Goldie Hawn (3:45)

No, I was doing a documentary In Search of Joy.

Dan Buettner (3:47)

Search of Joy.

Goldie Hawn (3:48)

And I being aligned with what you were doing. And my girlfriend, you know, our girlfriend now, you know Liz, she said, you've got to meet this guy. He's, you know, doing all this stuff on happiness for National Geographic. So that's where we got together. Remember, at the beach house?

Dan Buettner (4:03)

I do.

Goldie Hawn (4:03)

And I met you there. And it was like we met on happiness. We met on two people that were most interested in people's, I say, state of mind and how we can actually, what are the causes of happiness? And I know at that time, I was speaking about it in London and Australia about the causes of happiness and so forth. And you were sort of my guiding light. You were that person that was like, oh, my God. So we're soulmates.

Dan Buettner (4:30)

We really are. And over the years, we've talked about. We were on Oprah together. I don't know if you remember that.

Goldie Hawn (4:35)

Yes, I do. Because that was unhappiness.

Dan Buettner (4:38)

Yes. And we're talking about state of mind. You know, I kind of approach happiness. My general belief on happiness, it's a product of our environment. And we know this when we follow unhappy people from places like the Soviet bloc countries to Copenhagen, or from unhappy places in Southeast Asia to Canada, which is a very happy country. Their gender doesn't change, their sexual orientation doesn't change. Their health doesn't change much. Their education doesn't change much. But within one year, they can experience or report a doubling of their happiness. I know of no other drug or intervention other than perhaps Mind up that can double your happiness. And you come from an equally valid point of view, which is mindset. And you and I just got done talking for a couple hours and we talked about, is mindset something you can say to yourself today? I'm going to change my mindset?

Goldie Hawn (5:32)

Or.

Dan Buettner (5:32)

Or is it the result of having grown up and having had a series of life experiences that shape you, that either temper you for hardship or perhaps weaken you because life has been too easy?

Goldie Hawn (5:47)

Yeah, it's a good question.

Dan Buettner (5:48)

You grew up you weren't coddled as a child, were you?

Goldie Hawn (5:51)

No, but my perspective on that particular question is that it's a little of both. I mean, we were talking at lunch about how we feel about your family. How do you feel about your mother and your father? Were you supported? Were you not? Do you really know or remember what that feeling of love felt like? Or being tucked into bed, knowing you're safe and that somebody loves you unconditionally, no matter what? I think those are things that we can hearken on if we're lucky enough to have had them in our life. But I do know because I became very, very depressed, very anxious over a period of my life when I was just becoming successful. And it was very, very hard for me. I actually couldn't figure out who I was. I was frightened. And when you are someone who's happy by nature and knows that they have a lot of stabilization in their own growing up years, fantastic. But I did have memory of the feeling and the somatic feeling, which is the emotional feeling of what it was to be loved and cared for. But something happened to me and to my brain. I couldn't go into public. I was having panic attacks. I didn't know where they came from. Every time I walked into a place or a restaurant or wherever, I'd want to vomit. Wow.

Dan Buettner (7:00)

How old were you at this point?

Goldie Hawn (7:02)

I was 22. So, you know, we don't know. And there's a lot of people I believe that might be listening, that also feel these, what you call panic attacks. So the question there is, what did I do right? Because I, at 11 years old, made a statement. People ask me, goldie, what do you want to be when you grow up? Do you want to be ballerina? Do you want to be whatever? And I used to say to them, no, I just want to be happy. And that is the truth. I even thought to myself, what a funny thing to say. And I watched their faces. But I really did.

Dan Buettner (7:33)

That's Prussian for 11 year old.

Goldie Hawn (7:34)

I wanted to be happy. And I think that most of my life has been led by a concept, an idea, led by something that I wanted to do, to put into action. I wanted no one to ever take my happiness away from me. The question is, why did I think it could be taken away from me at 11 years old? So when this happened to me when I was 22 years old, I was just taken out of the chorus line. I was dancing. I loved it. Dancing was my life. And the next thing I know, I was having these attacks, these anxiety Where I couldn't go out and I went to see a doctor immediately.

Dan Buettner (8:09)

Did something happen to you? Was somebody mean to you or.

Goldie Hawn (8:12)

No, no, I went home. I was suddenly doing. I was going to do this show. This was Good Morning World for Desilu. I think it was cbs. I was pulled out of the Chorus line. And then after I had done a few things, but I hadn't done any acting yet on the show, they wanted me to go like the upfronts today, where you go out there and you do your show, you talk about your show, but everybody was asking for my autograph. Well, I had just left New York a year and a half before that with a dog and $50 in my pocket. Wow. So all of a sudden I am like, I'm signing an autograph for Goldie Hawn. What did I do? I wasn't even on TV yet. They hadn't aired it. I don't know. I just was feeling really destabilized. I thought I was going to go home again. I thought I was going to get married and have children and be happy and open a dancing school, but that's not what happened. So with that, what we're getting at is mindset. I knew I wanted to return back to my state of happy. I knew that that was me, this was not me. And so I worked for a year and a half to reduce the fear that I was gonna have more of these anxiety attacks, more of these panic attacks. And I worked with a doctor and I opened my mind and I did all kinds of things, and it was all Freudian. Quite different than cognitive therapy. Very different. I'm not discussing things. I'm going back in my mind and free associating to the various things that come up. It was sort of like a meditation. When you sit there and then your thoughts come in, I don't know where they came from, but the brain thinks that's all it does anyway, and you just let them go. But what's different is I say them in this particular kind of analysis. Cutting to the chase eight years later was my last day with this doctor. And the reason was, is because I was learning much more about my psyche, more about other psyches, understanding not so much the brain, but my psychology and also forgiveness. Things that we learn to do after time, hopefully. So when you say, is it a mindset? I wake up and I have stress in my life. I've got a program that I want more children in the whole wide world to have. And those are very difficult ambitions. I also have to deal with people that work for me and what is a business, but yet it's really a foundation because we want to do well, but you have to deal with it. That's where we go. We're stressed, do wake up in the morning and our brain is negative, biased, no matter what the negative, because it's there to save us, take care of us, nurture us, make sure we're safe. But it's also negative bias, which means that I could wake up and think, why didn't that person call? And I should have called this and I needed to do that. And instead I've changed that because of consciousness. A mindset is to have the consciousness to be able to say, I'm not going to do that.

Dan Buettner (11:07)

You told me this great story at lunch. You were a happy child who knew she wanted to dance. You knew you wanted to be happy, but you also knew you wanted to dance. And you got not a big break, but a bit of a break to come dance for the World Fair. And you did something very brave and it didn't quite turn out like you hoped. Can you tell that story?

