Vulnerability in life and art

I've called at least one other episode in this podcast an odd duck.  I think this may be a much even odder duck. The theme is ruminations I guess on the fifth birthday of the Vulnerability in life and art podcast.

Colin Douglas lives in Las Vegas, a data analyst by training and a philosopher by nature. He's driven by ideas and a great curiosity about how people choose to live their lives in the general pursuit of happiness, or better yet, enduring peace, fulfillment, or purpose. Working a full-time job, he finds the time to share his insights and invites others to engage in the conversation. Colin shares a...

"Books transform and shape us," says Winnipeg-based book artist Debra Frances. What makes a book a book? And how are we shaped by what we experience through books? Inspired after making a book to showcase her daughter's artwork, Debra now creates stunning pieces from natural materials like milkweed seedpods and driftwood, as well as her own handmade papers and dyes. She teaches bookbinding classes...

Based in Kitchener-Waterloo Ontario, Bryn Gladding is a commercial photographer who works with developers, researchers, inventors, artists, and manufacturers, alongside pursuing his own personal projects. I found his insights and reflections into his personal projects in particular, from the perspective of his own vulnerability, very moving. Bryn is as passionate about nurturing connections with p...

This is a quick ramble about the learning field - designing courses and workshops - and sustaining dramatic tension in long-form fiction.

This was a fun coversation from a personal perspective, because I went to high school with Jackie Reeves, a painter who also does collage, installations, film, and animations. Jackie grew up making art and exudes a lovely sense of calm confidence not only in her talent, but also in her choices to make art as child, teen, and adult. She has faith in her drawing hand, her painting hand. I did envy t...

I had the opportunity to speak with Laura Tafe about her collage work, which I find bright and bold. She also works as a pathologist and has been able to reintegrate artistic practice into her life as an adult, with a spirit of intentionality and a desire to express different aspects of herself, both to herself and to others. Laura talks about the role of art, creativity, and self-expression in he...

This is my second conversation with Stefan Lorenzutti, a poet who runs the independent press Bored Wolves in collaboration with his partner Joanna Osiewicz-Lorenzutti. Stefan and I were messaging a few months back and he shared that it had been a challenging year, and how responses from when we last talked would no longer be quite the same. So in a way we talked about many of the same big picture...

One might think that by my fifth year of doing this podcast, I'd remember to introduce the guest at the beginning of the episode! Sadly, I did not in this case. So, this is my conversation with Liv Wickedly, a multidimensional artist and creative who loves jumping in to try new things, a woman after my own heart. We talk about art as intentional self-expression, through whatever medium feels right...

In this episode, I talk about what surfing means to me. It's a challenge on many different levels. Most importantly, it is teaching me what the real challenge is, in my relationship to the ocean, control, and lessons still to learn. Be sure to check out the book Nature of Surf Women @nature_of_surfwomen written by Ivana Bajic @ivanabajic with photography by Gabriela Tellez and audio recordings by...

This is my first episode - and probably my first conversation ever - with an action actor (which is today's term for the profession I would've referred to as stuntman). Jon Schmidt fell into the work after time in the Peace Corps and then completing his MBA, when the job overseas that he had accepted fell through. Jon explains how in the beginning of his career, he worried that saying no to a role...

Amy Horowitz is a freelance photographer based in New York City who takes portraits of young adults in and around Washington Square Park, looking for the softness under the shell and documenting today's generation in tumultuous times, in moments of connection. Here's the core message of her work - and I really like how she says it: I was brought up in a different way...but people are how they are....

Tim Tamashiro is a speaker, singer, radio and podcast host, and author of  How To Ikigai , a book that helps people discover their ikigai, or life's purpose. His own ikigai is "to delight." Tim talks about how mental health crises during the covid pandemic led him to therapy and Buddhist practice, the role of manifestation in his life, and his passion for ikigai which is a combination of four fact...

In this episode, I talk about what it means to me to make choices about where to put my time and energy - and really trying to feel into those choices, as well as think logically about pros and cons, so I can open space in my life for doing what matters most to me.

Doug Breault is a Boston-based interdisciplinary artist who works with photography, painting, sculpture, and video. In addition to his art practice, he curates exhibitions at Gallery 263, teaches art students at Babson College and Bridgewater State University, and contributes articles to Boston Art Review, Lenscratch, the Harvard Art Museum, and the Bridgewater Review. Doug talks about his evoluti...

Having inadvertently introduced Barbara Steinhaus - Chair of the Department of Music at Brenau University - as a music therapist, she not only set me straight with gentleness, but then walked me through her career as singer and educator, the value of music for healing, and how visiting art museums improves our wellbeing. I was taken by the four elements of singing in a healthcare setting that alig...

This is the second half of my conversation with Elijah Parker. We touched on how we can use different forms of language such as music to express ourselves, entrainment and the physics of harmony, wounds and wonders, and the nature of vulnerability as honest self-inquiry. And I love the image of us being watery beings moving through seas of vibration. Elijah is a Gene Keys Guide, Ambassador, and co...

Welcome to episode 116: some ideas about flow, inspired by a long run up in the country over a weekend.

Elijah Parker is a Gene Keys Guide, Ambassador, and core member of the Gene Keys Publishing team. The Gene Keys offer a set of teachings to guide personal growth and development through contemplation, inquiry, gentleness, and patience. Elijah facilitates both personal and group sessions with The Gene Keys for transformation in relationships, activating creative projects, and discovering the gifts...

Dana Stirling is a fine art photographer as well as co-founder & editor-in-chief of Float Photo Magazine. She was born in Jerusalem, of parents from London England, and now lives in Queens New York. Dana experimented with drawing and writing before discovering how much she enjoyed taking photos. She then found out she was following in the footsteps of both her father and grandfather, but she was t...

This is an episode about receiving feedback, feedback relative to a goal, feedback versus distortion, and feedback helping us to see things that we may not be able to see ourselves.

The last time I went out this far out on a limb in terms of topic on this podcast was my conversation with gardener Andi Strachan. But there's something about the interactions between human cultures and the natural environment that I find fascinating, and there's also a thread related not just to vulnerabilities of agrobiodiversity and food sovereignty, but also how our individual lives are entwin...

John Avilla is the founder of Sound Union, a creative studio and cultural hub designed for people who see music in terms of well-being, inspiration, and connection. With a background in brand strategy and creative direction, John built Sound Union as a new kind of social club for creatives, entrepreneurs, and thinkers who prioritize music as a vital part of their daily lives and identities. John s...

This episode is about listening to our inner bass players and some of the different things that might mean.

Lance Johnson has a decade of experience working as a freelance video editor. Based in New York City, he delivers work to clients like Tom Ford, MTV, and Showtime. He is also the founder and host of the podcast See-Through. Lance has an incurable eye disease called retinitis pigmentosa, which typically causes legal blindness by age 40. Today, at 34 years old, Lance has already spent five years hav...