Welcome to the Fabric Podcast, as we kick off Fabric TV+, a conversation we're starting where we'll draw out some inspiring tidbits from within the shows that are streaming these days. My name is Christopher Polino, and I'm really glad you've chosen to check out this episode. The days are mostly gone when everyone's watching the same TV, so we've tried to choose some shows that are popular and fresh, but not so new that people haven't had a chance to watch them yet.
These shows have some really interesting themes that give us insight about what a deeply woven life might look like for each of us with a particular eye toward honesty. And to be honest, we're not sure it makes for the best podcasting, but we'll share audio from the clips that we share, and I'll give you context if it's needed. In this episode, Ian McConnell takes a good look at the good place. Here he is.
TV has gotten so good. Have you noticed this? The number of stories that are being told in TV or streaming rather than movies, as the big studios have gone toward, you know... Recreating Spider-Man another way. TV is telling really interesting, heartfelt, truth-telling stories. And so we've been wanting to get at this. So we're going to be talking about honesty throughout this series. Like what does it mean to take an honest look at ourselves, at our communities?
at the world as it is, and using TV as streaming episodes as kind of a lens to open that up for ourselves. I think right now, especially, like how many of you are feeling like the world's relationship to truth is a little bit at odds right now? Mm-hmm. Me too. So it feels apropos that we would talk about honesty and what does it look like to kind of do that introspective look. So today we're going to talk about honesty through the lens of the good place.
For reference, how many of you have seen The Good Place? Got about half probably. So we didn't send out early, probably early enough, like a heads up of what episodes to watch. So today is going to be a clip every day. So if you haven't watched it, don't worry about it. But if you go on our website on fabricmpls.com slash current, there's going to be cues for you. So if you want to pre-watch episodes for the upcoming weeks, we'll be talking.
looking at Young Sheldon next week. And then when we've been talking about this series, Ted Lasso was like the first one that we wanted to do. So in two weeks, we'll be doing Ted Lasso. And then... Severance, Apple TV Plus Severance, which is an excellent, excellent show. So if you haven't done this already, you could strategically time out your free 30-day trial with Apple TV Plus.
starting like next week. So the good place is the theme for today. We are going to be looking at honesty kind of through the lens of this main character. Her name is Eleanor Shellstrop and played by Kristen Bell. Yeah, why did I blank on her name? Kristen Bell. Love her. She's in a situation where she's kind of in a situation where she's feeling, what would be the word? Like she doesn't belong, right?
Like she's a weirdo in this place. We're going to watch kind of the very beginning of the show together to kind of get grounded in the show. They do a really good job of kind of setting the scene. The lens that I'm looking at this through right off the bat is kind of imposter syndrome. Like, this is something that I deal with all the time. It might be informed by anxiety. It might just be informed by, like...
I don't know, like my generation, like, you know, your time is coming forever and always, but the baton never really gets passed. I don't know where it comes from, but like that feeling of like, I need to maybe pretend to be. somebody who I'm not fully in order to fit in or gain approval or be perceived well or whatever the case may be. So that's kind of the lens I'm looking through. And I think that's a universal struggle at some level that we all go through at some point.
feeling like we are being asked to, either by ourselves or others, to be something or somebody that we don't feel totally in line with. So The Good Place is, it's a hilarious show, but it's really about ethics and it's about morality and it's about growth through facing the truth. And so this main character, Eleanor Shellstrap, I think is one of the more relatable characters. She is super flawed and is just trying to figure things out just like we are. So let's...
Let's just play the first clip. It's going to be a few minutes of setting the stage for this series. Eleanor? Come on in. Hi, Eleanor. I'm Michael. How are you today? I'm great. Thanks for asking. Oh, one question. Where am I? Who are you and what's going on? Right. So, you, Eleanor Shellstrop, are dead. Your life on Earth has ended, and you are now in the next phase of your existence in the universe.
