PowerPivot

"In the colonial white supremacist system, there is no community. There's only power, but there's no community. But that doesn't mean that we have to abide by that model. We can create a new model. So in a way, it's exciting. But it's also terrifying. Because what does that look like without a blueprint"Meet Doctora Nicole Cabrera Salazar (She/They/Ella), astrophysicist turned social impact entrepreneur, and founder & CEO of Movement Consulting, a company dedicated to transforming academic environments into radically nourishing spaces for marginalized people by providing virtual courses, workshops, and expert advice.In this special interview episode of Power Pivot, join Leela and Dra. Nicole in a conversation about community, loneliness, Zapatistas, toxic academic environments, and reclaiming power from colonialist structures and using it for the good of our communities.Links!!Dra. Nicole on Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/moveboldly/Movement Consulting's website: https://www.wearemvmt.com/ The Daily Radical podcast: https://www.buzzsprout.com/2211444/aboutTranscript and Show Notes: https://dev.intensivesinstitute.com/captivate-podcast/interview-dra-nicole-salazarrecorded February 26, 2024

it's six am and I'm trying to beat the clock. Where do climate change and immediacy and action and just wanting time for oneself collide? A short poem.

I'm ending the hiatus, but I'm coming back a little less polished. substack: http://leelasinha.substack.com

"Once you use intensive and expansiveness to develop a job description, to do some hiring, to do some delegation, you can't unsee it. Once you've seen it, it's everywhere. And it's not the only metric you use. But it is a metric that you use consistently. So that you can imagine who will be most successful at what."We're going to take a little bit of a break, but before we do: let's talk about hiring, and delegation, and intensives & expansives. Understanding the intensiveness or expansiveness of the people in your team can help you bring people in and assign tasks in a way that sets everyone up for success. And remember, even though you mostly vibe with intensives (if you're an intensive), you still need expansives. And vice versa. We need each other. So let's not do this alone.As mentioned, we will be taking a bit of a break and slowing down the release schedule during March. We have a great interview coming up, which will drop on Wednesday, March 20th. Until then, remember that there are lots of episodes and interviews from seasons 1 & 2, so you can always wander through the catalog and find something to listen to in the meantime.Thank you all for listening, and for your continued support! Talk soon.Transcript and notes:https://dev.intensivesinstitute.com/captivate-podcast/recruiting-and-delegationRecorded 26 February 2024.

Paul Baron: "what they really liked about the wall printer, which is what I'm most proud of, is that every customer we have, becomes a new company. Everybody that buys a wall printing machine establishes a company around this machine, or they've added a revenue stream to an existing company."Let us introduce you to Paul Baron, a self-described "serial entrepreneur," who shares insights from his fifty-something year career in sales, and running businesses like restaurants, sporting goods, and beyond. Paul and Leela talk about revenue-sharing models for employees, the risks and rewards of going into business for yourself, pricing your labor and your services, and Paul's latest business venture: The Wall Printer.Links!Connect with Paul Baron on LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/pbbaron/ Check out The Wall Printer machine in action: https://thewallprinter.com/en/The Ward's Bridge Inn: https://wardsbridgeinn.com/Transcript and notes:https://dev.intensivesinstitute.com/captivate-podcast/interview-paul-baronRecorded 26 February 2024.

"This is the hard part about being intensive: that people have told us all our lives that we're dangerous. And mostly, I will tell you that we are not. That we just need to find the right structures. But the size of our emotional experience means that sometimes we can push ourselves over the edge."Grief is enormous. And there is a lot to grieve. And, as intensives, our ways of expressing grief are often unwelcome (at best) in an expansive culture. How do we honor the intensity of our grief, and process it. And also- how do we remember that we can do that, and so much else, in a community? How do we let others take up our burdens so that we can grieve and rest? And how do we take up those burdens for others? As usual, we will look for answers in community, in relationship, and in the earth. And let's also talk about how to keep our grief from harming us, physically. Because there is a shade of truth in phrases like 'my stomach is tied up into knots." And that truth can be very painful indeed.Relevant Links:About the Tank Man from Tiananmen Square: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tank_ManLeela's Substack! And the new poem: https://leelasinha.substack.com/p/fire-to-earth?utm_source=profile&utm_medium=reader2 The Conspirituality Podcast discusses Project 2025: https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/187-project-2025-an-authoritarian-conspiracy/id1515827446?i=1000640530495Transcript and notes: https://dev.intensivesinstitute.com/captivate-podcast/honoring-the-intensity-of-intensive-griefRecorded 26 February 2024.

