The Positive Fantastic

Welcome to the 75th episode of The Positive Fantastic podcast. I'm Mori Natura, and I'm really grateful that you have all been taking this journey with me for the past four years and four seasons of uplifting interviews with farmers, musicians, poets, ecologists, and other creatives. When I set out to make a podcast, I had absolutely no idea what I was doing except that I was clear that there was a big desire in me to be part of a movement for good news. I have really loved being able to bring you stories of folks who are part of the change we want to see in the world. I definitely feel called to do more interviews so that I can keep telling these fabulous stories of innovation, conservation, and creation in the future… but my life has changed a lot in the past four years. And, at present, I find myself needing more time to write so that I can express my own creativity. I have four books and several short stories in various stages of development, all of them wanting my fullest attention to progress forward.  As a hope punk podcaster, my intention was to bring you good news about good people doing good things as a radical act of rebellion in a time when the news often leaves us uninspired and traumatized. Instead of trying to be objective, I dove solidly into what feels good to me, subjectively, and I have done my best to share some of those gems with all of you. Now, as a hope punk author, I hope to do the same with my books.  I want to thank all of the listeners who took the time to hear what was shared here. Perhaps you'll pick up a book of mine in the future and see what love mischief we can get up to together in print form. And maybe someday, after my burning desire to write has been satiated a bit, I will revisit this podcast. For now, I am clear that I am taking at least a year's sabbatical to pursue literary tangents exclusively in my free time. Being a single mom working full time with many responsibilities in my community simply does not leave enough time for me to do all the things that I want to do. As it is, I scaled back from releasing episodes on the new and full moon to just the Earth's holy days after a couple of years. And now, a pause for integration suits me very nicely.  Still, the punk thing to do would be to stay open. Maybe an errant podcast episode will come through here and there. I did have a handful of possible interviews that never quite materialized but all seemed very juicy. So, there's always the chance that something surprising may occur in the next year and years to come. If this is the end though, thank you from the bottom of my heart for tuning in, turning on, and daring to hope.  A special shout out to all the musicians who helped make it possible for each episode to have a theme song, to all the folks who lovingly welcomed me into their homes for in-person interviews, to everyone who has been tuning in, and lastly to me, for daring to do something I didn't know how to do but wanted to play with anyway. 

Laurie Bella is a human being who never ceases to impress me with her readiness to engage beauty in spontaneous ritual, with deep presence, and informed by immense gratitude. She founded Colibri Journeys to help support people in having truly meaningful cultural exchanges. In February 2025, I am going to be joining Laurie Bella's next Colibri Journeys in Peru! She is opening the call to one and all, and because I love to play in community, I am sharing about this epic adventure to summon you all by personal invitation to consider coming along as well! Tune in to hear about her travels, her next trip, and her intentions for leading trips.

There's an amazing program that has been designed to teach you about California's unique ecosystems. Offered statewide, and held regionally, these classes combine the interdisciplinary studies from hydrology, botany, geology, and more to learn about a particular ecosystem. Dive in with Jen Riddell and Hannah Bird as we discuss the California Naturalist Program & why everyone is welcome to become a Naturalist!

Greta de la Montagne is a Holistic Health Practitioner and Herbalist living in Humboldt County, California. She has created MASHH (Medicine for ALL Seeking Health & Healing) as a pop-up mobile clinic to bring herbs to people during festivals, after emergencies, and for activist support. In this episode Greta (Grizz) shares her recipe for Fire Cyder, describes what herbs are essential to a first aid toolkit, and articulates her journey as a herbally savvy first responder.

Author Rachel Kaplan wrote "Urban Homesteading Heirloom Skills for Sustainable Living" with K. Ruby Blume to help people living in cities to dive into the world of growing, foraging, and finding access through networking to good, local food, medicine, and natural beauty. I sat down with Rachel in Sonoma County over a bowl of freshly picked blackberries to discuss her journey as a permaculture teacher and homesteading advocate. She also gave me some insights for my personal shift from living in the country to living in town, and what to think about as I embark on a new relationship with the earth in a small, intimate space.

