BJ Miller on Life, Following a Calling, and Reimagining How We Die

BJ Miller is a physician, author, speaker,  practicing hospice and palliative medicine physician. In his current role, BJ sees patients and caregivers through Mettle Health, an online palliative care service. Previously,, BJ was the Executive Director of San Francisco's Zen Hospice Project. Most importantly, BJ is a deep, soulful thinker with extraordinary compassion and a true desire to help ease and reduce suffering in our world. BJ is also someone who fully appreciates the beauty, connectedness and mystery of our existence so we are thrilled to have BJ as our first male guest on the podcast! BJ shares how he got on his career path and we discuss the ways his family and upbringing shaped his character.  We discuss the sources of BJ resilience, what BJ has learned about death and the ways society can make dying a better process. Listen in to hear BJ reveal what people who are able to deal with death peacefully  have in common. This is an extraordinary conversation with an extraordinary human. We are honored to share BJ's story and hope this conversation gives you new insights and maybe a little more peace in talkihng about death. Watch BJs famous Ted Talk Here   Mettle Health BJ NYT One Man's Quest to Change the Way We Die Follow us @meantforit on Instagram Reach out to us at [email protected] for future guests or if you are interested in sponsoring our podcast. If you enjoyed this episode, please share with a friend, send us a note. We would be extra, extra grateful if you decide to leave us a review on itunes. Topics Discussed (02:00) BJ talks about accident that led to amputation of both legs (12:57) BJ's mom contracted polio when she was 18 months old (18:23) After the accident, BJ decided to go to medical school (23:41) BJ's list of things he wants to change about end of life care (40:18) BJ shares after seeing so many deaths, his is not sure death is bad (49:45) People who have questioned their faith or their faithlessness have examined themselves (52:33) Mettle Health offers online palliative care, counseling and coaching (01:00:18) What about any religious practices that make grieving easier Memorable Quotes: "There's nothing wrong with you for dying." "Life includes death. There's no separating the two." "The beauty of life is, yes, being inside of you, but also outside of you." "We act like big, dumb teenagers. We got way too much power that we know to do with." "I reserve the right to freak out if that's what I need to do at that time." "Life is something much more magical than you would ever feel it to be in a hospital."