As Mental Health Awareness Month wraps up, this interview with Dan Harris deserves a second spotlight.
May has been a time to remind ourselves that emotional resilience is not about hiding our struggles, but facing them with courage, compassion, and community.
That idea runs deep in Roosevelt family history. When Theodore Roosevelt lost both his wife and his mother on the same day—in the same house—he was devastated. He wrote a large “X” in his diary that day and rarely spoke their names again. But he didn’t retreat forever. Instead, he went west. He found solace in the Badlands of North Dakota, embracing the rhythms of nature and the demands of ranch life, and finding a quiet space to grieve. It was there, amid the buttes and blizzards, that TR rebuilt himself—mind, body, and spirit.
Nature didn’t just heal him, it transformed him. And it gave rise to his life’s work in public service, conservation, and a belief that the strenuous life was not about going it alone—but about showing up for something bigger than yourself.
In that spirit, we revisit this powerful conversation with Dan Harris—author and host of the 10% Happier podcast. Dan challenges the myth of rugged individualism and argues that true strength lies in mindfulness, self-awareness, and altruism. It’s a timely reflection for Mental Health Awareness Month, and a reminder that even the most driven among us need to slow down, breathe, and reconnect—with ourselves and with each other.
Find Dan at: www.danharris.com
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Good Citizen is hosted by Ted Roosevelt V and produced by The Future of StoryTelling in collaboration with Charts & Leisure, on behalf of the Theodore Roosevelt Presidential Library Foundation. Learn more about T.R.’s upcoming presidential library at www.trlibrary.com.
Theodore Roosevelt Presidential Library Foundation
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Future of StoryTelling
Founder and CEO, Charles Melcher
Director, Carolyn Merriman
Producer, Alison Byrne
Assistant Producer, Madison Brown
Charts & Leisure
Executive Producer, Jason Oberholtzer
Producer, Meghal Janardan
Editor, Garrett Crowe
Mix, Andrew Atkin
Music and Final Assembly, Michael Simonelli
With special thanks to Edward F. O’Keefe, Robbie Lauf, Courtland Miller, and Matt Briney.