"It's a spark. It's a glimmer. It's the thing that happens that keeps us on the phone for three hours.... It's the shimmer under the skin. It's the joy. It's the relief." In the last episode we talked about some of the beautiful variations within intensives and within expansives. Now let's talk about the absolute joy that can be found when like meets like. When you find that you don't have to explain yourself to the other person, when there is ease- when we simply click with someone.Transcript and notes:https://dev.intensivesinstitute.com/captivate-podcast/the-beauty-of-the-clickRecorded 19 February 2024.

"How do you get from generalizations to the specificity that allows you to interact with a particular human being that's across from you?"Our theme of "Love the One You're With" continues... but let's not make any big assumptions. Intensiveness can be a fairly influential characteristic, but we should always remember that there are wide variations in personalities, even among intensives or expansives. Let's look at some of those variations so that we can get to know who we are talking to a little bit better.Transcript and notes:https://dev.intensivesinstitute.com/captivate-podcast/same-but-differentRecorded 19 February 2024.

"How do you know who it is that's across from you? What they need, what they want. How you can take care of them, while also under stress and also trying to get a lot of work done. That's where SIEF comes in."Continuing our theme of "Love the One You're With." Life is unpredictable, and people are certainly hard to predict. And the best way for us to show we care for Person A will not be the best way to make Person B feel cared for (especially if person B is an intensive and Person A is an expansive.) So if we try to meet everyone's needs in a general, one-size-fits-all way, then no one's needs will get met. And unmet needs are the root of resentment. But good news- SIEF is a tool we can use to understand the needs of the people around us a little better, which will help us get closer to the goal of meeting everyone's needs, all the time.Transcript and notes:https://dev.intensivesinstitute.com/captivate-podcast/prediction-reduces-fire-drillsRecorded 12 February 2024.

"often the breakdown between us is that we don't communicate with the same kinds of expressions of care. And when we don't use the same expressions of care, that means that it's harder to recognize when someone is caring for you, or caring about you."This is the second episode on our theme of "Love the One You're With." Today, we'll talk more about the differences between intensives and expansives, and how knowing and recognizing these differences can help us better communicate the care we feel for each other. Because recognizing that we have differences helps us realize that one of those differences is in how we know when someone cares for us. So in this case, what is good for me may not, in fact, be good for thee.Check out Sarah Marie Lacy's portrait paintings at https://smlacyart.com/Transcript and notes: https://dev.intensivesinstitute.com/captivate-podcast/love-the-ones-you-knowRecorded 5 February 2024.

"predictability makes people feel comfortable. It makes them feel known."Let's take a brief pause from our theme of "Love the One You're With," and go on a little side quest. Tara McMullin's excellent podcast "What Works" recently dropped an episode called "In Defense of Gimmicks." (Click here to check that out.) Leela has some thoughts on this and the way that we might look at a 'gimmick' as a container, or a form, or even a ritual. And definitely as one more tool for finding mutual understanding.Transcript and notes: https://dev.intensivesinstitute.com/captivate-podcast/responding-to-what-worksRecorded 9 February 2024.

