The paradox of vulnerability

My conversation with Frank Ostaseski at last year’s End Well conference, which I wrote about in this space previously to such generous response from you all, is now live. Watch it here. I promise those 17 minutes and 17 seconds will leave you in what the Celtics call a “thin time” — where mundane life and the sacred meet.

A bit of context on the interview…

I interviewed Frank in January at the Commonwealth Club about his book, The Five Invitations, among much else. It was a wonderful, wandering conversation for a full hour. Then he had a stroke. And another. And his perspective and capacity were transformed. So when he said that he would like to be in conversation with me at End Well, his first time taking the public stage since his transformation, I was deeply honored. I knew it was a major signal of trust and I wanted to be worthy of it.

We exchanged a few emails about the kinds of questions I might ask and the kind of territory he would like to explore. He arrived with his beloved wife, a pillow to make his seat more bearable, and a few pages of notes—a sign, I figured, that he wanted something concrete to look at if his brain failed him in the moment. I was determined to be gentle, but not to waste our precious time on stage. As I saw it, this is a man who has seen the other side, and is still, in a sense, there and here; what can we learn from his simultaneity? And how can we help him know that we are with him? It was slow and deep and short. Maybe like the best of life, itself.

If you want to witness wisdom like Frank’s live, consider registering for next year’s End Well. It always sells out. We’ll be in LA for the first time in December 2020, and I’m honored to be hosting the full day of talks and conversations again for the 4th time. See you there?

P.S. Yes! I am quoted in this big David Brooks’ cover story on how kinship is changing in America. I have ALL THE FEELINGS (AND THOUGHTS) about David Brooks. Buy me a beer sometime and we can talk about all of them. Or maybe one day I will take the time to write it out. But only if we can still have that beer sometime, anyway. Because kin. Full circle.