Podcasts about Mother Nature

Mick Mulhall, CEO of Mulhalls, talks about the Irish roots and multi-generational history of Mulhalls Nursery and how the business is adapting to current climate and environmental issues that demand we be better stewards of our natural world. Mulhall also talks about the importance of our relationship with the beauty of Mother Nature and shares his own story of growth, in the business and beyond.Mick Mulhall grew up working in the family business, driving for landscape crews as soon as he got his license. He is a graduate of the University of Notre Dame and, of course, Mulhall's really-long-days-landscaping school of management. Mulhall's grandfather John, who trained as a gardener in Ireland, immigrated in 1953, and now, three generations later, Mulhall is the CEO for a team committed to making Omaha a more beautiful place to live.

Melissa Tshikamba, an illustrator and figurative artist, joins Jess for a conversation about artwork, divinity, and diversity. Melissa's art reflects sacred imagery, the divine feminine, history, African symbols, mythology, cosmology, Mother Nature, and her ancestral heritage. Tshikamba was raised in a mixed race, religious family, which instilled in her a love for the Divine. As a visual and kinesthetic learner, she noticed early on there weren't any images that looked like her, or her siblings. Many religions claim that we are all sons and daughters of a Creator, yet their artwork lacks truth and diversity. This fueled her mission and passion to help shift that narrative and create images that are a better reflection of our human family. (Taken from Melissa's website, https://tshikamba.com/) See the website for inquiries, prints, and commissions, and browse Melissa's instagram https://www.instagram.com/tshikamba/?hl=en for some truly inspiring art! --- Support this podcast: https://podcasters.spotify.com/pod/show/inherimage/support

Join Premium! Ready for an ad-free meditation experience? Join Premium now and get every episode from ALL of our podcasts completely ad-free now! Just a few clicks makes it easy for you to listen on your favorite podcast player.  Become a PREMIUM member today by going to --> https://WomensMeditationNetwork.com/premium Softly close your eyes, letting them ease and relax,  and snuggle in your bed, Sinking deep into its arms, feeling the cool sheets support and cradle you. LONG PAUSE Now, allow your mind to let go, to release the stray thoughts weighing it down. And let your breath form a gentle, relaxing rhythm, breathing in… and out… In… and out…   LONG PAUSE Your body relaxes more, and you feel yourself open, to the quiet magic of the night.  A magic that lives and breathes in nature all around you, and is inviting you to come along. PAUSE Imagine an egret, regal and white, poised next to your bed, Angel-like wings spread wide readying for flight. PAUSE The egret beckons you to take to the air. So gingerly. you slide on his back, releasing your cares. And those cares tumble down as you give a cleansing heave. The bird turns his head, He's ready to leave. PAUSE You glide out the window and skim the tops of the trees. There's a rhythm to the wings' flapping as they catch a breeze. PAUSE  Above, the stars wink at you, those heavenly diamonds of the light Below, an owl hoots. Nature's guardian of night PAUSE The egret circles ‘round the clouds. You pass over the moon  like a wave with no sound. Then the egret flies gently– ever so gently– down, Until you both touch the forest ground. PAUSE And you notice these woods are different from woods you know. Instead of being cloaked in darkness this night, The flora and fauna glow. PAUSE You take a step, and leaves crackle beneath your foot. The ground shimmers in gold as you walk and look. PAUSE To each side there are flowers glistening like the stars– Purples, greens, pinks and blues And beautiful sparkles in trees and shrubs afar PAUSE A pine tree shines in green  with its pine cones in silver. It looks divinely different, and yet, comfortably familiar. PAUSE And you pick a pine cone up Enamored with its glow Then set it back down gentle and slow. PAUSE Nearby, two raccoons chitter while peeking out from pink shrubs. In the distance,  a snoozing mother wolf cuddles her drowsy cubs. PAUSE A doe and a buck pause,  looking you in the eye. Then scamper away  deep in the night.. PAUSE Now, the bird spreads its wings and calls you once more. Without hesitation,  you climb aboard. PAUSE Fly past the moon and trees, back to your bed, with the nature's magic night  cozied up in your head. LONG PAUSE… As you sleep with Mother Nature, You realize one thing. We're all deeply connected, And together, we sing.  Namaste, Beautiful Thanks to our amazing Sponsor! sleepnumber.com

You've decided to give IVF a(nother) try: what should you do or not do during treatment? And how does this relate to Miami vs Pacific Northwest “chic”? Well, let's just say, it really helps to know the rules in advance…. There are a lot of mythunderstandings (misunderstandings + myths!) out there about IVF, so in this snack, Ruby and Anne are going to talk about the things you genuinely need to know. Here's what you'll learn: (and yes, you need to listen to get the full answer!) Exercise: yes, no, decrease, increase, and why? Alcohol: can you have a glass of wine? Caffeine: please o please, Mother Nature, may I? Tobacco/nicotine: spoiler — NO. For so many reasons… Bath, hot tub, sauna? Sex during an IVF cycle? As always, please consider sharing this information with anyone you believe could benefit. It not only helps that person, it helps make The Whole Pineapple more discoverable on podcast apps, which could help a whole lot of people. Find more at thewholepineapple.com.

