Austin Hill Shaw, a designer and teacher who speaks and writes about creativity, opens this clip by asking what it means to be happy and what we need in order to be happy. His answer is three core human needs: connection, contribution and meaning.
The clip comes from his full talk, Feeling at Home in the World, a guest teacher session on Mindfulness Exercises that he gave to a live audience. At one point he mentions seeing a lot of the same theme in the chat.
Austin goes through the needs in turn: connection with ourselves, other people and the natural world; the desire to contribute; and meaning, both as a framework for making sense of life and as experiences beyond words.
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Episode Overview:
- What we need in order to be happy: three core human needs
- How connection brings us out of past and future thinking
- Contribution: wanting to make things better for people, in each person’s own way
- Two forms of meaning: a framework for life and experiences beyond words
- Examples of those experiences: a child being born, nature, intense grief
Key Takeaway: Austin Hill Shaw names three core human needs: connection, contribution and meaning.
Show Notes:
What We Need in Order to Be Happy
Austin starts with a question: what do we need in order to be happy? The first thing that comes up for him is a sense of connection. He calls connection, contribution and meaning the core human needs and takes them one at a time.
Pillar One: Connection
Austin says all of us need to feel connected to the world in some way, and that human beings can also disconnect from it. More than any other creature, he says, we can time travel: we remember who we were in the past and imagine a version of ourselves in the future. We can also be stuck in our heads with “monkey minds” in situations that could be engaging us.
Connection takes many forms, and he lists love, communion, conversation and fellowship as parts of it.
Connection With Yourself
First and foremost, Austin says, connection is a connection with ourselves.
Connection With Others
Next is connection with significant others and loved ones.
Connection With the World Around You
It also includes connection to our neighborhoods and the environment, and to the natural world.
Pillar Two: Contribution
Austin describes contribution as our desire to make things better for people. We don’t want to be idle about our lives, he says; we want to make our own lives and other people’s lives better in some way, shape or form.
Different Talents, Different Contributions
The way we contribute is different for every person, he says, because each of us has different talents and proclivities and things that draw us in.
Pillar Three: Meaning
Austin says all of us need a sense of meaning in some way, and that meaning has two aspects.
Meaning as a Framework
The first is a framework, cosmology, understanding or philosophy of our life that makes sense. Especially in “these very unique times,” he says, we want some way to make sense of the world.
Meaning as Mystery
The second aspect is experiences beyond thought and description, which he calls ineffable. His examples:
- For parents, watching a child being born
- Being in a natural place and feeling an overwhelming sense of connectedness and beauty
- Intense grief, when something you thought was true suddenly turns out to be something else
Austin describes these as meaningful but beyond anything you could put into words.
A Simple, Human Map for Wellbeing
Austin sums up the three needs: “connection, contribution, and meaning.”
- Connect with ourselves, loved ones, the environment and the natural world
- Contribute in the way that suits our own talents
- Meaning as both a framework for life and experiences beyond words
Bringing It Into Your Life
If this clip resonated with you, consider choosing one of the three needs to reflect on this week.
And if you found this episode helpful, follow the podcast, share it with someone who could use it, and leave a review letting us know which need you are focusing on next.
Additional Resources:
- Free Training with Sean Fargo: How to Teach Mindfulness With Confidence & Credibility
- Certification: Mindfulness Meditation Teacher Certification
- Blog: Boredom, Grief, and the Light of Presence
- Blog: 70+ Stress Quotes: Navigating Stress with Wisdom
