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Hello, I am a marital therapist, communications trainer and author. I have thirty-five years helping couples and individuals make better relationships. I have written twenty-plus self-help books which include the international best-sellers ‘I love you but I’m not in love with you’ and ‘How can I ever trust you again?’ My books have been translated into twenty languages. I trained with RELATE the UK’s largest counselling charity. Perhaps it has been turning sixty but I have become interested in spiritual as well as psychological questions. Who am I? What are my values – as opposed to my parents, my teachers and the wider society? What makes my life meaningful? What do I believe about life, the universe and everything? Although my clients might come to me because of destructive arguments, falling out of love and infidelity, they are also interested in having more meaningful relationships and a more meaningful life. So what is the meaningful life? Why do we so easily lose our way and get lost in depression, anxiety, doubt, addictions and obsessions: the swamplands of the soul? One thing I know for sure is that there is not one answer. Each of us has to find out for ourselves what makes our life meaningful. But we can learn from each other, share our experiences of how to navigate the journey, how to endure and learn from the swamp, and finally how to find solid ground. I have decided to use my original training in radio and journalism to interview witnesses for what makes life meaningful. Each week, I invite someone who is a therapist, academic, self-help coach or who has an enlightening personal story to share their knowledge or experiences. I hope our discussions will help you discover what makes your life meaningful and find more purpose and contentment.
Episodes
Monday Nov 21, 2022
Monday Nov 21, 2022
Prison makes a lot of life's big questions feel extremely urgent.
Author Andy West explores such questions in his work teaching philosophy to prisoners - some of whom have minimal education; some of whom have acquired PhDs.
Andy has also experienced the shadow of prison in his own life - witnessing the incarceration of his father, brother and uncle.
We discuss prison and ideas of freedom, and use the story of Ulysses and the Sirens to test out ideas of who it is in our world who is the most free.
Andy West is a London-based author and philosopher. His new book is The Life Inside: A Memoir of Prison, Family and Learning to Be Free
Subscriber Content This Week
If you’re a subscriber to The Meaningful Life (via Apple Podcasts, Spotify or Patreon), this week you’ll be hearing:
⭐️Shame and Pandora’s Box: the lessons for today from an ancient myth.
⭐️3 things Andy West knows to be true.
⭐️AND subscribers also access all of our previous bonus content - a rich trove of insight on love, life and meaning created by Andrew and his interviewees.
Follow Up
Read Andrew’s new Substack newsletter The Meaningful Life, and join the community there.
Buy Andy West’s book The Life Inside: A Memoir of Prison, Family and Learning to Be Free
Follow Andy West on Twitter @AndyWPhilosophy
You might also enjoy Andrew’s interviews with Julia Samuel MBE on Inherited Pain, or with Joanna LaPrade on Surviving Dark Times.
Join our Supporters Club to access exclusive behind-the-scenes content, fan requests and the chance to ask Andrew your own questions. Membership starts at just £4.50: https://www.patreon.com/andrewgmarshall
Andrew offers regular advice on love, marriage and finding meaning in your life via his social channels. Follow him on Twitter, Facebook and YouTube @andrewgmarshall
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