Goldie Hawn (11:27)

I used to go to New York and dance, okay? So I would take lessons and then I'd go home. I lived in Maryland, right, so it wasn't that far. So I got a job with the guy that was actually, you know, working with me as a dance teacher. He was great. And he said, we've got a gig and I'd love you to be one of my dancers at the World's Fair. And that would mean that I would be doing the can can with five other girls over a bar that was like 12ft high. And I was so excited. Anyway, yeah, I went. So I waved by to mom and dad and we were on a dead end street. I was about 18, almost 19. And I waved goodbye. And then this driver, which was a friend of my mom's, drove me to New York City and let me off on 10th Avenue, which is really was a bad area at that point. But I didn't know that. Anyway, I went up to the people I was supposed to stay with and they weren't home. So their neighbor came out and said, oh, they left for the summer. I had nowhere to stay. I had a little suitcase and a purse and a bag or something. And I went up to the studio and I said, I don't have a place to stay. I don't know where I'm gonna stay tonight. I was supposed to stay with these people. And he said, well, you can stay with me. And I went oh, thanks so much, Phil. That was great. Okay. And then I'll look for an apartment. Now I'm alone. I don't have anybody with me. I don't have any roommate. None of it. So with it was. I then went home with him and went to bed and all that stuff. And then the second night, I was there with him, too, and he was in a very small apartment. So in the middle of the night, I felt like a vibrator going up my leg. And I'm going, oh, no. I said, this is not. This isn't going to work. This is not going to work. So with that, I said, I think I'll look for an apartment tomorrow. And he went, well, I was just trying to relax your legs. And what? I said, no, no, no, no, no, you weren't. I know what you were doing. This is not good, Phil. So the next day I went out, I looked for an apartment, and I got one. And it was not in a good area either. This was Needle Park. If we remember, in the 70s, it was all heroin addicts and. But I got this room and one little area for cooking. Sort of a bedroom and a bathroom and lots and lots and lots of police locks on the door. A lot of cockroaches all made their presence when I went to the bathroom in the middle of the night. But I got it because it was across from the school, and I could hear the children laughing and everything during the day. And it made me feel like all was right with the world.

Dan Buettner (14:05)

You tell that story, and I think people think that successful actresses, celebrities, have had it easy in life. And here you're a teenager, you're by yourself in New York. You're taking an enormous chance. People let you down. You're with cockroaches and drug dealers, but somehow you're able to hear the voices of children and smile at that. And I just wonder when you talk about mindset and you have a very positive mindset. I've known you for 15 years. You treat everybody with kindness. You give everybody the time of day. You have the same challenges that most of us listening have, but you somehow have this ability to laugh or make it a joke or see the happy side of it. And I just wonder if having endured that hardship when you were a teenager and that let down helped shape your mind so you're better able to see the positive today, or if that was just a coincidence.

Goldie Hawn (15:01)

No, I think you're right on one level and some levels. Okay, a lot of levels, frankly. But in this, I would say that that Muscle is what I consider, and I've always felt it. A tickle inside of me. I can conjure that tickle up at any time because I know what it feels like to feel joy. If I can feel the joy, then I can replicate it. Because so much of it also is not just in your experience, but in your ability to retrieve some of these experiences. I've done some speaking and I talk to some areas of people that they don't come to me to be unhappy, but they feel sort of levels of discontent. We all do. But in terms of that particular feeling, I explain that that's who they were when they were little. That tickling heart, that joy, that laughter. Children laugh so much more than we do that adults don't. So I look at that and I say, take a picture of yourself. Put it by your desk, wherever you were working, a big smiley picture of you when you were a little girl or a little boy. And remember that's still who you are. You have to know that that tickle, that doesn't go anywhere. Life can cover it up. It can muddy the water. I remember when Kate said to me, and she was six or six years.

Dan Buettner (16:39)

Old, Kate Hudson being your daughter.

Goldie Hawn (16:41)

Kate Hudson being my daughter, yes. Don't get me started. She's so awesome. Anyway, but she was little and she said, mommy. And I've told this story before, but it's a good one. One more on the subject. She said, is God my cousin? And so beautiful. But I gave her a really interesting analogy. Cause I said, I think God is everywhere. And maybe could be your cousin. I don't know. We can't see God, I said, but here's a really good way of experiencing God. I said, and you know that feeling just before you're gonna laugh?

Dan Buettner (17:16)

Yeah. You know, it's coming up.

Goldie Hawn (17:18)

That's what God feels.

Dan Buettner (17:20)

Quake. Oh, that's such a great analogy.

Goldie Hawn (17:22)

That's what God feels like. And everybody has it. Because we were all touched when we were born. And I believe that we were born with a seed of joy. Because when you look at a child and you watch them laugh and they're little and they don't even know how to talk, and they don't know it's just something in there. I don't like the idea that it's gone. And I have had my sad days, but I would never want to forego the opportunity I have to reconnect with that piece of me.

Dan Buettner (17:56)

So believe it or not, audio is part of my daily life. For some reason, I wake up every night about three in the morning and I don't know what to do with myself. I don't want to get completely jolted awake. So I put on audible.com and listen to an audio book and it's actually many days my favorite part of the day. It helps lull me back to sleep in a way that I have great dreams. And that's just one reason why I love listening to Audible. Audible has an incredible collection of audiobooks, podcasts and original content and has become one of my favorite ways to stay curious and to keep learning whether I'm traveling, walking or just going about my day or night. In fact, several of my own audiobooks, including the Blue Zones and the Blue Zones of Happiness are available on Audible and I love that people can listen to these ideas in a way that actually fits into their real life. Listening on Audible makes it easy to explore new perspectives, revisit ideas that matter, and build simple habits that support long term wellbeing. Kickstart your wellbeing journey with your first audiobook free. When you sign up for a free 30 day trial at audible.com membership is 14.95amonth. After 30 days, cancel anytime. That's audible.comlivebetter because staying curious might just be one of the best longevity practices we have. You know, I've spent my life exploring the world. Not chasing adrenaline, but meaning. From the blue zones of Costa Rica to the highlands of Sardinia, I've learned that adventure isn't about going further, it's about going deeper. That's why the Defender caught my attention. It's not just built for the toughest roads. It's designed for people with a purpose, a vehicle capable of great things like the people who drive it. When I'm planning a new expedition or just heading up to my lake place, I want something that feels as durable and capable as the journeys themselves. The Defender, whether the 2 door 90, the the 110, or the 8 seat 130, gives you the confidence to explore wherever your path leads. Because adventure isn't just about conquering the landscape, it's about connecting with it. Explore the defender@landroverusa.com People out there who are struggling with anxiety or depression or having a hard time, they think of our political situation and they're having a hard time seeing the joy. How do you find that tickle? How do you conjure the tickle?

Goldie Hawn (20:45)

You might not be able to at first, but I also believe that consciousness is a very big deal and we can't forget that we have the capability by understanding the brain. And this is what I teach kids in the classroom. This is why MindUp is still alive after 22 years.

Dan Buettner (21:02)

Let's just. We're gonna bring up MindUp. Let's talk about what it is.

