At Middlebury College, Polly’s TED talk presents her theory of “negative self-importance”: our narratives and preoccupations with the ways we have failed or not succeeded – in our attractiveness, mothering, intelligence, earnings, creativity – keep us mired in comparisons with others and self-hatred. She also talks about the self-conscious emotions and how moment-by-moment awareness opens the door to happiness. On this same theory, listen to Episode #14 of her podcast, Enemies: War to Wisdom. It’s called “Love and Hate of the Self.”