# A Perfectly Imperfect Union Series: Reflecting on America 250 with Rob O'Driscoll

Page: https://stenobird.com/podcast/whole-again-mindfulness-and-resilience-through-kintsugi-wisdom-6642339/a-perfectly-imperfect-union-series-reflections-on-america-250-with-rob-o-driscoll
Text version: https://stenobird.com/podcast/whole-again-mindfulness-and-resilience-through-kintsugi-wisdom-6642339/a-perfectly-imperfect-union-series-reflections-on-america-250-with-rob-o-driscoll.md
Podcast: [Whole Again: Mindfulness and Resilience Through Kintsugi Wisdom](https://stenobird.com/podcast/whole-again-mindfulness-and-resilience-through-kintsugi-wisdom-6642339)
Published: 2026-06-18T11:11:00+00:00
Episode link: https://michaelobrienshift.com/whole-again-podcast/
Audio file: https://episodes.captivate.fm/episode/165ea82f-6819-4fca-8265-9a4b2c128e99.mp3
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Duration seconds: 1502

## Resource

The Whole Again Podcast: Mindfulness and Resilience through Kinstugi Wisdom airs every Monday, Wednesday and Friday with Pause Breathe Reflect Microdose Meditations, Growth Mindset and Mindfulness Tips, to help us transform our scars into healing and resilience. And between May and October, I'm sharing a new series I'm calling: A Perfectly Imperfect Union. It's about connecting with every day folks as they reflect on America at 250. Conversations will air every Tuesday, Thursday and Saturday. ------- What's it going to take for all of us to feel like one country again? I recently sat down with Rob O'Driscoll, a basketball coach at the University of Maine who grew up in Philadelphia and now calls Hermon, Maine home, and we talked about this question. He shared that we don't need to agree on everything. We just need to be sympathetic to how the other person feels, even when we don't share the feeling ourselves. In this episode of A Perfectly Imperfect Union, Rob talks about family roots that stretch from Russia and Ukraine to Ireland and Germany, and he shares a story about a packed bar near Madison Square Garden shortly after September 11th, when the seventh-inning stretch hit and the whole room sang God Bless America together in unison. Rob still gets chills thinking about it. His hope is that we find our way back to that feeling of connection without needing a tragedy to get us there. And we finish up with a question Rob has for you and our next guest, Wil Davenport from TN: If you could visit one place in America you've never been before, where would you go and why? Share your thoughts in the comments and share this episode with someone you love. You can now download my Pause Breathe Reflect App with Microdose EQ for FREE in Apple’s App Store or Google Play. Discover…

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## Transcript

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