Espresso and Earl Grey

17 year old me had a dream of a beautiful life - and decided to choose it. 17 year old me sat down in front of the principal, who looked at the report card and asked: “What are you wanting to study?”   “Primary Education.”   He paused, placed the report down and commented. “That's honourable.”   With limited eyes to see, and limited choices to take as a 17 year old, we choose a path. Optometrist, accountant, lawyer, doctor, priest.   Where does beauty lie in our quest for life?   Theme Music: Slainte - Gander in the Pratie Hole.    Music:  Crowander - Parody, Let it Last, Humbug Podington Bear - Winter Walk, Pounded Piano  One Man Book - Scaffold of Repeated Addition No Nature - Sad Song Siante - Britches Full of Stitches Esther Abrami - No. 8 Requiem  

"There's no ending wave after wave of tomorrows, there's no slowing down. Sometimes you find yourself like a deer in headlights - staring ahead frozen with the onslaught of mondays to fridays - and even weekends dont appear to offer the relief  because there's washing to do, groceries to buy, meal prep for the week, cobwebs to clean and vacuuming under the couch.  By the end of the weekend, collapsed onto the bed, the next week starts again."  Sometimes life overwhelms. After 2 years of absence, I'm back to continue the series to learn to Live Deliberately.  Grab a cup of tea, catch up on life, and reflect with me on life's challenges.    Season's Main Theme: Slainte - Gander in the Pratie Hole Music:  Slainte - Britches full of Stiches  Crowander - Let it last  Podington Bear - Mortality  Esther Abrami - No.8 Requiem  Crowander - Humbug  Crowander - Early Sun   No Nature - Sad Song  Crowander - The Hangover 

Music: Podington Bear - Pounded Piano

"Perhaps the path of being humbled in our pride, being frustrated by our limitedness, being held back because of barriers is the path needed to learn the patience we need in our lives.  We will only learn to slow down when we've run for a thousand miles an hour, and realise that this speed is sustainable. When we get glass in our foot, mould in our books, Covid in our lungs and have to lie in bed in exhaustion."  The journey of living deliberately is filled with frustrations. Frustrations that need patience and lead to patience. Walk with Sam as we take the first steps in living deliberately.    The beautiful pieces of music you hear in the podcast are:  Poddington Bear - Mortality, Pounded Piano, Alsace, Winter Walk Crowander - Early Sun, Celtic, The Hangover Sliante - The butterfly. Kid on the Mountain No Name - Sad Song  Aislinn - Lea rig - Dusty Window

"Stripped from things that made me useful and busy, having to drop projects for work without notice, disconnected from others in isolation - I had unknowingly wandered into the woods and to Walden Pond  And now, I had to figure out what it meant to live deliberately. To front only the essential facts of life - sleeping, breathing, eating, going to the bathroom, and see if i could not learn what it had to teach, and not when I came to die, discover that I had not lived." Begin the journey into the woods with Sam as he seeks to discover what it means to live deliberately. The beautiful pieces of music you hear in the podcast are:  Poddington Bear - Winter Walk, Mortality.  Crowander - Humbug, The Hangover, Let it Last  Sliante - Britches Full of Stitches. Munster Bank. Bill Sullivan's (The A Polkas).  Old Town School Of Folk Music (Various) - Home On The Range.  

What does it mean to live deliberately?  What does it mean to understand ourselves more?  What does it mean to love others?    Join me, Sam Wan, for the next seven weeks for a new Earl Grey segment -    Living Deliberately.  Slow Down, Open our eyes, Live Deliberately.    Music by Sláinte.  https://freemusicarchive.org/music/Slinte/Cup_of_Tea/slainte_-_05_-_britches_full_of_stitches_munster_bank_bill_sullivans_the_a_polkas https://freemusicarchive.org/music/Slinte/Slinte/slinte_-_04_-_gander_in_the_pratie_hole_morrisons_jig_drowsy_maggie  

The two Sams chat about how the different physical and nonphysical spaces in our lives and the different rituals embedded in them transform our work, rest and play.    BWV 1107: Jesu, meines Lebens Leben by James Kibbie https://freemusicarchive.org/music/James_Kibbie/Bach_Organ_Works_Neumeister_Chorales/BWV1107

Dr. Sam Chan, public speaker and story teller sits down and shares with us the art of story telling. He breaks it down and helps us to grow in our storied lives. 