Cool. I have some questions. Thought you might. How did I die? I don't remember. Yes. In cases of traumatic or embarrassing deaths, we erase the memory to allow for a peaceful transition. Are you sure you want to hear? All right, so you were in a grocery store parking lot. You dropped a bottle of something called Lonely Gal Margarita Mix for one.
And when you bent down to pick it up, a long column of shopping carts that were being returned to the shopping cart collection area rolled out of control and plowed right into you. Oof. That's how I died. No, sorry, there's more. You were able to grab onto the front of the column of shopping carts, but it swept you right out into the street where you were struck and killed by a mobile billboard truck advertising...
an erectile dysfunction pill called engorgulate. Funnily enough, the first EMT to arrive was an ex-boyfriend of yours. Okay, that's, I get it, thank you. Um, so who was right? I mean, about... All of this. Well, let's see. Hindus are a little bit right. Muslims a little bit. Jews, Christians, Buddhists. Every religion guessed about 5%.
except for Doug Forsett. Who's Doug Forsett? Well, Doug was a stoner kid who lived in Calgary during the 1970s. One night, he got really high on mushrooms, and his best friend Randy said, Hey, what do you think happens after we die? And Doug just launched into this long monologue where he got like 92% correct. We couldn't believe what we were hearing. That's him, actually, right up there.
He's pretty famous around here. I'm very lucky to have that. So, maybe my biggest question. Am I... I mean, is this... Or... Well... It's not the heaven or hell idea that you were raised on. But generally speaking, in the afterlife, there's a good place and there's a bad place. You're in the good place. You're okay, Eleanor. You're in the good place. Well, that's good. Sure is. Okay, let's take a walk, shall we? Oh.
Did I have a purse? No. I'm dead. Right. Okay. Hello, everyone, and welcome to your first day in the afterlife. You were all... Simply put, good people. But how do we know that you are good? How are we sure? During your time on Earth, every one of your actions had a positive or a negative value. depending on how much good or bad that action put into the universe. Every sandwich you ate, every time you bought a magazine, every single thing you did had an effect that rippled out over time.
and ultimately created some amount of good or bad. You know how some people pull into the breakdown lane when there's traffic, and they think to themselves, ah, who cares? No one's watching. We were watching. Surprise! Anyway, when your time on Earth has ended, we calculate the total value of your life using our perfectly accurate measuring system. Only the people with the very highest scores, the true cream of the crop.
Get to come here, to the good place. What happens to everyone else, you ask? Don't worry about it. The point is, you are here because you lived one of the very best lives that could be lived. And you won't be alone. Your true soulmate is here too. That's right. Soulmates are real. One of the other people in your neighborhood is your actual soulmate. And you will spend eternity together.
So welcome to eternal happiness. Welcome to the good place. Sponsored by otters holding hands while they sleep. You know the way you feel when you see a picture of two otters holding hands? That's how you're going to feel. Every day. As you can see, the interior has been decorated just as you like it in the Icelandic primitive style. Oh, oh, and, uh, of course...
You love clowns, so... I do love clowns. Now, let me show you the video system here. You can review everything that happened in your life from... Your point of view. There we go. This is your human rights mission to Ukraine. I mean, you got a ton of points for that one. It really puts you over the top. Jeannie, come on in. Eleanor, I'm Chidi Anagonier, and you are my soulmate. Cool! Bring it in, man! Now, excuse me. I have other people to attempt to.
So where are you from, Judy? Well, I was born in Nigeria, raised in Senegal, but my work took me all over the place. Australia, Hong Kong, Paris. What about you? Uh, well, I was... I was born in Phoenix, Arizona. Then I went to school in Tempe, Arizona. And then I moved back to Phoenix, Arizona. Your English is amazing. Oh!
I'm actually speaking French. This place just translates whatever you say into a language the other person can understand. So it's incredible. Whoa. And now I want to say this. Okay. Eleanor. I have spent my entire life in pursuit of fundamental truths about the universe, and now we can actually learn about them together as soulmates. It's overwhelming. Chidi, you'll stand by my side no matter what, right? Of course I will. Promise me. Say, I promise I will never betray you for any reason.