Welcome to a special Mother's Day episode, where six guest poets and storytellers break down suffocating ideas of what a mother must be, to make space for the primal torrent of the earthy, crazy, profoundly deepening realites. And this isn't just about biological mothers, though god bless 'em, we need 'em.Our guests share traditional stories, heartfelt poems, and personal experiences that delve into the twists and burns of motherhood. Through their stories, we'll discover that motherhood is not just about the Hallmark card version of it. It's a messy, complicated journey that often defies our expectations and challenges us in ways we never imagined.We'll hear from mothers who have experienced loss, sacrifice, and moments of pure exhaustion. We'll also hear from those who have found unexpected beauty and fulfillment in the chaos of motherhood.Our guests will challenge limited conceptions about motherhood and reveal something more primal and deeply resonant within all of us. So join us as we celebrate motherhood in all its complexity, and honor the women who have loved and nurtured us throughout our lives. Happy Mother's Day!Transcript:Mother's Day May 2023 assembled[00:00:00] TheoWelcome to the story paths podcast. I'm theatre Lowery, and this is our mother's day special. My birthday was recently. And on that day I reached out. Uh, some online and in person. Communities and asked if anyone would like to share some stories, some reflections, some poems. About mother's day. And I'm glad to say they sent me an intriguing variety of offerings. From a story, reframing a childhood. To a poem about motherhood from the trenches. To reflections on breaking societal molds of motherhood. To a deepening [00:01:00] into the fierce beauty. Of mother earth. We begin with a story from storyteller, Carrie taught. And this one is broadly about childhood. The realm of mothers. About relationship. With elders about carrying guilt and the stories that we tell ourselves. And as you listen, whether you're old or young or male or female, you might imagine that you were the boy. And this story. And that this is part of your childhood. Once upon a time there was a boy and he lived on a [00:02:00] small farm in the distant remote countryside at least 10 miles away from the closest village, and his family ran the farm small vegetable farm that also had 12 apricot trees and chickens, and two cows and six sheep. And the boy named Jimmy. Worked very hard on the farm along with his family, and together they produced enough food to survive on as well as to sell at market for a moderate modest income.Well, one day Jimmy was not doing his chores. But instead was playing by the old well, and he had been told many, many, many times by his mother to stay away from the old. Well, but there he was nonetheless, because there was something magnetic about that deep, dark void in the earth. And, and he just couldn't stay away.And he loved the way, when he reached his arm down, the air felt different because it was cold and still. [00:03:00] And when he leaned over and smelled, it smelled damp and earthy. There used to be wood on top of the well for obvious safety precautions, but at a particularly bad time of storms, the family used the wood to board up the windows and nobody had got around to replacing it.Well, I know that you can see where this story is going. Jimmy did fall down the well, and he lodged his foot between rocks at the bottom and he couldn't move. He tried to free his foot. He thought, well, maybe he could scramble up, but the walls were far too tall and too steep for that. Anyway, Jimmy was terrified.And he knew that nobody was gonna find him until at least dinner. Everybody was off doing their chores, either working in the house or working in the fields or working when in the orchard or attending to the animals. Everybody was doing what they were supposed to be doing and nobody would notice that he [00:04:00] was gone.The dinner bell was hours away. And in that time, Jimmy, Thought. Terrible, terrible thoughts. He wondered what would happen if nobody ever found him and he starved to death. What, what if they had to cut off his leg to get him out? What if, what if his family was so angry with him for the trouble they caused that they sent him away to live somewhere else?Oh, why? Why wasn't Jimmy? Doing what he was supposed to be doing. Why did he not listen to his mother? Why was he playing near the, well? Why wasn't he doing his chores like he was supposed to? Why couldn't he have just been a good boy? Why? Well, sure enough, when the dinner bell rang and Jimmy didn't appear for dinner, the family sprung into action.You see, there are a lot of accidents that can happen on a small farm at the edge of the wilderness, and they didn't wait to see if Jimmy was just [00:05:00] dillydallying. They jumped up and they spread out and they searched and it didn't take long for them to discover Jimmy at the bottom of the well. But the problem was really about how to get him out.You see, Jimmy's foot was still stuck. He couldn't free himself. And the entrance to the well, the opening of the well was too narrow for anybody else to fit down, to come down and help. And they were afraid that if they tried to dig a wider opening, that the rocks and debris in the mud would fall on top of Jimmy.And they finally decided the only thing they could do. Was to dig a parallel shaft beside the well and then dig across to free. Jimmy. Well, they sent the kids out to the neighboring farms to rally for help, and soon they had gathered a work crew. And they worked around the clock in shifts digging and digging and digging.And it took five days and five [00:06:00] nights before they were able to free Jimmy from the well. And in that time, not one moment was Jimmy left alone. There was always somebody sitting at the mouth of the well with him talking down to him in. Calming, soothing, reassuring voices. They sang to him. They told him stories.They read aloud. They even brought Jimmy's little baby sister to come and coup and babble and giggle down the well. They sent down as much love and comfort as they could. They sent him his favorite food. They sent down blankets. They hauled up his toilet waste. They tried to fill Jimmy up with as much love and comfort and reassurance as they could, and after five days when they freed Jimmy, there was a huge celebration and everybody came.It was a giant potluck and, and there was so much celebrating. Jimmy was the hero. [00:07:00] He was celebrated and Jimmy went to bed and cried himself to sleep.Not one person said a thing to Jimmy about the terrible inconvenience of missing five days of work on the farm. Not one person said anything about the apricots dropping off the trees and rotting on the ground or, or about the. Cut worms that were devastating, the cabbage patch. Nobody said anything about why Jimmy was playing at the well in the first place.Nobody scolded him. Nobody said, why weren't you checking the fences like you were supposed to? Nobody said any of that. Nobody teased him. Nobody made fun of having to haul up his toilet waste, none of that. But Jimmy was ashamed and embarrassed, and he made a promise to himself that night. Jimmy promised himself that he would never again cause so [00:08:00] much anguish to somebody else.Never again would he require so much labor. Never again would he be a burden. Never again would he be so helpless.I, and although Jimmy was forever grateful, He carried a small cold stone in his heart for the rest of his life where he kept his fear and his sadness, and his shame, and his loneliness. Jimmy grew up to be a kind and generous and serious. And successful man. He was philanthropic, but he always kept himself a little apart from the world.He was always a little bit alone and a little bit sad if only he had spoken those feelings aloud. If only he [00:09:00] had heard how others told this story. You see, for some people this was a story of purpose about how setting a worthy goal and working hard to achieve it against the odds is an incredible feeling.For some, it was a story of the value of community, about the importance of working together for the common good. For some people, this helped them set their priorities straight. It reminded them that the love and the support and the wellbeing of another. Is so much more important than anything else on their to-do list.Others were reminded to go home and do a safety check on their own property. I mean, who knows how many accidents this prevented for? One young couple who were just starting out, this was a story of love and commitment of family, and it became the cornerstone of the life that