"we have this built-in system of contempt. It's a mutual reciprocal system of contempt in our culture between intensives and expansives."It's February, and our theme this month is "Love the One You're With." And what we mean by that is, thinking about how to love and appreciate and work with people who are on the opposite side of the Intensive-Expansive scale from ourselves. There is a often a socially constructed send of contempt between intensives and expansives. How do we break that system in order to appreciate the gifts and skills that each brings. (Hint: we need each other.)For starters, let's talk about how to recognize intensives and expansives in the wild. You probably know which one you are- but how do you know about the person across from you?For the SIEF assessment, visit: https://intensivesinstitute.com/assessment/To learn more about the Gottman Institute and the Four Horsemen of the Relationship Apocalypse, visit: https://www.gottman.com/Transcript and notes:https://dev.intensivesinstitute.com/captivate-podcast/love-who-nowRecorded 5 February 2024.

"When we are desperate to rest, and we don't rest, it sets off every alarm bell in our system.... Rest is the space of becoming."Wrapping up our theme of the tension between the need to do and the need to rest. Last time we talked about 'the way opens'- taking the first step, so that the next step might reveal itself. What happens when the next step reveals itself... as rest? (Hint: rest should definitely be part of the answer.)For more on Tricia Hersey and Rest is Resistance, visit The Nap MinistryTranscript and notes:https://dev.intensivesinstitute.com/captivate-podcast/when-way-opens-to-restRecorded 29 January 2024.

"How much are we really going to trust that we take one step and "way will open." And when way opens, how de we trust that we'll go that way?"There is a Quaker saying that we take one step and the way will open. Which we can think of, we may not be able to see the entire path from where we start, but if we take the first step, then the next step will reveal itself. This is not easy for intensives as it involves waiting. It also involves a lot of trust- in ourselves, in our ability to see and take that next step; in our ability to even believe that the path which has revealed itself is the right path for us. And also, a trust in our ability to know when it is time to wait, to rest, to take a deep breath. What is the next step? Where do we go from here? Perhaps, if we take one step- be it a bold one or a tentative one- then way will open.Transcript and notes:https://dev.intensivesinstitute.com/captivate-podcast/way-will-openRecorded 29 January 2024.

"Beginning often begins with imagining. We think and we visualize and we imagine and we research. And it's possible to let the research become a stall tactic. But there's also a lot of value to that research, there's a lot of value to that thinking time, to that imagining time."Last episode we talked about how to choose one task to focus on, even when we are overwhelmed by choices (most of which feel like necessities.) Now that we've chosen a task- how do we start? Perhaps we visualize or imagine the very beginning, the very first step. Perhaps, just reaching the very beginning can be enough.Transcript and notes:https://dev.intensivesinstitute.com/captivate-podcast/the-very-beginningRecorded 23 January 2024.

"Find the small tasks that are actually the tasks, and then just do one of them. And then do a different one. And honor your limits."Getting unstuck, figuring out where to start... sometimes there is so much to do, so much even that we want to do and find pleasure in doing, that choosing where to start becomes overwhelming. Let's look at a few different strategies for finding our starting point, including (in no particular order, because what works will alway be individual to the person and their circumstances):-start with the easiest thing, the low-hanging fruit.-start with the thing you're passionate about, following your intensiveness.-start with the thing that causes you anxiety, because once you have done it you will be free of that anxiety, which has been haunting you every time you think about that task anyway.-start with the thing what will bring you pleasure. You do not have to put off your own pleasure.-start with something that you will feel good about doing for someone else.We're sure there are more, but this is a place to start.Transcript and notes:https://dev.intensivesinstitute.com/captivate-podcast/the-fine-art-of-picking-somethingRecorded 23 January 2024.

"Adrenaline and cortisol are there to help us run away from tigers. Literally. Now we have all of this adrenaline built up. We have all this cortisol built up. And we don't know what to do with it. Neither does our body. And so how do we blow it off? And then how do we take care of ourselves after we've blown it off?"In the previous episode, we talk about creating intensity in order to release stress and strain. But once we have done that, or after we've done anything emotionally intense, we need care. This is where we can figure out how to hold ourselves, and make sure we're held, in the ways that we need, in order to recover after the pressure is released. And to make this a first priority.The book by Peter Levine that is mentioned is called "Waking the Tiger: Healing Trauma." Visit https://www.somaticexperiencing.com/se-books to learn more.Transcript and notes:https://dev.intensivesinstitute.com/captivate-podcast/aftercare-for-intensive-releaseRecorded 15 January 2024.

