Substack Live Re-Air: Finding Beauty in the Mundane

Summary

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Mayim Bialik's Breakdown

Episode Title: Substack Live Re-Air: Finding Beauty in the Mundane
Date: April 18, 2026
Hosts: Mayim Bialik & Jonathan Cohen

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Episode Overview

In this special re-air of a previously Substack-only live conversation, Mayim Bialik and Jonathan Cohen explore the complex interplay between identity, purpose, mental and physical health, and the transformative power of finding beauty in everyday life. Drawing inspiration from Simon Sinek and a range of experts, the discussion weaves together scientific, spiritual, and practical perspectives, inviting listeners to deeply reconsider how they define themselves and approach the world during turbulent times.

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Key Discussion Points and Insights

1. Identity Beyond Occupation

[03:14 – 06:04]

• Mayim poses a central question: Who are you at your core, regardless of your job or role?
  • Gives her father as an example, noting that his essence is a love for organization and systems, not merely his title as an accountant.
  • "No matter what he would have done for a living, he would have brought that aspect of himself to that job." (Mayim, 03:45)
• Jonathan shares that when he directed a movie, it brought together all his unique facets—attention to detail, emotional wiring, storytelling.
• Both hosts reflect on the importance of identifying soul-level traits that have been with us since childhood.

2. Essence and Childhood Traits

[06:45 – 08:25]

• Mayim and Jonathan swap memories, connecting playfulness, curiosity, and resourcefulness from their youth with their current selves.
  • "There is an element of trying to explain things that are somewhat unexplainable… as a very young age, I can remember feeling like this overwhelming sense of curiosity and imagination." (Mayim, 07:51)
• Acknowledgment that ancestral stories and family lineage can offer clues to one’s core identity.

3. Belief in Possibility and Creative Survival

[09:05 – 11:43]

• Mayim recounts transforming a junk-filled room into a thriving office as a metaphor for optimism and seeing possibility where others see obstacles.
  • “There is no ‘no.’ Almost never. There's always a ‘this could be something else.’” (Mayim, 11:23)
• Jonathan labels this mindset “creative survival,” linking practical problem-solving to spiritual traits.
  • “Your Substack page is called Practical Spirituality. I think it could be called Creative Survival.” (Jonathan, 11:43)

4. The Role of the Soul and Unique Purpose

[11:49 – 13:06]

• Mayim reflects on the idea that each person is imbued with unique soul characteristics, and fulfillment comes from reconnecting with and expressing those.
  • "More so than ever before, we are looking from the outside to try and answer the question, who am I?... What Simon suggests is... you have to answer that question by going backwards in your life to find the things you were uniquely good at." (Mayim, 11:49)

5. Optimism as Biological Necessity

[13:06 – 14:51]

• Jonathan discusses Simon Sinek’s views: only optimism truly allows openness, and maintaining hope—especially during overwhelming social or political strife—is critical for individual and collective well-being.
  • “No matter how negative you are, no matter how cynical you are, no matter how much you hate... there has to be a space for that hope that at some point we can keep working towards reconciliation, peace, love, more rights, more opening, more acceptance.” (Jonathan, 14:38)

6. The Science of Optimism and Healing

[17:27 – 22:48]

• Mayim asks Jonathan to explain neuroscientific insights into optimism and nervous system regulation.
• Jonathan connects methods from various fields (yoga, medicine, mysticism) showing how positive emotional states—openness, calm, optimism—produce measurable biological benefits:
  • “There is physiology that science now has caught up with that for thousands of years mystics, yogis, healers have talked about... All of those things create... literally a happier, more open state in your body with which you then can change your life.” (Jonathan, 19:12)

7. Spiraling Negativity: Mental and Physical Impact

[20:25 – 22:48]

• Mayim and Jonathan validate the reality of distress around world events but warn against catastrophic mental spirals, which can suppress immune function and harm health.
  • Mayim references Gabor Maté’s work, noting that repressing needs and chronic self-sacrifice (especially common among women) is linked to increased autoimmune diseases.
  • “That type of spiraling with a negative bias has a physiological impact on every part of our body, even being shown to suppress the immune system’s ability to fight disease.” (Mayim, 20:25)

8. Acceptance, Forgiveness, and Releasing Negativity

[22:48 – 25:12]

• Mayim and Jonathan discuss that acceptance doesn’t mean approval; rather, one can oppose a situation yet refuse to be forever harmed by it emotionally.
  • “The notion of being able to say something happened to me… and I do not want to hold that negativity anymore… does not mean that you are happy about that it happened.” (Jonathan, 23:37)
• They suggest pausing and reframing thoughts: asking "what else might be true?" to interrupt negative cycles.

