Third Eye on the Prize

Send us Fan Mail The online world privileges sight and hearing while neglecting smell, taste, and touch—and that imbalance may affect us more deeply than we realize. We spend hours each day working, learning, communicating, and being entertained through screens. But what happens when much of our experience is filtered through only two of our five senses? In this episode, we explore the profound ro...

Send us Fan Mail "We can help each other be here." Somewhere in the world, one person pressed play. Looking at the map of listeners for this podcast—32 countries, 115 cities—I was struck by how often it comes down to just one person in a place. One listener in Ukraine. One in Morocco. One in Pakistan. And it made me wonder… Who are you when you’re listening? Are you here… or somewhere el...

Send us Fan Mail In this episode of Third Eye on the Prize, I reflect on a powerful writing circle about maternal ancestors, the collective feminine, and the difference between nourishment energy and performance energy. From stress hormones and urgency culture to wealth disparity and the madness of “never enough,” this episode explores imbalance — in our bodies, our relationships, our communities,...

Send us Fan Mail Plastic is everywhere—but how often do we stop to ask where it really comes from? In this episode of Third Eye on the Prize , we explore the hidden connections among oil, plastic, consumer culture, and the climate crisis. As renewable energy slowly challenges fossil fuels, another industry is booming: plastic production. What does that mean for our planet, our oceans, and future g...

Send us Fan Mail Pain and discomfort is part of being alive. Suffering is something we add. In this final episode of the 4 Doorways to Presence series, we explore the difference—and why pain, as difficult as it is, can be one of the most powerful ways we wake up. Sometimes pain is the only thing bigger than the ego’s power to keep renewing itself. 🌿 Stay Connected 💌 Share your reflections: info@...

Send us Fan Mail Beauty is one of the most powerful—and overlooked—doorways to presence. In this episode, we explore how great works of art can pull us out of the small self into something much larger. When we truly immerse ourselves in music, painting, or performance, the ego softens and we become receptive to the source of creativity. I share a curated playlist from my YouTube channel, Third Eye...

Send us Fan Mail In this second episode of the 4 Doorways to Presence series, we explore embodiment — the simple but profound act of coming back into the body. Many of us live mostly in our heads: thinking, planning, worrying, solving problems. Meanwhile, the body quietly holds a powerful key to presence. Dancers, actors, athletes, and even people facing illness often discover something the rest o...

Send us Fan Mail Doorways to presence are always available to us. In this new series, I explore four of them: Intuition, Embodiment, Beauty, and Pain. Today’s episode focuses on Intuition—what it actually is (and what it isn’t). Intuition is not emotion. It’s not opinion. It’s not wishful thinking or ego in disguise. It’s the human capacity to receive subtle but unmistakable guidance from beyond t...

Send us Fan Mail How do we stay conscious, compassionate, and psychologically steady when confronted with large, unsettling public stories? ...really sitting with the unknown is so uncomfortable. In this episode, I reflect on the tension many of us feel between staying informed and becoming overwhelmed — between engagement and mental saturation. Using the ongoing conversation around the Epstein fi...

Send us Fan Mail How Presence Defuses Emotional Bombs... You can't let go of something that you're not letting be.  If you've ever struggled to "just let go," this one is for you. One ordinary morning, a knock at the door and a sudden scream changed everything. In this episode, I share a moment with my daughter that revealed something subtle and powerful about emotional es...

Send us Fan Mail In this episode : Karma as cause and effect, not judgment or blame What if the difficulties we resist most are actually doing important work on us? In this opening episode of Season Two, Debra explores challenge as a teacher—not as punishment, not as something we “deserve,” but as part of a larger unfolding that often only makes sense when we zoom out in time. Drawing on ideas of...

Send us Fan Mail Season Two of Third Eye on the Prize continues what we began in Season One: looking honestly at all the ways becoming more aware changes us, both personally and collectively. These episodes take the form of spoken prose — reflections and stories that look beneath the surface of ordinary life and unfold without rushing toward answers.  Awareness doesn't make life easier - it m...