"what do we do with with that... fizz? The fizz in the bottle that's been shaken that is going to explode? What do we do with it? ... what I needed, was to let off steam. I needed abandon. I needed to stop being careful, I needed to stop being cautious. I needed to stop placing so many fences around what was okay."Continuing our theme of making space- how do we make space by releasing the pressure that builds up in ourselves? How do we release the tension when the need to do, and the need to not do, press or pull against each other in our selves?"Blow the Carbon Out," a song by LJ Booth:https://youtu.be/ETM-Zc6o7jA?si=NpJYN3Eorhm6vvheTranscript and notes:https://dev.intensivesinstitute.com/captivate-podcast/releasing-the-pressureRecorded 15 January 2024

"What we still don't have is the proverbial clear desk. That "clear mind-clear desk" thing actually puts me into a state of panic."Thinking about making space- and how 'making space' does not mean 'making emptiness.' Also- the full Saga of the Sit-Stand Desk.Here is the photo of Leela's desk:https://drive.google.com/file/d/1t7VadexhtFNb3Rj_z1d4yyMg-PnamuIf/view?usp=sharingTranscript and notes:https://dev.intensivesinstitute.com/captivate-podcast/making-but-not-emptying-a-spaceRecorded 8 January 2024.

"We all need to maybe finish a couple things that have been with us for so long, that we can't remember not having them. So that we can have space. Not even so we can add something new to the list. Just to have space."We all, each of us, have a lot of balls in the air. How do we create the space for ourselves to know which ones to keep and which ones to let fall? Sometimes, picking a project to finish can help create that space. Especially when we don't put pressure ourselves to finish, and just take it one step at a time. Leela Sinha talks about picking up a project that has been in "time out" for a year, and finding spaciousness in completion.Links:Learn more about membership in the Intensives Institute:https://intensivesinstitute.com/membership/The Bernadette Banner video that launched a thousand pirate shirts:https://youtu.be/Ql9r8UKIvZs?si=CWOCRMvHF4yENspjTranscript and notes:https://dev.intensivesinstitute.com/captivate-podcast/making-space-for-making-mannequins-and-brainsRecorded 7 January 2024.

"I coach folks on tapping into wonder and play so that they can experience more pleasure and joy in their lives, in alignment with who they are authentically and unapologetically. And knowing who you are, unapologetically, translates into improvements in your more meaningful relationships and how you run your business."cw: this episode of PowerPivot contains some discussion of sexual abuse.Meet Dr. Christina Helou (they/them), pleasure and play expert, private coach, thought leader, speaker and doctor of physical therapy. Join Leela and Dr. Christina as they discuss pleasure and joy; finding one's own power; pelvic exams and body sovereignty; why FOSTA/SESTA is terrible and harmful; false scarcity; and the serious importance of fun.Connect with Dr. Christina at:https://www.christinahelou.com/Transcript and show notes:https://dev.intensivesinstitute.com/episode/interview-dr-christina-helouRecorded 30 June, 2023.

"The demand avoidance means that I can neither rest nor do something that I want to do. And so I end up doing the things that I do not want to do."Pathological Demand Avoidance, or, as we here at the Intensives Institute prefer to call it: Persistent Demand for Autonomy. That bone-deep pressure to say 'no', no matter how much pressure the world and we ourselves place on our selves to be productive, to do the thing, to complete the task. Even when it's something we want to do. Even when it is something we take satisfaction from. It's a puzzle- this pressure to avoid the demands, which can out-push even the demand for rest. What if we can solve that puzzle by breaking the rules; by dismantling the puzzle itself? What if we approach the puzzle with a sword, like the Gordian knot of antiquity? What then?Let's find out, together.Transcript and notes:https://dev.intensivesinstitute.com/captivate-podcast/a-gordian-knot-approach-to-demand-avoidanceRecorded 7 January 2024.

