Dr. Mary-Frances O'Connor

I knew the first and most important thing was not to avoid flying. The exposure of doing it again and again, as brutally painful as it was, was important. I never wanted to give up flying, give up that way of living. But at some point, as time went on, I realized I was terrified of dying. And I also realized that was going to happen.

And I also developed a practice, partly through Buddhist training, as you yourself talked about. But I developed a practice of, whenever there was turbulence, saying to myself, yes, you are not wrong. This could be the day. Are you okay with that? And if you're not okay with that, what do you need to do to get your life right so you are okay with it?

And I also developed a practice, partly through Buddhist training, as you yourself talked about. But I developed a practice of, whenever there was turbulence, saying to myself, yes, you are not wrong. This could be the day. Are you okay with that? And if you're not okay with that, what do you need to do to get your life right so you are okay with it?

And I also developed a practice, partly through Buddhist training, as you yourself talked about. But I developed a practice of, whenever there was turbulence, saying to myself, yes, you are not wrong. This could be the day. Are you okay with that? And if you're not okay with that, what do you need to do to get your life right so you are okay with it?

And to live your life with the knowledge that we will die and to prepare to say, I love you, I forgive you, please forgive me, and I'm grateful as often as we need to. But also to know that we might not die. And so, of course, we also have to plan for that, too. But my point here is that terror you're talking about is real. It is physiological.

And to live your life with the knowledge that we will die and to prepare to say, I love you, I forgive you, please forgive me, and I'm grateful as often as we need to. But also to know that we might not die. And so, of course, we also have to plan for that, too. But my point here is that terror you're talking about is real. It is physiological.

And to live your life with the knowledge that we will die and to prepare to say, I love you, I forgive you, please forgive me, and I'm grateful as often as we need to. But also to know that we might not die. And so, of course, we also have to plan for that, too. But my point here is that terror you're talking about is real. It is physiological.

And for many of us, I think learning how to deal with the terror around death. is in part a way of learning how to live and understand and cope with and use a toolkit to think about the pain of grief, those waves of grief that come. All of these things teach us more about how our body reacts, our unique body. Only this one, right?

And for many of us, I think learning how to deal with the terror around death. is in part a way of learning how to live and understand and cope with and use a toolkit to think about the pain of grief, those waves of grief that come. All of these things teach us more about how our body reacts, our unique body. Only this one, right?

And for many of us, I think learning how to deal with the terror around death. is in part a way of learning how to live and understand and cope with and use a toolkit to think about the pain of grief, those waves of grief that come. All of these things teach us more about how our body reacts, our unique body. Only this one, right?

This is the one time that this instance will happen that is Mary Frances. How does it respond to loss? How does it react? What soothes Mary Frances? What actually makes Mary Frances feel more connected? Learning all of those things They teach us how to be more authentic in the world because we're the only one that gets to do this instance, you know?

This is the one time that this instance will happen that is Mary Frances. How does it respond to loss? How does it react? What soothes Mary Frances? What actually makes Mary Frances feel more connected? Learning all of those things They teach us how to be more authentic in the world because we're the only one that gets to do this instance, you know?

This is the one time that this instance will happen that is Mary Frances. How does it respond to loss? How does it react? What soothes Mary Frances? What actually makes Mary Frances feel more connected? Learning all of those things They teach us how to be more authentic in the world because we're the only one that gets to do this instance, you know?

I will say that in the book that I wrote recently, The Grieving Body, some of these lessons have come to me because I have multiple sclerosis. And so learning to live in a body that I don't know when I wake up some mornings Will I be too fatigued to lecture standing up? Guess I'm going to have to, you know, change how I do today. Has meant I have a lot of empathy for people who are grieving.

I will say that in the book that I wrote recently, The Grieving Body, some of these lessons have come to me because I have multiple sclerosis. And so learning to live in a body that I don't know when I wake up some mornings Will I be too fatigued to lecture standing up? Guess I'm going to have to, you know, change how I do today. Has meant I have a lot of empathy for people who are grieving.

I will say that in the book that I wrote recently, The Grieving Body, some of these lessons have come to me because I have multiple sclerosis. And so learning to live in a body that I don't know when I wake up some mornings Will I be too fatigued to lecture standing up? Guess I'm going to have to, you know, change how I do today. Has meant I have a lot of empathy for people who are grieving.

They don't get to pick that today is the day that they're going to be a basket case or today is the day they're going to be so foggy they can't remember where the heck they parked. even though they're a perfectly normal, functional human being. Or today is the day that really cereal is all they can muster for dinner, you know?

They don't get to pick that today is the day that they're going to be a basket case or today is the day they're going to be so foggy they can't remember where the heck they parked. even though they're a perfectly normal, functional human being. Or today is the day that really cereal is all they can muster for dinner, you know?

They don't get to pick that today is the day that they're going to be a basket case or today is the day they're going to be so foggy they can't remember where the heck they parked. even though they're a perfectly normal, functional human being. Or today is the day that really cereal is all they can muster for dinner, you know?

I have a lot of empathy for that because that is just the natural reaction. You don't get to pick. You do get to pick a little bit over time how you cope with it, how you adapt to it. But it gives me a lot of empathy for people who are listening right now who are in infinite grief, even though it won't be infinite like it is today.