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Irfan Sehic grew up in Bosnia and spent most of his childhood living in a civil war. One day the kids across the street were his best friends, the next day they were enemies. His father would fight in the war a few days a week and then be back for dinner. It was complicated. He told me I couldn’t understand war because I had not experienced it, which is true. But I kept asking him to explain it to me anyway.
Here’s a link to the Robby and Irfan show, wherein I admit that I do not know who Joe Rogan is.
Credits
Irfan owns an insurance agency and you’d be super lucky to have him as your insurance agent because he is radically honest and loves to save you money but he doesn’t need more clients. But you can read about his agency here.
Episode Sponsor!
This episode is sponsored by Dobbs Maple, making small batches of locally sourced granulated maple sugar, which happens to be the best maple sugar in the world. I know this because I eat a lot of maple products even in the middle of the night.
Wonderful interview! For someone who says he couldn’t possibly explain, Irfan is a fountain of wisdom and insight.
I haven’t felt that many different things in the course of 40 minutes maybe ever. But it made me feel a little ashamed that I didn’t consider owning a Dunkin at the age of 17. I grew up next to one and the thought never crossed my mind. I am a lazy American. Thank you Irfan for trying to help us understand what it’s like to grow up in a war.
What an amazing episode. I think Irfan is absolutely right — the actual experience of war is opaque to most of us here in America. (His description of complications on top of complications is so perfect.) Thank you, Irfan, for sharing your story, and for the incredible lucidity of your insights even you were in the middle of chaos. There are not many people who could remain that clear-sighted. You’re an extraordinary person.
I have know Irfan for the past 15 years an should not be surprised by his amazing outlook on life, strength, compassion, and ability to see and articulate the intersection of his emotional response with life experiences. A fantastic interview of an incredible individual that has lifted me up. Thank you!
This story was extraordinary in every way! Listening Irfan’s stories. His love for life, strength and compassion is absolutely wonderful. Keep being you Ifran! If only everyone saw things in the same way as you.
I was just reading this and it reminded me of what Irfan was saying about war. It’s from Holocaust Testimonies: The Ruins of Memory, quoted in Bessel van der Kolk’s The Body Keeps the Score “if you were not there, it’s difficult to describe and say how it was. how men function under such stress is one thing, and then how you communicate and express that to somebody who never knew that such a degree of brutality exists seems like a fantasy.”