Eleanor, I swear that I will never say or do anything to cause you any harm. Good. Because those aren't my memories. I wasn't a lawyer. I never went to the Ukraine. I hate clowns. There's been a big mistake. I'm not supposed to be here. Wait what? All right, so that's how the show starts. Did you catch that, that Eleanor arrives in what is called the good place? and doesn't belong, but has brought Chidi now into the lie. Rather than coming out clean right away and saying, I don't belong here.
She's gonna pretend, she's gonna fake it, and she's gonna bring Chidi along for the ride. So that's kind of how this starts. There's a ripple effect. And the challenge of it is that Chidi knows she's made this decision to not live honestly, to fake it. And in order to stay in this utopian neighborhood... of an afterlife, which has unlimited frozen yogurt, we find out in the show. This ripple effect from that decision has now extended to another person, right?
I remember when I was a kid, my grandma telling me, probably after I lied about something, she said, you know, the hardest part about dishonesty is not the dishonesty itself. but it's actually having to keep track of the lie. Have you heard something like that before? Like, once you tell a lie and want to live by it... The hardest part is actually keeping track of that. Who have you told it to? Who has it gotten out to? And then living by it, right? Lies are really hard to live in.
And now it's not just Eleanor trying to make this work, but Chidi needs to figure out how to make this work for the sake of his apparent soulmate too. So we're going to watch one more short clip here. to learn a little bit more about Chidi and whether or not they are going to come out clean or keep playing along with the lie. So let's go ahead with that one. Maybe it's a test.
Maybe if you go to Michael and you tell him the truth, you'll pass the test and you'll get to stay. No way. I can't risk going to the bad place. Well, maybe it's not actually, like, all that bad. Let's just get some information first. We'll ask Janet. Hey, Janet? Hi there! How can I help you? What the fork? Who are you?
I'm Janet. I'm the informational assistant here in The Good Place. She's like this walking database. You can ask her about the creation of the universe or history. Oh, there was a guy who lived in Avondale, Arizona around 2002. His name was Kevin Paltonic. Is he gay? No. Really? Huh. I guess he just didn't want to have sex with me. That's correct. Well, that's fine. I wasn't that into him anyway. Yes, you were.
Okay, Janet, I have a question. Okay. What is the bad place like? Oh, sorry. That is the one topic I'm not allowed to tell you about. I can only play you a brief audio clip of what is happening there right now. Okay. Well, it doesn't sound awesome. Does everyone have a huge house except me?
All right, we need a plan. I say we just lie low and hope that they don't notice me. I'm sorry, I don't think I can help you. I just don't like being dishonest, and I can't advise you to be dishonest either. Come on, I'm just asking... You must have told a few white lies in your life. I mean, what was your job? I was a professor of ethics and moral philosophy. Motherforker! I'm getting a stomach ache.
I should have given you a language warning on this show. There's a lot of cussing. So Chiri now has... He ends up stumbling through his own indecisiveness here. So what happens in the show is the lie starts to spread into other areas. It's not just between she and Chidi. He's now made a promise to her that he won't do anything to jeopardize her. She's taken advantage of that and said, then you won't tell anybody that I don't belong here.
He's stuck in this line now. So things in this neighborhood... start to go haywire. Like all the lies and the ways that she's pretending to fit in and kind of twist somebody else's story into her story are starting to... manifest in different ways in this neighborhood. She lies about stealing shrimps at a party, and all of a sudden there's giant shrimp flying through the sky. Major destruction. Everyone's like...