9. The Ongoing Process of Healing and Self-Discovery

[25:12 – 27:29]

• Both hosts underscore that healing is a process—one that involves curiosity, exploration, and support (therapy, books, expert advice, etc.).
  • “The answer is a conversation that you are having with yourself, the universe, and… something greater than you. I don't care if it's gravity, I don't care if it's a tree… The notion that that is a process you engage in is the answer.” (Jonathan, 25:12)

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Notable Quotes & Memorable Moments

• “The deeper you go into what it means to be human, the faster you run into questions science hasn’t fully answered yet.” —Mayim, [Intro]
• "You find beauty in ways… by unpacking it and looking at it in a certain way, you find a beauty in it and an awe and a wonder." —Mayim, [06:04]
• “There is no ‘no.’ Almost never. There's always a ‘this could be something else.’” —Mayim, [11:23]
• “Only optimism allows openness.” —Jonathan, [13:06]
• “When you place yourself in a mental state of optimism, of openness… there is a resonance in your body… that creates cellular possibilities, immune possibilities, and literally a happier, more open state in your body.” —Jonathan, [19:12]
• "The answer is a conversation that you are having with yourself, the universe, and… something greater than you." —Jonathan, [25:12]

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Suggested Timestamps for Key Segments

• [03:14] - Defining oneself beyond job titles
• [06:04] - Linking personal qualities to finding beauty and awe
• [11:49] - The soul's unique characteristics and life purpose
• [13:06] - Simon Sinek, optimism, hope in difficult times
• [17:27] - Neuroscience of optimism and regulation
• [20:25] - Breaking negative spirals and health implications
• [22:48] - Acceptance vs. approval, forgiveness, reframing pain
• [25:12] - Personal healing as an ongoing, individualized process

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Tone and Style

Friendly, conversational, and intellectually curious, the co-hosts blend personal stories, rigorous inquiry, and an openness to spiritual possibilities. The episode is both practical and uplifting, encouraging listeners to seek meaning, foster optimism, and embrace healing as a personal and collective journey.

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Takeaways

• Core identity is forged by qualities and passions, not simply professions or roles.
• Recognizing and reconnecting with your “soul traits” can provide clarity, resilience, and fulfillment.
• Optimism and hope are vital—not merely abstract—but with tangible transformative effects on the mind and body.
• The process toward healing, understanding, and forgiveness is non-linear and unique to each person.
• Community, support, and expert resources are essential; there are many paths to wholeness and well-being.

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Transcript

[Mayim Bialik]

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[Jonathan Cohen]

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[Jonathan Cohen]

Foreign

[Mayim Bialik]

Bialik and I'm Jonathan Cohen and

[Jonathan Cohen]

welcome to our Breakdown. Today we're going to share a conversation that was previously only available for the Breaker community on our Substack page. It's a conversation that Jonathan and I had, which turned into a whole episode about what happens when we stop defining ourselves by what we do and start looking at who we actually are are. Here's some of the stuff we tackle in this episode.

[Mayim Bialik]

We talk about the connection between our unique souls, our internal state and our physical health. How all of those are actually connected. We also cover how to find our unique purpose by reconnecting with our soul's traits. These are inherent qualities that we have carried ever since we were children.

[Jonathan Cohen]

I struggle with openness and we talk about why maintaining a state of openness is actually a biological necessity. Necessity. We also talk about our unique purpose, something Jonathan is kind of an expert on. Where do we box ourselves in with old stories? Perceived limitations that can leave us feeling constrained and disconnected from our true potential.

[Mayim Bialik]

Also, one of the most powerful practices that keeps getting spoken about is the idea of finding awe and wonder in hidden ways throughout your day or even your week, and how that can change your mental health and even your physical health.

[Jonathan Cohen]

We hope this episode gives you a sense of awe and wonder. And if you want to hear these conversations before we even air them anywhere else, please make sure to join our substack community. That's MayimBialik's breakdown on Substack. You can go to bialikbreakdown.substack.com Please join us over there. We hope you enjoy this incredible episode and we hope to see you over on Substack. Break it down.

[Mayim Bialik]

If you have to describe yourself as who you are at your core, that is not related to the things that you do for a living. What would it be? How do we define ourselves? How do we actually find out who we are in a way that is not, hey, I do X for a living. It's not that I am an accountant. So I'll give you an example. My father, who is an accountant. Yes, I would not say that he is an accountant. He may say that he's an accountant. But actually what I think is, is a man who loved systems and organization. He loves to find the best way to do something that's actually who he is at the core. And no matter what he would have done for a living, he would have brought that aspect of himself to that job.

