Campus
Wilson spent about an hour answering questions and chewing on Life’s big issues with a panel of student leaders from several organizations moderated by Hope Rainey before taking the stage in the Bicknell Family Center for the Arts.
There, he sat down for an hour-long conversation with Andra Stefanoni (BA '91, MA '94), director of Media Relations at Pitt State and a former journalist.
They discussed “The Office,” including his favorite episode (“The Injury”) before moving on to topics Wilson has become passionate about exploring and discussing.
“We are facing a plethora of pandemics, and all of them are affecting humanity in this day and age,” he said. “Materialism, increased militarism and toxic nationality, racism, income inequality, sexism, environmental degradation and climate change, mental health – all pandemics.”
He writes about these and possible solutions in his most recent book, “Soul Boom: Why We Need a Spiritual Revolution,” (2023) and discusses them in his latest podcast, “Soul Boom,” which premiered a few days after his Pittsburg appearance.
Wilson, now 58, grew up in the Baha’i Faith, which teaches respect for all the world’s religions and unity of all people and is practiced by about 5 to 8 million.
His mother left him at a young age, his father and step-mother were unhappy in their marriage, and he had a somewhat fractured childhood. He struggled with his own mental health in his 20s during a time it was not yet discussed and carried a stigma.
“I came out of acting school, I was living in New York City, I didn't want anything to do with religion, God, morality,” he said. “I had a series of bad jobs, I was living with a friend in an abandoned beer brewery in Brooklyn – I was a squatter. And that’s when a lot of things went off track.”
Wilson recounted being depressed and having crippling anxiety and panic attacks.
“I fought alienation, despair, disconnection, and I started trying to medicate myself with drugs and alcohol,” he said. “That didn’t work out so well.”
He credits his return to a spiritual path, and actively studying spirituality and world religions for the past 20 to 30 years, with helping him recover from anxiety, depression, and addictions.
He’s also turned outward, he said, choosing a focus, mission, and purpose to help the “totality of humanity” rather than indulging solely on self-help. Among those missions: starting a foundation in Haiti that funds education for girls and women.
His series “The Geography of Bliss,” streaming on Peacock, helped him realize the value of community and human connections. In the series, he traveled to four countries – Iceland, Bulgaria, Ghana, and Thailand – to interact with ordinary people and explore how different cultures find happiness.
“All the things that social psychologists talk about, I saw born out in front of my eyes,” he said. “The secret to happiness is in connections. Unhappiness is found in isolation. We must build connections. With ourselves, with loved ones, with nature, with God, in our community, in our churches, in schools, in our cul-de-sacs.”
“When humans bond, they thrive. I got to see this time and time again and realized how fractured we are, how divisive we are in the U.S. We have isolating technologies in our pockets. If you’re feeling unhappy, find some place to connect.”
Regardless of which religion a person subscribes to or if they subscribe to none, Wilson said, there is wisdom and meaning to be found in the world’s religions that could benefit us individually and societally.
“The solutions to the global pandemics that face us as a species don’t lie in the halls of government but in every human heart and soul,” he quoted from his book. “That’s what we need to continue to explore.”
The H. Lee Scott Speaker Series: An Examination of American Life was established in 2015 to bring nationally prominent leaders and innovators to Pittsburg State University. It is funded by a $2 million gift from alumnus and former Walmart CEO Lee Scott and his wife, Linda.