She makes fun of one of the neighbors for looking like a tall giraffe. And, like, there's a giant giraffe walking around. So the whole neighborhood is crumbling, okay? So this is what, this is the, again, in episode one, right off the bat. we see that dishonesty has a way of weaving itself into the very fiber of communities. We can see this in our own lives. Well, we can see it in the show for sure, but in our own lives too, right?
that the ways that we don't tell the truth, either to ourselves or to others, has a way of kind of becoming a part of the fabric of a community or of a system, a family. a larger community, a nation, and that's incredibly dangerous. So rather than coming clean and restoring kind of balance in the neighborhood, this good place neighborhood, through honesty, Eleanor comes up with a different solution, which ends up...
Setting up the rest of the season so we're gonna watch a clip about that Let's just face it Eleanor you don't belong here This system sucks. What, one in a million gets to live in paradise and everyone else is tortured for eternity? Come on. I mean, I wasn't freaking Gandhi, but I was okay. I was a medium person.
I should get to spend eternity in a medium place like Cincinnati. Everyone who wasn't perfect but wasn't terrible should get to spend eternity in Cincinnati. Look, apparently it doesn't work that way. I'm sorry, Eleanor, but there's nothing anyone can do. Unless there is something we can do. Unless you could teach me.
Teach you what? How to be good. That was your job, right? A professor of ethics? No one knew I was a problem when I arrived. Things only started getting crazy after I was an asshole to everyone at the party. You know I'm trying to say ash hole and not ash hole, right? I got that, yes. Okay, give me a chance. Let me earn my place here. Let me be your ethical guinea pig. Hey, guys!
Emergency neighborhood meeting now. We'll be right there, Michael. If I walk out of here in these clothes, I'm toast. My soul is in your hands, soulmate. What's it going to be? stomach ache. So this is obviously a pretty absurd setup for a show and a situation I don't think we will likely find ourselves in. this kind of scenario. But what do I know? I'm still living. But it does give us some insight into our...
Our own tendencies to avoid looking too closely at ourselves because it's uncomfortable. Like to tell the truth about who we are and where we have both succeeded and failed. That's a pretty uncomfortable position to be because we want to be perceived well. We want to be liked. We want to belong. And it's easier to fabricate an easier reality for ourselves than dealing with what actually is.
But denial and pretending come at a great cost. There's anxiety built into that. There's isolation built into denial and pretending. There's an exhausting pressure to keep keeping up a false image. Did you notice the ways that Chidi and Eleanor in particular are starting to feel imprisoned by the lie that they have started to weave together? It's actually really hard to maintain a lie.
So a question just briefly for reflection to think about, like what's one truth about yourself that you would maybe rather hide away than grow through right now? It's a worthwhile question to ponder. What's something you'd rather hide away than deal with and grow through? And is that having or... Has that had an impact on your life or the way you view yourself or yourself in community?
There's a helpful poem and song in the Bible, Psalm 139, that says, Search me, O God, and know my heart. Test me and know my anxious thoughts. See if there's any offensive way in me and lead me in a way that lasts. And I think that's a little bit what the author of this is getting at, that they're inviting the truth to be revealed about themselves.
Not because it's easy, but because it's necessary for growth. To have the things that are causing anxious thoughts or offensive kind of short-term ways of being to be revealed. Self-honesty is scary, but it's the first step, I think, toward real transformation. So as season one of The Good Place... goes on. Michael, who's the Ted Danson character, he's the architect of this neighborhood where something like, I think, 244, 262, I can't remember, people are living in this neighborhood.
He realizes that Eleanor, indeed, does not belong in the good place either. So now he's a part of the lie, too. But he's come to like her. Like, he enjoys having her around. Because she's not perfect, but she's a hoot to be around. So he's kind of enamored with her a little bit too. And so he's in on the lie. And then a demon shows up from the bad place.
His name is Trevor. And he's played by, what's his name? Adam Scott. So you'll see him in a little bit. And Trevor comes to collect. He's coming to tell everybody. This Eleanor is fake Eleanor. There's another Eleanor shellstrop that belongs up here, so they're going to negotiate a trade. And he brings his minions of demons who are just really rude, and they...
are hanging out in the good place to make this exchange. But Michael, because he's grown to really appreciate and enjoy Eleanor, I think... wants to keep around so that's I think that's all the setup you need for this next clip so let's watch this one hey ding-dongs we figured out what's happened here You two are both named Eleanor Shellstrop. The day you died, you were both in Phoenix, Arizona, shopping at the same grocery store.