[Jonathan Cohen]

Okay, so think about all the things you've ever done in your life that you've been good at, that you've enjoyed, or that you felt drawn to. What is the thing that is uniquely you? Even if you're an identical twin, what's the thing that is uniquely you about all of those things? It's actually, it's a great question. When framed that way. I will say that my experience, when I got to direct a movie for the first time, which I did a few years ago, I felt like pretty much every single aspect of all the things about me were contained in one place. And that's not to say that oh God put me on this planet to be a director, but I'm very persnickety. I'm very particular. I'm very tuned into details and I'm deeply emotionally wired. So for me, storytelling and crafting a visual image that conveyed an emotional concept in a way that required specificity, list making, task or, and being able to manage the personalities around that, I was like, yeah, that Feels like the skill set, right, that I was supposed to have. So what was. What's me about it? My friend Emu, who actually helped me start the YouTube channel that we all use and know and love. He said, I find beauty in the mundane. And he feels that that's something I do when I'm a human, when I'm a mom, when I'm a writer, when I'm a creator. He felt that that's like my superpower. I mean, I guess you can use it in a lot of different ways. You know, I use it interpersonally. When I see people picking up trash on the street, when I see, you know, I want to connect with those people, right? I want to have an experience of connection in a situation that otherwise might be mundane. There always is purpose, There always is beauty. Maybe that's what I'm. That's the me, right?

[Mayim Bialik]

I would actually even connect that to your scientific pursuits, which is helping people understand things brings a beauty into something that may feel inaccessible. It may not even just be the mundane that you create and find beauty in. You find beauty in ways of the intricacy of our biology, the way in which our psychology is constructed, our spiritual lives. You, by unpacking it and looking at it in a certain way, you find a beauty in it and an awe and a wonder. I actually say spending time with you is partly so amazing because you have a sense of awe and excitement about things that other people don't.

[Jonathan Cohen]

What's the you, Jonathan, that is throughout everything you do, besides being adorable and clever?

[Mayim Bialik]

Well, I've been like that ever since I was young. My grandmother told me.

[Jonathan Cohen]

Is that right?

[Mayim Bialik]

Yeah. My grandmother was very loving and was a very loving force in my life. I had a conversation recently with a. With a very old friend. I played hockey with him when I was six years old. I was playing competitive hockey at a young age, and he and I went to. Went to fourth grade together. And he said to me, he's like, one of the great things about hanging out with you. You were always looking to get into a little mischief. You were always looking to push the edges and the boundaries. You were constantly experimenting. And like, when I hung out with you, I never knew what might happen.

[Jonathan Cohen]

You're an adventurer. That's really the question you're asking 10,000 years ago, who were you? If you place yourself 10,000 years ago, what purpose did you serve in the function of common humanity? So you're an adventurer.

[Mayim Bialik]

I have a great. Either a great grandfather or a great great grandfather who left Poland at 10 years old and made his way to the UK, smuggled himself onto a passenger ship and came to Canada. There is an element of trying to explain things that are somewhat unexplainable. That, that is part like as a very young age, I can remember feeling like this overwhelming sense of, of curiosity and imagination and trying to translate that into a way that people could understand and share.

[Jonathan Cohen]

Okay, so if I'm gonna link those things. Cause I really like this game. You are very resourceful. You're very resourceful, you're very scrappy. And I would hold that, that ability to make meaning out of meaningless things, to find explanation in inexplicable things. To me that's the same skill that allows one to leave the village they're from and freaking get it together to survive and get yourself on a boat to live. Like, is that the same, you know, Cohen skill set? Right.

[Mayim Bialik]

I'm going to add one piece to this and then I'm going to land this plane back to Simon Sinek. And to everyone listening right now you're

[Jonathan Cohen]

circling Newark, as we say.

[Mayim Bialik]

The other thing that I think is related to this is always believing that there is something else that's available outside of the current constraints.

[Jonathan Cohen]

Same story, that survival story.

[Mayim Bialik]

When I was in Toronto, we were building a media team and the office literally had no space for us. And that didn't make sense to me. Like we had.

[Jonathan Cohen]

So you said let's go into another portal of consciousness and there's room for everyone.

