Our Children Are Not Our Projects: Parenting as a Living Process with Justin Wise

What if the exhaustion so many of us feel as parents isn't a sign that we need to try harder — but a sign that we've mistaken a living process for a project to manage? In this episode, Lindsay and Charlie are joined by Justin Wise — founder of Third Space, integral development coach, and a beloved teacher to them both. Justin trained each of them (ten years apart!) on the integral coaching program that shaped their work and their parenting, and this conversation is a homecoming as much as an interview. Together they explore what it means to parent off autopilot: how fear pulls us into control and over-efforting, why "who do I want to be?" is a countercultural question, and what becomes possible when we treat parenting as something to forever learn rather than something to get right. Justin — now a father of three adult children — shares what this way of living has made possible in his relationships with his kids, including the revelation of learning to repair: to say "I made a mistake, I'm sorry, here's what I wish I'd done." The conversation closes with a reframe that has stayed with Lindsay for months: people are not projects, they are processes. We are less like tables and houses, more like rivers, trees, and thunderstorms — and so are our children. Justin ends by reading from Khalil Gibran's The Prophet: "Your children are not your children..." Justin Wise is the founder of Third Space and an integral development coach since 2008, holding a PCC credential with the International Coaching Federation. His work sits at the intersection of philosophy, adult development, and how we actually live in response to the complexity of the world — cultivating the kind of human freedom that allows us to see ourselves clearly and act with courage, integrity, and wisdom. He is a husband, community leader, and father of three. Third Space — Justin's practice and body of work Wendy Palmer — teacher and author on the body, relationships, and leadership embodiment Khalil Gibran, The Prophet — "On Children" We'd love to hear what this conversation opened up for you. Find us on Instagram @madepossiblebyparenthood, and if this episode resonated, share it with a fellow parent who needs to hear that they were never meant to get it all right. About Justin WiseLinks from this episodeConnect With Us