Gwendolyn is a PhD and professor of Philosophy at Cal Poly Pomona, an author (Tips from The Professor A Guide to College Success), and has a super successful podcast, Good is in the Details, which directly ties to her commitment to the art of dialogue and passion for discovering ideas. Gwendolyn's knowledge of philosophy and her ability to use it to try and improve her life made her a really interesting guest. She was able to straddle the line between the academic and the practical, in a way that allowed us to explore a lot of interesting topics.

This was evident from the start when Gwendolyn spoke about how her value system changed after she had a daughter a bit later in life. Previously life was about work, productivity, and accomplishments. After having her daughter, it was not that she no longer cared about those things, it was just that how she viewed and measured them changed. As she put it her definition of a "good day" was different now. We used this as a jumping off point to explore some of the more interesting and complex questions in philosophy. 

Perhaps the central thread of the discussion revolved around Aristotle's concept of "eudaimonia." Most people interpret this concept to mean that life is ultimately about finding happiness. But as Gwendolyn explained, it is actually more nuanced than that. Eudaimonia is "rational activity for the soul, for its own sake." There are certainly aspects of happiness in it, but it is also about satisfaction, growth, well-being, and living in alignment with your purpose. As I said, it is a complex topic, but so is philosophy and life for that matter. Many people are frustrated by that. They want simple answers and believe it is a failure of philosophy to not provide them. I understand that view, but I think as Gwendolyn articulated: philosophy's goal is to try to make sense of life, so it's output has to be as complex and subjective as life itself.