they built together. Even, [00:10:00] even.Jimmy's little sister who had no memory of the event, internalized the importance and the significance of her voice, how important it was for her presence and her voice to be heard. Not one person carry the story of bitterness or resentment or the disappointment that Jimmy imagined. So I ask you, are you carrying an old story?That keeps you apart from life, that keeps you somehow small. Have you made a vow or a promise that no longer serves you? You see how we tell our story impacts how we experience the world. We get to choose how we tell our story. Choose well, my friend, choose well. [00:11:00] We get to choose how we tell our story. What a powerful lesson. There's a saying, I like. It's never too late to have a good childhood. To look back and reframe. Stories in which we cast ourselves as a fill-in or others as a felon. And to look at them from different perspectives. That's one of the beauties of storytelling. Is it allows you to move around 360 degrees. More. Our degrees around particular events in the past or particular understandings. And see them from different points of view. Like a council. Uh, people coming together and sharing their few point. I know when I heard this story from Carrie, I thought of some events from the childhood or younger years of other people that I know who are dear to [00:12:00] me. And considered, oh, it could be seen in a different perspective. Or maybe there's someone, you know, who seeing events in their own life or they're casting themselves as the fill-in or the victim. But the, you don't see them that way. The UCM is bigger than that. Stronger than that. TheoNext, we have a poem from storyteller and poet, Amy Walsh. And here she digs down. Into what motherhood should be. Could be. Is. And deep reflections. But what it means to be. Uh, human poised within older and newer generations of humans. Tending new generations. Children. What to pass on. What to stop. When to forgive oneself. [00:13:00] What is it to be a mother? Amy WalshHi, Theo. I wanted to share my poem with you. It was inspired by a group that I'm part of called Mother Circle that's facilitated by Kimberly Anne Johnson. I am Amy, daughter of Marsha, granddaughter of Rita, and Arlene, great-granddaughter of Anne, Minnie, Marie and Marie, mother of Rita and Irene. I carry the blood of the victim, the perpetrator, and the rescuer in my veins. And I know that I pass these to my daughters via both nurturance and bone. I know that I want to do things differently and sometimes I can't, and sometimes I can.[00:14:00] I know there are gifts I want to hand down, and sometimes I can't, and sometimes I can. My oldest daughter is a wise little mystic, a sensitive soul. She told me when she was four. All we needed to do to deserve God's love was be born. She reads body language like I read every flyer at the dorm elevator bulletin board, effortlessly, unintentionally, perhaps uncontrollably absorbing every emotional nuance I never saw or long ago tuned out. Until Covid made my rage unavoidable I would've told you with a straight face that I didn't often feel angry. Or afraid or ashamed or even sad because what did that get you except sent to your room? So I prided myself on being the easy kid and got it together [00:15:00] and expected my sense to five year old to get it together too. Now she attaches so much to being the best kid in her class to being all business in first grade.It makes me want to cry. Because maybe she was wired like that, but maybe this is her version of easy. Maybe I have already taught her that her emotions are too much, that it is more important to be good, that's safe, that there are conditions on her worth.How do I unwind that and repair that? Can I open my heart to feel the joy and grief, passion and rage, hope and fear? Belonging and shame. Can my daughters and I teach each other, can we take that freight ancestral tapestry and weave it a new, my mother was the [00:16:00] daughter of a man who lost his mother in a car accident at the age of six.I am not sure there are words for how disorienting that was. He never moved beyond that emotionally in the 83 years that followed his outbursts. Never more regulated than a six year old boys, but much more terrifying to a small child in the container of a grown man.My mother was two when she and her brother threw eggs at the hem house wall. She remembers the fun and the delight of bright yellow streaking down the wall. She doesn't remember what happens next, except that it was the last time she did something fun without fully examining the consequences. A good girl through and through to this day, my mother recoils that conflict when my daughter's fight [00:17:00] over a plastic hat.She pounces with immediate distraction to escape their anger and provide them an escape route too. I say that as if I am better, as if it doesn't take two days of inner pep talks and a well-rehearsed script to confront someone about a small frustration at work as if I weren't afraid to be unreasonable, as if it didn't feel mean to say no.As I sift through the debris of easy and excavate my too muchness, I can see that I never felt afraid of my mother. I can see the additional room she created for me to maneuver in the world, room she never had. I can see the stories of abusive fathers and women who did what they had to to survive. I can see the stories of grieving fathers.And women who died in childbirth. [00:18:00] I can see the son of an alcoholic whose heart broke too early. I can see the hunger and the fear that led to that alcoholism or led to insatiable taking, that was the direct cause of the hunger and desperation of others. I can see the church and the wild woman of the woods.I can see the stone workers and the story keepers. I can see the conquest and the concord. I can see the ancient grandmothers place their flower crown on my head. There is pride and shame and magic in your life. Victims. Perpetrators, rescuers, all of them, shaking your windows and rattling your bones, demanding you look at the sacrifices and the atrocities [00:19:00] carried out in your name, demanding you reckon with a question? Why are you still here?YolandaI'm Yolanda I'm an Ubuntu poet and I love the idea that stories, stories,I'm Yolanda I'm an Ubuntu poet and I love the idea that stories, stories, That's the voice of Yolanda. Who will share with us some bombastic reflections on motherhood. On primal forces, breaking societal molds. And finding one's fault. All the more visible with the attempt to parent. Uh, young being into this world. And with the mother's connection with ancestral lines of mothers flowing into her. And all their [00:20:00] connection. With mother earth. what really struck me was, firstly I was. Grateful to have this invitation from a man. It really landed just that simple awareness that, um, a man was wanting on his own birthday to celebrate motherhood. I come from an African culture that's a dual heritage. So it's the north and east of Africa. It's a two season landscape, it's multiple languages before you enter into school. And you come into a culture that is in Europe. So I'm very much a sort of diaspora lens. Using the English language, my, my second language to communicate on a topic that. I believe motherhood just strips you off language and gets you back into that animal primal state, you know, where between, you know, [00:21:00] milking with, you know, with holding your child's head in one hand and kind of sensing the, on a pheromone level, you can smell the presence of your man wanting to creep back towards you.And, you know, how does that mind deal with all that at once? It's, it's just, it's an adventure, you know. And you learn to relax into it I couldn't even speak the word adventure without acknowledging that I wanted to pause Advent. So I don't know how folks reflect on motherhood.It's got such an urban myth around it. It's got so many different silent codes within it. But motherhood for me has just been. Tooth pulling messy adventure, and that we need to somehow be nourished by it and also shed some of those stories that we have somehow nurtured. There's the stories that we see from our families. There's those things that [00:22:00] exist in society that say the dos and don't. A mother. I'll have, you know, Theodore, if I've understood the silent codes has put aside her.Her sexy has put aside, her woman has put aside her. You know, lover has put aside all of that and has raised to the pedestal a dream. A dream filled with urban myth rather than the sacred, simple, scared story. You are on an adventure and you aren't being asked to go beyond some of those