Last week (or so), I appeared on the Seize the Moment video podcast, thanks to an invitation from Leon Garber (a Licensed Mental Health Counselor and Psychotherapist, specializing in existential psychotherapy, who manages a blog exploring death, self-esteem, love, freedom, life-meaning, and mental health/mental illness) and Alen Ulman (who manages Ego Ends Now, a growing community for expanding consciousness about science, medicine, self actualization, philosophy and psychology.)
Leon and Alen were wonderful hosts; this led to an eclectic and wide-ranging discussion–which beginning from my essay at Aeon on anxiety, ranged over the following topics, as summarized by Leon and Alen:
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- The importance and utility of anxiety in self-discovery.
- The influence our beliefs have on our perceptions and conceptions of the world.
- Why emotional intensity should be redirected rather than suppressed.
- The universality and inevitability of existential anxiety.
- Human diversity and our inherent inability to fully capture an individual’s essence.
- The fluctuating history of our understanding of mental illness.
- How normality is used to sustain power structures.
- Overcoming false dichotomies to see the strengths in our weaknesses and vice versa.
- The sense of relief and freedom accompanying one’s acceptance of the inherent meaningless of the universe.
Do give the podcast a whirl, and please do leave comments and questions!
Samir Chopra 