This Plus That

Purpose + Illness with Charles Eisenstein & Lauren Buckley

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Charles Eisenstein (he/him) is a writer and a speaker. His four main books are The Ascent of Humanity (2007), Sacred Economics (2011, revised 2020), The More Beautiful World our Hearts Know is Possible (2013) and Climate — A New Story (2018). All of them can be read online or purchased wherever books are sold. He lives in the part of the world that most people currently call Rhode Island, USA, in a smallish house about 20 minutes from the ocean and five minutes from the Great Swamp. He shares the house with his wife, Stella, son Cary, dog Inka, and some mice. He has three older sons, Jimi, Matthew, and Philip.

Lauren Buckley (she/her) is a seeker. Consumed with questions like “Who am I?”, “Why am I here?”, “Where did I come from?”, and “Where am I going?”, she has followed life wherever it seemed like she might find some insight. For a while, science seemed like the best path to truth, so she enrolled in a biochemistry Ph.D. program at UC-Berkeley. But, during a Luce Scholars Fellowship in Thailand, a total physical and mental health collapse blew up her plans. After exhausting her options in mainstream medicine—to no avail—a desperate search for healing eventually led her to see the limitations and dogma of mainstream science, discover holistic medicine, work with #1 New York Times Bestseller Chris Kresser, and launch a wellness company. You can now find Lauren seeking out loud on Uncertain, where she goes deep with some of her favorite people on philosophy, psychology, spirituality, wellness, and whatever else is capturing her endless curiosity. Find her full bio in this episode's show notes.

In this episode, Charles, Lauren, and Brandi talk about the intersections of Purpose + Illness, including:

  • A new development in Brandi’s health journey—dental cavitation surgery and selling her house to afford it.
  • Listening to the fears of those around you as a normal and healthy instinct to determine whether we’re on the “right” track.
  • How often you can feel gaslit when experiencing chronic illness.
  • How physical conditions sometimes mirror our internal, spiritual conditions.
  • When illness can be a gift that shows us when we’re out of alignment.
  • “Control” as a type of “illness.”
  • Planning as a type of living in separation from ourselves.
  • Letting what we truly want to do guide our decisions.
  • What we do or don’t “deserve” when it comes to health or living in a healthy society.
  • And, curiosity as a path of aliveness.

    • Listeners can find Charles online at his website, Substack, and his own podcast. And, they can find Lauren at @beuncertain on Instagram and in the Uncertain Mighty Network community.

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    Music: The in-house musicians at Slip.stream
    Audio Engineering: The team at Upfire Digital

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    This Plus ThatBy Brandi Stanley
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