TED Audio Collective.

You're listening to How to Be a Better Human.

I'm your host, Chris Duffy.

If there is one thing that I know is true of every single person who is listening to this show,

it is that you have a body.

I guess, as far as I know,

there are no disembodied consciousnesses who are just floating around listening to the show. But if I'm wrong about that, please send me a telepathic message. I would love to know that you're

engaging with this work. For the rest of you, the ones with the bodies, no two of our bodies

are exactly the same and no two of our bodies are exactly the same,

and no two people have the same relationship to their body either.

For many of us, our bodies are kind of mysterious.

Like, what is actually going on in there?

And why is it the way it is?

And is it okay?

And am I normal?

I mean, one of my most memorable times as an elementary school teacher was when I was leading this health class for the fifth grade boys.

And we were really just supposed to cover like the basics. Like your body is changing now. So help me out and use deodorant and try and take a shower every once in a while.

But when I pulled out the anonymous question cards every day, I would get a huge range of questions of things that people wanted to know, right?

Everything from like, how do you know the night that puberty is going to happen?

I get where that question comes from.

And I love the idea that one night you go to sleep and you're a little boy.

And then the next you wake up and you're like, a big Berlin man.

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