We all want answers, but often they aren't forthcoming. Learning to live within and with the questions is a art to learn.If you like these mini episodes Patrons get a bonus episode every month. Details hereSee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

 Please Support The Show with a DonationCatherine Gray is an award-winning writer and editor. Her most recent book is called, The Unexpected Joy of Being Sober. What a brilliant title and what a brilliant book. In it - and in this interview - Catherine offers so many good ideas, phrases, and pearls of wisdom to take away and keep close by. She shares a bit about her journey to and through sobriety with Eric and the critical "ah ha" moments along the way that really helped her build the life she's living today. If you don't have a revelatory moment when listening to her in this interview, we'll be surprised.Our sponsor this week is Casper Mattress visit  www.casper.com/oneyoufeed and use the promo code theoneyoufeed for $50 off your purchaseIn This Interview, Catherine Gray and I Discuss...The Wolf ParableHer book, The Unexpected Joy of Being SoberThe challenge of training our brains to look for the good stuff in lifeThe question: Would my life be better sober? instead of Am I an alcoholic?Rock bottom being a different place for different people at different timesThe challenge of moderationThe beautiful clarity of zeroThe limbic system in distress with indecisionControlling vs Enjoying drinkingAlchohol being like a cheat code in a video game when it comes to inhibitionThat no one regrets being soberThe awful feelings at the beginning of getting sober are what you feel like because of the drinking, not the getting soberLearning the skills to enjoy life soberAddictive voice recognitionNegative Thought Patterns:B&B Children in a carBird watchingThat there are many different ways to get soberHow expectations are resentments under constructionDay counting in being soberI don't vs I can't Please Support The Show with a DonationSee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Please Support The Show with a DonationPaul Dolan is a Professor of Behavioral Science at the London School of Economics and Political Science. He's an expert on human behavior and happiness. Paul is also the author of the best selling book, Happiness By Design: Change What You Do Not What You Think. We all want happiness in our lives yet happiness is something that so often eludes most people. It seems like a feeling that happens to us rather than a feeling that we can cultivate with intention. In this interview, Paul teaches some really practical, research-based, action-oriented approaches to life that we can take today to increase our feelings of happiness. The first step? Listen to this informative and interesting interview. Omax3 Ultrapure go to www.tryomax.com/wolf and try a box for freeIn This Interview, Paul Dolan and I Discuss...The Wolf ParableHis book, Happiness By Design: Change What You Do Not What You ThinkThe power of designing your environmentFind a balance of purpose and pleasure and you have a happy lifeHow a large part of how you feel is connected to what you doThe role of attention in happinessWhat we think would make us happy vs what does make us happyThat we're not very good at predicting what will make us happyThe AREA modelHow we must make sense of what's happened in order to adapt to itKey to happiness is also to pay more attention to what makes you happy and less attention to what doesn't make you happyWhy somethings that are so obvious are so often overlookedIf you can't change what you do, change what you pay attention to in the experienceIf you want to do something, make it easy for yourself to do itLess about willpower and more about design powerHabit loopsQueuing your environment, commitment and normDeciding, Designing and DoingIf you want to do something, make it easy. If you don't want to do something make it hardPlease Support The Show with a Donation See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Please Support The Show with a DonationEllen Bass is a Chancellor of the Academy of American Poets. Her work has won award after award and rightly so - there's something so powerful, beautiful, true and often times darkly funny in her work. She says that writing poetry - as well as reading it - is an inquiry more than a description. Isn't that an interesting perspective to consider?  In this episode, you'll hear her read some of her work, share her insights and experiences in life, talk about the process of writing poetry and offer some ideas that perhaps you had not considered before - especially in the way she does. Regardless of whether or not you think of yourself as a lover of poetry, you'll be touched by this episode.She is the author of Like a Beggar, The Human Line, Mules of Love, and The Courage to HealSponsorswww.audible.com/oneyoufeed or text oneyoufeed 500-500 to get a free book  www.casper.com/oneyoufeed and get $50 toward select mattresses promo code: oneyoufeed  In This Interview, Ellen Bass and I Discuss...The Wolf ParableHer book, Like a BeggarThat poetry is an inquiry more than a descriptionDiscovering something about oneself when writing and reading poetryHer poem, RelaxTasting lifeThinking about how you are "right now"The role of finding similarities in disparate things when using metaphorThe oneness of the worldWorking hard in the chair to be a poetHow no one would expect a person to pick up