All That Matters

rRemembering is a privilege and a duty that can elevate our lives. Jan shares a recent visit to Omaha Beach, meeting ghosts of D-Day and discovering the rich gifts of the spirit.

Celebrating the Small Wins is essential in finding the good stuff in life. Jan shares his personal sense of triumph at the 250 episodes recorded for this podcast (and counting) as together we celebrate all that matters!

A world without words would be a poet's nightmare. Jan introduces you to poet m. nourbeSe Phillip, a Canadian poet who challenges us to imagine what we are without life's gifts and, in so doing, helping us to find all that we can be when we realize what we do have.

At times life sends you a NO that we can either accept or turn into an even more powerful YES! Jan shares a recent meeting with a vivacious young woman, Ella, who did just that and, together with her wonderful partner, Florent, has fashioned an uplifting coffee shop in Paris serving terrific cups and a joyous dose of joie de vivre.

Jan celebrates our roots, the meaning of childhood experiences, and the way your own story can propel your imagination.

Retelling a story of his dad and late brother, Mark, Jan celebrates the incomparable love and gifts that they gave him, and calls on all of us to cherish the possibility of discovering light in the darkness.

Sometimes it is the wisdom of our wounds in life that provides us with a new lens on how to deepen our purpose and passion in living. Jan shares the parable of the miller and the farmer, and the power of paying it forward.

Sometimes forgiveness can be found in the most unpredictable of place and one is transformed. Jan shares the incandescent moment when he was wrapped in the wings of an angel, bridging years of injustice.

Many of us witness injustice in the world. Our pain can be real. How do we honor it? Jan shares his personal encounter with the world famous Nazi hunter, Simon Wiesenthal, when he interviewed him in Vienna years ago and how he taught him it's possible for each of us to bring a bit more justice into the world by 'being the light.'

It's the little things sometimes. Small, seemingly pieces of trivia, that allow us to understand and see things in a richer way. Jan shares several odd and fascinating facts we might never know about the world, along with a true story of how, with a scratch of a pen, a last minute change of name altered the course of history.

Life brings with it grief and loss that lead us to deepening our purpose and love. Jan shares the story of a hit musical recently featured on PBS in a new London production that reminds us how essential feeling "all the feels" of life can be to our health and to our hope.

Jan shares with us a recent visit to a dying woman and his interaction with her daughter and how, together, they discovered the best gift each of us has to give another at all times.

Witty, incandescent art that shakes the way you look at the world, that was the gift of composer, theatre artist, William Finn who died recently. Never heard of him? You have now. Jan celebrates the ways Finn's music and truth lifted his spirit and helped him reframe family, life, and love.

Our days can become so hectic and tension-filled, we need a shot of positivity. Besides this podcast, Jan shares suggestions from a variety of artists, designers, and writers, small ways we can each find an oasis of uplift in our daily lives.

At times we wrestle with darkness and despair. After all, it's part of life. Jan shares a personal story of a dying woman with whom he recently spent time and how she found balance and light in the lives she has touched, a hope and positivity expressed in poems he highlights on this week's podcast.

How do we use this element by which we measure life-Time? How we do brings meaning and purpose to our lives. Jan shares the precious advice his father gave him at the end of his life--a gift of love.

Those with autism can feel pressure differently than others. Jan shares the true story of two players on TV's reality show SURVIVOR, and how one person taking action to help regulate another can inspire all of us to reach beyond ourselves to help make the world more whole, bringing the healing of the human touch.

Every year several world organizations study the data to find where in the world people are the happiest and why? Jan shares the newly released latest findings and shows just how poisonous negativity can be and how powerful positivity is in changing the quality of our lives right now, today.

Recently, Monty the Giant Schnauzer won Best In Show at Westminster, the world's most renowned Dog Show. But did you know he could teach you Torah? Jan shares how one dog can inspire us to be the best version of ourselves!

Each of us wants to discover even more of the good stuff life offers. That good stuff often comes with empowerment born of wisdom gleaned from sacred wounds. Jan shares the ultimate question posed by Abraham Joshua Heschel, one that helps us see the invisible gifts right in front of us.

This past week the oldest known survivor of the Holocaust died. She was 113 years old. Jan shares the true story of Rose Girone. Her example of incredible, awe-inspiring fearless living, in the wake of the worst evil mankind can produce, is a gift and inspiration to us all.

How do we find our way when life sends struggle our way? Is there a gift we might find, if we can drain the pain? Jan shares the true story of a young girl who bravely shared her own gift born of illness and challenge and transformed her pain into a 'sacred wound.'

When we take the time to learn the rest of someone's story, it can make all the difference. Jan shares his childhood memory of broadcaster Paul Harvey and his story of a young man whose encounter with another musician would help the young boy go on to impact  the music of the world.

Tuning out the chaos and madness of our daily lives, we find a tuning fork in poetry. Jan shares how his poet mother set him on a journey blessed with poems. With the words of poet David Whyte, he invites the listener to find the way back to our truest selves and the house of our own belonging.

With fear and rage all around is in social media and news headlines, Jan urges us to reframe our daily lives by asking a simple question: what's good about today? He provides a few keys as to how to find the good stuff and reminds us of key advice from Anne Frank, the Dalai Lama, and Audrey Hepburn.