This week we return from a break to chat about predestination, free will and how we live our lives (ethics). It's a bit more than we usually do, but we do have cups of coffee! 

This week the Sams talk about how stories aren't only the texts we consume but they are part of our very lives. 

This week we explore fear and insecurities in our lives; how the lack of control shape our fears and how we can better navigate through them. 

This week we wandering along the topics of Tsing Ging, parenting and expectations, overcommitted children and how Parents can think about discipling children. 

We explore our experience of living spaces, the difficulty of home ownership, frustrations of traffic in Sydney and what home means in our lives.  Credits:  J.S. Bach "Prelude & Fugue 1." Recorded by John Lewis Grant. https://freemusicarchive.org/music/John_Lewis_Grant/24_Preludes__Fugues_J_S_Bach/Bach_Prelude___Fugue_1  

We kick off season 2 chatting about the power of nostalgia in our lives, from 90s movies, Total Recall, to memories and regrets. 

We launched season 2 and then got too busy... so now we're back with a short teaser for 2021! 

Join me and Dr. Sam Chan as we kick off season 2 by discussing ambiguity, change and anxiety in these strange times.

This week we sit down and chat about books, books and more books! Grab your favourite cuppa and join us as we chat about reading and challenging ourselves to read. 

This week we sit down and explore a little bit more about timefulness and inefficiency! Grab your favourite cuppa and spend some time with us just kicking around some ideas on clocks, measuring time and resting in the rhythms of life. 

This week we reflect on identity, the identities we create, the people that we are and just reflecting on what it means to be us.  

This week's episode we chat about what it means to use time well, to waste time well and to spend deep time with one another. Bring your Espresso and Earl Greys and waste some time with us. 

As a compliment to your Espresso and Earl Grey, Earl Grey review offers some books from which to drink deeply. Check out these books: Tuesdays with Morrie - Mitch Albom When Breath becomes Air - Paul Kalanithi Wit (Play) - Margret EdsonBeing Mortal - Atul Gawande The peace of Wild things - Wendell BerryAll available here (support our local small buisnesses!): https://www.littlelostbookshop.com.au/collections/espresso-and-earl-grey

A long time ago, the phrase "to cross the river Jordan," meant dying. This episode we reflect on life and death from different perspectives, from being a doctor to a theologian, and ask questions of deeper meaning. Join us on Espresso and Earl Grey.

Our first set of book suggestions, curated for your espresso and earl grey experience.The boy, the mole, the fox and the horse Wilfred Gordon McDonalf Partridge Grandma Forgets True Friendship 

What is the honour and shame phenomenon? Is it just a Eastern philosophy or has it always been entrenched in Western society? Hear Sam and Sam chat about this and more on Espresso and Earl Grey. 

In our COVID and post-COVID period isolations have affected friendships, many of us have been feeling zoomed out and isolation leads to loneliness. What has caused this? Why are our friendships difficult? How do we maintain good friendships? Listen to Sam and Sam as they chat about these things.  

So we accidentally made this podcast available, our first podcast that we recorded together. We call it our pancake episode cos it was our first flip and it was a bit all over the place. But since a lot of people loved it, here it is! Enjoy the pancake! 

Sam Chan interviews Sam Wan on his story of failure and how it impacted him. 

Sam Wan and Dr. Sam Chan of Espresso Theology, chat about being 1st generation asian Australians and life in COVID times. Music: https://www.purple-planet.com/