A night spent helping my grandma "land the plane" at 104, Maria Ross's twenty-good-summers math, and the research that explains both: death anxiety makes us defensive and tribal, while death reflection — contemplating mortality on purpose — turns us toward the people who matter. This edition of Reading Between the Lines walks through the difference, why it's a choice, and four questions worth sitting with this week.

95% of people believe they're self-aware. In Tasha Eurich's research, only 10 to 15% actually are. This edition of Reading Between the Lines covers the one-word fix, why introspection alone becomes an echo chamber, and the launch of What Does It Mean to Be Human?, my new podcast series with Maria Ross.