Goldie Hawn (21:05)

Okay? MindUp is a program that I dreamed. It was created by neuroscientists, positive psychologists, and some practitioners. But I asked a big question back after 9. 11 happened because I knew the world. I felt it had changed forever. And I wanted to help our children understand that we're going to be okay parents. We're going to be okay. It was a really difficult time. And for me, I knit the American flag. Adam knitwool. Because I. I couldn't imagine that America could not still be the best and most amazing country on earth. So that is what happened. And I took all the things during that time of happiness that we were studying that I was gonna take around the world in search of joy around the world. Because I did a lot of stuff with brain during that, and I learned a lot. And then I became much more ensconced in understanding brain science and the connection between neurological activity by understanding the brain. Does that give us a little bit more agenc over understanding how to work with our brain? And why aren't schoolchildren, first off taught with these little parts of the brain and what they do? Neuroscience should be taught in every classroom. So that's what came to my mind. And like anything else, I was very brave, and I decided, I'm gonna do this and see if it works. And it did. So what we have now is a program called MindUP. And it starts with neuroscience and three very important parts of the brain. The amygdala, the prefrontal cortex, I thinking brain, and the amygdala, which is where we react and we feel big emotions. And when that amygdala starts going off because we're scared or uncertain or angry or too high or whatever, the executive function, which is the prefrontal cortex, goes offline. That means that it's being hijacked by your big emotions. Can you make decisions under those things? No. Can you learn on a frenzied brain? No. How do we calm the brain down so we understand how we quiet the brain so the wise owl and the executive function and that PFC can come back online. That's how we think. That's how we solve problems. That's how we help. And there's no biased in there, because all we're doing is calming down that part of our brain. So when we learn more about our Brain. We learn more about our potentiality. How are we going to be able to actually restructure our brain? For instance, we had very depressed people. This is a research study on people depressed in the bed. Very depressed. They gave them gratitude journals every day. This was for 12 weeks or so. And I'm sorry, I don't remember the amount of weeks, but it was. Write five things you're grateful for every day that brought them out of their bed. Many of them recovered, others needed help. But truly that is a powerful activity. What are you grateful for? Why? Because it activates certain areas of the brain that create neurological connections that create bundles. I would rather create a bundle to remember what I am grateful for and let that those neurons keep connecting and firing and wiring together that way.

Dan Buettner (24:27)

It's so easy to focus on that thing that made me mad. That thing we saw on tv, those other people. But there's so many wonderful things that happen to our lives and we pay attention to the things that we give energy to and that we give attention to.

Goldie Hawn (24:42)

Exactly.

Dan Buettner (24:43)

So what better way to do that than have to practice to actually write them down. Calm to the front of our brain. Make sure our hand is following that thought to reinforce it, to calcify it.

Goldie Hawn (24:55)

It is not woo woo stuff.

Dan Buettner (24:57)

No, it's very.

Goldie Hawn (24:59)

It's incredibly healthy for the brain.

Dan Buettner (25:01)

And free.

Goldie Hawn (25:02)

You don't have to freeing. You know what else is cool that frees you up is forgiveness, which we all.

Dan Buettner (25:08)

That's a tougher one though.

Goldie Hawn (25:09)

That's very, very hard. What we do is trying to create in the classroom cognitive flexibility. Well, a cognitive flexible mind is able to change their mind. It's able to look at something from a different angle. Now if you want to really feel compassionate about someone. Let's say you don't like Donald Trump.

Dan Buettner (25:29)

Yeah.

Goldie Hawn (25:29)

Because he's a person that people have a lot of dislike for, for whatever reason. But I can tell you, you will find something to forgive him for. If you don't really look at people who may have some traits you don't like. Aside from people who murder people. I'm sorry, but I mean, obviously there's lines drawn, but we can always find something worthy of looking at and saying they did that, Will.

Dan Buettner (25:55)

Yeah.

Goldie Hawn (25:56)

And I know it sounds very Mother Teresa weirdness, but it works, man. And poison is right there in your very own backyard. Because hatred and anger and lack thereof of forgiveness will only manifest physically in your body. Because your brain and your body are like one, dude. I mean they just work together. It's like the heart and the mind and the brain work very closely together. So we just have to honor both.

Dan Buettner (26:25)

I remember, I think it's probably 10 years you and I partnered on a series of schools in southern Los Angeles for MindUp with the blue Zone project. And what I remember about it that so impressed me is part of the curriculum is you had children be quiet. You had children focusing on quietness. In a way, it was meditation. You didn't really call it meditation.

Goldie Hawn (26:49)

We call it a brain break.

Dan Buettner (26:50)

A brain break.

Goldie Hawn (26:51)

And the kids know every brain needs a break break. And my God, it does.

Dan Buettner (26:55)

And in our world of overstimulation of social media and texting and tv, it's such a powerful that just silence can be such a wonderful teacher.

Goldie Hawn (27:05)

Oh, my God.

Dan Buettner (27:06)

And you brought that to them through MindUp.

Goldie Hawn (27:08)

That's what we're continuing to do, is to know that we do three brain breaks a day, not just one. One in the morning when they come in, one in the afternoon after lunch. Because everybody is all crazy.

Dan Buettner (27:19)

Yeah, yeah.

Goldie Hawn (27:19)

And then one either before a test and then one as a goodbye, which is a very short one.

Dan Buettner (27:26)

And have you studied children's outcomes? Do they do better in tests?

Goldie Hawn (27:30)

Oh, yes. They do better in English. They've done better in math. They work better together. Our research is fantastic. 83% of those children said that they could make themselves happier. Now, what a tool. That made me cry. Yeah, I really did.

Dan Buettner (27:45)

Yeah.

Goldie Hawn (27:46)

I thought, my God, I really wanted these children to be happier. That's why I created the program. I didn't realize when I dreamed it and created it, I just thought they were unhappy. But I didn't know that 10 year olds were taking their lives. And when I learned that, there was no turning back for me, there's no reason why a 10 year old should have no reason to live. And we have to give our children reasons to live and have fun. And school should be fun.

Dan Buettner (28:12)

And when you make them happier, they bring that joy home to their parents.

Goldie Hawn (28:15)

Exactly. They teach their parents.

Dan Buettner (28:17)

Yes. And who knows, there may be some aspiring actress across the street that hears a laugh and it gets her through the cockroaches and the drug dealers wins an Academy Award. I'm just connecting the dots here.

Goldie Hawn (28:31)

I like the way you do that.

Dan Buettner (28:33)

How many schools are you in now with mind up?

Goldie Hawn (28:35)

And it is so hard to tell.

Dan Buettner (28:37)

And can people.

Goldie Hawn (28:38)

22 years.

Dan Buettner (28:39)

If people are listening, if they want to bring mind up to their. Their children's school, can they do it? What does it take?

Goldie Hawn (28:45)

Right now we're doing schools, but we're Doing mostly districts.

Dan Buettner (28:48)

Okay.

