You won't become more productive, you won't become richer, you won't become more fashion savvy. You might, though, become real.
Until I began turning toward Imagination. I realized that, really, I had a choice. I approached a crossroads, as it were, and could succumb to the world as it is (sucks) or make a genuine effort to create a world that doesn't suck so much.
Refresh: I know I needed a refresh this week and so I am delighted to share this conversation with Reena Friedman Watts: Entrepreneur, podcaster, mom of four kids, wife, coach, community grower, storytelling junkie. You’ll want to listen for the recurring chorus of fail better, keep doing your best, tell your story, your voice matters, shine on. Reena’s podcast is called Better Call Daddy, and, yes, it turns out that her daddy is her talisman, her go-to in the times she needs a boost, and her
Renwal: Our theme for the week led me to a new podcast series: “Loving the Unlovable” First up, a conversation with my sister, Tamara Brown. Her MA in Human Development is what got me to call her but it was our relationship as sisters that helped us talk about the unlovable. What makes us lovable? Why is that such a cringey question? My sister and I dive in, staying on the edges of her professional background as a child development expert but really talking a lot about where we are as far as o
Perception: It’s all in how you see — the angle, the lens, the depth. This week, we continue our conversation on family, immigration, vulnerability and beauty with Stan Smith, adjunct professor of social work at USC. You have to wait until the 37 minute mark to get there, but this is where we end up: “I think it's true. Family is beautiful. Not Just the family that I think I deserve to have, or my kid deserves to have, or the family you deserve to have, or the one sitting across the pew from
Persist! It’s those little efforts we make that, over time, move mountains. Today I get to share the first part of a two part conversation with Stan Smith, social worker and adjunct professor of social work at USC (University of Southern California). So, awhile back, I asked Stan about children as possibly the most vulnerable members of our society. He responded with: “We are the vulnerable ones who are afraid of that vulnerability.” I start this episode off with that exchange, and we go from
Joy! This week, Anna Katarina and I speak about Rumour Mill [https://www.rumourmill.band/], the band she created with Aline Daigle — and why you (we) should all sing, support live music, and music, music, music. Sing! Singing helps us move from our reactive (fight, flight, freeze or fawn) “lizard-brains” and into our grounded, responsive, fully-alive, fully-human selves. Singing makes it possible to access a full range of emotions. We *know* this, but sometimes we need a reminder. Anna Katari
Welcome to another episode of Wild and Precious Conversations. This week, a conversation with Dr. Jennie Barron, executive director of the Mir Center for Peace. Jennie spoke with me about her dissertation which is her research into urban orchards. Urban orchards is code, I found, for some awfully subversive ideas. Jennie unpacked these for me as one might a series of very cherished gifts — first, by challenging my understanding of ownership. Imbuing it with the sense that it’s something we’r
Welcome to another episode of Wild and Precious Conversations. This week, a conversation with Cam Brewer, lawyer, activist, author. I told Cam that we would be speaking about the commons. Ha. I planned to have this conversation and then put it out as a helpful adjunct to another couple conversations I am waiting to share with you about both our collective responsibility as a society and our how we can use that collective responsibility as an empowering force for good in the world. Well, as w
Welcome to another episode of Wild and Precious Conversations. This week, I speak with David Hall, soon-to-be Registered Nurse specializing in Geriatrics. This week I had a chance to speak with my cousin, David Hall. Deciding to make a career chaing in midlife is one thing, becoming a registered nurse specializing in geriatrics is another. First, fingers crossed as I upped my sound editing game this week. Feedback welcome. I start the conversation (I feel) rather abruptly, throwing us into a
Welcome to another episode of Wild and Precious Conversations. This week, I am introducing the idea of integrity. Due to a series of unfortunate events, which honestly included a trasnformer blowing up or catching fire (or something like that ) this week’s episode does not have a guest. But I think that’s exactly what needed to happen. Next week, we get a conversation with Cam Brewer, lawyer, activist, *accountant*, entrepreneur. This week, we get a short introduction to integrity. A short,
Welcome to another episode of Wild and Precious Conversations. This week, I speak with Lisa Richardson, writer. This week I had a chance to speak for the first time with Lisa Richardson, a writer based in Pemberton, British Columbia. Lisa’s writing moves me. It would be wonderful if there were so much strategic planning around this project that I could honestly say that is why I asked her to talk about movement. Alas, no. Movement was our loose theme but perhaps more correctly, we spoke of
Welcome to another episode of Wild and Precious Conversations. This week, I speak with Jackie Tahara, licensed surface pattern designer, illustrator, and artist. This week feels really special because wild and precious conversations is again a real conversation! When I met Jackie Tahara years ago, she was a lawyer. Fast forward many years and she makes her living through her art as a licensed surface pattern designer (notice the patterns in her image, above!) I really wanted to listen to her t
Welcome to another episode of Wild and Precious Conversations. This week, I contemplate the power of the curse in our modern lives: The nocebo effect. This week, I have been contemplating the power of our words. There’s quite an industry dedicated to the idea that affirmations, positive thinking, and the like can make you rich, powerful, beautiful and healthy. Contrast that with the reality (which hit me this last week) that there is one emotion we all struggle mightily with that we use as a
Welcome to another episode of Wild and Precious Conversations. This week, I introduce you to the FREE Science of Well Being class taught through Cousera by Dr. Laurie Santos at Yale. This week, I think Dr. Laurie Santos’ Yale course was on my mind as I contemplated Magic vs Science. I took her “Happiness Class” a few years ago when my family needed, frankly, a reminder of what happiness was. I think that is what was behind my thesis that emotional fitness ain’t Magic — It’s science. And kinda