limitations that you might have. And through a conditioned mindset and, and religion, all those kind of things. You call it culture. On a good day, you call it maddening on a bad day.And then motherhood just kind of keeps pushing, but both further down that river so that you recognize that uh, you just don't have the language. And that's when I became quite. [00:23:00] Familiar with my animist heritage and I, I brought that to myself in the most compassionate way cuz I recognized that in all ways I had given up and that I was not being asked to give up on myself, but I was being asked to explore this on a completely sacred level.So motherhood for me became a path where I recognized that I had walked with shame, and that I was gradually being invited through the motherhood experience of seeing the holy in the shame, seeing the beautiful in the shame, seeing the, I'm part of a wider story in the shame, and so shame like all entities that have a spaciousness to them. My first glance on this relationship was I'll never be good enough. I failed him from the get-go. [00:24:00] Um, and then the storyline became what makes you think there is any extra that needs to be done? Maybe he needs my kind of crazy, maybe he needs my kind of flaws. And I have found that the mother tongue is the one that is so foundational in the discourse between Great Mother and remembering our matriarchs from the original story, those who have now been transformed and present to us as two-legged people, but they are present to us through the other members of our family, through the tree family, the stone people, the elements. The oral tradition gives you that tonality. The oral tradition says you are to lean to your child. Like the grandmother always reminds the mother. When I lost my firstborn child, I still use language like lost. [00:25:00] It's my grandmother who said you had already called and named her Maisha.Maisha in my mother tongue means life.And I go back to the simplicity of the term storyline. It brought me my grandmother in a form I hadn't known. She said, we go at a particular time to go and meet our coffee plants. We have coffee plantations by the but of the kja. It's, it's a sea, a wave of.Of coffee plants, it's coffee medicine. And then we have those who walk, who go into the climb. So they listen and they do that story and they hear the story and they bring it back down to us. And we know how to do our coffee medicine to care. There is nothing within the storyline.Says, strip the coffee plants away so that we can see the [00:26:00] magnificence of our grandmother better exposed. That's a colonized mind. You don't throw the baby with the bathwater. That's motherhood. Your son's a jerk is the sentence that comes to the surface.You know, he's come back at two o'clock in the morning, you're gonna hear him making love all night. Why? Why? Why? Then you remember, you don't strip the coffee medicine. That's his story. That's when you're like, I remember when I used to do that.What is this biggest hunger and yearning that mothers are called to remember? All religions in their sacred and in their pure, how the discourse, it says enter into direct relationship. It's not just us crazy mystic or part Catholic, shamanic and, you know, possessed. It's there. It's in the fabric [00:27:00] of the cloth. If you become overly confused, Motherhood is the most devouring, insane thing. Can you imagine it's made that way? You know, we, we bring them through a portal and they do their part.So it's an adventure. And when I think of motherhood, I wanted to recognize the matriarchs that have sat with their patriarchs, and they've done it in a combined and relaxed and loving way in the deep confusion that exists at the moment.And in the original old stories. As I love to say, the grandmother's spirit had already seen fit to, to have in that in between space medicine, deep deep medicine, and as it happens, science now knows that if you are sipping on coffee, you are more likely to get [00:28:00] to deal with those high altitudes with a better experience.But you know, did my original, original, original grandmother know this? But she's quite cheeky, so she's saying yes, but you know, we come from a cheeky line, so I'll just ignore that. Shall we say that bit? I don't think she did. Really. I think what happens is a, a deep obedience, you know, you, you learn to communicate and into real relationship and you, you hear your bodies.Yes. And you, you can, you can recognize your bodies. For me, motherhood is a messy adventure. And the more you can vent the better. We are not invited to do this alone. Recognizing that we can look at the signs and lean on others and take a leap of faith and remember that as much as we believe it's our own [00:29:00] adventure, our children are our deepest teacher and it's with loving embrace of other mothers, other grandmothers, other sisters, those who have birthed that experience, or those who are there to support you even if they haven't lived the so-called birth experience. And then with that, we can simply say, we are a family and our men are so much a part of this. Our other family members are so much a part of this. And I'm grateful. Uh, next we have a poem. Of belonging. And earthiness. By the poet and artist, Jesse White. How could we have forgotten the blessing to be born of a love as ancient as eternity, perpetually shape shifting, [00:30:00] spirit breathing you into me and back again until I no longer know where my skin ends and yours begins. Tate our bones back to the land. Remembering her embrace of gravity. May we begin the mourning, bowing to the beauty that births us.Mother of mystery and magic, father of fire and feather. How could we have forgotten we belong along?Lastly, we close with a story. By storyteller, Diana spirit hark. A story about the interrelationships between life and death which we've. The creatures. In this world together, including ourselves. The story of the wisdom. [00:31:00] Of our great mother. Wisdom, which is sometimes hard. For us. To accept. I am an artisan of a ceremonial art I've been a storyteller and a dream weaver. For my whole life. I've always known about dreams since I was a little girl, and when I found the medicine teachings of the four directions, I became totally immersed in that and found, felt like I finally found a philosophy and a way of life that matched who I was, who I am.And so I am a grandmother and a great-grandmother, still raising children, still [00:32:00] interpreting dreams, still making art, and still loving mother nature. My friend Theo asked me to share a story about mothers or grandmothers, cuz I'm a grandmother and I have. A favorite story about a mother that we often don't think of as our, our mother. When I was a little girl, I was put outside and the door locked. So I, I made friends with, with nature, with the trees and the grass and the birds and, and the bugs and everything.That was on my, you know, in my yard when I was little. And at one point I actually said to myself that I think that [00:33:00] I was given to the wrong family and that my real mother is Mother Nature. Cuz in those days, long time ago, they didn't talk about Earth Mother much. Mostly talked about. Be good to Mother Nature.And so that's, so I decided that Mother Nature was my true mother, and this song is called Earth Mother, and it is a story about. There, there's a lot of talk right now about how we're spoiling the earth and howthis shouldn't happen and that shouldn't happen. But nature has a verypretty powerful awareness [00:34:00] of what her children need.Earth. Mother woke with the dawn and Fanny sacred smoke to all the four directions. She began to walk thelan singing her morning song.Beautiful home, beautiful homeland. Welcome the fire, the east and sun. Welcome the south. The swimmers and the waters welcome the west, the earth and the plants. Welcome the north. The wind and the animals. Welcome to the stars. Welcome to the moon. Good morning, my beautiful life. Good morning. My [00:35:00] beautiful life.And as she walked,she came to. A beautiful place where she bent down and she saw the The Beatles, and she gave them beautiful little iridescent green jackets and she hung green acorns in the trees and bending low. She the seed of summer in a little flower. So that when it opened in summer, it would remember. Then she turned her gaze to the sage covered desert.She loved the desert. She blew a warm [00:36:00] wind across the Bless the desert and a hawk caught it on his wings as he blew, and then she walked on. As she walked, she came to the river and there was men. Man had his neck and he was catching frogsfor his breakfastfor his mother. You are kind. You sent frog to me. To hunt and catch for my breakfast. I am very grateful they filled my belly.Oh, but why, why do you send mosquitoes to torment me in my bed at night? They bite me and make me leave my bed.