Things Are Weird

For the last episode of 2020 (or not, who knows), I invited Dr. Mindy Nettifee back to talk about what’s been going on, what’s going on, and what’s going to be going on. And what we can do to catch the current and get in the flow. In this episode, you’ll hear phrases like: the great conjunction; death is not a rumor; ritual is enacted metaphor; thank you and goodbye; the big process of becoming more ourselves; pandemic of racism; waves of danger, distress, and upheaval; tools for contemplation and reflection; and the Age of Aquarius.Come for the thing only Mindy can deliver and stay for the after party to hear how Emy Galaxie, TRW’s comedian-at-large, interprets eclipse season. She takes us on a trip to the 80s and reintroduces us to the gravity-defying hair of Bonnie Tyler.Catch the Mindy-train here: https://thecultofmindy.com/. Buy her books where books are sold. Take a workshop with her. Your golden ticket awaits.

This is the one where I call my high school friend Debbie for the first time in 30 years. She grew up living above the funeral home her family owned. This clearly makes her an expert on death, which is why I chose this article for our discussion, "What Really Happens to Us As We Are Dying?"Debbie’s pretty much the best. She was then and she is now. She was voted Class Clown and Most Athletic. True and deserved. Also, prom queen and homecoming queen. Beloved by all. She was the equipment manager for the football team and the VP of Varsity Choir.Our high school was smallish so everyone had to pitch in where they could so we could make the most of sports, arts, and clubs available. One year, the kicker for the football team marched with the band at halftime. It didn’t leave as much room for folks to choose a lane and stay in it out of fear they’d loose the one identity they’d managed to scrabble together (AKA unlike most 80s movies, though the clothes were the same). Plus, there wasn’t much else to do. Small towns. Small high school. Network TV. We played sports, danced and sang in show choir, and drove too fast going over the train tracks hoping to “catch some air.”

First I talk about God and my new “routine,” which is unrelated to God. Or is it? Then Dr. Mindy Netiffee and I talk about the article, “Pandemic Time: A Distributed Doomsday Clock” by Venkatesh Rao.We talk chronos versus kairos time and what it all means in this liminal space we’re in right now. Chronos says, “Let’s meet at 5pm.” Kairos says, “I’m going to go over there right now.” The great news is that we can live in harmony with both. You can meet me at 5pm on Saturday. and, as long as it’s not 5pm on Saturday, you can go over there if that’s what feels right. (It'll makes more sense when you listen to the episode.)Mindy is a poet, storyteller, artist educator, and depth somatic practitioner. She holds a doctorate in Depth Psychology with a specialization Somatic Studies. Her doctoral research investigates the sensory capacities of the voice and the role they play in trauma healing and integration. She is a practicing Somatic Movement educator and practitioner, training in the trauma resolution modality Somatic Experiencing.You can get more Mindy at https://thecultofmindy.com/ and @thecultofmindy on IG.

It’s the first mini-episode! We didn’t even know we were going to do mini-episodes so this is an exciting development.This particular moment in time feels like a good time to check in on the support we get from earth and gravity. In this episode, Shanon takes you through a somatic exercise called Gravity Connection from Rae Johnson’s dissertation “Elemental Movement: A Somatic Approach to Movement Education.”It’s about 8 minutes and mostly involves lying down, one of our favorite activities. And the secret great thing about it is, there’s no way to do it correctly, there’s only doing it. Come with curiosity and attention.We’d love to hear about your experience if you feel like sharing. Email Shanon at hi@shanonemerson.com.

Article: https://www.theatlantic.com/health/archive/2018/11/how-perfectionism-can-be-destructive/574837/In this episode, Shanon tells a story about her first day in Europe, a trip she took with her guest, Emily Mariola. Shanon and Emily talk about perfectionism. Do they have it? How does it spread? How do we prevent our kids from getting a bad case of it? There’s also a story about something that happened in Vegas, but didn’t stay in Vegas. Mostly this episode is just sounds of a couple Ohio farm girls pondering the great wide open we call life.Emily lives in Ohio on 80 acres with her four children, husband, horses, pigs, cats, dogs, gardens, pond, vehicles, tractors, barns, trees, fields. She owns a yoga studio and hosts an annual yoga festival called YogaFarmFest. She a prolific and highly skilled potter. You can see and purchase her work here: https://www.etsy.com/shop/flexyogawooster/ You can keep an eye on her here: @flexyogaemily.

First, Shanon tells us about her quarantine brush with her “barista boyfriend” and then she calls Lisa Conway, ceramicists, teacher, and friend, to talk about living in the present. We end with our comedian-in-residence, Emy Galaxie, telling a great joke only to blow the punch line. We shared it anyway because Things Are Weird!Lisa and Shanon discuss the NYT article “What I Miss Most Is Swimming” By Bonnie Tsui. https://www.nytimes.com/2020/04/10/opinion/sunday/swimming-covid.html

Mikey and I catch up and discuss marriage, competitive skiing, and powerlessness.tinybuddha.com/blog/stop-feeling-powerless-start-powerfully-creating-life/

Brandon and I catch up and discuss family life in quarantine, pizza delivery, and boundaries.markmanson.net/boundaries