[Mayim Bialik]

Correct. Because here's the thing, it was an open office and everyone was getting super annoyed because editing is sometimes a collaborative experience. And there were and like you need to like have multiple people listening. And there's a video that, that's online. It's so funny. It's like the girlfriend of an editor or the boyfriend of an editor where you hear them dragging the marker over and over. It's like hello, hello, hello. Because they're trying to get the cut just right. And so if you've never edited a video, it's a wildly annoying activity to anyone else who's listening to you. And we have a whole team of editors on a floor of other people.

[Jonathan Cohen]

Literally what God is saying as God is watching us unfolding, like this is not a show that I'm enjoying

[Mayim Bialik]

or he's loving it. We don't know. We needed a space, we needed a room. There were no rooms. No one would give us a room. What did I do? I found a room that literally had wall to wall junk in it. Storage. And I started Going through piece by piece saying, this could be given away. This is old. This doesn't need to be here. And I turned a room that was previously condemned with junk into our office, and we flourished.

[Jonathan Cohen]

And that's the metaphor for what Jonathan did for my life. He said, this is a room full of stuff that needs to be given away, resorted or redistributed. And underneath, there's a beautiful office just waiting to be utilized. If you pull back, you're still describing who Jonathan is. You're still describing someone who sees this is. There is no, no. There is no. No.

[Mayim Bialik]

Almost. Almost never. There's always a hit. This could be something else.

[Jonathan Cohen]

And I'll be like, you see this closet full of crap? I will just sit in the corner with the crap on top of me, and I'll make it work.

[Mayim Bialik]

I will put a skylight in. I will rearrange it. You can make it beautiful. You could sleep just creative.

[Jonathan Cohen]

You know, your substack page is called Practical Spirituality. I think it could be called Creative Survival.

[Mayim Bialik]

We talk about this notion of the soul, that we are all imbued with specific characteristics that are uniquely us. And part of our challenge in this world is that we are not connected to those aspects of ourselves, and we don't use those aspects to help us navigate a life that is truly ours. More so than ever before, we are looking from the outside to try and answer the question, who am I? What should I be? What should I do? And how do I make my way in this world? And what Simon suggests is, in fact, you have to answer that question by going backwards in your life to find the things that you were uniquely good at that sparked a sense of excitement in you that uncover these inherent characteristics that are purely you and use those to help bring yourself to life. And there are so many different ways that you can bring those to life for you. You could have been a closet organizer. You could direct movies. There are so many ways that making beauty out of the mundane exists, and they're all uniquely you.

[Jonathan Cohen]

Simon Sinek also talked about, you know, a kind of openness that only optimism allows, only optimism allows. And I wanted to mention, you know, especially for those of you who are new, we don't typically talk really about politics. And I've sort of. I've literally stopped, you know, kind of posting about politics for the most part, you know, in the last period of time, just for a lot of mental health reasons, which I think a lot of you can probably relate to. But especially. And this is not a political conversation, this is not a partisan thing, especially in the times that we're living in, where there is at the least confusion, maybe some skepticism about where we're going, what we're doing, what our place is in the world, no matter where we live. Cause I know there's people here from all over the world. But the notion of optimism in this case means no matter what, no matter what, we have to hold a place where there is hope. Peace is the only thing that can last forever, right? So when people ask me how I feel about, name a situation in the world right now where it feels critical, where our hearts are breaking, where there is suffering, where there is injustice, where we need to speak up. It's happening all over the world. I have to hold that space. This is a place where I really resonated with what Simon Sinek said. I have to hold that place where no matter how negative you are, no matter how cynical you are, no matter how much you hate this leader or that leader or this person, there has to be a space for that hope that at some point we can keep working towards reconciliation, peace, love, more rights, more opening, more acceptance. I, I, I agree with him. We have to do that.

[Mayim Bialik]

This episode is sponsored by Wondering Jews, an Open Door media brand.

[Jonathan Cohen]

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[Mayim Bialik]

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[Jonathan Cohen]

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[Mayim Bialik]

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[Mayim Bialik]

Talk to us a little bit about the neuroscience of what happens when we reroute away from catastrophe, away from focusing on the negative and recognize and hold the belief that Simon amazingly articulates that there is light at the end of the tunnel. We just have to ask how much bad has to happen before we get there?

[Jonathan Cohen]

Well, right, and we can't always know the answer to that question. You know, this is like a little bit of a, as the kids say, this is like a little bit of a trigger warning for, for, for those of you who, like me, tend towards the cynical, tend towards the pessimistic, feel like we're in a hole or that we personally are experiencing something that's putting us in a hole. So like short story long, it does matter. The state that you allow your nervous system to be in in order to determine how much, you know, optimism and healing can happen.