[00:37:00] Mosquitoes Earth. Mother, very, very bad, bad, bad frogs, on the other hand, sweet, good, and so delicious,Earth's mother. If there were no more mosquitoes, the world would be perfect.Earth's mother's side and walked. She walked across the Savannah in Africa wearing a robe, fringed with falling rain. She filled the water holes, sharpened the thorn bushes, guided sunbird to a blooming flower with nectar, she climbed a peak. And flung her spear of lightning across the sky. It felt the sting of storm and the fury of the [00:38:00] lightningin the North Earth. Mother powdered the trees with snow and like diamond dust. It was in the air later on in the afternoon, earth Mother. Heard frogs calling.She saw a frog sitting on the rock and catching an insect in with this tongue and eating at whole. Thank you Earth Mother Mosquitoes and her sisters fill my belly. But why have you said man to eat me? Man is very, very bad, bad, bad, sweet, delicious mosquitoes On the other hand, they make me happy. If there were no more men in [00:39:00] this world, it would be perfect Birth mother smiled and walked on in the evening.She died deep into the water and swam with the whales. Iridescent blue light coming out of her fingertips. Crescent Moon rose, she cradled an otter in a bed of seaweed. It was nighttime. Now, she walked across the meadow.She heard a tiny little voice,earth mother. I am so grateful to you for sending man. He's so tasty and delicious when I bite him in his pet. But why Earth Mother do you send those useless [00:40:00] rocks? They have eaten my sisters. And tomorrow, Shirley, they will eat me. This one would be perfect. Ifthere were no more props, earth mother smiled inside and she climbed the hill to her cloud tv. She spread fireflies amongst the trees and they sparkled like diamonds. She spread a spider, we lace on the grass,and she said goodnight. Goodnight to the Beatles and the hawks and the sunbirds. Goodnight to the whales and the frogs, and the otters and the mosquitoes, and fireflies. [00:41:00] Her children everywhere. Then she went to sleep and the world in its own way was perfect. Goodnight. Goodnight, my beautiful hope.Goodnight to the south, the swimmers and the whales. Goodnight to the west, the earth and the plants. Goodnight to the north, the wind and the animals. Goodnight to the starts. Goodnight to the moon. Goodnight, beautiful light. Goodnight, beautiful world. Goodnight. Beautiful land.The end.So it's a great story about all of life and it really does answer the why [00:42:00] life is the way it is yet gently, mm-hmm. With grace and beauty. Thank you for listening. If you'd like to support this podcast, you can become a paid subscriber on sub stack. And this month paid subscribers are receiving the full. Reflections from Yolanda. Edited down quite a bit for this episode. And I also invite you to share it with others who you think would like it. Until next time. This is a public episode. If you'd like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit storypaths.substack.com/subscribe

I'm continually amazed by the immensity of the world that a small poem can conjure. In just a few lines or words, or even just a line break, a poem can travel across time and space. It can jump from the minuscule to the incomprehensible vastness of the universe. And in these inventive leaps, it can create, in our minds, new ideas and images. It can help us see connections that were, before, invisible.John Shoptaw has conjured such magic with his poem, “Near-Earth Object,” combining the gravity of mass extinction on Earth with the quotidian evanescence of his sprint to catch the bus.John Shoptaw grew up in the Missouri Bootheel. He picked cotton; he was baptized in a drainage ditch; and he worked in a lumber mill. He now lives a long way from home in Berkeley, California, where I was lucky enough to visit him last summer. John is the author of the poetry collection, Times Beach, which won the Notre Dame Review Book Prize and the Northern California Book Award in poetry. He is also the author of On The Outside Looking Out, a critical study of John Ashbery's poetry. He teaches at the University of California, Berkeley.John has a new poetry collection coming out soon, also called Near-Earth Object.This episode of Chrysalis is part of the Chrysalis Poets series, which focuses on a single poems from poets who confront ecological issues in their work.You can listen on Substack, Apple Podcasts, and other podcast platforms.Please rate, review, and share to help us spread the word!John ShoptawJohn Shoptaw is a poet, poetry reader, teacher, and environmentalist. He was raised on the Missouri River bluffs of Omaha, Nebraska and in the Mississippi floodplain of “swampeast” Missouri. He began his education at Southeast Missouri State University and graduated from the University of Missouri at Columbia with BAs in Physics and later in Comparative Literature and English, earned a PhD in English at Harvard University, and taught for some years at Princeton and Yale.  He now lives, bikes, gardens, and writes in the Bay Area and teaches poetry and environmental poetry & poetics at UC Berkeley, where he is a member of the Environmental Arts & Humanities Initiative. Shoptaw's first poetry collection, Times Beach (Notre Dame Press, 2015), won the Notre Dame Review Book Prize and subsequently also the 2016 Northern California Book Award in Poetry; his new collection, Near-Earth Object, is forthcoming in March 2024 at Unbound Edition Press, with a foreword by Jenny Odell.Both collections embody what Shoptaw calls “a poetics of impurity,” tampering with inherited forms (haiku, masque, sestina, poulter's measure, the sonnet) while always bringing in the world beyond the poem. But where Times Beach was oriented toward the past (the 1811 New Madrid earthquake, the 1927 Mississippi River flood, the 1983 destruction of Times Beach), in Near-Earth Object Shoptaw focuses on contemporary experience: on what it means to live and write among other creatures in a world deranged by human-caused climate change. These questions are also at the center of his essays “Why Ecopoetry?” (published in 2016 at Poetry Magazine, where a number of his poems, including “Near-Earth Object,” have also appeared) and “The Poetry of Our Climate” (forthcoming at American Poetry Review).Shoptaw is also the author of a critical study, On the Outside Looking Out: John Ashbery's Poetry (Harvard University Press); a libretto on the Lincoln assassination for Eric Sawyer's opera Our American Cousin (recorded by the Boston Modern Orchestra Project); and several essays on poetry and poetics, including “Lyric Cryptography,” “Listening to Dickinson” and an essay, “A Globally Warmed Metamorphoses,” on his Ovidian sequence “Whoa!” (both forthcoming in Ovid's Metamorphoses and the Environmental Imagination at Bloomsbury Press in July 2023).“Near-Earth Object”Unlike the monarch, though the asteroid also slipped quietly from its colony on its annular migration between Jupiter and Mars, enticed maybe by our planetary pollen as the monarch by my neighbor's slender-leaved milkweed. Unlike it even when the fragrant Cretaceous atmosphere meteorized the airborne rock, flaring it into what might have looked to the horrid triceratops like a monarch ovipositing (had the butterfly begun before the period broke off). Not much like the monarch I met when I rushed out the door for the 79, though the sulfurous dust from the meteoric impact off the Yucatán took flight for all corners of the heavens much the way the next generation of monarchs took wing from the milkweed for their annual migration to the west of the Yucatán, and their unburdened mother took her final flit up my flagstone walkway, froze and, hurtling downward, impacted my stunned peninsular left foot. Less like the monarch for all this, the globe-clogging asteroid, than like me, one of my kind, bolting for the bus.Recommended Readings & MediaJohn Shoptaw reading from his collection Times Beach at the University of California, Berkeley.TranscriptionIntroJohn FiegeI'm continually amazed by the immensity of the world that a small poem can conjure. In just a few lines or words, or even just a line break, a poem can travel across time and space. It can jump from the minuscule to the incomprehensible vastness of the universe. And in these inventive leaps, it can create, in our minds, new ideas and images. It can help us see connections that were, before, invisible.John Shoptaw has conjured such magic with his poem, “Near-Earth Object,” combining the gravity of mass extinction on Earth with the quotidian evanescence of his sprint to catch the bus.I'm John Fiege, and this episode of Chrysalis is part of the Chrysalis Poets series.John Shoptaw grew up in the Missouri Bootheel. He picked cotton; he was baptized in a drainage ditch; and he worked in a lumber mill. He now lives a long way from home in Berkeley, California, where I was lucky enough to visit him last summer. You can see some of my photos from that visit at ChrysalisPodcast.org, alongside the poem we discuss on this episode.John is the author of the poetry collection, Times Beach, which won the Notre Dame Review Book Prize and the Northern California Book Award in poetry. He is also the author of On The Outside Looking Out, a critical study of John Ashbery's poetry. He teaches at the University of California, Berkeley.John has a new poetry collection coming out soon, also called Near-Earth Object.Here is John Shoptaw reading his poem, “Near-Earth Object.”