Send us Fan Mail Memory, Impermanence, and What Can’t Be Preserved This episode begins with a piece I wrote years ago about rediscovered family audiotapes recorded between 1958 and 1969—then pivots into a reflection on nostalgia, impermanence, and listening. Hearing those recordings again felt like stepping into a time machine guided only by the sound of voices . But this episode also reckons with...

Send us Fan Mail Why America’s Brightest May Have to Leave This episode is about the erosion of America’s ability to support innovation. “The rest of the world is not patiently waiting for America to get its act together.” What happens when scientists, researchers, and innovators who once saw the United States as a beacon of possibility start packing their bags? In this episode, I address the grow...

Send us Fan Mail How do you feel about AI right now? Love it or hate it? In this episode, I explore our oddly intimate relationship with technology—how AI can feel like both a brilliant helper and a tone-deaf impersonator.  From misleading “solutions” to uncanny insights, from our students’ dependence on Google to the dizzying speed of innovation, we’re being asked to stay more grounded and awake...

Send us Fan Mail "We don't have a life, we are life." In this moment, it feels like two worlds overlap: one collapsing under the weight of greed and control, another emerging through awareness and compassion.  In this episode, Debra traces the pattern from patriarchy and slavery to tech oligarchs and AI—showing how the same forces that destabilize us can also awaken us. A reflection...

Send us Fan Mail What does earwax have to do with ego? More than you’d think. A trip to the doctor becomes a mirror for how we handle ego — not by forcing or avoiding, but by finding the balance between yin and yang. In this episode of Third Eye on the Prize , Debra shares an unexpected lesson from a simple trip to the doctor — how something as ordinary as ear irrigation can reveal the delicate ba...

Send us Fan Mail There’s a lot of turbulent energy in the world right now — and most of us feel it, whether we want to or not. But how do we stay open without getting overwhelmed? In this episode of Third Eye on the Prize , Debra explores what she calls “the intelligence of the membrane” — the innate ability to know what to let in and what to release. Through personal story, spiritual insight, and...

Send us Fan Mail "If, as a species, we're hopefully moving from being more asleep to being more awake, why would we want to go back to sleep ?" The artist holds up a mirror to society. But what happens when those in power can't bear the reflection? This episode looks at two stories of censorship unfolding in America right now - satirical statues removed, photographs seized - an...

Send us Fan Mail Debra shares the story of her parents' artistry and activism, and how those two rivers shaped her own path as both an artist and teacher. I grew up between two powerful rivers - my mother's artistry and my father's teaching. Both shaped me, both challenged me, and both live on in my own path as an artist and educator.  In this deeply personal episode, I share how co...

Send us Fan Mail The lessons we resist are often the ones we need the most. We spend so much of life trying to avoid discomfort — yet it’s often the very thing that teaches us the most. In this episode, I share stories and reflections on how unease, resistance, and struggle can open unexpected doors into presence and growth. In This Episode Why discomfort is not the enemy but an unexpected guide H...

Send us Fan Mail Presence is the most radical form of love we can offer ourselves and others.  In a world buzzing with notifications, endless scrolling, and constant digital chatter, how do we reclaim presence? In this episode, we explore, in a natural setting, the quiet power of showing up for ourselves and each other, even amidst the chaos of a hyperconnected world. In this episode:  Why “being...

Send us Fan Mail Beyond duality is oneness. Sometimes spiritual lessons come from unexpected places—even 7th grade English class. In this episode, I dive into the concept of duality, how it shapes our perception of reality, and how the lessons we thought we outgrew as teens continue to influence our adult lives. Through storytelling, humor, and reflection, I explore what it means to move beyond bl...

Send us Fan Mail - Welcome to Third Eye on the Prize   A poetic space for consciousness seekers. Increasing numbers of us are having awakening experiences, getting glimpses into the truth that spiritual masters have been telling us about for centuries: that we’re not really separate from one another or the rest of Creation; the separateness is an illusion.  This is not easy to digest but it’s a ce...