a saxophone and immediately be able to play and the same is true for writing poetryHer poem, Asking Directions in ParisUsing God in her poetryHer poem, If You KnewHow because of mortality, one day, we as individuals are going to lose everythingThat poetry helps us to see deeply into the beauty of things that are right in front of usIntroducing poetry to others as you would a novelThe important role of humorPoets she mentioned:Marie HoweJericho BrownNatalie Diaz Please Support The Show with a Donation See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Please Support The Show with a DonationWill Schwalbe is an author, entrepreneur, and journalist. He is also perhaps the most delightful, interesting and thoughtful person you've come across in a while. His love of books is infectious and as you know, Eric is a bibliophile himself so when the two talk about books and reading as they do in this episode, the result is one blissful experience. Do you love reading? Did you used to love reading but it's moved out of the spotlight of your life? Have you wanted to cultivate a love of reading? Are you looking for some really wonderful books to read? Are you alive and breathing? If your answer to any of these questions is yes, then this interview is for you.He is the author of  Thoughts on Reading, Reflecting and Embracing Life, The End of Your Life Book Club and SEND: Why People Email So Badly and How to Do It Better Omax3 Ultrapure go to www.tryomax.com/wolf and try a box for freeIn This Interview, Will Schwalbe and I Discuss...The Wolf ParableHis book, Books for Living, Some Thoughts on Reading, Reflecting and Embracing LifeThe importance of readingThat reading isn't binaryThat every time we read, we become better at readingHow reading can promote empathyHow we connect through booksThe practice of "visiting your books"How he chooses which book to read nextThe way books can be a bio of your lifeThe primary emotion he has at the beginning of reading a bookLive to work vs work to liveThe freedom to quitThe freedom of mediocrityGood being the enemy of greatYou write the books you needThat our devices allow us to rob ourselves of silenceHow reading is an artThe "can't you tell I'm reading" faceHis favorite books that he's read recently that were written recentlyWill Schwalbe LinksHomepageTwitterFacebook Please Support The Show with a Donation See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Please Support The Show with a DonationDavid Loy is a professor, prolific writer, and teacher in the Japanese Zen Buddhism tradition. Much of his work has to do with what has happened as Buddhism has encountered modern western culture and vice versa. In this episode, we dive into this topic via a discussion of his book, A New Buddhist Path: Enlightenment, Evolution, and Ethics in the Modern World. David presents us with a different lens through which to look at this intersection of cultures which will also thereby change the way you look at yourself. Casper Mattress (www.casper.com/oneyoufeed) promo code oneyoufeed and get $50 off select mattresses In This Interview, David Loy and I Discuss...The Wolf ParableHis book, A New Buddhist Path: Enlightenment, Evolution, and Ethics in the Modern WorldBuddhism in the West todayThe mindfulness movementThe play between Buddhism and PsychotherapyThe role of the selfThe danger of spiritual by-passThe delicate line of feeling our difficult emotions and foregoing our emotionsTranscend the world? Adapt to the world? or See the world differently?That the sense of self that we think we have is not as solid or real as we thinkHow meditation helps us let go of delusional perceptions of the worldOur true natureThe true nature of the worldBuddhism and emptinessThe sense of self is obscuring the nature or our minds which in themselves have no form or characteristics in and of themselvesLiberating our awareness from being stuck on things we're thinking aboutA collection of psychological processes that are happening within usThe process of trying to find the selfRealizing the truth of "that which is looking is that which we are looking for"Non-dualismThe illusion perpetuated by a sense of lackPursuing "things" to deal with the sense of lack because we don't really know what else to do to deal with itConsumerismGreedIll willOur militarized societyThe institutionalized systems that are running of their own accordThe duality of good vs evil and vilifying the "other" in the Judeo Christian WestThe importance of personal transformation in our cultural transformationWhat Buddhism is loosing as it moves into the modern worldWhat Buddhism is gaining as it moves into the modern worldThe meditative and contemplative practices of Buddhism that can help us transform ourselvesSocial transformation and Individual transformation Please Support The Show with a DonationSee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

