Why Jane Goodall’s Lessons Matter More Than Ever
A few weeks ago, my husband asked if I wanted to go on a date night to see Jane Goodall speak at the Fisher Theatre in Detroit. I told him I wanted to go, but not as a date night. I wanted it to be a family night.
My daughter, April, is 14. Jane Goodall was 91. I wanted April to experience Jane’s magic.
Jane was humble and fierce all at once. That night, I walked out of the theater reminded that action, no matter how small, changes the world in ripples.
The Uneven Starting Line
Jane was just twenty-six years old in 1960 when she began her field study of chimpanzees in what was then Tanganyika, a colonial territory administered by the United Kingdom, now Tanzania. But unlike a man her age, the British government wouldn’t allow her to go alone.
Jane’s mother went with her. They shared a tent, caught malaria together, and passed the thermometer back and forth. Without Jane’s mother’s act of courage, one woman lifting another, Jane’s story might never have begun.
Doing the Hard Things Because They Matter
Jane didn’t chase fame or attention. She once said she didn’t even enjoy her life on the road, traveling 300 days a year, but she did it because it mattered. She did it for the chimpanzees, for the planet, and for all of us.
That’s the heart of death readiness, too. It’s not about loving every hard thing you do. It’s about believing those hard things matter, whether it’s sitting down to create your Will, having a conversation with your family about end-of-life wishes, or advocating for someone who doesn’t yet have a voice.
The Next Great Adventure
On Julia Louis-Dreyfus’s Wiser Than Me podcast, Jane recounted a time when she was asked what her next great adventure would be.
She responded that she thought her next great adventure would be dying.
There was silence, then nervous laughter, and then she went on: ““When you die, there’s either nothing — in which case, okay, nothing. Or there’s something. And I happen to think there is something. Because of experiences I’ve had. And if that’s true, what greater adventure can there be than discovering what that something is?”
That’s death readiness: living with enough peace, integrity, and purpose that when the next adventure comes, you’re ready to meet it.
Doing Your Little Bit
Jane once said, “Every person makes some impact on the planet every single day. And we get to choose what sort of difference we make.”
We may not all change the world but we can change the experience of one person, one animal, one family. We can support each other the way Jane’s mother supported her, the way mentors and friends have supported us. That’s how we change the race we run, one deliberate, compassionate step at a time.
Listen to the episode here:
