What is a Good Life?

On the 91st episode of the What is a Good Life? podcast, I am delighted to welcome our guest, Andrea Hiott. Andrea is a philosopher and the founder of Making Ways, a private educational consultancy that works with individuals, businesses, and organisations such as EMI to explore the guiding philosophies at the core of our lives and actions. She is also an author and educator, holding degrees in the philosophy of mind, neuroscience, and UNESCO World Heritage. Andrea has authored several books, including Thinking Small, and her work has appeared in renowned publications such as the The Wall Street Journal, The New York Times, Bloomberg, Huffington Post, National Geographic, and the San Francisco Chronicle. In addition, she hosts several podcasts, including Love & Philosophy and Desirable Unknown. 

In this captivating conversation, Andrea shares her journey with the question, "What is mind?" We discuss the importance of developing our ability to hold paradox, handle the intensity of our emotions, and navigate the challenges, joys, and fears that love can sometimes bring. We explore how our presence and attention can facilitate change within ourselves and others, and the profound impact of sharing meaningful moments together.

This whole conversation is deeply insightful, offering much to learn from Andrea’s curiosity, wisdom, and reflections. Which may help you to embrace the experience of being human more fully.

Subscribe for weekly episodes, every Tuesday, and check out my YouTube channel (link below) for full interviews and clips.

For further content and information check out the following:

Andrea's Website: https://www.andreahiott.net/
Andrea's Podcast: https://www.youtube.com/@waymaking23/featured 

- For the What is a Good Life? podcast's YouTube page: https://www.youtube.com/@whatisagoodlife/videos
- My newsletter: https://www.whatisagood.life/
- My LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/mark-mccartney-14b0161b4/

Contact me at mark@whatisagood.life if you'd like to explore your own lines of self-inquiry through 1-on-1 coaching, take part in my weekly free silent conversations, discuss experiences I create to stimulate greater trust, communication, and connection, amongst your leadership teams, or you simply want to get in touch.

00:00 Introduction
02:50 What is mind?
07:16 What can we handle?
11:41 Portals to be present
15:11 More to this than we understand
19:21 The joy and curiosity of deep feelings
23:21 What is mind and what is mine? Holding paradox
27:51 We are always in process
32:21 Being present and the changes it allows
33:41 Acknowledging our own possibility for change
41:46 Time, mind, and memory
46:31 The resonance of meaning through time
50:41 The paradox of our separate and shared lives
56:18 What is a good life for Andrea? 

What is What is a Good Life??

Over the last three years I've interviewed over 200 people around the question of "what is a good life?". I am not trying to find or prescribe universal answers to this question, instead to prompt your own inquiry into what constitutes a good life for you. While I am also trying to share more genuine expressions of the human experience, beyond the masks that we wear.