Some things you start, change you forever.
A writing group.
A habit.
A decision made young.
A risk taken before you know what it will cost — or what it will build.
This week on Authbition, I sit down with Susan Brearley — founder of the Garden of Neuro Institute, host of Wordsmiths Weekly, creator of the “Write Like Stephen King” workshop where I’m drafting The Real Me, and force behind the anthology Emergent.
We talk about beginnings.
About youth.
About living in a way that leaves you with lessons — not regret.
We also talk about not doing business with naked people.
And at one point, I offer my official stance on people who don’t like the show.
It’s thoughtful.
It’s irreverent.
It’s human.
👉 Listen or watch here:
YouTube | Spotify | Apple | Amazon
Susan and I spent some time talking about games.
What do games reveal about us?
What do they reward?
What do they punish?
What do they quietly train us to value?
She kindly credited me for inventing The Whole Mind Game while on the show together. It felt good to be recognized.
The game is built around holding tension. Two words that seem opposed. Held together in conversation to see what emerges.
This week’s tension wasn’t preselected.
It surfaced.
Because protection and openness aren’t theoretical — they’re lived.
And sometimes you don’t recognize the tension you’re living inside until someone tells a story.
A house buried in volcanic ash.
A closed zone.
A frog-filled pool.
A set of rental car keys disappearing into gray silt at exactly the wrong moment.
Susan reads What a Glorious Day: The Other Side of Paradise — a story set in Montserrat after a volcanic eruption reshaped the island her grandparents once called home.
It’s funny.
It’s human.
It’s slightly absurd.
But beneath the humor is something deeper:
What do you protect when paradise changes shape?
And what do you let go?
The tension that emerged:
Patience <> Intolerance
Patience expands.
Intolerance protects.
Patience hopes.
Intolerance draws a line.
Too much patience invites erasure.
Too much intolerance invites isolation.
What’s the best of both — without compromise?
Susan named it:
The Forever Zone of Universal Connection.
Not soft.
Not rigid.
Connection with boundaries intact.
Love without self-abandonment.
Protection without exile.
And when we named the shadow of both extremes?
Hell.
The hell of being harmed because you never draw a line.
The hell of drawing so many lines that no one can reach you.
That’s the move.
Not choosing a side.
Holding the tension and aiming for the best of the best. Said another way, it’s unconditional love.
This episode isn’t about choosing patience or intolerance.
It’s about noticing what gets silenced when fear overrides compassion — or when compassion overrides boundaries.
This episode isn’t quiet.
It’s thoughtful and sharp. Warm and firm.
It asks:
Where are you too open?
Where are you too closed?
And what would it look like to hold both without apology?
👉 Press play:
YouTube | Spotify | Apple | Amazon
Thank you to Susan Brearley for her clarity, humor, and willingness to explore tension without collapsing it.
If this episode resonated, consider sharing it with someone who’s trying to protect what matters without losing their openness.
Your listening, sharing, and feedback are what allow this work to grow.