When you are feeling down is it better to push yourself to do the things you know are good for you or should you allow yourself to take it easy and do less? Depends....If you like these mini episodes donate to our Patreon campaign and get an extra mini episode per month.See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Please Support The Show with a Donation Leah Weiss wears many hats: she's a researcher, professor, consultant, and author. Much of her work to date has surrounded cultivating compassion in the workplace. Her upcoming book, to be released in March 2018, ventures into the realm of bringing mindfulness into the workplace. It turns out, it's not only possible to do so, but it completely transforms the way people experience their work for the better. Hate your job? This interview is PERFECT for you. But you don't have to hate your job to get a lot out of it. Leah Weiss can help you elevate your experience at work no matter your starting point of happiness. In This Interview, Leah Weiss and I Discuss...The Wolf ParableHer book How We Work: Live Your Purpose, Reclaim Your Sanity and Embrace the Daily GrindThe importance of and impact of our experience at workMindfulness: the intentional use of attentionThe illusion of multitaskingLooking differently at what we're already doing vs doing something differentlyTaking all of your life onto the pathHow mindfulness helps you transform the experienceThe importance of directing our attention to something we've been avoiding because it's painfulHow the strategy of avoidance or resistance leads us to be more unhappyThe three types of mindfulness training that we can bring to workBeing in your bodyMetacognitionFocusThe Pomodoro TechniqueOur crazy streams of consciousnessEudaimonic happiness vs Hedonic happinessA helpful strategy for dealing with people who annoy you - in life and at work Please Support The Show with a Donation See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Andy Couturier lived in rural Japan many years ago and it changed his life. As he lived alongside people who were living profoundly satisfying lives, he learned what they were doing (or not doing!) to achieve this level of satisfaction and then he wrote about it in his book, The Abundance of Less: Lessons in Simple Living from Rural Japan. In this interview, Andy shares this wisdom and his experiences in such a way that you can apply the concepts in a practical manner in your life starting today.This episode is sponsored by Health IQ. Get lower rates on life insurance if you are health conscious. Get free quote hereand by Hello Fresh- Get $30 off your first order by going to hellofresh.com and using the promo code FEED30 at checkout In This Interview, Andy Couturier and I Discuss...The Wolf ParableHis book, The Abundance of Less: Lessons in Simple Living From Rural JapanHis time living in rural JapanThat the people in rural Japan do not use money to entertain themselvesTheir way of life is slow, humble, connected to their community and time for individual contemplationHow they don't suffer from "time poverty"That all life is connected in rural JapanBecause there is less to do, the garner more enjoyment from each taskThe consumerism and busy characteristics of the industrialized westHow "convenience speeds you up"Ways to make meaningful strides towards living a lifestyle inspired by the lifestyle in rural JapanSimplify simplify simplifyTravel less, know your home city betterMake meaningful connections with friends by spending more time togetherDiving deeper into things in your life in a methodical, thoughtful wayI love doing _____. Wouldn't it be wonderful to spend more time doing it?Ways to make time for what we care aboutHow they live profoundly satisfying lives in rural JapanThat you don't have to "go back in time" to live this kind of lifeBuilding his house entirely with hand tools   See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Please Support The Show with a DonationDillan Digiovanni used to be a really angry activist. He believed his anger was an important driver to fuel his work to inspire change in the world. Then he had a revelation: His anger wasn't working. It was driving other people away and it was toxic to himself. Where his path led him from there has turned out to be quite an adventure. He's now an activist without the energy of anger and he now identifies as a man. This interview will inspire you to live your truth. It will inspire you to examine your own life and be better because of it. This important conversation is not only relevant to the issues of today, but it proves to be perennially relevant to how we decide to live our lives in the skin we're in.This episode is sponsored by Health IQ. Get lower rates on life insurance if you are health conscious. Get free quote hereand by Casper In This Interview, Dillan DiGiovanni and I Discuss...The Wolf ParableHow, as an activist, his anger was driving people awayThat there's no right way to do anythingIf you're angry all of the time you're constantly looking for the threatHis gender identity transitionThat anger can be a healthy thingSearching for the feeling that's underneath the angerThe harm in being angry at people for being ignorant about an issueThe way anger impacts your perspective on life and other peopleThe harm in saying "they did this because..." when what you're working with is an assumptionHis relationship to anger now that he's awake to itThe power of "allowing" vs "resisting"His story of transitioning his gender identityResilienceHow to live in the world when no one person understands all of youThe anger that arises when your expectations about how other people should behave aren't metThe power of meeting people where they really areHow to work with your vision about how the world should beThe power of the serenity prayerWhat happened when he let go of his anger as an activistHis Buddhist traditionHaving a meditation practicePlease Support The Show with a DonationSee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.