Love Sweet Love

You will love this episode! The company I am featuring today is remarkable and I think, quite revolutionary. It is a local bakery, here in the lower mainland of BC, called Gabi and Jules. . It is known for having the most delicious, handmade baking and they use full-butter in all their goods, and NO machines. Everything is handmade. That is spreading love enough, of course, but… there is so much m...

It is a huge honour to have my guest with me today. When I dreamt up this podcast, the Roots of Empathy program was one of the first examples of a program or organization that is fostering and spreading love, and highlighting this program was on the top of my dream guest list. Here is a tiny excerpt from founder Mary Gordon’s best-selling book called “Roots of Empathy: Changing the World Child by...

“Creating Sacred Spaces for Transformation” with guest Christine Vaughan Davies I first found my guest today on Substack. I was drawn to her post called “Sacred tears” for many reasons – one being that anyone who knows me knows that I cry easily – well not easily, but “readily”, maybe. In her post, she wrote about what it could be like if vulnerability could be seen as a superpower. Here’s a littl...

I am so excited to share this episode with you. It is the first time I have taken microphones and recorded my interviews on site! I did this because I was stunned by this place! I wanted to go back there and try to capture the magic that we witnessed when we went there this summer. My husband, Paul, and I, were looking for places to take his 89-year-old mum while here on her month-long, annual vis...

Today I am going to focus on teens and young adults who are choosing to give of themselves in order to support others in the community. I hear, and I bet you do, too, the disparaging phrase “these young people today” and how they are adrift, or idle or selfish, or unmotivated. This is not what I see. This is not what you will hear about today. I am regularly so inspired by the young people I get t...

Who are the people who choose to comfort those as they die? Who are those who choose to be around that sadness, the tears, the grief? Who are those who could watch the loved ones of the dying, in their grief? These questions have crossed my mind many times – I could barely utter the words “death” and “dying”, let alone imagine myself trying to comfort someone during this time. I think those who do...

I am so excited about this episode. We have such an expert with us today! My guest today is a leading researcher in the study of flourishing and wellbeing. I have had the pleasure of knowing her for a few years now, as I was in some sessions with her in a series in my district and I immediately felt connected to her and what she has to say. She is incredibly knowledgeable, insightful, warm, funny,...

There are so many thoughts on forgiveness. I think of forgive and forget, or even that sometimes we say or feel we can forgive, but we won’t forget…. Which is right? Is there are a right approach to forgiveness? I think recently we have heard that forgiveness is good for us, as holding that burden of a grudge or hatred or something else negative, is only hurting us, … but then what if something is...

Burnout is one of the most uttered words of the past few years. I know in my work in schools, I often hear from colleagues that it seems harder and harder to find the stamina to do the job. Many of us have wondered, “Why does everyone seem so tired all the time?”. These feelings of exhaustion seem to be increasing, don’t they? I wonder, is if because of COVID? If so, why? Or is it something else,...

Today I am highlighting an organization which fosters connection and care and harnesses the power of community to improve the wellness and lives of its participants. My guest today is Dr. Elizabeth Markle. She is an Associate Professor at Community Mental Health at California Institute of Integral Studies and is also a licensed psychologist, speaker (her TEDx talk is excellent), writer, and resear...

Today, I am highlighting a really cool project, or initiative, as they call it, which is happening on BC’s Vancouver Island. I first noticed this group on Twitter, as I found they liked and reposted the same kinds of things that I did, and their focus seemed to be on focussing on the greater good of the community. Their name caught my eye, too, as it was about the “village”, a power which I truly...

This is a very special episode in that it celebrates two people who are, and have been, fostering love for decades. These two people happen to be married, and have been married for many years. These two people are so dedicated to giving their hearts and time to the community, it seems like they treat it like their job. When you see them in their various ways of serving, they are so comfortable, so...

On this episode we talk about what it means to be an “upstreamist”; teens and what is most important; social conditions and their impact; how colonialism got it all wrong and the brilliance of indigenous ways of knowing and learning; a gardener versus a carpenter approach to parenting; and so much more. My guest today is a Clinical Professor at McMaster in the Dept of Psychiatry and Behavioural ne...

I have known today’s guest for more than a decade, and I have seen with my own eyes, her obvious intelligence, her broad vision of a compassionate world and the role she believes we all play in creating that world. Through coaching, writing, and community work she does, and through her daily interactions (whether at work or not), she has always focussed on a healthy work climate, and her colleague...

Our guest today is an esteemed, best-selling author, speaker and consultant who believes love, is medicine. She believes and shares how love heals, brings hope and builds empathy. I have heard our guest today say that when talking about love, we do not necessarily have to sue the word “love” – but, she says, “when we treat somebody with respect, with kindness, when we share with them, when we upho...

There is a small but mighty group of people in Burnaby who are doing incredible things with their time, creativity, and vision. These people have found a way to support hundreds and hundreds of people in this lower-mainland BC city, by promoting capacity-building, community engagement, new and exciting opportunities, avenues to equity, leadership and more. We are going to talk to some of the folks...

Here are two young people who are acting and living in loving ways, every day, even as they navigate their packed grade 12 schedules, maintaining their grades and expectations, high involvement in their extra-curricular activities and of course, their relationships with friends and family. I talk to them about how they manage all of this, where they learned this ethic from and WHY they give all of...

Today I have the great pleasure of bringing you the amazing work of Neighbourhood Houses . When I think of Neighbourhood Houses, certain words spring to my mind: The first one is, welcome. Other words that come to mind are: inclusion, gathering, opportunity, capacity, possibility, involvement, assets, equity. The work done in Neighbourhood Houses is definitely fostering and spreading love. These f...

Educator, facilitator, speaker Gayle Beavil, introduces “Love Sweet Love” – her appreciative inquiry on love and its power to make us, and society, move toward more happiness, health and harmony. Listen in to hear what kind of conversations you will hear and why, what the word needs now, is indeed, “Love Sweet Love”.