Goldie Hawn (28:48)

Because once you do one school, I mean, there's so many schools in the United States. So we're looking now at doing just districts where we can. It's like we're in all of New York City district. So the New York City schools, that is a huge deal. We've been there for four years. It's fantastic.

Dan Buettner (29:02)

Can parents ask for this? Can they?

Goldie Hawn (29:05)

Some have asked for it, yeah, but they can't. See, this goes into schools. But what I'm doing now, and I'm really excited about it, is that MindUp is now turning into an AI bot, which means anybody can have it. I'm turning it into a asset where we can learn in micro lessons. Not big, long lessons anymore. These are micro lessons on how to implement mind up in the classroom. And then I'm doing one for parents. So parents understand not only this, but also brain facts, understanding more. So they too can understand our children and know that their brain is actually a working and growing organism and it's still under construction. So they have to know that's where they have forgiveness. Especially for our teenagers, which we're working on adolescent. It's incredible what we've learned now about the adolescent brain. It's a fantastic time to be alive, and I want our children to know that.

Dan Buettner (30:00)

Let's talk about raising children, because you've raised three extraordinary children.

Goldie Hawn (30:04)

Four, really. I do have my stepson, and I consider him my son.

Dan Buettner (30:11)

I mean, you're an actress and you have a. Or an actor, I guess is the proper word. Now.

Goldie Hawn (30:15)

I don't know what I am. I'm Goldie.

Dan Buettner (30:17)

You're Goldie? Yes. It's a category on its own. Many aspire to. We all fall short. But we're glad you're here. But what have you learned in raising these four extraordinary children? When they were kids, did they do chores? You know, Kate Hudson is obviously a huge famous actress. Did you open all the doors for her?

Goldie Hawn (30:38)

No, no, we never did that. Kate opened her own doors. Oliver opened his own doors. Wyatt Russell opened his own doors. Our three actors are very busy. They're very successful, and they are one of the pride of our lives. Not just me. Kurt also raised them.

Dan Buettner (30:55)

Kurt Russell being your life partner.

Goldie Hawn (30:57)

So when you look at how children are raised, I thought when I got a divorce the first time and I had Katie and Oliver and they were little and he was gone, our relationship didn't work. But I remember thinking, oh, my kids are fine. It'll be me. It's me in the house, my housekeeper, we're all women. It's so happy. There's no pressure. It really felt really good. In the meantime, what I learned was, is that I guess I had to coach the team because I didn't have a guy there. Plus, I was working at the height of my career. There are things that I tried to do that I realized that it's really hard to do just alone. I wasn't so cocky. That was when I threw on Private Benjamin. The end of Private Benjamin, I threw my veil away, like, who needs a guy? But in the meantime, I met Kurt, and he loved my children. And I didn't think I'd ever find anybody who would love my children the way I did. So we parented together, and it was wonderful. But before that, there were things that I did that I wish I hadn't done. The kids were little. I was in my time of high sexuality. That relationship wasn't working. Another one came along. He happened to live in France. And I left for four days every now and then to go see him. You know, we spent time together. And then I brought him back and the kids. And that was the stupidest thing I could have done. It was really hard. And I know that now. I can look and say, what was I thinking? When your children are growing and they're little, they need you now. I didn't go away for, you know, long, long, long periods of time, but I went away, and then I brought some weird dude back, some guy, you know, and by the way, he was great fun and whatever, but I don't want to put that down. But they didn't know him, and they didn't understand my relationship with him. I wasn't as conscious and cognizant of that. Now, these are things that you need to look at yourself because we're all going to make mistakes. You cannot carry them for the rest of your life. You can apologize for them, which you must do. Your children are people, too. You can't just be, you know, the leader, the parent, the mother, the whatever, be a human. And I remember when my kids were getting to that age where I thought they'd be trying drugs or doing something, I was driving them to school and I just said, hey, guys, I want to tell you something. I freaked out once when I took a drug. It was a terrible feeling. And if you experiment with pot or anything like that, it might happen. I want you to come to me because I will know what you're feeling. I didn't tell them not to do it. I gave them what my experience was which was quite harrowing. And I wanted them to know that if that happened to them, to call me, I'm here for you. So it wasn't like, don't do drugs and don't do this leading with love. It was. I was leading with love and care. So my point is, we can give them an opportunity with a fishing rod, but we're not going to give them the fish. They have to get it themselves.

Dan Buettner (33:55)

Were you hard on them? Were you. Were you demanding parents or you more or less.

Goldie Hawn (34:01)

No.

Dan Buettner (34:02)

I have to say, she cracks up.

Goldie Hawn (34:04)

That I don't know. But some of them is a little tougher than me.

Dan Buettner (34:08)

These kids are disciplined, and they maybe have your genetic predisposition for being good at entertaining. But most of success comes from hard work. And that hard work comes from someplace.

Goldie Hawn (34:22)

It's a work ethic that they grew up seeing. Now, we modeled that. And I think it's important to model for your children. Don't just talk at them. They don't hear you. You have to model for them and listen to them. I know, I have a story. So I did a TV series years ago called Kids. Listen to Them was with Barry Manilow. And it was a really good show. And I loved the essence and the messaging of that show because kids were so important. So we did a wonderful day of having children from high school to middle school. And they're all looking at. They're all at a bleacher. And all day long we talked about stuff. Parents breaking up. What does it feel like doing this? How do you like being a 12th grader? Songs that they made up, stuff that they shared. And after it was over, they said, Ms. Goldie, could we do this just once a month at least to get together like this again? You know, I said, oh, my God, that would be so wonderful if we could do that. I would really love that. When you realize that our children need to talk and talk amongst each other, and that's what's happening now. Cause we're getting those phones out of schools. I'm so happy they're actually talking to each other now. That ultimately is what matters. You know, when you talk about joy and happiness and these various things, communication is so important. And that's what we need to do with our children. We need them to talk to us. Sometimes they don't want to, especially when they're teenagers.

Dan Buettner (35:53)

I've learned a trick. You have to wait until the moment they say, I want to talk, and then drop everything. And when that comes, it's the doors open and whatever you're doing sees it.

Goldie Hawn (36:04)

It reminds me of a moment I had with Wyatt when he was about. He was a teenager. And I said, sweetheart, I'm gonna say something to you. Whatever it is, whatever it might be that you might want to talk about, I want you to know that I will never forsake anything you ever say to me until anyone else. I want you.

Dan Buettner (36:26)

Until the damn Buettner podcast.

Goldie Hawn (36:28)

Yeah, no, exactly. I know why he's gonna call me. Mom. What are you doing? I said, no, I'm just telling the truth. But no, that's the truth. If they feel there's someone. And he said, no, I want to be just like Oliver because Oliver and I, we're so close, we tell each other everything. And he said, I want to be like Oliver. And that's his older brother. So our communication of our family is. It's so good.

Dan Buettner (36:54)

What a gift.

Goldie Hawn (36:55)

I mean, there's issues always, but truly, we are so gifted together.

