What is Sadness Good For? | Susan Cain

What is Sadness Good For? | Susan Cain

New episodes come out every Monday, Wednesday, and Friday for free, with 1-week early access for Wondery+ subscribers.

---

Many of us may have a reflexive reaction when we notice we're feeling down: we want it to go away. Maybe we think something is wrong with us and we automatically self medicate in any number of ways. But how do we square this with the fact that many of us may also really like sad movies and music? And making things even more complex, how do we compute the fact that the universe is constantly handing us opportunities to feel awe, gratitude, and joy, often at the exact same moment that sadness arises?


What's going on with this complex and conflicted relationship we have with a perfectly normal human emotion?


Our guest today Susan Cain has written a whole book about this called Bittersweet: How Sorrow and Longing Make Us Whole. In this book, she explores how the capacity to tune in to the inherent joy and sadness of the human situation can be a superpower for connection.


In this episode we talk about:


  • Whether bittersweetness is a skill you can hone
  • The relationship between bittersweetness and the Buddhist concept of impermanence
  • Why we feel embarrassed about discussing sorrow and longing
  • How sadness can be transmuted into creativity, and how that creativity can lead us out of sadness
  • And how America, a country founded on so much heartache, turned into, in her words, "a culture of normative smiles"




Full Shownotes: https://www.tenpercent.com/podcast-episode/susan-cain-480


Avsnitt(1032)

John Mulaney, Comedian Turned Broadway Star

John Mulaney, Comedian Turned Broadway Star

John Mulaney, known for his stand-up comedy and his work on "Saturday Night Live," first turned to meditation while filming a short-lived sitcom that bore his name, "Mulaney." He now has a daily medit...

30 Nov 201651min

Jessica Morey, Teaching Meditation to Teenagers

Jessica Morey, Teaching Meditation to Teenagers

Jessica Morey has turned what some may see as the impossible -- teaching teenagers how to meditate -- into her life's work. Morey, who attended her first meditation retreat at age 14, is the co-founde...

23 Nov 201654min

Sadhguru Jaggi Vasudev, Renowned Indian Yogi and Mystic

Sadhguru Jaggi Vasudev, Renowned Indian Yogi and Mystic

Born and raised in India, Sadhguru says he spent his childhood and adolescence as a "super skeptic" who didn't grow up "with anything spiritual or religious." He spent his days crisscrossing the count...

16 Nov 201645min

Colin O'Brady, Pro-Endurance Athlete

Colin O'Brady, Pro-Endurance Athlete

Fewer than 50 people have accomplished the Explorer's Grand Slam, a challenge of summiting the highest peaks on each of the seven continents and completing treks to the North and South poles. Colin O'...

9 Nov 201642min

Duncan Sheik, '90s Rocker Turned Broadway Composer

Duncan Sheik, '90s Rocker Turned Broadway Composer

Duncan Sheik first made a name for himself in the mid-90s with the hit song, "Barely Breathing," and has since reinvented himself as a Broadway composer. He won two Tonys and a Grammy Award for music ...

2 Nov 201645min

Judge Jeremy Fogel, Using Mindfulness on the Bench

Judge Jeremy Fogel, Using Mindfulness on the Bench

About 20 years ago, Judge Jeremy Fogel was serving as a superior court judge in California. But when he felt that it was causing him a lot of stress, he started looking for a way to center himself, an...

26 Okt 201649min

Sebene Selassie, A Life of Service While Fighting Breast Cancer

Sebene Selassie, A Life of Service While Fighting Breast Cancer

Sebene Selassie's career has taken her all over the world. An Ethiopian immigrant, Selassie grew up in the Washington, D.C., area. Her father left her family in the '70s to go back to Ethiopia and bec...

19 Okt 20161h 1min

Robin Roberts, "GMA" Anchor, Cancer Survivor (Bonus Episode!)

Robin Roberts, "GMA" Anchor, Cancer Survivor (Bonus Episode!)

"Good Morning America" co-anchor Robin Roberts has more than 30 years of experience in the radio and television business and said it was her "GMA" colleagues, George Stephanopoulos and our host Dan Ha...

17 Okt 201646min

Populärt inom Hälsa

somna-med-henrik
rss-bara-en-till-om-missbruk-medberoende-2
rss-jossan-nina
inga-beiga-morsor
angestpodden
rss-vuxna-pa-latsas
not-fanny-anymore
rss-viktmedicinpodden
sexnoveller-deluxe
johannes-hansen-podcast
sova-med-dan-horning
sa-in-i-sjalen
sag-det-bara
rss-sjalsligt-avkladd
rss-the-house-podcast-3
brottarbroder
till-sangs
rss-angra-inget-3
rss-relationsrevolutionen
rss-fet-fakta-podcast