In 'The Denial of Death', Ernest Becker discusses the psychological and philosophical implications of how people and cultures react to the concept of death. He argues that human civilization is a defense mechanism against the knowledge of our mortality, and that this denial is a necessary component of functioning in the world. Becker's work challenges traditional Freudian thought by positing that the primary repression is not sexuality, but rather the awareness of death. He also explores how this fear of death leads to the creation of 'hero systems' and symbols that help individuals transcend their mortality, and how this can result in violence and conflict when different immortality projects clash[2][5][4].
Jodi Wellman is an executive coach, speaker, and author, with a Master’s in Applied Positive Psychology from the University of Pennsylvania.
Her TEDx talk, “How Death Can Bring You Back to Life”, has garnered over 1.3 million views, and her new book, “You Only Die Once”, offers a roadmap for living without regrets.
Here’s what we dive into:
— The benefits of contemplating death and why doing so can inspire meaningful life changes.
— Jodi’s personal practices for keeping death top of mind and how it has transformed her life.
— Questions Jodi uses to help her is coaching clients find clarity and purpose.
— How Nietzsche’s idea of eternal recurrence can challenge us to live in a way we’d want to repeat forever.
And more.
You can learn more about Jodi’s work at https://fourthousandmondays.com.
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Jodi Wellman is a speaker, author, and facilitator on living lives worth living. She founded Four Thousand Mondays to help people make the most of the time they are lucky to be above ground.
Jodi has a Master’s of Applied Positive Psychology from the University of Pennsylvania, where she is also an Assistant Instructor in the Master’s program and a facilitator in the Penn Resilience Program. She is an ICF Professional Certified Coach and a Certified Professional Co-Active Coach.
Jodi’s TEDx talk is called How Death Can Bring You Back to Life; with over 1.3 million views, it is the 14th most-watched TEDx talk released in 2022, out of 15,900!
Her book, "You Only Die Once: How to Make It to the End with No Regrets" was published in May 2024 by Voracious (Little, Brown & Company) in the US and Canada, and by John Murray One in the UK.
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Interview Links:
— Jodi’s website - https://fourthousandmondays.com
The Weekend University 