Dan Buettner (36:59)

And you guys all get together for Christmas, and you have a tight family, and you love each other, and, you know, that's. It seems like a unicorn in Hollywood. You know, just a few of your movies here. Overboard, the First Wives Club, Private Benjamin, Wild Thing, Sugarland Express. Death becomes her. The dangerous is your foul play. Of course, I got started on Goldie Holland with Laugh in, which gives you my age a little bit. But how do you have this fant Academy Award, and you have this fantastically successful professional life in Hollywood. You raise a successful family. You start this great foundation that transformed hundreds of thousands of children's lives. But you're in Los Angeles, and Los Angeles is famous for caring about status and what have you done for me today? And backstabbing. And you don't seem to have been bruised by it. You don't seem to have been damaged by a lifetime. 40, 50 years in the shark tank of Hollywood. How do you do that? How do you emerge from that backbiting world and find the tickle and laugh every day and treat people nice and care about children?

Goldie Hawn (38:15)

Well, first of all, I think it's my nature. I mean, I always wanted to have children. I taught dancing at 17 years old in Washington, D.C. but why are you not tarnishing it? I could say because I wouldn't allow.

Dan Buettner (38:26)

It because people weren't always nice to you. I remember you told me about your first audition.

Goldie Hawn (38:31)

I have many stories I could tell you about people not being nice to me. I'll give you an example of my mindset. I was dancing in Las Vegas because I danced in Vegas. For five months, four months, and I was 20 and some guy tried to pick me up or something. And of course I said, yeah, right.

Dan Buettner (38:48)

In Vegas, a dancer.

Goldie Hawn (38:50)

Who do you think I am, anyway? But literally I turn him down and very nicely, but I'm interested. And then he started blasting me. You don't know, whatever. And I've had that before. But when I went home, I wrote a poem about a sad man. I didn't take it personally. I just felt that he was a sad and angry man. And I put it on him. Which means that I didn't take it personally, but I learned about that very much in my analysis is that when people say they love you, they love you from their perspective. When people say I don't like you, they don't like you from their perspective. They don't have your eyes. They don't know who you are. You are a rashok test. Pretty much you're someone people know from afar. You see them on tv. You project so many things onto other people that I never took anything what I would consider to heart, particularly negativity. I take happiness to heart. But people who are negative, it really is a part that says you don't have to live with that, you know? And if you can't forgive, you can't move forward. And life is about solution, moving forward. If we don't want to create a solution for your unhappiness, I can tell you trapping with sickness is very scary. Having issues around your family, orientation and things that are hurt, abuse, abuse. There's a lot of reasons why you can't find joy. So don't think that I've got some insensitive idea of what it is to be hurting because someone's dying or because you might be dying, child might be hurt. I can't watch TV and watch these sick children there because I get emotional. I'm getting emotional right now.

Dan Buettner (40:31)

Yeah, yeah, yeah. But you do something about it.

Goldie Hawn (40:33)

But you do something about it. You try to find the perfect leaf to look at so deeply, to look at all those veins and beauty and colors. One time, a little bit off subject, I was going to do Town and Country. It was a movie that I did with Warren Beatty. And I was on the way to work and I was being driven and I was suddenly I saw myself. We have metacognition, which means we can look at ourselves if we dare to. I would dare everybody to look at themselves right in the eye or in the heart. And I would say my eyes and I noticed this are dead. I'm dead. Eyed. I was staring at nothing. I was just sort of, you know, kind of. Whoa, that's not good. I don't want to be dead eyed. So what I did is I pretended that I just landed from another planet. This is what I was doing on my own and another planet. And I wanted to give my eyes full of wonder. What does your eyes look like when you're looking. Like a child is looking at the moon.

Dan Buettner (41:37)

Oh, I love this.

Goldie Hawn (41:38)

And then I started looking at. I went down Sunset Boulevard a thousand times in my life, but suddenly I looked up, and I was looking at these trees, and I went. I never knew these trees were this high or they were so beautiful and their color, and they were all so different. And I got into work, and I walked in the makeup room, and I went, hey, guys. And I went, what are you so happy about? What are you so happy about?

Dan Buettner (42:05)

And it was changing your eyes from dead eyes to wonder eyes.

Goldie Hawn (42:09)

Exactly. Now, the other great thing in neuroscience is that even when you don't feel like it, even when you're sad, smile. When you turn your lips up and you smile, it activates neurotransmitters, a lot of things in your brain.

Dan Buettner (42:25)

I just tried it. It worked.

Goldie Hawn (42:26)

No, no. It's kind of great, right? So I find myself oftentimes walking and kind of having a little smile on my face.

Dan Buettner (42:32)

Face.

Goldie Hawn (42:33)

And I think that that's something to try even with your children. I know you feel sad right now, honey, but if you smile, I bet you'll feel better. I bet you can do it. I bet you can't laugh. I bet I'm not. And next thing you know, damn it, you have them laughing, because laughter is very powerful. But smiling without feeling, it is amazing. Just the activity of that about the body affects the brain.

Dan Buettner (43:00)

Do you have any other happiness hacks like that? These sort of simple things to remember when we're down that have worked for you or work for others.

Goldie Hawn (43:09)

Yes, there are a few things, but it really is shifting your focus. Okay. And also to understand that you have a power that you don't know about, it is the power of your brain. It is the power of thought. They've done all. Many, many, many things, and I believe in it, but prayer works. And when you focus on prayer works, you pray cold. Yes, I do. And when I pray, when I want to help someone.

Dan Buettner (43:33)

Oh, somebody else.

Goldie Hawn (43:35)

Yeah. So when I pray and I focus, and I did this with my son because he nearly died at birth. That's Oliver, my firstborn. And I don't understand it I kind of do in a way, because we're just made of so many other things than just flesh and blood. But he had 40% chance of living. And I was scared to go up and see him because I thought I would fall in love and I would never get over it. His heart rate was too slow. There were a lot of things that were also problematic. But he had a low level pneumonia, so he was also on a respirator. And I put my hand over his heart, like, over him, like this. Cause he was not an isolate. And I stood up and I emptied myself. Like, when I say emptied myself, I had. I can't even explain what that feels like. It's almost like there's nothing inside me. It's almost like there's no emotion. There's no nothing. I'm just a ball of energy. But I'm hollow. And I said, I'm hollowing out. And I ask God to come through me and please heal my son. It won't be me. Please do this for me. And I watched that heart monitor go up.

Dan Buettner (44:39)

Wow.

Goldie Hawn (44:40)

And start moving up. I started to cry. I went, what's happening? And nurses came around. The doctor came around. He said, goldie, if only people knew that they had the capacity to heal their children sometimes. Wow. He knows you're here. He knows you're here. And then, as it turned out that I couldn't feed him, I would take milk. And then I would come to the hospital three times a day with fresh milk. And every time I came there, he was in his isolette. And I would sing Oliver, Oliver Hudson. And then when I took him home, finally, after about three weeks, the neuroscientist said, well, we checked his brain. It's very advanced, he said, but one of the things that we could looked at is that every time you came in and you sang to him, he heard you from all the way across the room. And he turned his head towards your voice.