---PoemJohn Shoptaw “Near-Earth Object”Unlike the monarch, thoughthe asteroid also slippedquietly from its colonyon its annular migrationbetween Jupiter and Mars,enticed maybe byour planetary pollenas the monarch by my neighbor'sslender-leaved milkweed.Unlike it even whenthe fragrant Cretaceousatmosphere meteorizedthe airborne rock,flaring it into what mighthave looked to the horridtriceratops like a monarchovipositing (had the butterflybegun before the periodbroke off). Not much likethe monarch I met when Irushed out the door for the 79,though the sulfurous dustfrom the meteoric impactoff the Yucatán took flightfor all corners of the heavensmuch the way the nextgeneration of monarchstook wing from the milkweedfor their annual migrationto the west of the Yucatán,and their unburdened mothertook her final flitup my flagstone walkway,froze and, hurtlingdownward, impactedmy stunned peninsularleft foot. Less likethe monarch for all this,the globe-clogging asteroid,than like me, one of my kind,bolting for the bus.---ConversationJohn Fiege Thank you so much. Well, let's start by talking about this fragrant Cretaceous atmosphere that metorizes the airborne rock, which is is really the most beautiful way I've ever heard of describing the moment when a massive asteroid became a meteor, and impacted the earth 66 million years ago, on the Yucatan Peninsula. And that led to the extinction of about 75% of all species on Earth, including all the dinosaurs. This, of course, is known as the fifth mass extinction event on earth now, now we're in the sixth mass extinction. But but this time, the difference is that the asteroid is us. And, and we're causing species extinctions at even a much faster rate than the asteroid impact did, including the devastation of the monarch butterfly, which migrates between the US and Mexico not far from the Yucatan where the asteroid hit. And in your poem, these analogies metaphors parallels, they all bounce off one another. parallels between extinction events between humans and asteroids between planets and pollen, between monarch eggs and meteors between the one I absolutely love is the annular migration of asteroids in the annual migration of monarchs. But in some ways, the poem puts forward an anti analogy a refutation of these parallels you know, you say multiple times things like unlike the, monarch unlike it, not much like the monarch less like the monarch. So So what's going what's going on here? You're you're giving us these analogies and then and then you're taking them away.John Shoptaw The ending of Near Earth Object is a culmination of fanciful comparisons. In this regard it resembles Shakespeare's Sonnet 130. And you probably know this, John, And that poem proceeds—Shakespeare's—through a series of negative similarities, which I call dis-similes. And at the end, the poem turns on a dime in the final couplet, which is, “and yet, by heaven, I think my love as rare as any she belied with false compare.” Now, I didn't have Shakespeare's poem in mind—probably good—when I wrote Near Earth Object, but I was certainly familiar with it. And my poem goes through a series of far-fetched similarities between a monarch butterfly and the Chicxulub asteroid, we follow the lifecycles of these two and then a third character, the first person I enters the poem comes out the door, and then gets, you know, hit by the asteroid monarch on penisular left foot. That turn at the end, to comparing the asteroid to me, one of my kind, would seem equally farfetched. What can I have to do with the globe-clogging asteroid? Before climate change, the answer would have been nothing. This poem couldn't have been understood, wouldn't have made sense. Now, we're caught out by the unlikely similarity that, you know, humankind has the geologically destructive potential of the life-altering asteroid.John Fiege I love that the idea of that turn partially because it's so much pulls out the power of poetry, and the power of poetic thinking, where, you know, so much environmental discourse is around rationality, of making rational, reasonable arguments about this is how things are, this is how things ought to be. But when you have this kind of turn, you're you're kind of highlighting the complexity, and the complicated nature of understanding these things, which are really complex. And it really, you know, in such a short poem, you can encapsulate so much of that complexity, which I think benefits our ultimate understanding of, of what we're grappling with, with these environmental questions.John Shoptaw Yeah, that's very well put. I think that this poem is a kind of psychological poem as well, and that I'm playing on the readers expectations. And I think the reader probably has less and less faith in this persona, who keeps keeps being lured into these weird comparisons between the asteroid and and the and the monarch butterfly. And then at the end, we're thinking, well, this, too, is absurd. And then we're caught up, like I say, and that's the psychological turn, you know, early on, when people and people still many people doubt. The existence of climate change. It's just  because of a matter of scale. How can we affect Mother Nature, right? It's so big, it's so overwhelming. It does what it wants. We're just little features on this big, big planet. So that it's so counterintuitive. So that's why yes, we grapple and this poem is meant to take you through that kind of experience. That without saying that explicitly, and I think that's something that, yeah, it sets this apart from both the psychological essay and an environmental essay,John Fiege Right the other line I want to pull out of this is slender leaved milkweed. Which I love. and there is a musicality to it. How do you about that? sonorous aspect of the poem and the musicality and the rhythm of it.John Shoptaw Yeah, Thank you for that question. Its one of the ways I beleive that poetry is like music. We do have a musicality and one of the wonderful things about poetry and music is that it it works below the level of meaning. A way a song often does. You know you often will before you even know all the words will get the song. And understand what the song is comunicating and sometimes I am communicating delicacy in slender leaved milkweed. Not only by the image, but by the sound. Its a quiet line. Whereas when I say airborne rock, that's very tight. And very definitive, like globe clogging asteroid or bolting for the bus. These are dynamics that I can play with, and I can accentuate them by changing the rhythms making to very hard plosive as an explosion, you know, b sounds far from each other. And this is something that poetry can do, that prose can't. So well. And that, you know, it's one reason why you have soundtracks and film to help bring things across.John Fiege Yeah, and then in the midst of, of some of these grand images that you have in the poem of like monarch colonies and asteroid colonies, there's also your presence, and the glimpse of them of what seems like a moment in your life, potentially, you run out the door and catch the 79 bus, which goes through Berkeley where you live. And and you encounter a monarch butterfly, which also has a California migration route. The monarch impacts your, as you say, stunned, peninsular left foot. And so now you're shifting the metaphor from human as asteroid to human as Yucatan peninsula, which is the site the site of the impact. And the way you you play with scale. In this poem, I find quite remarkable moving from the asteroid belt between Jupiter and Mars to your