Untangle Grace, Gravity and Growing Older. Accepting All of Who We Are. With Parker Palmer
Dec 23, 2025
In this compelling conversation, Parker Palmer, a renowned writer and teacher, delves into aging as a privilege, urging acceptance of both wholeness and brokenness. He emphasizes the importance of embracing life's everyday heartbreaks to foster emotional resilience. Palmer also reframes depression as a friend that can prompt deep self-examination. With insights on solitude, community, and the need for creative expression in darker times, he inspires listeners to fully welcome the complexities of their humanity.
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Aging As An Invitation
- Aging is a privilege that invites inner diving rather than retreating to shallows.
- Wholeness means integrating imperfections and achievements into one fierce acceptance of reality.
Turn Suffering Into Meaning
- When suffering arises, avoid violence toward self or others and seek meaning in the pain.
- Use suffering to enlarge your heart by exploring its source and learning from it.
Two Ways A Heart Breaks
- Hearts can shatter into fragments or break open into largeness after loss.
- Keep your heart supple by embracing everyday small heartbreaks to withstand deeper suffering.