The Change Paradox

Dearest friends of the Change Paradox, old and new,

As you’ll hear in today’s Afterthoughts episode, this will be our last episode of the show, at least in its current format. I’m sad to share this news but also very proud of what we have done over the past year and at peace that it’s the right thing for now.

I have really loved this experience, most of all the wonderful guests I’ve had the pleasure of talking with and the enthusiastic feedback from so many of you. I suppose this long-deliberated decision came down to a few converging factors. For starters, it turns out podcasts are an incredible amount of work! And all that prep time puts an incredible number of other important things on the back burner, sometimes for too long. It’s time to get back to those, including more rest than I have gotten in some time. Whew.

Secondly, we succeeded in covering exactly what I’d hoped to: As expected, change indeed has remarkable paradoxical elements in many different fields, and the exploration of that is meaningful and helpful to many. I hope you’ll watch for those elements as they turn up in your lives for years to come. I certainly will.  While we could interview hundreds more to make the point, I think we have made it well already.

Most important, and most subtle, of all, I have this indescribable sense of feeling both “complete” here for now, and as though there is something really important waiting to fill the space. Perhaps a new adventure will bring me to new things I’d like to share with you. If so, we’ll most certainly be back! And we’ll be in touch, too, most likely by posting something new in this space. Please keep your subscription active in case we do. Unless and until that time comes, The Change Paradox will remain available but not be added to.

So, to all of you who have supported us and the show, our heartfelt and sincerest gratitude. You, most of all, have made these hundreds of hours worth it.

All episodes, including the Afterthoughts episodes, will be available publicly so that you can return to them as often and long as you wish. Please reach out if you have questions or concerns, or if you’d like to share some observations of your own about these two seasons. You’ll find me at [email protected]. I’d love to hear from you.

Before we go, let’s all raise a glass to Pete and Andy, the show’s very skilled producers and closest friends. I can’t thank you both enough for so generously lending your experience to this novice’s dream of exploring something so esoteric. You couldn’t be more wonderful to work with, and I enthusiastically point our fans here to your many other informative and entertaining shows at TruStory FM. Mahalo.

More love, not less, everybody.  🙏🏼

Dodge

Dodge presents a set of readings from Dr. Greyson's book, "After".

Hey all...

This week we try to unpack near-death experiences in the wake of Dodge’s conversation with Dr. Bruce Greyson. It leads to jealousy and a review of ‘Defending Your Life’ staring Albert Brooks, in addition to some key lessons on adapting to change in our own lives without having to pass through near-death ourselves.

Thanks for doing the work, as always,

Pete

Hey everybody... it's Pete.

I have a distant aunt who used to tell me of all the times she almost died. A sample: she was once bit by a black widow spider. The spider was indeed black but examining it on the heel of her shoe there was no way to determine if it had been married. She swore it nearly did her in. Nearly attacked by a bear while camping. Though the bear was never actually seen, there was some evidence that her cooler had been pilfered. Almost fell into an icy river while rafting and could have drowned, she'd tell us. I think there was an asteroid in the mix at one point.

She called these her near-death experiences, and given the frequency of them over her life you'd think some element of the cosmos might have been trying to collect a debt. But no, in fact she passed peacefully in her sleep, surviving the onslaught of perils through which she lived.

In fact, none of these were near-death experiences, no matter how close she might have come to dying. I know this now because our guest today is one of the world's leading experts on the science and significance of the Near-Death Experience. Bruce Greyson, M.D., is Professor Emeritus of Psychiatry and Neurobehavioral Sciences at the University of Virginia and joins us to share his work studying these things and the people who have experienced them over nearly five decades.

What sets Dr. Greyson's work apart from the rigorous empirical research of my long lost aunt is that his subjects actually died. In some way, shape, or form, they stopped functioning physiologically, had an experience, and came back later. The stories you'll hear in today's show serve as a tour through the incredible similarities in those experiences and the work of Dr. Greyson and his team to understand them.

If you'd like to learn more, we encourage you to pick up his book, After: A Doctor Explores What Near-Death Experiences Reveal About Life and Beyond.

Links & Notes

• Bruce Greyson, M.D.

A journey through the Tao Te Ching with William Martin.

Hey everybody...

This week, Dodge and I are unpacking his conversation with William Martin. We try to have a simple conversation on a simple concept and fail terribly. But that's the path of the Tao, right?

Thanks to William's guidance, we know not to beat ourselves up about such things, but move through it. We appreciate you moving through the conversation with us.

Thanks for showing up.

— Pete

Hey everybody... it's Pete.

At one point in our conversation today, Dodge will say that he's going to try to explain to you all what the Tao is. Our guest, who has been studying and thinking about the Tao for more than three decades says in response, "Good luck with that."

That pretty much says it all for me, too. I've read a bit, thought some, studied my fair share. But the Tao is one of those pesky constructs, an intellectual raccoon trap, and just when I think I have a handle on what it means for me, I get my metaphorical fist stuck in the bottle and can't break free.

That's why we're glad to have William Martin on the show with us today. He's written many Tao-inspired books, including The Parent’s Tao Te Ching, and his latest, The Activist's Tao Te Ching. A graduate of the University of California, Berkeley, and Western Theological Seminary, he has worked as a research scientist for the Department of the Navy, a clergyman, and a college instructor in counseling, communications, and the humanities—and for many years, conducted workshops and seminars on the application of Taoist and Zen thought to the issues of everyday life.

All that is to say, we're in good hands with Bill today. He's not a high mystic — an oracle on the hill — he's a guy who has worked hard to understand this thing in a way that can make it approachable to the rest of us. We deeply enjoyed talking with him and hope you do, too.

Links & Notes

• Freedom, Simplicity, and Joy — William Martin's Home on the Web

Jerry Campbell offers a meditation designed to help you find a new connection to your body.

Hey everybody...

This week, Dodge and I are unpacking his conversation with Jerry Campbell. There will be wordplay, for sure, but also a review of the story of the lonely amygdala and its journey to find purpose through extreme sports.

There's a reason Jerry has developed a reputation for being a therapist's therapist. We appreciate you joining us for a conversation on what that means this week.

Thanks for doing the work...

— Pete

Hey everybody... it's Pete.

Jerry Campbell is a Licensed Clinical Social Worker. He's been doing the work since 1975. In those early years, he worked in an agency, supervising therapists serving as head of therapy, a road that eventually lead to private practice in 1988.

Judging by his reviews online, it's no question how Jerry has developed a reputation as a therapist's therapist.

He joins Dodge today to talk about his approach. As he says it, it's "an integration of mind, body, and spirit modalities within a family systems framework. I like to say I work with people navigating their own hero's journey, get more of what they want, and have a transformational experience." Around these parts, anyone who trucks out Joseph Campbell is aces from the jump.

They take on learning and fear this week, with a provocative dance with our friend the amygdala. Key in on the three F's — Find, Focus, and Follow. It might just turn out that this trio is a powerful set of F-words you can really set your mind by.

Thanks for doing the work,

Pete