The real Eleanor was attending a conference on the death penalty, and you stopped by to pick up food for a local homeless shelter. And fake Eleanor was there buying... Margarita Mix and a magazine called Celebrity Baby Plastic Surgery Disasters. Incredibly, you both died in the same 10,000th of a second in the same traffic accident because real-
was trying to save fake Eleanor's life by pushing you out of the way of the truck. I guess you really botched that one, eh? I did. And I am so, so sorry. It's all good. So, how did you not realize you had the wrong Eleanor? Oh, we don't know what people look like. Only names and profiles. On Earth, they're just dots on a map. Yeah, whatever. We got our wires crossed. We picked up the wrong dot. Point is, there are two Eleonors. The nice boring one is yours.
The trash bag is ours. So, trash bag, let's go. Let's hit it. And also, I'm still waiting on that smile, gorgeous. Trevor. Where's that smile? Trevor, how about we negotiate? Maybe give you something else. What in the world could you have that we would want?
All right, how about a unicorn, right? I bet you don't have one of those. No, that is true. Trevor is just the worst. So by this point in the show, this is episode nine, Chidi... the former ethics and morality professor, has gone full professor mode with his apparent soulmate. Fake Eleanor. And he's really, she's had some breakthroughs in kind of understanding her impact on relationships and her impact in a community throughout her life, but the real moments of growth for her.
have come not through those moments of academic learning, but like Chidi will teach her something about utilitarianism or whatever philosophy. that he's trying to get her to understand. And it causes her to have these moments of self-reflection on her own life. She fully lets Chidi in during these moments of learning.
And because of the trusting friendship that they are developing and the fact that he's giving her space to reflect and connect some dots from throughout her life, Eleanor is actually starting to experience... this true thing, which is that honesty in a relationship, whether it's with self, others, or God, isn't about just accountability.
Honesty isn't just about accountability. It's also about freedom, and it's about healing. And so this is what Eleanor is starting to experience, the freedom in being known. being honest with herself, with others. And she begins to recognize a pattern throughout her life that stems from the way that she was raised by her parents. by the culture around her, by a series of moves throughout her life that she hadn't realized before. That no matter the cost...
Eleanor has preferred to isolate herself from other people. She's wanted to, instead of being fully a part of community, she has chosen to self-isolate. Which is why, of course, she began her time in the good place with deception for the sake of her own personal comfort and, like, not being found out. So...
We're going to watch a series of clips. These are kind of flashbacks from her life where she's realizing like, oh, I had an opportunity to be honest and be a part of community fully as myself. and chose otherwise. Let's watch this one. Hi! You must be the new student, Eleanor Shellstrop. I'm Gloria, the senior class secretary. Cool.
Welcome to Adobe High, home of the Scorpiotes. Half the school wanted to be the Scorpions, half wanted to be the Coyotes, so we compromised. Why don't I give you a tour after lunch? Yeah, no thanks, Moptop. Sorry? Don't need your help. Don't want to sign your yearbook in like gel pen. Don't want to bedazzle our college essays or whatever. I'm here for like six months and I'm gonna fly solo. Beat it, Gloria.
She is like such a dork. She like loves this school so much. Why don't you come sit with us? We'll teach you which guys are cute and which teachers are secretly pervs. Yeah, that's a hard pass as well. I don't want to get chunky highlights, make fun of nerds. and steal your mom's flavored vodka. I get your whole mean girl thing, and I'm all set with it. Thanks. In fact...
