I think your connection only really can get super deep when you are able to open up those layers of yourself by getting to know yourself.
And then you can share them with another person and see how you can better harmonize together.
So when the curator of the longest running study on human flourishing, the grant study, was asked if there was any one factor that most contributed to a life well lived, his answer was love.
Full stop.
In no small way love makes a life.
And were not talking romantic love, only were also talking about the love you have for family, or chosen family, or for those kind of friends who make you feel seen and heard and held.
Or for those youre in community with who share a set of common bonds and maybe less obviously for those you dont even know but somehow find a place of compassion for that changes both them and you often in ways you never saw coming.
But in this day and age, these different kinds of love, they tend to feel more complicated, maybe less available, and for many, less accessible and easy to actually embrace.
So today we're bringing you a very special episode.
Drawing upon the deep wisdom of five past guests, each expert in the space of love and relationships and self discovery, to share sometimes provocative, unique and valuable insights about how to love and be loved how to hold relationships with curiosity and allow room for growth how to create a society wide container for compassion and then invite people in, even those you struggle to like or be in the same room with, let alone love.
You'll hear from Julie and John Gottman, who've been married and also researching love in relationships both clinically and in the lab for over four decades together and writing mega best selling books on the topic.
Youll hear from Diego Perez, who most of you might know from his online moniker Young Pueblo, on creating this space for growth.
Rev.
Angel Kyoto Williams will share an expansive lens on love and its connection to compassion, holding the space for difference and liberation.
And our friend, iconic spoken word artist Enqueue shares a beautiful spoken word piece and really a frame based on his own experience of falling in love, wrapped with an invitation for us all to find moments to create magic.
So excited to share this special episode with you.
I'm Jonathan Fields and this is good life project.
So first up, we have partners in life and work, Julie and John Gottman, who have been collaborating for decades to bring Julie's deep clinical insights working with couples to John's academic research.
Together with what's become known as their work in the Love Lab, training thousands of professionals and couples on how to do love better, they help us explore the critical topics that both anchor and unaddressed can trip up.
Loving relationships built into a series of dates and opportunities to rekindle curiosity about each other, even if you've been together a long time.