I had this mindset that I’d get very close to the things in life I wanted and then have them taken away from me. That I can understand — losing everything. I was very negative, but now I’ve come to a point where I’m very surprised that things go wrong: “Really? Something happened that was negative?” That’s a tremendous change. I can’t even really explain my shift to thinking that everything’s going to be OK. I can be more help to other people … The benefits are indescribable.

Q: You like to discuss politics a lot —

Close

A: I’m a left-leaning liberal, it’s safe to say.

Q: Yet you’re very open to discussion, and reasonable about really hearing the other side out in a way that seems rare these days.

A: The only thing that troubles me is intolerance, when a person is incapable of being empathetic to another’s point of view. There’s a level of vitriol directed toward certain groups like Muslims that doesn’t attempt to take the other’s point of view. I’d be a hypocrite if I took the similar stance to my conservative friends and didn’t at least listen to the facts they present. If you convince me, I’ll admit I didn’t know that, and I’ll shift my view. That’s the only way to get together on things — to be open to change when the facts change. To say, “I’m gonna have faith in this idea no matter who proves me wrong” — that’s no way to go.