Ep. 9: Meeting the Other

You may have noticed episodes being posted less frequently. I've been dedicating time to other things, but this episode demanded to be written- a spontaneous urge, like a painting or a poem, leaping forth. It's just me, no guests, talking about how to hear each other through the noise of defences, patterns, attachments, all of it. How to sense the place where we are already connected to each other. I hope it holds meaning for you.

Join me for a chat with Me Time - a DJ, worldbuilder, and immersive experience designer who engages the dancefloor as a portal for remembering and reimagining how we live together. Through music, movement, and narrative, she creates intentional spaces where people can feel safe enough to drop into presence, reclaim their agency, and practice the futures they long for. In this episode, she speaks about joy as resistance, play as a spiritual technology, and what becomes possible when we design spaces not just for fun, but also for connection.

Albert F. Moritz (also known as AF Moritz, or simply Al) is one of the greatest living poets. You can read his Wikipedia profile if you want to know how much he's published, his admirable accolades, and all of that. But to me, he is a favourite professor from my early university days, and was my gateway not only into poetry, but into a life committed to being what he calls a "sensitive person" - a person who cannot conform to oppressive, spirit-squashing social norms, and so who makes it their life mission to live closer to the truth of oneself. Poetry is one tool to support us in living from the heart, and Al talks all about that in this episode. (Let the length of the episode show how much I love listening to this man speak!)

Welcome to Season 2 of this podcast, now called 'Meetings in the Mystery.' I wanted my intention for this podcast to be clearer to my listeners, so this short episode is a manifesto about why the title of the podcast has changed, and why this project is so close to my heart. In short: the Mystery lives in each meeting we have, in any encounter between two people (or a person and an animal, plant, or object). These everyday meetings and their depth is not treated as important in our modern, Western world, and this warped priority system is part of what prevents meaningful change from happening. This podcast is a call to prioritize each other, and to notice what happens when we meet. Thank you, as always, for listening.

Drawing (and art more broadly) has been a lifelong companion of mine - yes, companion is a much better word than hobby, or even 'passion.' It has been a guide and a mirror, a way to come into relationship with my more full, interconnected being. I've meant to talk about my creative process for a while on here, but for whatever reason, now is the right time. I hope something of my relationship with art will inspire you - either to pick up a paintbrush for the first time, or to revisit it as an old friend.