Dan Buettner (45:30)

I do the same thing. It's your superpower, but it's a superpower.

Goldie Hawn (45:39)

But when we realize that we do have superpowers, I'm not saying we're all Superman, but I think that we actually do have a way. So what I'd look at is breath is one. Breath is very powerful, focused breathing. And when you do breathe through your nose, and the nose is better than the mouth. So if you breathe through the nose, hold it for 2, 3, 4, whatever, and let it do through your nose. Try to get all the air out of the bottom of your lungs and you can do it. In increments, hold it and then come up again. This activates or deactivates the amygdala part of the brain. That's the emotional center and it calms you down. It takes a lot of stress away. Meditation, similarly, is quite beautiful, and there is following your breath and things like that. But active breath work is actually very powerful. Once again, it's scientific.

Dan Buettner (46:44)

We tend to think that luxury means more more plans, more movement, more stuff. But everywhere I've gone to study the world's longest lived people, I found the opposite. In the blue zones, the real luxury is time. Time to walk instead of rush. Time to sit at the table a little bit longer. Time to finish a conversation without checking the clock. That's not indulgent. That's how people stay healthy and happy for decades. When I'm at my lake house in Wisconsin, slowing down happens naturally. Mornings start quiet, meals stretch out, evenings end early. It's not flashy, but it's deeply restorative. When I head back on the road, I like knowing my home doesn't sit still. I host it on Airbnb so someone else can experience that same pause, that same sense of ease. You don't realize you're missing it until you feel it again. Hosting fits seamlessly into my life. It's a simple, practical way to earn extra income while staying connected to a slower, more intentional way of living. Your home might be worth more than you think. Find out how much@airbnb.com host there are.

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Dan Buettner (49:19)

We've both studied the science of happiness. And there's reams and reams and scientific study and this jargon. Positive psychology, positive affect, negative affect. You've given us four very powerful tools. Breathe through your nose. Find that spark of joy and that giggle inside of you when you're down. Make your face smile and turn on your wonder eyes. I mean, these are four.

Goldie Hawn (49:48)

Honey, you're so crazy. You're like, I love it, I love it, but it's true.

Dan Buettner (49:56)

I just love it. So actionable. And you do it, you've done it and it's made you successful and happy. And you are happy, aren't you?

Goldie Hawn (50:04)

Yeah, I have a happy nature, do I? Am I not happy all the time? Those wouldn't make sense, you know, but that's when I want to create a solution. When I feel unhappy and I'm not smiling. People used to say to me, goldie, smile. And I said, I don't feel like smiling. Because the one thing I didn't want anyone to do either was to take my sadness away. Because I couldn't live in sadness. But sadness is part of being human.

Dan Buettner (50:27)

It's a teacher often, isn't it?

Goldie Hawn (50:28)

My mom died. It took me a year to recover. When I say recover, I had a low level sadness. I missed her a lot. And I remember saying to Katie and to the kids, guys, I know I'm not myself right now because mommy died, but you know, I will return back. But I, I know you can feel my sadness. I'm sorry, but you know, you be aware, tell them the truth. And then, by the way, yes, I was very straight with a lot of my kids and told them the truth. They didn't always like it, but I did that too, because I can't tell a lie. So I want to even that out. Like, you know, I wasn't a parent. That was just like giggly and crazy. As a matter of fact, I'm gonna say one more thing about that. One of the kids that was 2.

Dan Buettner (51:06)

Years old with Oliver wasn't just giggling crazy every once in a while. Once a month. I'm serious. No matter if they need it or not.

Goldie Hawn (51:16)

I was fun too. But one of the kids said, you know, you were tough. And I went, I was. So that was one thing. That's probably cause they had parties in the house they shouldn't have. But I remember Katie was having a party in the Raj's room where we had it. And I heard it from. I came down like 2:30 in the morning. Dude, kids, what are you doing? Well, she was. They were all like, oh, Goldie's up. Oh boy. She's coming down the stairs. Oh boy. I walked in in my nightgown and I said, hey guys. And they're all like, look at me. Like, oh, they were in trouble. And I walked around and I turned out some lights and I said, lighting is everything.

Dan Buettner (51:51)

And I left the room, by the way. We spent a good bit of time getting it right. Goldie looks good for a reason right now.

Goldie Hawn (52:00)

But I mean, but you know, it was like. So that's the other side.

Dan Buettner (52:03)

Yes.

Goldie Hawn (52:03)

You know, you gotta have fun.

Dan Buettner (52:05)

You really do. When were you happiest? I look at these movies. A lot of people know you from Private Benjamin. You won an Academy Award. Were your peaks of happiness, did they coincide with your peaks of professional success?

Goldie Hawn (52:18)

No, not really.

Dan Buettner (52:19)

Really?

Goldie Hawn (52:20)

Purpose. Yes. Having a purpose of making a movie that actually worked. Yes. Producing movies was a job that I loved, but literally as a producer you could be working on and they end up in, you know, on a shelf.

Sponsor/Advertisement Voice (52:34)

Yeah.

Goldie Hawn (52:35)

So I was through with producing after about almost 30 years. However, happiness comes from what experiences you have on the set. Your relationships, your relationship with your director. What does that set feel like? How many laughs did you have, how close did you get? And how much lack of strife that you had. Making movies is actually a very interesting experience because I've had actors that I've worked with and, you know, that were nuts. I have had the beauty of having an actor like Kurt Russell, who literally, you know, is the easiest guy to work with and he's so amazing. Okay. Was the perfect thing. But you have to realize that just cause a movie you make, it doesn't mean it's gonna make you happy.

Dan Buettner (53:17)

I'm gonna confess, we were a little bit naughty right before.

Goldie Hawn (53:20)

No, you and I were.

Dan Buettner (53:22)

Yes. We had the. The vanilla meringue cake.

Goldie Hawn (53:28)

I'm okay with that.

Dan Buettner (53:30)

We shared it and. But you told the story of Steve Martin when you were making a.

Goldie Hawn (53:37)

We were in New York doing out of towners.

Dan Buettner (53:39)

Yes.

Goldie Hawn (53:40)

Yeah. He knew I love because we've eaten there before together. And I was explaining Cipriani, amazing cake. I've never anything so my life. And then one night he went out and got half a cake from them and brought it to my trailer when we were doing the movie together. I thought, you know, as presents go, that was pretty cool.

Dan Buettner (53:57)

Yeah.

Goldie Hawn (53:57)

Yeah, that was a pretty cool present. And we just had some today, which brought back all the memories. It's like, remember that time? And your brain goes, oh. Your hippocampus goes, oh, I remember that time.

Dan Buettner (54:10)

It's amazing how hardship and desserts triggered our finest memories.