"Shame is a paradigm that distances us from our power. It's a paradigm within ourselves that, when internalized, it keeps us from recognizing our own experience in a variety of ways, and also recognizing our own experience as valuable.... There's this whole culture that tells us to love ourselves, right? And, well, have you even gotten to know yourself? It's like self love just kind of happens when you really get to know yourself."Listen in on a fascinating conversation between Leela Sinha and Sara Rhiannon (she/her), a hypnotist who uses somatic work and other interventions designed to un-shame the psyche. Sara has a particular specialty in helping people remove their cravings for sugar. Sara and Leela discuss the intersections of shame and anti-oppression work; kindness and redemption; creating safety and honesty in working groups; and that mushy feeling in your brain when you're learning something and seeing how your brain can be different than it was. Which, naturally, some people love, and others... well, not so much.Links!Find Sara on Facebook by name, or as quit_sugar_coach on Instagram or TikTok.For more on David Bedrick, visit https://www.davidbedrick.com/For more on Kimberly Shepherd, check out: https://www.kimberlyshepherd.com/Transcript and notes:https://dev.intensivesinstitute.com/episode/interview-sara-rhiannon-the-quit-sugar-coachRecorded 9 June 2023.

"...and this is the important part for us as intensives. As soon as we figure out what's happening, we can begin to prepare mentally and sometimes systemically and sometimes structurally, for whatever comes next. And now I need to know that I borrowed all of that energy and all of the spoons from the next month. And act like it."Leela reflects on thriving in busy times, planning a retreat that is accessible from the ground up, the way that Go Mode can sneak up on us, and how to prepare ourselves and those around us for the crash when we shift from Go Mode to Intensive Stop.Transcript and notes:https://dev.intensivesinstitute.com/captivate-podcast/case-study-planning-an-accessible-retreatRecorded 25 November 2023.

"This is where we shift from critical to curious. Isn't it worth asking the question, what would drive a kid to lose control that way? It's so easy to be critical. But you're gonna get a lot better return on your investment for being curious."Meet Dr. Matt Zareski (he/him), clinical psychologist, international speaker, and advocate for all things neurodivergence, specifically within the LGBTQ+ community. Join Leela and Dr. Matt for an engaging discussion about bringing equity to our workplaces and schools, accommodations for all, the cognitive biases that maintain power structures, Taylor Swift, Shaquille O'Neal, and planning an Eighteenth Century themed costume party.Links!The Neurodiversity Collective:https://www.theneurodiversitycollective.com/Dr. Matt Zakreski's Facebook page:https://www.facebook.com/drmattzakreskiTo learn more about CB Beal's Preemptive Radical Inclusion, visit: https://justiceandpeaceconsulting.com/preemptive-radical-inclusion/Transcript and notes:https://dev.intensivesinstitute.com/episode/interview-dr-matt-zakreskiRecorded 4 December 2023.

"This is one of the times of year where we all have to be exquisitely careful of our own inspiration."Here in the late hours of the year, it can be tempting to dismantle, to take apart, to solve a dead end with dynamite. Especially if you're an intensive, and you don't know if you're entirely alive unless something is tugging at the edge of impossibility. As the solstice nears, perhaps this is the time for wrapping ourselves in darkness and stillness and breath. And finding the strength and finding the dream. Retrieving who we have been that we loved.Transcription and notes:https://dev.intensivesinstitute.com/captivate-podcast/dont-blow-it-up-unless-its-timeRecorded 17 December 2023.

"When we want to do this sacred work of uprooting injustice and inequity where we're seeing it, we're not just doing it for us. We're holding a space for change to be different."Meet Anuradha Kowtha (they/them), founder of The Kowtha Constellation and a partner in Sowing Post Capitalist Seeds. "My work's thread could be described as undoing the impact of the inherent indoctrination from capitalism and colonialism on who we are and how we do our work in the world."Join Anuradha and Leela Sinha in a lovely and rich conversation that encompasses transformative justice, the meaning of 'pariah', Indian classical dance, and holding spaces for change.Connect with Anuradha!Instagram: @thekowthaconstellationhttps://www.sowingpostcapitalistseeds.com/ https://www.thekowthaconstellation.com/Transcript and notes:https://dev.intensivesinstitute.com/episode/interview-anuradha-kowthaRecorded 5 May 2023.

