It can feel painful to reflect on our mortality — especially the mortality of our loved ones. But maybe embracing the reality of death can help us to fear it less, and appreciate the wonder of life all the more.
Author
Courtney E. Martin
Courtney E. Martin was a columnist for On Being. Her newest book, The New Better Off: Reinventing the American Dream, explores how people are redefining the American dream (think more fulfillment, community, and fun, less debt, status, and stuff). Courtney is the co-founder of the Solutions Journalism Network and a strategist for the TED Prize. She is also co-founder and partner at Valenti Martin Media and FRESH Speakers Bureau, and editor emeritus at Feministing.com.
Courtney has authored/edited five books, including Do It Anyway: The New Generation of Activists, and Perfect Girls, Starving Daughters: How the Quest for Perfection is Harming Young Women. Her work appears frequently in The New York Times and The Washington Post. Courtney has appeared on the TODAY Show, Good Morning America, MSNBC, and The O’Reilly Factor, and speaks widely at conferences and colleges. She is the recipient of the Elie Wiesel Prize in Ethics and a residency from the Rockefeller Foundation’s Bellagio Centre. She lives with her partner in life and work, John Cary, in Oakland, and their daughters Maya and Stella. Read more about her work at www.courtneyemartin.com.
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Courtney offers up a fear- and judgment-free space, and draws forth the perspectives of women who don't have kids, by choice or otherwise.
Whether to have children is one of the most life-defining decisions we will make. And there is joy and meaning to be found on either path — as well as endless challenges and frustration. Courtney Martin on why the best place to turn for guidance is inward.
Anger can be a powerful motivator. But we must also remember to build something bolder on the foundation of expansive love.
Are we unconsciously selective about the causes we mobilize for? Courtney Martin asks the uncomfortable question: when do we choose to show up, and for whom?
Courtney shares the practical insight of a wise elder — on the tumultuous history we've lived through, and the work we must do to shape our future differently.
Ahead of the Women’s March, Courtney Martin with a call to hit the streets and a vision of peaceful protest enlivened by joy and courageous togetherness.
There is a danger of blindness in both presuming good and ill intent in our political figures. Courtney Martin looks to the shared stories that bind us to save us from our prejudices.
A lesson on trusting on trusting our gut about the lives we’re called to lead, and the unexpected ways that might manifest.
A brush with that fleeting, transcendent gratitude that only comes when we stand on the edge of losing what we treasure most.
Sometimes the refuge we need is not an escape, but a safe place to grapple with our hardest questions, and to challenge ourselves to be better.
A reflection on reimagining American identity, which may require us to break down our most basic assumptions about the society we live in in uncomfortable ways.
This moment forces us to face challenging questions about who we are as a nation, who we want to become, and how to get there.
We cast ballots for the candidates who stand for our values. But is our political instinct also a quest for identity? An exploration of the desire for belonging at the heart of our voting drive.
Real love for our nation calls us to look at ourselves, as citizens, whole. A long view on the future of a beloved and broken America, and our potential to shape it moving forward.
If you could speak to a passed friend or family member, what would you say? An exploration of the healing that can happen when we stay in relationship with the ones we love, even beyond the end of life
Donald Trump's statements about women may not represent most men, but they do point to a larger dynamic at play between the sexes. Thoughts on the performative roles of men in public, and the harm it does to women and themselves.
Like all of us, Courtney Martin wants the best for her family, and rightly so. But from education to strollers, the best is often only accessible to a certain group. She reimagines responsible parenting as embodied care for one's own, as well as for the families of strangers.
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