[Mayim Bialik]

You said something like it's important, the state of your nervous system. Like what does that mean practically to people?

[Jonathan Cohen]

Explain we've spoken to people like Bruce Lipton here. We've even spoken to people like Joe Dispenza. We've, we've talked about the work of Tony Robbins. We've also spoken to people who are healers, mystics, channelers. What, what is that? What all of these people have in common, right, whether they're a, a doctor, a physician, a specialist, a healer, is that when you place yourself in a mental state of optimism, of openness of any of those positive emotions, right? And we're speaking somewhat subjectively, but those kinds of emotions. There is physiology that science now has caught up with that for thousands of years mystics, yogis, healers have talked about. And what happens is there is a resonance in your body that produces the state that many New age people would call manifesting. What does it mean to visualize? Why are people telling you to do positive affirmations? Guess what people? It's all the same. It's all the same. Can you put your nervous system a state of more calm, more relaxation, more vagal toning when you're told to exhale through your mouth in a yoga class to kind of get that heat out, that's the same kind of breathing that any doctor trained in nervous system regulation will encourage you to do. One of the most documented things we can do to promote healing, a stronger immune system and better outcomes for many challenges is, is all of this stuff. And guess what? If you want the scientific term for it, it is. It's vagus nerve regulation. It's sympathetic nervous system regulation. All of those things create cellular possibilities, immune possibilities, and literally a happier, more open state in your body with which you then can change your life. I mean that's just the truth.

[Mayim Bialik]

When you're looking at something, for example, and guy in the comments mention something that like is in the news right now extremely distressing. Saying that you are optimistic does not mean that you like or accept any particular behavior or action. We can be horrified in outrage. However, what it means is that you don't go into a cycle of breaking down and spiraling into correct society is fundamentally bad. The world is fundamentally ending. There's like you can see how one thought quickly spirals and those. That type of spiraling with a negative bias has a physiological impact on every part of our body, even being shown to suppress and repress the immune system's ability to fight disease.

[Jonathan Cohen]

And we talked about this in our episode with Gabor Mate, which I highly recommend his book the Myth of Normal, which is kind of his opus of all of his research. He's done on trauma, on addiction, on adhd. And what he talks about is that the body places itself in different states depending on the thoughts and the behaviors that you're exhibiting. We talk about autoimmune conditions. So many women are having autoimmune diagnoses. So many women, especially in hormonal shifts in life, are experiencing autoimmune challenges. What Gabor Mate talks about is that people who tend to do a lot for other people often get sick more people who are naturally inclined to shove down their feelings and their needs in service of other people. Insert women for most of human history here. Those people tend to have a profile, which it's true, given the environment, given the social pressures, given all the chemicals that we're putting in our body. Like those things are also, you know, accurate. That combination and that conglomeration of complexity is. Is something that we can see play out with immune function. We can see it play out with autoimmune diagnoses. Even with things like multiple sclerosis. We could see it in cancer. I mean, it's shocking. And also, when I say it's true, I don't mean because I said it. I'm saying science is finally catching up to what so many of us either intuitively knew or if we come from an eastern tradition or an alternative health perspective or we also have been, you

[Mayim Bialik]

know, taught and know this is potentially actually one of the most important conversations we are going to have about how to program yourself to interact with the world for your well being. Michael Singer explains and sort of Simon, that you do not have to like what's going on. You don't have to look at the person who has done something horrific and say, I accept or I believe that that's okay. What you can do is hold the possibility that that is not the end state, that it doesn't have to continue, that there's another way of being that us as humanity can get to forgiving

[Jonathan Cohen]

someone, not holding rage and resentment in your heart for even something that was done to you that is wrong. The more that we cling to that, the more that we hold onto it. It continues to punish us and not the other person. So the notion of acceptance, right, being an acceptance of what is does not mean you like it, does not mean you approve of it, does not mean like, oh, now I have to interact with this person all the time. The notion of being able to say something happened to me or I was hurt and I do not want to hold that negativity anymore. And there's many, many Skilled practitioners who can help you work through that and move through that. That does not mean that you are happy about that it happened or that you hold love in your heart. Someone said, you know the notion of Jesus, right? Like that sense of forgiveness and redemption is possible. It does not mean though that you like it or that you necessarily approve or support that.