"I do not dream of labor. But I do dream of my mere existence being beautiful and interesting enough for a small child to stare and wonder for hours."Let's think about how our work differs from our labor. Let's think about how we build bridges and buffers and install drivers to ease communication between different people in our organizations, just like we use those devices to ease communication between different places and different machines. Also, let's talk about the true mother of invention: irritation.Transcript and notes: https://dev.intensivesinstitute.com/captivate-podcast/i-do-not-dream-of-laborLinks!You can find Dr. Emily Garside and her substack here:https://substack.com/@emilygarsidewritesMarge Piercy's poem "To be of use":https://www.poetryfoundation.org/poems/57673/to-be-of-useThe Rube Goldberg Institute for Innovation and Creativity:https://www.rubegoldberg.org/Recorded 5 December 2023.

"This is your reminder to remove one barrier. This is your reminder to find the thing that you already did. This is your reminder to love on yourself in a little tiny ways...."Thoughts on removing- and sometimes adding- barriers to help us do the the things we need to do. Especially when that thing is to give our selves the care that we so often neglect.Transcript and notes:https://dev.intensivesinstitute.com/captivate-podcast/this-is-your-reminderRecorded 25 November 2023.

"It's not that I don't want the art that my body can make. It's just that sometimes it's been too hard to get there."On asking our bones and muscles what they need, and pausing to listen to them before we launch ourselves out of bed in the morning. Also- our bodies as complicated sewing machines, and fiddling around in our guts with tweezers.Transcript and notes:https://dev.intensivesinstitute.com/captivate-podcast/this-morning-I-lay-stillRecorded 25 November 2023.

"You're quicker than you think, you're faster than you think. We're intensives. When we really do get focused, we really do move fast...."Finding that focus sometimes depends on choosing a single, solvable problem, one step at a time. And we can do that. Really.Transcript and notes:https://dev.intensivesinstitute.com/captivate-podcast/faster-to-pleasureRecorded 9 October 2023.

"Can I tell you something? Use the tools. Use the tools you have. Use them all the way...."We'll start with the dishwasher- but you know this isn't just about the dishwasher. This is about committing ourselves to really use the tools that we have learned can help us, and to using them fully. For our own good, and for the good of those around us.Transcript and show notes:https://dev.intensivesinstitute.com/captivate-podcast/dishwasherRecorded 27 September 2023.

"It's a hard thing for us as intensives, to let go of our original vision. And sometimes we get stuck."What do we do when we have to shift from plan A to plan B or even to plan Q? What do we do when we have to pick the tomatoes early?Transcript and notes:https://dev.intensivesinstitute.com/captivate-podcast/picking-earlyRecorded 25 September 2023.

Samara Bay: "When we tell a story about a tiny moment, and how it impacted us, it is actually the most revealing thing of our character we could possibly do. Where we come from does not win over what we did in a hard moment."Meet Samara Bay, who coaches rising business leaders, political hopefuls, and public figures who need to speak in a voice they recognize as their own to truly make waves. She is the author of Permission to Speak, a "game-changing guide to redefining what power and authority sound like." Join Samara and Leela Sinha as they laugh, cry, and share stories in this special interview episode of Power Pivot."it's a decolonizing act, and it is a queering act, to start to question the ways that we have normalized and normied ourselves: for safety, for proximal power; and to love on those instincts of ours to get by, while also getting curious about what else is possible." -Samara BayPermission to Speak is available in hardcover, ebook, or audiobook (read by the author) from Penguin Random House.For a free warm-up and Samara's newsletter, head to https://www.samarabay.com/goodiesOr, check out Samara Bay on instagram: https://www.instagram.com/samarabayFull transcript and show notes can be found here:https://dev.intensivesinstitute.com/episode/samara-bayRecorded 23 October 2023.

