Hugh Mackay on where we hide and compassionate love as a daily discipline

Why do we sometimes hide from our selves, and where are we hiding?In his latest book The Inner Self: The joy of discovering who we really are, social researcher Hugh Mackay explores our top twenty hiding places, including busyness, perfectionism, guilt, ambition, work and even the pursuit of happiness. In this conversation, we talk about how creativity can narrow the gap between who we pretend to be or hide, and who we really are. We talk about compassionate love as a daily discipline, writing, walking as a crucial part of the work day, being a night owl, and delve into our common hiding places such as work busyness, projection, ambition, and perfection – and how we can find our common humanity inside ourselves. * * *Thank you for listening to Routines & Ruts, a labour of love fuelled by time and curiosity. If you'd like to support the podcast, please share with a friend, or say thanks with a coffee!To stay tuned, please subscribe to the show wherever you hear your podcasts and sign up to the semi-regular Extraordinary Routines newsletter.This podcast is produced and edited by Madeleine Dore. Special thanks to Nelson Dore for the theme music and Ellen Porteus for the cover art.