[Mayim Bialik]

Each one of our thoughts start to lead us into more thoughts than create this impact. So when I'm with someone and I dislike what they're doing, I have to catch myself very quickly to not go down that spiral of how could they do this? Why would they do this? There are bad because as I get into that narrative, it's a very fast tangle that the mind is amazing at creating, which will then have that physiological impact on me. So how do we do that? We create the pause. We notice those things, we create the pause and we say what else might be true to give them mind the opportunity to build something else.

[Jonathan Cohen]

Okay. Also, I don't want people to presume that like Jonathan and I are giving you the answer in this live. The answer is a process. The answer is a conversation that you are having with yourself, the universe. And guess what? Something greater than you. I don't care if it's gravity, I don't care if it's a tree. It could really be whatever you'd like. If you want to call it God, congratulations, great, whatever. The notion that that is a process you engage in is the answer. You know, someone's like, how do I get rid of it? Many different ways. If you've got an addiction, seek, seek the root of that addiction. If you want to figure out why you're doing something, stop doing it. If you find that you are leaning on name the things we use to fill the God shaped hole. Alcohol, drugs, porn, sex, codependency, fantasy, intrigue, stop gambling, work. Digital distraction of all kind, digital distraction, cognitive distraction. I've found that like me, thinking hard about things is its own distraction from like feeling what's happening in my body. All of those things you get to figure out, like what is your thing? And then how. How did the universe place you here for you to get the support you need? And that's why literally Jonathan and I started this podcast, is because for everything that ails us, there are people who are experts. There are people who have told us what works for them and what doesn't. There are books, there are therapies. Depends on your thing. So if someone were to come to me and say, I cannot control what happens when I drink Alcohol and I don't know if I'm gonna have one drink or 65 drinks or I don't know where I wake up sometimes or how I got there. And I don't like it. There are ways to address the disease of alcoholism, right? There are ways to address that. Chances are there's fear, resentment, anger built up there, but for someone else, it's gonna be a different path. This is like the job of the simulation that we're in. Figure out what ails you, what are you trying to put in that God shaped hole, get to the other side of it. There's something waiting. And it may not be enlightenment, it may not be feeling the energy in your hands as Jonathan can train us to do on his page, but it can be different than what you're in. And I do believe there is some hope, my Simon Sinek hope that it can be better, even incrementally.

[Mayim Bialik]

This conversation is better than I imagined. I'm really very excited by this. The connection point here for me is that Simon is very much of this world and yet he talks about the unique expression of each of our souls and how we can do better in the real world by having that connection and knowing who we are on a very deep level, which mirrors the spiritualists. I really appreciate going in this very beautiful circle. We circled Newark, but we landed the plane. I think we went to multiple airports today.

[Jonathan Cohen]

We circled Newark and many, many other

[Mayim Bialik]

airports, made a lot of connecting flights.

[Jonathan Cohen]

Are the books behind Mayim ones that she has completed reading? You know what, Caroline Chavez all of these books are people that we've had on the podcast. We have them color blocked because that's a very important thing for me. I, I am a very fast reader. I'm a disproportionately fast reader and compiler of information. Jonathan calls me the robot. I would say I've written, I've read most of these books. Valerie Val producer. Valerie's here. I think I've read most of these books.

[Mayim Bialik]

I'm going to give a a consideration for the end of this live. Thank you everyone for being here, especially if you're new. We do these every week. Consider becoming a paid subscriber. We have an amazing team that helps us pull off all this content. There is a lot that goes in to getting this stuff out in organizing it. And also we, along with these lives, we release exclusive content that is here only here and not available anywhere else. So please consider it if you're able to.

[Jonathan Cohen]

I did want to mention this deserves a shout out. Kristin said read the book of life based on your wreck. So good. Deep cut. Peter Kingsley, if anybody wants to read the book of life and lose your mind. Also wanted to say, especially for people who are new here, there are different things you can get on our page. We do a founder Zoom. If you'd like to become a founding member of our community, which is a commitment to support the business that creates all of the things that we do here, please join. Become a founder. We do special founder Zooms, which is like this, but much smaller. And it's just me and Jonathan on a Zoom with the founders, and we take personal questions and it's a really fun community. So if you want and you want even like a smaller, more intimate community, please consider becoming one of our founders. And our company really appreciates all the support we get from Substack. So anyway. Oh, do I have a recommended book list? Don't get me started. Bethany. Maybe for another time.

[Podcast Intro Announcer]

It's Maya Bialix, Breakdown. She's gonna break it down for you. She's got a neuroscience PhD or two, and now she's gonna break down. So break down. She's gonna break it down.