"Forcing ourselves, as intensives, to take time and energy and focus never goes well. Expansives call that discipline, but we call that torture. Don't torture yourself."On the virtues and challenges of taking one's time- and how feeling in flow and getting things just right, sometimes doesn't feel like taking any time at all.Mr. Rogers singing "I Like to Take My Time."https://youtu.be/z0gtqPURoiM?si=lY6djnwod16-zq_jTranscript and notes:https://dev.intensivesinstitute.com/captivate-podcast/burnoutRecorded 25 September 2023.

"You can do a lot things with ash, but what you can't do is get more heat out of ash. Because all of the heat, all of the calories stored, have been released. Often we get to dive into a project and work on it really hard. But then we need comp time. We need the break. If we don't take the break every day, we need to take the break in chunks. And our system is not set up to allow us to do that."Burnout is not natural. It is a natural reaction to unnatural demands. And the demands are getting worse. How to create space to recover from burnout; and how do we create a world that prevents it?note: the Intensives Institute Salon mentioned in this episode was originally scheduled for September 13, 2023 but was moved to September 20th, 2023. Transcript and notes:https://dev.intensivesinstitute.com/captivate-podcast/burnoutRecorded 11 September 2023.

"There was one seed that just got it into its head that it was going to take over the world. And it did."Growing things that will thrive in the conditions that exist; and also, creating the conditions that allows us to thrive and grow. Sometimes in unexpected places.Transcript and notes:https://dev.intensivesinstitute.com/captivate-podcast/tomatoes-I-didnt-plantRecorded 11 September 2023.

"If you have complicated grain, if you're complicated, you need extremely sharp tools and extremely skilled craftspeople.... You need to understand the sharpening as a part of the process, not an interruption of the process."CN: contains some discussion of the events of September 11, 2001 in the first 65 seconds of the episode.On the humble cabinet scraper, American identity, reaching for excellence, being deeply intimate with the sharpness of the tools we use, and directing our work towards compassion and away from fear.Transcript and notes:https://dev.intensivesinstitute.com/captivate-podcast/intimate-with-sharpnessFor more on Garrett Hack, furniture maker:http://www.garretthack.com/Recorded 11 September 2023.

"Here's what I want to give you. I want to give you the low slant of light as fall creeps in. I want to give you a double handful of freshly picked raspberries too soft to do anything but eat immediately. I want to give you the persistent, ridiculous abundance of dandelions. I want to give you fresh strawberries in August, and other small miracles...."A poem for the sunset of summer and the dawn of autumn.Transcript and notes:https://dev.intensivesinstitute.com/captivate-podcast/giftsRecorded 24 August 2023.

"When it comes time for us to harvest, when the air and the sun and the water and the sky all shift in the direction of fall- it is also time to turn toward rest."Harvest can bring a sense of certainty- "here is what I have, this is what I don't. Now I can prepare for what will come. Here's what I can share with my community, and here is what I must ask my community to share with me." And hopefully, along with that certainty, can come a sense of peace and rest. And perhaps joy.Transcript and notes:https://dev.intensivesinstitute.com/captivate-podcast/the-harvestRecorded 24 August 2023.

"We're going to build connections, we're going to build community. We're going to build common care into the fabric of our lives. And I know this sounds like more work. But this is the nourishment we need."Sometimes we need stiffening, resistance. Sometimes we need to move with the energy of whatever it is that's challenging us. Always, we need community to connect with and share our ideas with.Transcript and link:https://dev.intensivesinstitute.com/captivate-podcast/nourishing-ourselvesRecorded 24 August 2023.

"My most effective habit building behavior is to build it around pleasure. I have to tap into that future pleasure, that sensation of possibility of pleasure, in order to build the habit."On building habits around pleasure, both for ourselves and in the spaces where we have power, so that our brilliance can flourish.Transcript and notes:https://dev.intensivesinstitute.com/captivate-podcast/the-habit-of-pleasureRecorded 11 August 2023.

