Matthew describes the work as “a generational level up — for myself, for my family, for my daughter.” He sees it as breaking patterns of how he relates to work, self, and family — patterns that would otherwise be inherited. Joe is visibly moved, admitting he’d never considered this dimension of his work before: “I always think about the people who write me and say my life has changed… I’ve never until this moment thought about” the generational ripple.
Matthew’s mother made the lineage explicit: “Your grandfather was this way, your father was this way, you were this way, and now I see that’s starting to change.” The implication is that inner work doesn’t just change the individual — it interrupts inherited emotional patterns that would otherwise pass to children, partners, and communities without anyone choosing them.
Joe relates this to his own experience: “The work that I’ve done literally makes me jealous of my children sometimes — oh, you had such a great childhood. I didn’t have that.” The bittersweet recognition is that breaking generational patterns means the next generation won’t need the same healing.