Miguel Elliot, also known for his natural building "accoblishments" as Sir Cobalot, joins the podcast to discuss the wonderful capacities of cob. He explains how cob is not just a tool for natural construction with durable craftsmanship that is easy on the budget, but also a tool for social justice in support of unsheltered persons. Over the years Miguel has developed some amazing innovations through his company, "Living Earth Structures," which he is making open source so that the word can spread and everyone can have access to his exceptionally functional cob hacks. Miguel has a strong social media presence to help spread the news about an innovative modern twist he has developed on the art and practice of cob building. Tune in to learn about Miguel's process, and to get some giggles about the special cob-centric vocabulary he has created too.

Stephane Barile joined me to discuss the "Descriptive Inquiry" process, which is a non-evaluative approach to working with learners. As an educator of many years, Stephane has found the work with the Institute of Descriptive Inquiry to be incredibly helpful to her and her teaching career. For more information about the Institute and resources to learn the process yourself, you can visit: https://sites.google.com/idiprocess.org/idi/about-us

Featured musical guest for Season 4 of the podcast, Jessi Lea shares about the evolution of her musical journey and artistry.

The Mendo Lake Food Hub is a network that connects farmers and the goods they produce with grateful consumers who want to partake in fresh, local, and nutritious food.

Artist and art collector Gaetan Caron, founder of “The Lost Art Salon,” joined me to discuss his journey in becoming an artist and realizing his dreams. We discussed his gallery in San Francisco, California, as well as his studio in the wilderness of Northern California. Listen in while we share about what it means to embody one's life as an artist. You may even hear the occasional chicken serenade in the background from the free range flock of hens that also live at Gaetan's place. 

Gwen Jensen joins the podcast again! In season one she shared about “Navigating Kundalini,” and she's returned for part 2, to inspire you with tales from, for, and about the gathering of Kundalini Awakened journeyers she founded that she lovingly named Medicine Basket.

Molly Rinaldi is a breast cancer survivor. Closing out October 2023 breast cancer awareness month, with this interview, we offer up this personal, educational, and thoughtful podcast for your consideration. We want women to know about their options in the event of mastectomy, including "aesthetic flat closure." Rinaldi shares about her personal journey with breast cancer, and explains why women would choose to go flat.

My guest specialist, Loretta Breuning PhD, founded the Inner Mammal Institute. She has spent the last decade really looking at the ways that our brains are wired. She's created a podcast of her own to help support folks on their journeys to rewiring. The good news is that we are capable of making big, profound changes in our lives. The harder news is that it takes time, commitment, and discipline. Part of what makes us human though is our capacity to rewire, retrain, and recreate our brains to be in service to more consciousness. Loretta explains the role of the different feel good chemicals in our brain. Serotonin, dopamine, oxytocin, and also endorphins have historic roles in helping keep us alive. Similarly, the stress chemical, cortisol plays an important role in our survival. Looking at the ways that these chemicals served our mammalian ancestors gives us greater perspective about the ways that we have evolved to use these chemicals. And Loretta's work with the Inner Mammal Institute is all about how we can use this knowledge to live better. In my own life and reflections, I am somewhat of a perennial seeker, looking to grow. And, I am so impressed by the research the Loretta has done. I hope that you'll enjoy our conversation and begin to train your own brain!

Enjoy some of the wonderful music from artists that have been interviewed over the past three seasons on "The Positive Fantastic" podcast

A special edition memorial about my life partner Daniel Treadwell Frey who passed on May 2, 2023. This episode, released on the Summer Solstice (the longest day of the year) is extra long in honor of this extraordinary human.

Hope Anderson tends to several hives at her home on the Big Island of Hawaii. We sat down while the honey bees buzzed us all around us to talk about these amazing bee-ings and they ways that we can support them through our tending. I hope that our interview will help shed light on why bees are so fundamentally important and what we can do to bring more consciousness to how they are tended for optimal health in the future.