Goldie Hawn (54:15)

I do think that hardships are important. And I know we talked about that. How else do you grow? When Wyatt, he was out. Cause he got injured at a hockey game. And, you know, we went out and we talked, and I said, you know, we're all gonna get knocked down. How fast can you get up?

Dan Buettner (54:30)

You were. We agree on something that's not popular today. You were talking about the coddling of the American mind. And we might be too easy on our children these days.

Goldie Hawn (54:41)

Yeah, I think we are.

Dan Buettner (54:43)

I mean, we love our children, and it's our natural instinct to convert that love into constant focus and constant giving and constant attention. But maybe that's not the best thing for them.

Goldie Hawn (54:58)

No. They have to not get what they want. They have to struggle. Yes, we. We. You know, I didn't like, for instance, with Katie, I didn't go out and buy her a bunch of clothes all the time because she was growing out of them. And I felt that it was, you know, crazy waste of money. And I'm telling you, she would make outfits like nobody's business. The other part is that make your kids work. And if they're not gonna work in the house, then put them on sports. Put them in sports. We had three boys playing hockey at the same time. Hockey's an amazing sport for children, and they really learn how to take the knocks.

Dan Buettner (55:32)

Oh, yeah. Well, we have this joke in. Minnesota is the home of the Hockey hall of Fame. But we talk about, you know, going out on Saturday night, a fight, and a hockey game breaks out.

Sponsor/Advertisement Voice (55:43)

Oh, yeah.

Goldie Hawn (55:43)

Oh, no, no, no. Exactly. I used to have to leave this. The rink because the boys would go at each other. I couldn't handle it. It was too awful, you know, And Wyatt was a goaltender, and he was also the son of Kurt Russell and me, so they would late hit him and stuff.

Dan Buettner (56:03)

You and Kurt are not married. You've chosen each other for nearly 40 years.

Goldie Hawn (56:09)

Two.

Dan Buettner (56:10)

42 years. What makes a relationship work?

Goldie Hawn (56:15)

I really feel this way, and I always have. And even if we did get married, it wouldn't make any difference because it's 42 years now. But I have a relationship with birds. I love them. It's a wonderful relationship. I cannot have a bird in my house because I won't do nothing else. But I do believe that if you If I'm a bird and you leave the cage door open, I may never fly out. But if you close that door, I, for my freedom and my independence, I would probably take, like all my feathers off. It's a freedom of self. It's a freedom of basically not melding into somebody else. Kahlil Gibran was a really great mystic, but he said there's two pillars that have to hold up a roof of a house and one pillar can't do it. So why do we celebrate our differences and forgive the areas in which we can't stand each other? Because that's what happens. Sometimes they say something, you go, why are you saying that?

Dan Buettner (57:19)

I don't know.

Goldie Hawn (57:19)

Well, because that's who you are. But I do believe that we, in order for things to work, and I'm not talking about certain things that are not acceptable in a relationship, but when you're copacetic on certain areas and you have freedom. But man, this whole idea of becoming one is not my idea of fun.

Dan Buettner (57:40)

Yeah.

Goldie Hawn (57:41)

That's why it works.

Dan Buettner (57:43)

Yeah. How do you keep it fresh? I mean, you love each other deeply. I believe we do.

Goldie Hawn (57:49)

We definitely do. There are parts of me he doesn't love, and there's parts of him I don't love. Why is that a reason to break up? Why is that a reason to say this isn't working? What are you forfeiting because you have some idea that he thinks differently than you do? You might not like it, but is that a reason to suddenly decide that this isn't working for me? There are other reasons that you can make decisions like that, for sure. I've been married twice. Yeah. And I realized that not only especially someone who was a breadwinner, but it's big business, man.

Dan Buettner (58:28)

Well, why do you keep choosing Kurt 42 years?

Goldie Hawn (58:32)

Because I have respect for him. Because I think he's an amazing person. I'm also very sexually attracted to him, and that's important. And if you have a long term sexual relationship, that's actually really healthy. So he's my sexual object. He is. And he's the person that makes me laugh. And he's so smart. He's such a great actor. And I find him incredibly handsome to this day.

Dan Buettner (58:54)

Yeah.

Goldie Hawn (58:55)

Kids love him. We're an unbelievably happy family most of the time. And I don't know, there's a cohesiveness that. Why would I want anybody who is perfect? There is no such thing.

Dan Buettner (59:09)

No, it's fiction. Do you leave the cage door open for him so to speak.

Goldie Hawn (59:13)

Yeah, yeah. No, he's gotta go and do. And do what he wants. But he's a bit more of a homebody than me, so I do. I love to travel. I like to go places. I also like my friends, and I like to be with my friends only. And the reason is. Is. Cause sometimes the conversation goes in areas that maybe he could be. You know, I want to have my own conversation. That is what we should all have. You know, like, if you and I hadn't seen each other in a long time. We know each other all these years. I would much prefer to go out with you to catch up.

Sponsor/Advertisement Voice (59:46)

Yeah.

Goldie Hawn (59:47)

Rather than Kurt, who hasn't known you, you know, whatever. But then we can have dinner and do all that stuff.

Dan Buettner (59:53)

Yeah, we had that weekend and we had.

Goldie Hawn (59:54)

But if I hadn't seen you in a while, it would be my pleasure. Same thing with a girl. It's not about that. It's just about. There's so much to say. Where have you been? What happened? We go back. That's okay with Kurt. He doesn't have a problem with that. You know, so there's freedom. The minute you start putting something on.

Dan Buettner (60:12)

Somebody, I. I could not agree more.

Goldie Hawn (60:14)

It's really hard.

Dan Buettner (60:15)

You talked about friends and you go out with friends. How important are your friends to your happiness?

Goldie Hawn (60:20)

Huge. And on a personal level, I will tell you, I've lost too many.

Dan Buettner (60:25)

You thought you were friends with Diane Keaton, weren't you?

Goldie Hawn (60:27)

Yeah.

Dan Buettner (60:28)

How was her passing?

Goldie Hawn (60:30)

Very hard. Very, very hard. Diane was an extraordinary human. There's nobody like her. We all know Diane Keaton, and we all know that she was an extraordinary, unusual person. And all I know is, is that I'm gonna miss her a lot. She lived down below me, and I go out of my yard and I look down and, you know, she's not there anymore. So that's one. But then my best friends, both of them died from pancreatic cancer.

Dan Buettner (60:59)

Oh, Jesus.

Goldie Hawn (61:00)

In their 60s. And I went through it with one, put her down, went with her, stayed there until she passed. And then two months later, my best girlfriend who knew her said she had pancreatic cancer. Are you sitting down? And I went, yes. She said, I have pancreatic cancer. So we go through that, getting in bed with her and doing my prayers and all of that, and then lost her. And the other girlfriend I had, which was really part of the trio, really, I was so happy. I remember having dinner and thinking, oh, my God, I still have my girlfriend I can play golf with, and we can have Cocktails. And we do, you know, bike trips, because we did bike trips in Europe together. We had dinner with her, and I was, like, relishing in the fact that our friendship was still there. And she died in a crash the next day.

