“When we are paying attention, we see how much love holds us invisibly.” This is the line that stayed with me most from Anne Lamott’s new, and 20th book, Somehow: Thoughts on Love. I read it during a stressful weekend and it illuminated the beauty of my family and friends’ care. As Anne says, “humanity is another synonym for God.” Anne’s gift is her rare ability to combine spiritual wisdom and laugh out loud humor into an operating manual for life, even, and especially, amidst its...

Quentin Tarantino once said “I want to risk hitting my head on the ceiling of my talent.  I want to really test it out and say, ‘Okay, you’re not that good.  You just reached the level here.’  I don’t ever want to fail, but I want to risk failure every time out of the gate.”  This bold and farsighted perspective is a key ingredient that Eric Potterat and Alan Eagle highlight in their work with and observation of a wide-ranging group of elite performers across business, extreme sports, and the...

‘When we can combine our urge to be happy with wisdom instead of ignorance it becomes a homing instinct for freedom.’ This is one of the insights I was most eager to explore with renowned Buddhist teacher Sharon Salzberg from her new book, Finding Your Way: Meditations, Thoughts, and Wisdom for Living an Authentic Life. I was curious why, despite devoting so much time to learning about happiness, I continue looking for it in the wrong places. Sharon introduced us to the yearning held...

Remembrance is the first step we take with renowned coach and Reboot CEO and Co-founder Jerry Colonna in his new book, Reunion: Leadership and the Longing to Belong. At its heart, it’s an invitation towards deeper connection to our ancestors, ourselves, and each other. Each reader's path unfolds uniquely—through recognition, reconnection, and reclaiming—bringing them to a sense of belonging within themselves. Then, to one of the book’s central questions: How does my sense of belonging...

When Parker Palmer was approaching his seventies, he turned to a group of trusted friends to help him understand “what it meant to grow older in this particular dimension of life.” The process birthed one of my favorite questions he asks… What do I want to let go of? And, what do I want to give myself to? Despite articulating it in his seventies, Parker has devoted his life to it as an acclaimed author, teacher, and the Founder of the Center for Courage and Renewal. It’s why, after...

The soul’s liberation of realizing “I am” was amongst my first learnings from Zainab Salbi. A world renowned humanitarian, Zainab founded Women for Women International when she was 23 and dedicated decades to offering both human connection and $146 million of aid to over 400,000 women survivors of war and conflict. Her inner journey is equally inspiring and I was most excited to hear her answer to that ultimate question: Who am I? This experience of ‘descending all of her knowledge to her...

“Be sincere; be brief; be seated”  These six words by Franklin D. Roosevelt, which I stumbled upon during my early days as a 22-year-old sales manager, have profoundly shaped my communication philosophy. I’ve always believed that one’s ability to effectively communicate isn’t just a skill to be honed, it’s often the key that unlocks hidden potential; particularly in business and leadership.  Whether you’re an entrepreneur working to advance an idea, a leader inspiring your team, or someone...

“It is a high-stakes engagement to not miss the beauty of life.” This is the invitation and guidance Jon Kabat-Zinn gifts us in today’s episode. A mindfulness pioneer, Jon has played a foundational role in bringing meditation to the forefront of our culture; Admirably dedicating six decades to teaching, creating Mindfulness-Based Stress Reduction, and authoring over 15 books. I’m always inspired when Jon asks — What if life was the meditation? — and was honored to learn the various entry...

“If the soul is not in the body, where is the soul?” I’ve always been intrigued by this question from Walt Whitman. So, it caught my attention when I heard Lauren Roxburgh say that our “fascia is transmitting our soul in our bodies.” Lauren is a pioneer in body alignment, holistic health, and fascia (the connective tissue that wraps under our skin and around our organs like a spider web). Everything clicked when she explained that when there is tension in our fascia—which can manifest as...

“What choices will lead me to greater integration and wholeness?” renowned author, meditation pioneer, and teacher Sharon Salzberg asks in her latest book, Real Life: The Journey from Isolation to Openness and Freedom. "We’re told so many stories about who we are and what we are capable of that are given to us. They’re not born of our own clear seeing,” she says. “Being able to step back from our conditioning and really question…When can I breathe? When do I feel like I can’t breathe? One of...

What if you could design your own, custom playbook to guide the pursuit of greatness in every aspect of your life?     Not long ago, the notion of rewiring one’s biology was more sci-fi than reality; still a decade ago, Drs. Leeroy Hood and Nathan Price had the foresight to envision a future where modern science would harness real-time data to make optimal well+being both predictable and accessible to a wider population. Today, their book - The Age of Scientific Wellness: Why the Future...

When I read the first few pages of Tiny Beautiful Things — a compilation of letters from Cheryl Strayed’s advice column, Dear Sugar — I immediately knew it was going to be healing. This wasn’t a surprise. Everyone who reads Cheryl’s writing knows she’s poetic. Still, Tiny Beautiful Things is different. As I read the letters sharing people’s deepest yearnings and sorrows, the book’s lesson quickly became clear: Being human is messy. Our job is to find the beauty in it. Whereas I’ve long...