My herbalist friend Julie Rothman shares about her company, Flower Power. Julie has been making delicious and nourishing loose herbal tea blends for the last 30 years! Brew up a cuppa your favorite herbal tea blend, and join us for this interview about how Julie created Flower Power as the perfect creative fusion of her love of herbalism, gardening, and culinary arts.  

Tanya Stiller is an educator of and advocate for the seaweeds as part of a non-profit to support the oceans and particularly the intertidal zones of our Northern California coastline called “Healing Tide.” She shares about how we can sustainably support the oceans, harvest responsibly, and the amazing ways that seaweeds can be used as food and medicine.

For a new spin on Valentine's Day, I interviewed my best friend about our platonic love story! We created this episode to share about the sweetness of our friendship and also to offer insight into the wonders of being willing to have difficult conversations in a safe, secure connection. We've been kids together. We went to college together. We followed each other around the world. We have been raising our own kids together in community. We've been through the beauty and the shadow sides together. We're all in. There's something incredibly special about being witnessed throughout your entire life by another person. I feel seen by Melanya and she by me. We're real with each other in a way that is informed by grace, acceptance, and mutual adoration. I hope that you'll enjoy the giggle fest that follows. It's somewhat difficult to follow what we're saying at first because we have a style of talking where we both talk simultaneously and in my excitement to have my best friend on the podcast, I kept finishing her sentences, and likewise she could read my mind and finish my statements. So, our interview is full of tangents started and best friend references that are mostly intelligible to the auditory observer. The tone that comes across is giddy and reminds me of sleepover vibes of yore. Although you may be left with stories unfinished and narrations erupting into laughter, the love that we wanted to convey definitely comes through. The song for this podcast is “Wise Old Woman” by Alice DiMicele because Melanya and I have visions of becoming grandmother crone types that do handwork projects together in our elder years while visiting in our side by side rocking chairs. So, without further ado, here is our bubbly, goofy, but completely adoring friend love story for this special Valentine's Day of “The Positive Fantastic” podcast. We hope to share a conversation every season. Enjoy our part 1!

In this episode with musical guest Alice DiMicele, we talk about her lifetime of letting song have its way with her. She shares about her singer-songwriter journey and the many albums she's released along the way. With Nature as her muse, several of Alice's original ecological songs are featured in this episode, including the title track of her newest album “Every Seed We Plant.” Alice has also graciously said that I can share her music on my other podcast episodes. So, look forward to hearing Alice being featured as one of Season Three's musical guests & hearing many of her songs in the podcasts to come!

I met with Lydia Neilsen and Anne Freiwald of Vital Cycles, in Anne's garden, to discuss the power of teaching and training ourselves to the rhythms of the earth. Additionally, both Anne and Lydia share a deep love of song and are song carriers that help humans live our days in literal harmony. You can find several bits of song woven throughout the podcast as short and sweet interludes between each interview question. The songs come from a variety of West Coast songwriters like Debbi-Narga Brown, Molly Hartwell, Mo Washburn, and Osprey Flies the Nest, among others. All of them are sung by Lydia and Anne, who, in addition to their permaculture offerings, facilitate song circles in the Santa Cruz area. I am really excited to be sharing a podcast about permaculture. I have a rich history of learning about plants and ecology, but it wasn't until I stumbled upon permaculture that I really felt like I had come home. There's something really synergistic about consciously designing our lives and the spaces we inhabit to be supportive of life.