foot. And in your peninsular foot makes me feel as if humans are both the perpetrators of the sixth mass extinction, but also one of its victims. And so I was curious, was this moment with the butterfly is something that actually happened? And how do you understand it? In relation to that, you know, this small moment with the butterfly? How do you understand that in relation with the broader context of the poem?John Shoptaw Yeah, thank you. I, I think, one way I proceed. And in poetry, which is something like chance operations that John Cage and poets following John Cage would use as I become very receptive to things happening around me. And if something happens around me while I'm writing a poem, then it gets to come in the poem, at least I am receptive to that possibility. And as I was going for the bus one day, on the walkway, I came across a dead monarch butterfly was very startled to see it. And I thought, Oh, my God, that pet needs to be in the poem, this butterfly has fallen out of the sky like the asteroid. And so and it turned out that the third thing I needed to link our personal, small felt scale with the astronomical and the geological timescale. And it's exactly the problem of scale, both in space and time. I'm constantly zooming in and zooming out. I actually wrote one poem in which I compare this surreal or unreal feeling that we have, if not a knowledge but a feeling of climate change behind the weather as a hit the Hitchcock zoom, where the background suddenly comes into the foreground, right?John Fiege Yeah, and it seems like, you know, the problem of climate change is a problem of scale like, like it's so it's so foreign to our kind of everyday human senses of, of what is danger, and what is something we should be concerned about or care about it. And that problem of scale both, both spatially and temporally. It really prevents us from wrapping our heads around what it means and how to respond.John Shoptaw It does. That's our challenge. I take it as my challenge, for the kind of poetry I write. And I think of of poetry as a science of feelings. And one of the feelings I'm thinking about and trying to understand and work through is denial. You know, people usually think of denial as refusal, you refuse to admit, but look at the facts just face the facts. But as you say, climate is on such a different scale. It's often a problem of incomprehension.John Fiege Yeah, and I think this idea of denialism I mean, we tend to talk about it in very narrow terms of, you know, people of particular political persuasions deny the existence of climate change. And that's one like, very narrow view of denialism. But it really pervades everything in our culture, you know, anyone who eats a hamburger, or flies on a plane, or, or even turns on their, their heat in their house, you know, is is in is kind of implicated in some system of denial. That, you know, ultimately, our societies completely unsustainable. And we have to function we have to move forward, even though even if we know how problematic those various things are. And so just living in the world requires, you know, some sense of denialism.John Shoptaw It does, if you think of the word we commonly used today, adaptation, though, it's really another word for denial. If you see what I mean, we're, we're moving into accepting, partially accepting the reality as it is, so we can live into it. And again, if we think of relativity, flying less, not giving up flying, emitting less, not stopping all the way emissions on a dime, right, but moving as fast as we possibly can, these are things we can do and without being incapacitated by despair. And again, I think, you know, hope and despair are two other very fundamental concepts that poets if they're serious about feeling, can think about and think through and help people we understand.John Fiege Yeah, and I love this idea of impurity that you bring in. Not just with poetry, but, you know, I feel like environmentalism in general is, it's really susceptible to this kind of ideology of purity. And it becomes about, you know, checking all the boxes of, of, you know, lifestyle and beliefs and votes and all kinds of things where solutions, solutions don't come with some kind of attainment of purity. They come with it a shift of a huge section of the way the culture works. And that's never going to be perfect or consistent or anything. It's going to be imperfect, and it's going to be partial, but it can still move.John Shoptaw That's right. So when people say net zero, carbon offsets, recycling, this is all greenwashing. I say, listen to the word all. Yes, there is some greenwashing going on there. There is some self promotion and maintenance of one's corporate profile at work. But there's also good being done. You can recycle aluminum, and you get 90% aluminum back. You can recycle plastic, you get 50% back, but you still get 50% back.John Fiege Well, in the poem, you also give life to what we ordinarily see as inanimate objects. So let me let me reread a section of the poem enticed maybe by our planetary pollen as the monarch by my neighbor's slender leaves milkweed unlike it, even when the fragrant Cretaceous atmosphere media rised the airborne rock, flaring it into what might have looked to the horrid Triceratops like a monarch ovipositing. So in your words, the lifeless, inanimate asteroid is given life and a soul really? Why take it in that direction?John Shoptaw To make it real, to make it real for us. And you will see poets, giving a voice to storms to extreme weather events, seeing things from potentially destructive point of view. And that's what I was doing here is seeing things fancifully from the the meteor's point of view, but I wanted to give that personification to make the link that this is personal. What's happening at this scale, is still personal, it still has to do with us and links with us.John Fiege Yeah, and you wrote this great piece for Poetry Magazine called “Why Eco Poetry” and you bring up these these topics a bunch. And there's one line. I really love, you say, to empathize beyond humankind, eco-poets  must be ready to commit the pathetic fallacy and to be charged with anthropomorphism could could you explain this, this concept of John Ruskin's pathetic fallacy and how you've seen these issues play out?John Shoptaw I think Ruskin had certainly the good sense of what the natural world was. And many artists and poets laziness, when it came to the describing the natural world. storms were always raging, winds were always howling, the words were always that's really what he was getting at. And I appreciate that. You want to make these things real, right. But there is there is a place for pathetic fallacy. But on the other hand, strategically, we often need for that monologue of the lyric poem, to be overtaken by this larger voice, almost like a parental voice from on high, speaking to us and saying, Listen to me, this is real. This is happening. I'm out here. Right? So you've forced me to take over your poem and talk to you about anthropomorphism is, is related phenomenon. And it's it's a word that I, I still find useful and making us really consider and experience the outside world, the world, particularly of other creatures, as they actually are. However, it's a belief it's not a scientific idea. And the idea being that we are ascribing qualities or human qualities to animals or plants, or even inanimate objects, like like meteors. When in fact, when it comes to animals, for instance, we're often identifying qualities behaviors, actions, motivations, we share anyone who owns pets knows pet they have a range of feelings that to say, my dog is happy. My dog is bored. My dog is feeling bad because it feels it's disappointed me in some way, you know, these things are real. And you need to act accordingly to keep things going along. In the canine / human cup, you know, partnership that you have going there.John Fiege Yeah, Descartes must not have had any dogs or cats or ever encountered another animal besides a human in his life.John Shoptaw That's right. It's partly, you know, one feels, how can we know that other world? We shouldn't be so arrogant in our knowledge. And so it seems like we're being modest, and it's a good thing. And we have this anthropological attitude toward the relativity of, you know, consciousness. On the other hand, it's a form of denial, right? anthropomorphism is a form of denial of what we share and poets need to overcome that denial.John Fiege You mean, you mean anti-human anti-anthropomorphism?John Shoptaw Yeah, it's what I know. We don't have the language for it. We don't have that word of the problem.John Fiege