Kevin Kelly is a renowned author, futurist, and technologist who has spent the past few decades exploring the intersection between technology, culture, and society. He is perhaps best known for his work as the founding executive editor of Wired magazine, which helped to shape the conversation around the internet and digital technology in the 1990s and 2000s. Over the years, Kelly has authored several books, including "Out of Control: The New Biology of Machines, Social Systems, and the...

Few have a pulse on the science and genetics of aging as Dr. Nir Barzilai. As the director of the Institute of Aging Research at the Albert Einstein College of Medicine, he was the first to discover the “longevity gene” in humans; and in so doing began to hypothesize and demonstrate why centenarians with protective genes live longer, healthier lives and experience far fewer age-related disease. In our conversation, we focus on understanding the correlation between genes, lifestyle, and the...

“From wonder to wonder, existence begins.” Lao Tzu’s wisdom is the first invitation we receive in Dacher Keltner’s new book: Awe: The New Science of Everyday Wonder and How it Can Transform Your Life. It foreshadows the journey and revelation he offers in it: Awe is a compass towards meaning. “If you listen to the feeling of awe, you’re pointed towards the truth of your existence.” Dacher has been a pioneer studying awe, meaning, and compassion, as a professor at UC Berkeley and the...

The moment I read the title of Pico Iyer’s new book — The Half Known Life: In Search of Paradise — I was hooked. Yet, the more I read about people’s pursuits, the more I began to question the notion of paradise. “The struggle of your life is your paradise.” — Eido Roshi Pico’s life offers him an intimate understanding of the nature of human longing; Both as a lifelong traveler and a writer who lives in a small town in Japan and often stays at a monastery. So, I was curious… What are our...

The first lesson I learned in The Greater Good Science Center’s Science of Happiness course is that I had the wrong definition of happiness. Happiness isn’t solely our positive states, we learn from Science Director Dr.Emiliana Simon-Thomas. It’s feeling content within our whole human experience, which of course, includes emotions like grief and sadness. What’s the most enduring way to cultivate it? Her research continually leads to the same destination: Connection. ‘We often measure...

When Tembi Locke was in her twenties she left a letter in a drawer at a coffee shop that read: "I want to live a life of love and companionship." Her heart-expanding memoir and Netflix series, From Scratch, encapsulates its manifestation across three love stories: With her late husband Saro, daughter Zoela, and mother-in-law, Nonna. From Scratch begins with Tembi landing in Italy for a semester abroad, where she’d soon run into Saro on the streets of Florence. The more I reflected on the...

“Where you stand, be the soul of that place.” This Rumi quote always reminds me of Manish Chandra. He’s not only the soul of every place he’s in. He illuminates the soul of every person he meets, as a father, friend, and the founder of Poshmark. Manish is an incredible teacher who I’m honored to call my friend. I was thankful to explore the spirit he embodies in today’s episode — One of love and connection, gratitude and perspective. I’ve returned to his words on adaptability over the...

“My faith lies in the belief that when I help people I live a happier life.” Rebecca Minkoff became an emblem of these words early in our friendship. The more I watched her create change, the more I admired her. I’d soon learn that her optimism isn’t just a mindset. It’s an active commitment to be a force for good. Our conversation is a collection of stories that illustrate this; From being one of the first designers to feature a model breastfeeding at Fashion Week to advancing thousands...

When Justine Lucas was 22 she got Love & Rage tattooed on her forearm. It symbolizes the way her late friend, Eric, signed his letters. What began as a way to honor him went on to shape her perspective in an enduring way. “I often glance at it and reflect on the evolution of its meaning,” she says. “I give myself permission to let in and give out all of the love. But, I also recognize that there is a time and place for rage. My love for humanity is what drives me, but also my rage at...

The morning I watched Pati Jinich’s documentary on the US-Mexico border coincided with a jarring decision being made in our country. It’s the reason that I remained hopeful amidst the news. La Frontera is a manifestation of Pati’s mission to share the souls of people and places and the food that brings us together. That morning, it was also a lesson on the hope we inspire when we focus on the best in who we are. As a revered chef, cookbook author, and TV host, Pati illustrates how each of...

How can I make this person feel seen, heard, and valued in the most authentic way possible?  Girls Who Code CEO Dr. Tarika Barrett asks this question before every conversation. Her exuberance sharing it became an anchoring insight in our Inspiring Hope series…  “These are vital acts — Be it with your children, colleagues, family, or friends…We don’t give joy its due; By being agents of joy, we can enact change. We think about every problem around us, as opposed to recognizing that these...

“The word health originates in a word for wholeness,” says renowned physician, author, and speaker Dr. Gabor Maté. “Whether one looks at it from a medical or spiritual point of view: To be healthy is to be whole. As I pondered what I saw with my patients and in my own journey, I realized that the fundamental issue is not: How do we become whole? But, how do we lose the wholeness that is our birthright and our nature? Then, how do we come back to it?” Our conversation about his urgent new...

“If we have no peace, it is because we have forgotten that we belong to each other.” — Mother Teresa  Today, we’re beginning a new mini-series, Inspiring Hope: A collection of five conversations with admired chefs, activists, and leaders about how they design lives of meaning and impact.  Each episode will explore a question that helps us do so. Through answering them, our guests awaken us to the hope that thrives within and between us.  Here’s who we're fortunate to hear from... Dr....