I reached out to Esther Siegel recently about joining me on the podcast because she and her husband Spencer Brewer just released a book of Assemblage art, focusing on some of the phenomenal artists here in Northern California. Assemblage art is all about bringing together different parts to create a unified artistic whole. Imagine three dimensional collage or very adventurous mosaic making. And, in fine form, art followed life, and the podcast became a bit of a metaphoric assemblage of Esther's life narrative, spinning her diverse interests into this one episode. From her love of horses, through her years as a psychotherapist, and into her studio where she combines multimedia forms to create her art, this podcast is an assemblage of Esther and how her life has been a living canvas of her unfolding journey on this planet. Even the opening song for today's podcast is part of the assemblage of Esther! It's an original piece by Spencer that he composed in homage to his wife that he calls “Estrella.”

Joybi Joyner is an amazing man who has spent the vast majority of his adulthood living in the wilderness. We met last winter when I got to camp with him over the course of a couple weeks. We discussed the fascinating juxtaposition between the ancient ways humans have lived for thousands of years and the modern ways that things are changing so quickly. Joybi reflected on the balance of being out in the bush with being situated in the community so as to be available to share the skills of living life outdoors. He is particularly interested in how we can navigate these times successfully with the merging of old technologies and new technologies

This episode honors the North American beaver, in all its ecological keystone species glory. I chatted with Kate Lundquist, foremost beaver advocate in my neck woods (fed by the Russian River watershed), about how amazing beavers are, why we need them in our ecosystems, and the ways that new technology is helping create good relations between the humans and the beavers.

I'm excited to welcome Sarah Ryan and Sarah songbird, the two talented vocalists who make up The Real Sarahs duet, to "The Positive Fantastic" podcast. I became close friends with theses two at Herb School, just as they were forming their band. I have had the privilege of hearing them perform many times in formal and informal settings; they are a Mendo local band, but they've gone on tour internationally too. These two have a rootsy Americana sound, infused with their potent lyrical artistry and gorgeous harmonies. Over the years they have come into their own as singer/songwriters. In the podcast episode, they share about their journey through difficulties and healings, with the music continuing to bring them together in lovely, meaningful, and wonderfully harmonious ways.

Xicana Priestess Jamie Della shares about her life as an author. Her newest release “The Book of Spells” is now available. Listen as we explore what it means to live a magickal life.

Meeting Meghan Walla-Murphy completely changed the way I do my reality. We connected over the ancient art of tracking, and until I joined her in a group of women, all intent on learning how to track the animals and wildlife around us, I had not really opened my eyes to this phenomenally important and intrinsic skill set. Now, I cannot go a day, or hardly an hour without witnessing, listening, and paying lots of attention to the play of the wild world all around me. A world that I am part of, that is inextricably interwoven and interconnected to me and my life. For me, tracking has become this elemental dance of all the sights, sounds, sensations, and signs that I seek out and that seek me! Interviewing Meghan, I felt eternally grateful for her efforts to live as a tracker in a modern paradigm that has forgotten how interconnected we all are to everything that is, and also I'm in awe of her commitment to spread the knowledge of this fundamental skill into the world.

A recovering academic, Maggie Ostara, PhD, left her prestigious job as the Director of Women's and Gender Studies at Columbia University when she realized that she's not meant to work for anyone else. (She now knows this is part of her Human Design!) Maggie is an Amazon #1 best-selling author, arousing public speaker, beloved teacher, and highly intuitive and skilled mentor-coach. When they work with her, Maggie's clients deepen their sense of destiny and true value, develop their Feminine Sovereignty, and live into their own definitions of success. Maggie is a certified Quantum Human Design Specialist Level 4, a certified Clarity Breathwork practitioner, a certified Radiant Body Yoga teacher, online education expert, and creator of the 8 Pillars of Feminine Sovereignty and the Six Feminine Sovereign Archetypes. She has served tens of thousands of students, and hundred of clients all over the world through her online programs.

Join Kelly McRee for a dive into how we can collectively heal our grief through community support. Swim with us as we describe the various ways that the medium of water has helped Kelly heal her personal grief. From sailing the seas to floating friends in warm water, Kellyfish has resources to share with you in this episode. 

