chronic pain, invisibility, and the quiet courage it takes to keep showing up.

Elle reads an excerpt from her essay How Chronic Pain Tries to Erase Me — a powerful reflection on living with relentless nerve pain, being unseen by the world, and choosing grace anyway. We talk about writing in the early hours of the morning, the strange loneliness of suffering, and the unexpected ways connection shows up — through community, creativity, and even strangers we’ll never meet.

We also play The Whole Mind Game, exploring the tension between Suffering & Sadness and Grace & Hope. Where we land isn’t a lesson or a fix — it’s something more practical: forward flow. Keep moving. Don’t get stuck mid-chapter. And remember, you don’t have to roar to be seen — a mighty whisper can command attention.

This is a conversation about pain that needs no translator, grace that makes room for reality, and the power of staying visible in your most precious story: your life.

Friend Link to Elle's essay here:

https://medium.com/@ellebecker/how-chronic-pain-tries-to-erase-me-821e76cbb443?sk=v2%2Fb1ae462e-4881-478d-a5bc-17244c925f48

In this episode of Authbition, I’m joined by writer Sean Suskind, who reads his essay Return of the Age of Aquarius. Through the lens of iconic songs from the 1960s, Sean reflects on hope, loss, faith, and the enduring human longing for peace, meaning, and renewal. We then play The Whole Mind Game, exploring the tension between patriotism and protest—how influence, choice, and identity shape what we stand for, what we resist, and what we risk losing along the way. It’s a meditation on what a generation tried to tell us through music—and what those songs may still be teaching us today.📖 Read the featured essay:https://medium.com/contemplate/return-of-the-age-of-aquarius-72d9580a2ffd

In this episode, I read “Prayer Hands on the Exit Ramp,” an autofiction piece from Emergent: An Anthology of New Voices. It’s a story about a dangerous moment on the highway—and a quieter realization about who I’ve become in moments of stress.This piece reflects on anger, restraint, and how long-practiced habits like therapy, yoga, and meditation can interrupt old reflexes before they escalate. Not with perfection—but with presence.Emergent is published by the Garden of Neuro Institute and features work under consideration for the Pushcart Prize. Buying the book supports the nonprofit and helps emerging writers thrive.Amazon: https://a.co/d/6F2WKJZ