Brave enough to love

Kelly Corrigan, W’89, took the stage in April to give a TED talk on bravery. Other speakers discussed business, science, and government, but Corrigan reminded the audience of the bravery found in family life.

“Bravery is the great guts to move closer to the wound,” Corrigan said.

Witnessing acts of love in life’s difficult moments inspired Corrigan. That’s when, as Corrigan describes, there’s no preparation, and anything you say or do can profoundly impact the other person. Yet she believes these are the greatest of opportunities, a notion she built her career on.

Corrigan hosts Tell Me More with Kelly Corrigan, a PBS show on which she interviews guests about their life experiences and advice. She also hosts the podcast Kelly Corrigan Wonders, discussing topics like how to repair a ruptured relationship.

“The point was to surface world-positive people doing world-positive work in the hopes that exposure to these wonderful people might make the rest of us get off the couch and get involved,” she said.

Nearing the end of her TED talk, Corrigan shared a takeaway that runs throughout her body of work — a reminder of the gift that comes from being brave enough to love:

“The reward is to end up soft and humble, empty and in awe, knowing that of all the magnificence we have beheld from cradle to grave, the most eye-popping was interpersonal.”