Feather is working with women to help bring them into their bodies with awareness, empowerment, and healing love. She offers classes and workshops that support this desire for healing in the world. Feather shares more about the ancient jade egg practice in our podcast interview. Additionally, she shares about other Daoist techniques, which I have heard referred to as Sexual Kung Fu in the past, but which she describes as Pelvic floor therapeutics to foster sensual joy. Feather gives a sneak peek into her classes and workshops offerings too. She kindly elaborated on the topic of “Vulva Mapping” which, in my extensive overview of yoni-related practices I had yet to encounter, but have since become super intrigued by. Also, our Spirtfull woman, Feather shares at length about a conversation she had with the planet Venus. And, the dialogue birthed a course for tracking our cycles and the celestial cycles: sacred geometry in tune with women's bodies, that Feather is launching in 2022.

This is a special birthday edition of The Positive Fantastic Podcast. I'm turning 39 today and in honor of the miracle of birth and birth work, my guest today, is Gloria Gonzales Campise, who, in addition to being a long time friend, sister, and ally in support of all things fantastic, has recently graduated from midwifery school so that she can be a home birth midwife.

Co-founder of the Northern California Women's Herbal Symposium (NCWHS) Terri Jensen shares about the motivations for the creation of the event, gives a sneak peek into what happens at the gathering, and offers some of her own reflections on the evolution of the symposium over its 33 years supporting women and plants communing. 

Alyra Rose has been experimenting in the free range sonic playground of musical alchemy since she was a little girl. Whether she's bringing spoken word poetry to musicality or looping sound over sung verses, she's always brewing up some amazing heartfelt lyricism to support us all becoming more embodied, whole humans. This episode showcases several original songs by Alyra in addition to our interview about her background, present, and future with musical offerings.

Kym Mamazon Trippsmith and Ma Sherry Glaser took their amazing abilities with word weaving play and created a feminist linguistic rebellion. They have been looking at how we want to spell certain words, all witch connotations intended thank you very much, and they spent the pandemic writing down some of their favorite word plays in a pocket book that they have published this summer! Mama's First Pocket Chicktionary is now available in print for your enjoyment!!!

I interviewed my friend Kelly Costa about her pet care offerings in Sonoma County, California. She recently formalized her offering into a business called “Loving Animal Care.” She utilizes a variety of modalities and over a decade of experience to help people give their animals extra support. We sat down to record this interview in Kelly's dining room while her elder dog "Pumpkin" snored under the table. Join us for a casual conversation about how Kelly came to this work & why caring for our animals really well makes all the sense in the world.  “I like to say that my dog makes my house a home.” —Kelly Costa

Meir Schneider, who was declared legally blind by the state of Israel, cured his eyesight such that he now has a California driver's license and drove to our podcast interview to share about his own journey and how he has devoted his life to helping others heal too. He founded the School for Self Healing in San Francisco and travels the world as an author and educator, spreading his techniques so that everyone can be empowered to do their own healing.

Michelle Vesser offers her guidance as a wise woman with a lifelong practice of tending her inner and outer landscapes. 

Join Luna Hart, Functional Diagnostic Nutrition Practitioner (FDNP) for a discussion of the ways that she transformed her own diseases and illth to vibrant wellness. She now guides individuals in their own journeys to restore or claim their own wellness practices so that they can enjoy healthy lives. 

We get to sing with Lauren Arrow! This Northern California singer/songwriter shared about her own journey from loving to sing as a young child, through being afraid to sing as an adolescent, and then to eventually reclaiming her voice in the service of song as a grown woman. Now, she has created classes, workshops, and concerts to help us collectively liberate our voices. For the joy of song!

Jen Dalton and I recently sat down for an author chat in her home in the hills of Ukiah to discuss trauma informed friendships. She self published a book about girl bullying this year, and has many offerings to make about the ways that we can both heal from childhood bullying and address the roots of why we bully so that we can dismantle this traumatic girlhood ritual.

