The Man Who Studied 1,000 Deaths to Learn How to Live

Meet Dr. BJ Miller, the handsome and charismatic physician who now runs the Zen Hospice Project in San Francisco. He is a triple amputee, thanks to an electrocution accident in college that nearly took his life, so he knows firsthand what it feels like to face his own mortality. Dr. Miller’s 2015 TED Talk ranked among the top fifteen most-viewed TED talks of the year. He was interviewed by one of my favorite bloggers, Tim Ferriss, on April 14, 2016, and I loved what he had to say.
 
What do we most wish for when we are close to death? According to Dr. Miller, we want comfort, peace, the feeling of being unburdened, and the feeling that we are not a burden to our loved ones. Priorities change. Little things, like pets and small pleasures, aren’t so little anymore.
 
Dr. Miller cares deeply about creating a dignified and graceful end-of-life experience for his patients. Although he is an expert in the field of preparing for death, his experiences have taught him that we can dramatically improve our lives with very small changes. I encourage you to take a few minutes to watch to his enlightening TED talk.