Dr. Martha Beck

I do. And I know that I am shaping an algorithm that is totally unrealistic because my world online is primarily otters. I loves me an otter. But, like, it's all the examples of love and joy that occur between people. And then I look at the headlines, and I'm like, yeah, yeah, yeah. But, you know, when I first went to Africa, I'd heard, it's the dark continent. Everything is bad.

Ebola, war, the Congo, all these terrible things, the heart of darkness. And then I went there and realized that for every horrible thing that legitimately does happen in that place, there are maybe a thousand acts of completely selfless love. I would walk around. Every time I go there, I look at the people who have been colonized, the original people, and I think, I'm white.

Ebola, war, the Congo, all these terrible things, the heart of darkness. And then I went there and realized that for every horrible thing that legitimately does happen in that place, there are maybe a thousand acts of completely selfless love. I would walk around. Every time I go there, I look at the people who have been colonized, the original people, and I think, I'm white.

If I were you, I'd be really mad at me. Like, white? And yet I was there. My wife had a little girl a few years ago. She's a bit younger than I am. And she got sick in the airport in Johannesburg, really sick. And she was barfing everywhere. And we were just pushing the stroller from one tourist store. We'd get a bunch of t-shirts, and she'd throw up on that.

If I were you, I'd be really mad at me. Like, white? And yet I was there. My wife had a little girl a few years ago. She's a bit younger than I am. And she got sick in the airport in Johannesburg, really sick. And she was barfing everywhere. And we were just pushing the stroller from one tourist store. We'd get a bunch of t-shirts, and she'd throw up on that.

And we'd put her in another one and throw the first one away. And people came running to us from the different stores. And they were from, you know, there are 11 different national languages there. There were people from different tribal legacies. And instead of running away from a vomiting child, They ran toward us with everything they could find to help.

And we'd put her in another one and throw the first one away. And people came running to us from the different stores. And they were from, you know, there are 11 different national languages there. There were people from different tribal legacies. And instead of running away from a vomiting child, They ran toward us with everything they could find to help.

Someone lit a fire and sterilized a spoon. Someone ran down the airport to the only pharmacy to get the right medication and ran back with it. People were holding the vomit-stained clothes. I mean, these are people we had never met. And this was the place I'd been afraid of because I had let myself believe the stories that polarized me and said, oh, that's a dark, scary place.

Someone lit a fire and sterilized a spoon. Someone ran down the airport to the only pharmacy to get the right medication and ran back with it. People were holding the vomit-stained clothes. I mean, these are people we had never met. And this was the place I'd been afraid of because I had let myself believe the stories that polarized me and said, oh, that's a dark, scary place.

Every place is dark and scary. And everywhere there are human beings, there is the capacity for Ubuntu. And what there is to love, the part of us that loves is infinitely more powerful than the part of us that doesn't.

Every place is dark and scary. And everywhere there are human beings, there is the capacity for Ubuntu. And what there is to love, the part of us that loves is infinitely more powerful than the part of us that doesn't.

I would say it's, I wish I could, I don't know how to get it, how to say this clearly enough. And I've said it here. But what is the most important thing that anyone listening to this, you specifically right now, wherever you are, and I just mentioned Mary Oliver's The Wild Geese, one of the things she says, no matter who you are, no matter how lonely, whoever you are, no matter how lonely,

I would say it's, I wish I could, I don't know how to get it, how to say this clearly enough. And I've said it here. But what is the most important thing that anyone listening to this, you specifically right now, wherever you are, and I just mentioned Mary Oliver's The Wild Geese, one of the things she says, no matter who you are, no matter how lonely, whoever you are, no matter how lonely,

The world offers itself to your imagination. You are part of the family of things. So whoever hears this, you specifically, in your essence, you are safe. No matter what it looks like, you are fundamentally going to be okay. I promise.

The world offers itself to your imagination. You are part of the family of things. So whoever hears this, you specifically, in your essence, you are safe. No matter what it looks like, you are fundamentally going to be okay. I promise.

In a good story, bad things happen to good people. In a great story, bad things happen to heroes. Because there's always conflict and there's always suffering. And that can be just like, oh, that was awful, right? But the great stories, the ones we keep telling, are the ones where the person who would be a victim becomes a creator who says, I'm not going to stay in fear.

In a good story, bad things happen to good people. In a great story, bad things happen to heroes. Because there's always conflict and there's always suffering. And that can be just like, oh, that was awful, right? But the great stories, the ones we keep telling, are the ones where the person who would be a victim becomes a creator who says, I'm not going to stay in fear.

I'm going to make something from this. And they stand up and they go out on an adventure. And what looks like it could have been a tragedy becomes an adventure. That's what Shakespeare did at the end of his life. I was taught at Harvard that he wrote the four great tragedies where everything ends in horror and annihilation. That was his high point.

I'm going to make something from this. And they stand up and they go out on an adventure. And what looks like it could have been a tragedy becomes an adventure. That's what Shakespeare did at the end of his life. I was taught at Harvard that he wrote the four great tragedies where everything ends in horror and annihilation. That was his high point.

And then he started writing these romances, which are so stupid because they have like magic and forgiveness and happy endings. And I was actually told he did that because he was senile. He was 50, you know? The tragedies are amazing stories. And the romances, those are the great ones as far as I'm concerned. Because that's where the tragedy becomes an adventure that ends well.