Let your food be your medicine & hear how nutrition consultant Mary Sheila Gonnella recommends not only what to eat for health but truly HOW to eat for optimal health. Learn about what Mary calls "Vitamin T," and the ways that you need more of this in a lifestyle focused on healthy eating.

This special 4/20 edition of the podcast is a spotlight on CBDs and my friend Molly Hildenbrand's “Be Rooted Botanicals” business: a small, rootsy, women owned and operated CBD medicinals/topical line of products for wellness and healing. I am absolutely in love with what she has created, and I visit her shop at least once a year to stock up on her creams, oils, and bath salts. Tag along for our conversation about our friend cannabis and the joys of herbal medicine making.

Julia Green helps support thriving barnyards by doing farm consultations where she helps farmers and potential farmers to assess their space, their animals, their needs, and the best way to holistically manage all of the above. Drawing on her extensive farmstead experience and herbalist background, Julia guides the way for a happy, healthy, and successful farm.

Tamara Wilder has made her life's offering to share the skills that connect us all to our ancestral past. Paleotechnics describes the wisdom that Wilder brings forth for people of all ages from friction fire to making string from plant fibers. In addition to teaching a diverse array of skills to people of all ages, she has created a special curriculum that she teaches in pubic elementary schools to support children forming meaningful connection to their roots. Join us as she reflects on how she personally came to reconnect with the ancestral skills movement, and the ways that she has seen the movement evolve over the last several decades. 

Yeshe Matthews is a Priestess of the Tsogyal Lhamo Drayang Ling, the Mt Shasta Goddess Temple in Dunsmuir, CA. She is a dharma practitioner and a licensed minister, ordained and initiated in several different mystery traditions. The Temple she created serves Mt Shasta spiritual pilgrims and worldwide Goddess enthusiasts with online and in-person divinations, classes, ceremonies, and retreats. Yeshe has dedicated her life to female mysteries, sacred healing practices and the ways of the Goddess, with ongoing study and practice in Tibetan Buddhism, Siberian/Mongolian Shamanism, Ifa, Mayan Cosmology, herbal healing, and Dianic Goddess Spirituality. With a Master's degree in Women's History from Sarah Lawrence College in New York, she has studied women's mysticism, shamanism, and matriarchal communities for over twenty years. Join us for an auditory journey as we explore the matriarchal gift economy of the ancient future!

Join Jenava Van Pelt and Mori Natura as we talk about the commitment of having goats. We'll discuss the basics anyone needs to hear before they get goats and flush out the details of what is really required to keep a happy, healthy herd. Combined, these two women have three decades of experience to share about the art and craft of goat midwifery and husbandry. 

My friend Robin Burnside is a wise woman elder who was devoted her life to culinary arts. Everywhere she goes, she leaves happy, nourished people in her wake. Join us as we take a dive into the deep waters of Robin's abiding love of the craft and art of healthy food preparation from her days of being the head chef at Esalen, to catering for rock and roll festivals at the Hog Farm. 

Join Kimber Holmes, male illusionist, for an auditory adventure into the heart of Drag. A lifelong performance artist, Holmes created a drag king persona by the name of Max Manchester. This episode explores the process of becoming "Max" step by glorious drag step.

Join artist Lauren Sinnott as she explains the recent mural she created on the 200 ft long wall outside the Ukiah Conference Center as it pertains to the local history, the present, and the future of the area.

Have you ever wanted to grow your own mushrooms on logs you harvested sustainably from the forest? If yes, then this is the episode for you. I'm gonna break down the ins and outs of how to process and cure your logs, obtain your mycelium on plug spawn, and ultimately foster the ideal conditions so that your preferred mushrooms can bear fruit. In this episode, I focus on growing shiitake mushrooms on oak logs in Northern California.

Join me for the premier episode of Season 2 of “The Positive Fantastic” Podcast as I interview Lama and Matthew of The Forest People about their radically sustainable mushroom cultivation project in Northern California.