And as a blanket statement for everyone, I don't want to be a part of whatever little group you formed because they're all equally lame. Everybody cool? Great. Hey. It was really cool the way you told all those poses. No! Hey, a bunch of us are going to go see Spider-Man too tonight. Do you want to come? They made a second Spider-Man? What is there left to say? Sure, whatever, I'm in.
Cool. Okay, well, I'll get tickets for the eight of us and you can just pay me back in cash. So you can get all the points on your credit card and the rest of us get screwed? No way. No, it's just so we can all get tickets before they sell out. Do you want to buy them? So you guys can never pay me back and I'll be out like 80 bucks? Nice try. I'll buy my own ticket. The rest of the group can do whatever they want. Where did she end up?
I think I need to find a new place to live. So, you've been temping for us for a year now, and we want to bring you aboard permanently. We think you'd be a great addition to the team. Yeah, no. I'm good. You're turning it down? I just don't... I don't think I'm really one of you guys. You're all obsessed with this place, man. You love working here and talking about working here and you all hang out like some kind of cult. We hang out after work because we're friends. I know. It's weird.
If this is how you really feel, I think I have to fire you. Severance pay. Love it. Good looking out, boss. Peace! You need me to lie to old people and scare them into buying fake allergy medicine. I get it, man. Which one's my desk? That one over there. All you got to do is hit your minimal sales target every week. Cool.
And you guys don't have any lame, mandatory office hangouts, right? Hell no. Some people go out for a drink after work, and I like to run the occasional group drill to see how fast we can shred evidence, but that's it. most days you'll be able to avoid even talking to another person here perfect happy to be a part of the not team it'll be a pleasure not hanging out with you so
These are obviously flashback memories that Eleanor's having. And I think it kind of highlights that once we start to make... those connections in our lives, about the location of the roots of whatever dishonesty or half-truths we're working with in relationship with ourselves or with others. that we can start to chart a path forward that leads to healing and connectedness. Honesty, it turns out, might be...
The same as living a deeply woven life, or at least a deeply connected life. I think honesty, it turns out, is freedom. And honesty, it turns out... is the beginning of true intimacy in relationships. I think that this kind of like confessing the truth to others. And trusting them with that, right? Talking, telling the truth about ourselves and trusting others with that. Not knowing...
not just simply knowing in our own minds, but telling it to somebody else, is an incredibly powerful action. So we're going to see how this plays out in our final clip for Eleanor. It begins with the demon Trevor trying to convince Eleanor. They go out to a bar the night before the day of negotiations. between real Eleanor and fake Eleanor. And Trevor's trying to convince Eleanor to just give in and stop pretending to fit in and come with him.
And then it jumps into the negotiation session between Trevor and Michael. I let him on fire and he never spoke again. You know, maybe I'm not as great as real Eleanor, but I'm better than I used to be. I'm medium good. Why haven't you forkers invented a medium place? Look, I know you've been trying to become a better person. I mean, you didn't want to get caught. I get it. But I read your file. You don't belong here. I mean, she spent her weekends breaking up.
dogfighting rigs. You once saw a meter maid writing you a ticket and you barked like a dog till she ran away. I mean, honestly, you'll be happier in the bad place. I mean, don't get me wrong. You'll be miserable. We will torture you, but... you'll also be happier because you won't have to keep trying to fit in somewhere you just don't belong. Aight. Let's go. Okay, hold on, I have to ask. Is this thing gonna happen? You and me? Ew, no, gross. Okay, you know I had to ask, babe. All right.
Let's begin negotiations. Now, we would like to discuss various trades that we could make. Oh, yeah, we're not negotiating. See, fake Eleanor and I, we broed down pretty hard last night. We hooked up. No, we didn't. Yeah, but who are they gonna believe, me or a woman? Point is, she knows that she doesn't belong here, and she's giving up. Is this true? Fake Eleanor, are you giving up? Yeah, of course she is. She knows this place isn't for her. Let's go, Ding Dong. Come on. No, I'm not leaving.
