Inside Education 420, Case Study of a Life Review with Bill Damon (3-7-21)

Presented and produced by Seán Delaney. Theme tune by David Vesey. On podcast 420, I welcome back Stanford University School of Education Professor William (Bill) Damon who was one of the first guests on this year's schedule to discuss his new book, A round of golf with my father: The new psychology of exploring your past to make peace with your present. Among the topics  we discuss on this bonus episode are the following: Different interpretations of what a life story is Life Studies by Robert Lowell Your intention for telling a life story What a life review is and why it can be done at any stage of life How William Damon adapted Robert Butler’s life review idea for his purpose. How to go about doing a life review Talk to people who remember your past Records (school and others, ancestry searches) Memory search Putting it all together – focusing on what gave you satisfaction and fulfillment Why he never met his father How school records have changed since the 1950s. How his father’s character developed over time, possibly through the demands and experiences of military service in World War II. What he learned about his own character from doing the life review Why character is a movie and not a snapshot Why he believes that psychological theories such as some of Freud’s work and the “big five personality traits” are wrong How he went about making a personal story interesting for an audience beyond his immediate circle of family and friends How a life review can help you find a purpose in your life How someone not looking for a purpose can find one His mother’s role in his life review His definition of purpose His memories of being taught by some of the pioneering psychologists of the twentieth century, including Erik Erikson and Jerome Kagan who was a guest on Inside Education a few years ago: Podcast 1 and Podcast 2  and who passed away in May 2021. Some of his earlier books: Some do care (with his wife, Anne Colby), Noble Purpose, The Moral Child and Greater Expectations. Why he called the book A Round of Golf with my Father when he never met his father!