"Reminders that I have choices have saved my life, literally and figuratively, so many times. You have choices. Remember, always, that you have choices."Our environments are full of urgency, real and manufactured. The manufactured urgency of a flash sale or a sales funnel. The real urgency of external circumstances. The inner urgency of the muse or from the perceptions of pressure. These things are all real, and they can make us forget that we have choices. How do we make reminders in our lives and in our organizations so that we remember we can take time, and evaluate our choices, before plunging into a decision that might not be the best? Jumping off a cliff should feel like flying, not like taking your life in your hands.Transcript and notes:https://dev.intensivesinstitute.com/captivate-podcast/orchidRecorded 12 July 2023.

"I learned when I was a child that it was better to be lichen. It was better to be hardy and durable and scrappy, and a little rough. It was better to look inedible, lest you get eaten. But what if I'm an orchid?"You're tough. You're resilient. But what if... what if you are also an orchid, who needs just the right shade, the right place to perch, the just right amount of water? It's ok. And you might need to hire someone to do the (metaphorical) misting for you. And also- in your employees or teams you might have orchids, lichens, pine trees, cedar trees, thick grasses. How do you meet the needs of everyone, and get your own needs met? The good news is- it's possible.Transcript and notes:https://dev.intensivesinstitute.com/captivate-podcast/orchidRecorded 12 July 2023.

"There's something about trust, about being able to trust that something or someone will just be there, that we have lost in this whirlwind of creation and destruction and absorption of companies. It's like we're living through a sort of corporate Big Bang. With so much matter flying around with so much energy, that it's hard to know what we can know. And what we can't."Change is part of existence, of course. But how do we build and maintain organizations that are persistent- that we and our customers and employees can trust to be there for us in years to come?Transcript and Notes:https://dev.intensivesinstitute.com/captivate-podcast/trust-and-persistenceRecorded 12 July 2023.

"If the praise is gonna feel genuine, then the people praising us have to know us well enough to praise us for something that is genuinely ours."On praise- our need for it (even when we want to remain unseen), and how creating space for praise in our workplace can open up space for deeper connections and better communication.https://dev.intensivesinstitute.com/captivate-podcast/praise-and-connectionsRecorded 30 June 2023.

"What does it mean to be made visible to people who don't understand the context from which we come? What of our history is important enough to tell and retell? Sometimes telling and retelling those stories only entrenches a way of being that is no longer useful."Transcript and notes:https://dev.intensivesinstitute.com/captivate-podcast/archaeology-and-exposureRecorded 30 June 2023.

"We, as intensives, are all the way in. And when we are all the way in, it means that when our hearts break, they break all the way. And there is nothing but a bloody pile of flesh on the floor, that somehow we have to get that extra wide pancake spatula and scoop it up and stuff it back inside our ribs."In order to get our ideas out into the world, we need to present- expose- ourselves to the world. To the hot sun of and cold tides of the internet, for example. How do we protect our selves- how do we find and apply the proper sunscreen- so that we can be present in integrity and also, protect our intensive hearts?Transcript and notes:https://dev.intensivesinstitute.com/captivate-podcast/prometheus-and-overexposureRecorded June 12, 2023.

"I drew chalk outlines like some kind of strange murder scene. But nothing was being killed except my idea of myself as needing to be perfect."On making one's own trousers, and on showing our true(er?) selves to the world.Transcript and notes:https://dev.intensivesinstitute.com/captivate-podcast/the-candy-striped-trousersRecorded 12 June 2023.

"Let's talk about what happens when we all make art. And I don't mean everybody has to be trained. I don't mean everybody has to be making beautiful art. I do mean to interrogate what we mean by art, specifically."Transcript and notes:https://dev.intensivesinstitute.com/captivate-podcast/all-artRecorded 6 June 2023.

"There's so much richness and cross pollination that happens when we go into those rabbit holes. When we allow ourselves the luxury of just opening the door and tumbling down. As intensives we are specialists in rabbit holes. These are some of our native territory. This is the place where we are from."Transcript and notes:https://dev.intensivesinstitute.com/captivate-podcast/the-lushness-of-rabbit-holesRecorded 11 June 2023.