Alain de Botton sits down with Jaime Laing on the @GreatCompanyPodcast. Together they dive into such subjects as: What is love? How do we navigate heartbreak? Why is our childhood so critical in shaping the rest of our life? And what does it all mean, anyway? Along the way, Alain walks Jamie through some of the reasons why we experience the ‘ick’, the typical emotional burdens parents project onto their children, and why breakdowns often lead to breakthroughs. They also explore ways of understanding our own relationships – and how our attachment styles and past experiences can shape the way we love.
Great Company is an original podcast from JamPot Productions uploaded with their permission to The School of Life.
If you enjoyed this podcast you can find more on the Great Company podcast, links below:
YouTube |  @greatcompanypodcast
Instagram |  @greatcompanypodcast
TikTok |  @greatcompanypodcast
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FURTHER READING
You can read more on this and other subjects in our articles, here: https://www.theschooloflife.com/articles/
Timestamps
00:00 What is the meaning of life?
00:45 Finding the extraordinary with the ordinary
3:30 An exercise that can help with anxiety
07:00 How difficult self-awareness is
08:50 What Jamie was like as a child
10:20 Why funny people often come from sad childhoods
12:50 Looking for familiarity not happiness in relationships
18:00 Examining Jamie’s relationship through attachment styles
21:45 Acknowledging a relationship is between two broken people
23:00 Why asking ‘How are you mad?’ on a date can help
25:00 Best way to diffuse an argument with a partner
26:30 The worst heartbreak comes from the nice ones
29:20 How to become the best version of yourself
31:20 Our past can explain how we act in our current relationships
36:45 What has led me to do what I do
39:20 Life is about deepening time not just lengthening it
40:40 Ways to help when feeling mentally unwell
48:30 Breakdowns can actually be breakthroughs
50:15 Why read my new book ‘A Therapeutic Journey’
52:00 Final eight questions
#THESCHOOLOFLIFE #GREATCOMPANYPODCAST #ALAINDEBOTTON
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THE CREDITS:
Exec Producer: Jemima Rathbone
Assistant Producer: Gurlina Heer
Editor: Steve Melia
Video: Jake Ji
Marketing: Eleanore Bamber
Social Media: Laura Coughlan
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