Recorded 07.14.2025

In this episode of Rowing with the Homies, I dive into the nuanced and often challenging journey of "growing up" – a process far deeper than just accumulating years. I explore what it means to be a balanced adult: someone who embraces life's complexities, engages in difficult but crucial conversations, genuinely considers others' needs, receives feedback with grace, and maintains radical honesty, all while holding onto an excitement for continuous exploration. My ongoing, rich conversations with my partner, Eva, serve as a living laboratory for understanding this "uncomfortable grace" in real time. I then extend this idea to the profound influence of behavior models – from parents and teachers to friends and partners – exploring how we discern positive patterns, evolve beyond those that no longer serve us, and consciously become positive forces ourselves. Finally, in the "Today Depression Feels Like" segment, I connect the themes of maturity and influence to the experience of depression, exploring how embracing the discomfort of maturing can provide a path to navigate its complex currents with more understanding and agency, even when it feels like being a child, lost and unsure.