Oh, come on, sweetheart. We've been through this. You know you don't belong here. You're right. I don't. But I want to. I used to never want to be a part of any group. But I'm a different person now because of the person who helped me. And I want to be like him. I want to be like all the people who are here. You can, Eleanor.
Thanks, Real Eleanor. Look, if you don't come with us, we're going to have to turn this matter over to Sean. Oh, no. Sean, really? Who's Sean? He's the wise eternal judge who sits on high. He has the final say on all disputes between our two realms. And his name is... Sean. Okay, look, I don't want Sean involved either, so how about you blow us away with an offer so we can end this? Okay. Here's my offer You get nothing We're not letting fake Eleanor go and we're not giving you anything
You can summon every evil creature you have, every weapon in your arsenal, every four-headed flying bear. They had them down there. But we are not giving up. I believe that Eleanor belongs in a good place. If I'm wrong, you can take her to the bad place and punish her all you want. Just really go to town on her. But she's staying here. Now, all of you, get the fork out of my neighborhood.
You're on borrowed time, Fake Eleanor. Enjoy it while it lasts. Let's roll, dummies. Let's go. Did you notice in that moment of vulnerability... When Eleanor admits to everybody around that she doesn't belong, she, like, stood up. And it was this, like, she, like, opened. Did you catch that? Her posture changed.
I love that she did that. It's like this moment of vulnerability and trust. She didn't know what would happen when she told the truth. She didn't know where she would end up, but she stands up and makes her confession. I don't belong here, but I want to. But I want to. This moment of honesty opens the door to true connection. It begins with... Well, in the show, the confession marks a turning point, I'll say.
this moment for her where everybody now knows she's not hiding anymore. She's not hiding the secret and being stuck and constantly reactive to everything happening around her. But it's this honesty, it allows her to embrace her true dirtbag self and live with all the gentleness and generosity she needs for herself. And it created space too then for Michael also to stand up and like stand up against Trevor and these demons who again are the worst.
Like every other line that Trevor says, I just cringe like, oh, he's the worst. But it created space for Michael to stand up for himself and eventually others in the neighborhood to make their own kind of confessions. to each other and really create a real community, not one that's based on this, like, outside mask of perfection, of being good, of doing everything right. It's kind of beautiful.
how truth-telling, even when it's hard, is the best way to build real intimacy and trust. What I love about the first season of The Good Place... is that it helps teach us that honesty, even though it's uncomfortable, sets us free. A wise man once said, then you will know the truth and the truth will set you free. It's my belief that freedom is what honesty is all about.
The challenge, I think, is taking the time needed for honest self-reflection, self-assessment for ourselves, for stepping into the truth and trusting that it leads to a more... honest, authentic, impactful, and free life. And so... In honor of Eleanor and then Michael and then everybody else around them who find the strength and courage to not be so insular, isolated, fearful, and alone, I'm going to invite all of us.
to think again about what does it feel like when you are trying to hide something away? Like, wear it in your body. For me, it's this right here. shoulders forward and up, a little tight, closed off. Try that posture on, whatever it is for you. And then I'm going to invite you. to think about what it's like, what it has been like for you, what it might be like for another person to know you deeply, to know, warts and all, who you are.
And wear that and kind of open up. If you want to stand, you can. For me, it's just like taking up a little bit more space. And over the next few weeks, we're going to continue to dive into what is it like to live honestly in relationship to ourselves, to others, to the divine? May it be so.
Thanks for listening. This podcast exists primarily as an extension of our local community that gathers weekly in Minneapolis, Minnesota. I hope that you find these conversations insightful and juicy, but we really think that the best stuff comes... from your reflections and conversations. You can find us most places online to start those kind of conversations as Fabric MPLS and on our website.
fabric mpls.com but we'd encourage you to find ways of engaging all of this in person whether it's showing up on a Sunday morning learning about a fabric group even if you're not in the Twin Cities or finding your own spaces to start conversation around these themes, the thoughts that you have. Let us know how we can help. Peace.