The joy of being an unwilling traveler through life, by Maya Shankar

Meditative Story

Jul 14 2022 • 30 mins

Maya Shankar is a cognitive neuroscientist and host of the award-winning podcast A Slight Change of Plans. As a girl, she struggles with taking things too seriously: herself, the sufferings of others, the hypothetical misfortunes she imagines for the future. She turns to her father for perspective — and he takes her on a memorable walk, one that helps her understand her place in the universe (spoiler: it’s not not at the center of it). When her adult life brings a new and unexpected kind of sorrow, she turns to these lessons from her father again, to find a balance between the seriousness that comes with loving life and the wise perspective of knowing we're all just passing through.

Listen to Dr. Laurie Santos' episode of Meditative Story, "My monkey teacher": http://listen.meditativestory.com/LSantos_WW

Listen to Maya Shankar's podcast (selected as the Best Show of the Year by Apple in 2021), A Slight Change of Plans: https://www.pushkin.fm/podcasts/a-slight-change-of-plans

Follow Maya Shankar: https://www.instagram.com/drmayashankar/

Each episode of Meditative Story combines the emotional pull of first-person storytelling with immersive music and gentle mindfulness prompts. Read the transcript for this story: meditativestory.com

Sign up for the Meditative Story newsletter: https://meditativestory.com/subscribe

See Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.

You Might Like

Stuff You Should Know
Stuff You Should Know
iHeartPodcasts
This American Life
This American Life
This American Life
Freakonomics Radio
Freakonomics Radio
Freakonomics Radio + Stitcher
Criminal
Criminal
Vox Media Podcast Network
The Way I Heard It with Mike Rowe
The Way I Heard It with Mike Rowe
The Way I Heard It with Mike Rowe
We Can Do Hard Things
We Can Do Hard Things
Glennon Doyle and Audacy
The Ezra Klein Show
The Ezra Klein Show
New York Times Opinion
Shawn Ryan Show
Shawn Ryan Show
Shawn Ryan | Cumulus Podcast Network
The Why Files: Operation Podcast
The Why Files: Operation Podcast
The Why Files: Operation Podcast
The Record Room
The Record Room
Jaden Green
Am I the Jerk?
Am I the Jerk?
youtube.com/amithejerk
Literally! With Rob Lowe
Literally! With Rob Lowe
Stitcher & Team Coco, Rob Lowe
Behind the Bastards
Behind the Bastards
Cool Zone Media
The Viall Files
The Viall Files
Nick Viall