Dan Buettner (61:54)

Oh, my gosh.

Goldie Hawn (61:56)

In a plane crash. Small plane. So three of my girlfriends, and I'm not a sorority sister. I never have been. I've always had one or two girlfriends. I'm not that person. I have one fantastically brilliant girl. But last two summers ago, the woman who I go see in Greece all the time, Anthea Silbert, who was very brilliant, she was a costume designer in Hollywood. She was then ran studios. Then she became a partner of mine, and she did my dress in shampoo. She was quite amazing. Quite a fierce Greek, by the way. But she moved to Greece about 25 years ago, and then I came to visit her. And I've been visiting her every year for the last 20 years. She died in my arms.

Dan Buettner (62:40)

Oh, my God. I'm so.

Goldie Hawn (62:41)

So when you. When you look at this life, I ask the question, am I the luckiest girl in the world that I get to be there when you're leaving this Earth, or do I look at it like, why is it me? Why do I. Was it to be? Why am I going through this sadness? So when you talk about a mindset and the way you look at things, if you can shift them to say it's an honor to say goodbye to your girlfriends. That way when they leave this planet, then you are lucky. However, I don't have that many today. And I think you asked a great question. Do they matter to you? They matter more than anything. And I just say that, yes, there are girlfriends in my life. One in particular is very important to me. But it takes time to build trust in a girlfriend that, you know, was there, who knows everything about you that you can get in bed with and read, and nobody has to say one word. That's a different girlfriend.

Dan Buettner (63:47)

Are you able to make new girlfriends of that caliber? Or is there a time when these original girlfriends are just gonna live on in your heart and that's enough?

Goldie Hawn (63:57)

Yes, that's true. They'll live on in my heart. Making new friends is not easy. And the reason is, as you get older, you have definitely have friendships and you can make a lot of them. And I have. I have. But is that the person you just feel like you just want to hang out with? Different?

Dan Buettner (64:14)

Yeah.

Goldie Hawn (64:15)

So. Oh, well, you know, I go out, I've got women, I think, and smart women and whatever. And Stuff. Yeah. But you ask the question, is this the one that you just want to tell all your troubles, to listen to them, be there for them, have a cocktail with them? It's hard to find. I don't walk around sad around it. But I just want to share that those that are going to be listening today is that nurture them, enjoy them, trust them if you can. And know that this is one of the great, greatest things you can have. Because, you know, I did do a toast one night at a girlfriend's wedding shower, and there were just women there, and I said just one thing to remember. Men can come and go, but your girlfriends are there forever. Don't forget to nurture each other as much as you can.

Dan Buettner (65:09)

I have the feeling, knowing you for 15 years, it feels like you have countless girlfriends. And it's actually kind of a shock to hear that there were only really four sacred ones. I think people feel like you're their best friend. And I think you telegraphed. I think that's in your soul. I remember you met my mother and my aunt, and afterwards they told me. I felt. She made me feel like I'm her friend. And you've met her for. Well, you had tea with us for a half hour, and that's really a gift. But.

Goldie Hawn (65:43)

Well, you know, the other part, and I'll share that, is that when people ask me what makes me happy, people. People make me really happy.

Dan Buettner (65:50)

You can tell. You can tell. We just went to lunch together. And you, from the material who let us in to our waiter, you have a nice thing to say. They, of course, all know you. The owner came up, and he had this memory of you from 40 years ago. I don't know.

Goldie Hawn (66:06)

I know it was called a dome. It was. He handled everything at Le Dome, and that was in the 70s. And.

Dan Buettner (66:12)

And you shared a moment, like the two of you, like, bam. And you made his day, and he made mine.

Sponsor/Advertisement Voice (66:18)

Listen.

Goldie Hawn (66:19)

Oh, gosh, honey, this is the sweetest thing.

Dan Buettner (66:22)

We have a fun game, and then we'll have other things to do in your life. Well, you know, Blue Zones is about longevity. So we like to calculate how long people are going to live. And I thought it would be fun for you to tell us how long certain characters you played are gonna live. So do you think that they're gonna be dead at 40 or live to 100? So from overboard, Annie profit. Live to 100 or die at 40.

Goldie Hawn (66:48)

Live to 100.

Dan Buettner (66:49)

All right?

Goldie Hawn (66:50)

And I'll tell you why.

Dan Buettner (66:51)

Okay.

Goldie Hawn (66:51)

She found love.

Dan Buettner (66:53)

Oh, there we go. It gives her a Reason, the purpose. How about First Wife's Club? Elise Elliott, what do you think?

Goldie Hawn (67:00)

Total suicide.

Dan Buettner (67:04)

Hi, Glam. Hi, Drama. Alcohol. All right. Private Judy Benjamin. Dead at 40. Lived to 100.

Goldie Hawn (67:15)

Lived to 100.

Dan Buettner (67:17)

But she was kind of spoiled and unmoored and emotionally dependent.

Goldie Hawn (67:20)

No. The army made a woman out of her. Huh. She was tough. And that one time at the end of it, and she finally put Henri in his place and hit him in the face and said, henri, you're such a schmuck.

Dan Buettner (67:34)

That's a different Judy Benjamin.

Goldie Hawn (67:35)

And she took that veil off and walked all by herself down that tree lined street.

Dan Buettner (67:39)

You know, she was just gonna be just fine. She's gonna survive Sugarland Express.

Goldie Hawn (67:43)

Lou Jean was the character in probably one of my favorite movies I've ever done and maybe my favorite character I've ever played. And that's Steven Spielberg's first film, feature film. She ended up a pretty sad girl. It's such a good movie. Everybody should see that movie. But it's really about a. They were. You know, she left jail. Okay. They were. And she wanted to get her baby back. And the end of the movie is very 70s. It's not a happy ending. And so I would say that where she was right there, she probably would not have lived very long.

Dan Buettner (68:15)

One character I think we know will live a long time. Helen Sharp in Death becomes her.

Goldie Hawn (68:22)

Well, I don't know, because the last thing she said was with her neck like, and her face all broken. Do you remember where you parked the car? Sorry. But I don't know how long she's live or even passed up ever finding that car.

Dan Buettner (68:40)

We had her undead at 400.

Goldie Hawn (68:44)

Well, but unfortunately the guy who put him together was dead because they were going his funeral. Oh, my God, what a funny movie that was.

Dan Buettner (68:53)

Well, go. You are a complete American treasure. You're a great friend. You're a source of wisdom. You're a source of happiness for so many. Thank you for being on the Dan Buettner podcast. Thank you for enriching my life. And I'm pretty sure everybody who's listening today feels a little bit better.

Goldie Hawn (69:10)

Thank you, honey.

Dan Buettner (69:11)

And sending love.

Goldie Hawn (69:13)

Thanks, sweetheart. I got it.