Anti-anthropomorphism, it just slips right off your tongue.John Shoptaw That's right.John Fiege Well this point you make about anthropomorphism reminds me really strongly of a story. I've heard Jane Goodall tell many times, she was hired to observe chimpanzees in the wild, and she gave them names. But she was reprimanded by by many in the scientific community, who said, a researcher should use numbers to identify chimps or any other animals they're studying, because scientists must be dispassionate to not confuse animal behavior with human behavior. And she identifies one of her most significant contributions to science as recognizing the individuality and personality and really the souls of non human animals. And that recognition fundamentally changed. Our scientific understanding of chimps and other animals in allow these massive breakthroughs in the field. And you seem to be arguing that with poetry, we're in a similar place in relation to the Earth where we need to find a new language that allows us to empathize more profoundly with the other than human residence of the planet. Does that sound? Does that sound right to you?John Shoptaw Very much, and really, with thinking and realizing that I'm an animal, as a human being. brought on a conceptual paradigm shift for me, unlike anything I've experienced, in my adult life, everything changed. And when I think, what are the animals think about this? How are they dealing with climate change? Etc. It's always revelatory for me to ask that kind of question. I'm looking at a book by Jane Goodall right now on my shelf called the Book of Hope. And something I've been thinking about a lot in relation to this, because animals have not given up and they don't give up until they they have to. An animal with say, a song bird in the clutch of a hawk knows it's over, and you shut down in order to minimize the pain and suffering. They know that, but they know not to do that prematurely. And I think, you know, often we met we think of hope and despair, as antonyms, but they're very intertwined with each other. I mean, the word despair, contains hope. It means that the loss of hope and there as there is a sense of false hope, where you, you keep hoping beyond the point of hope, where reality tells you there's no point in hoping there's also what I would call a premature despair. I don't know if you have run across the Stockdale paradox. I find it helpful. There's a writer on Jim Collins, who talked to Admiral Stockdale who was taken prisoner of war in Vietnam. And he, he survived through seven years and several incidents of torture. And he said, he was asked by Jim Collins, well, who didn't survive? And he said, well, the optimists who said the optimists were saying, Oh, we're going to because we're gonna be led out by Christmas. In the winter that didn't happen and say, Oh, well, we'll be released by Easter. When that doesn't happen and Christmas comes around again. They die. They die of a broken heart.John Fiege Oh, wow. I have heard that in broad terms. I don't remember that story, though. That's great.John Shoptaw Yeah, and the paradox is that you have hope, which is resolute. It's not pie in the sky hope, but it's hope that faces reality. And it's hoped that is more like courage. It's more like resoluteness hope. Hope is not easy. And it does not deny despair, and even allows you to relax for a moment and maybe weep. Maybe you say, Oh, my God, it's over. Before you come back and say, No, I'm still here. I can still help I can do what I can.John Fiege Right, right. Yeah, and I love how you say that. Eco poetry can be anthropomorphic, but it cannot be anthropocentric, which which flips both of these assumptions that are so deeply embedded in our culture.John Shoptaw Now, maybe I could say something about anthropocentrism.John Fiege Yeah, for sure.John Shoptaw It's a word that, I think is maybe in the dictionary now, but maybe not so familiar word, but you know, thinking of everything in the world, a revolving around us and and the universe. We're the universe's reason for being right. That would be the kind of the strongest sense of anthropocentrismJohn Fiege Another another form of heliocentrism.John Shoptaw Yes, that's right. That's absolutely right. That's why I one reason why I, at the beginning of Near Earth Objects, see things for the asteroids point of view, right? To give that kind of scale, but also shifting perspective. On the other hand, lyric poetry is inevitably anthropocentric. We as humans are inevitably anthropocentric. So our moving out of anthropocentrism in poetry is always going to be relative and strategic, and rhetorical and persuasive, never absolute.John Fiege Right and totally. Well, another interesting issue you confront in the article is didacticism and the risks of moralism in eco-poetry. And in talking about this, you evoke two poets. The first is Archibald MacLeish, the renowned modernist poet who wrote "a poem should not mean but be." But then you write, poetics wasn't always this way, for Horace, a poem both pleases and instructs. And I feel like this issue of moralism, and didacticism goes way beyond poetry to encompass environmentalism more broadly. How can a poem please instruct without preaching and being didactic?John Shoptaw Yes, that's, that's a question. Where there's no single answer every poem, for me poses the question differently. And part of the excitement part of the experimental nature of poems is you find a new answer every time to that problem, how not to be preachy, but to leave readers in a different place at the end of the poem, than they were at the beginning. my poem to move people from unlike to less like., if I if I can get them there, in a poem, I have moved him in a way and that's enough for me.John Fiege Well, let's look at the end of the poem. You write less like the monarch for all this, the globe clogging asteroid than like me, one of my kind bolting for the bus? It seems in some ways that you might be settling on an analogy in the midst of of all these intersecting parallels, the asteroid is less like the monarch and more like us, us who have killed the monarchs. Where Where do you feel like the poem lands in terms of making a statement like this and and offering up many conflicting ideas that readers have to contemplate themselves?John Shoptaw What would I say? I think when it comes to guilt or responsibility, as I was saying before, we don't want to think in absolute terms, where I'm as guilty as Exxon, I am not. But I still am right. I am still part of this, this world. That monarch butterfly died naturally after it planted its eggs. Its its, its days, her days were numbered. So, that that is part of this. But yet, I do. I do want to say and this is part of, I think, part of the one of the gestures of poetry in the Anthropocene, the era of climate change, a gesture of saying, I take responsibility, I take responsibility. And this is, this is one of the problems of saying, I give up, you know, there's no point in doing any more. We don't have that option. It's irresponsible to give up to ever give up. So I still, though want to say, even something who that has global potential for damage is connected with me good little me, had taking taking the bus because I'm wondering, I'm one of humankind, and we have this destructive potential. And on the other hand, we have this corresponding responsibility.John Fiege Yeah. And looking back on the title of the poem, it feels as if we, as humans, have what you might call like, a dual contradictory existence? As, as both we're both Earth objects. And we're near Earth objects. Oh, what do you what do you think about that?John Shoptaw Yes, I do. I like that ambiguity. I think, one of the, one of the chances, and the happy accidents of the monarch appearing in my poem, as I was writing it, without planning to have a monarch in it, one of the accidents was to take the monarch also, as a Near Earth Object Near Earth Object is one of these scientific concepts of usually a very large object, like a, like a comet, or an asteroid entering the Earth's gravitational pull. With potentially hazardous effects. But, you know, it can be anything near the earth. And if you take object, also in the title as a goal, my object is to bring us near the earth. not have us simply abstract ourselves, how do we do that - we abstract ourselves by saying, we're special.John Fiege I really like that too, because that also ties into this question of scale. You know, you can be near the earth by being, you know, 1000 miles away. Or you can be near the earth by hovering, you know, centimeters over it. And it can be conceptual to, you can be oblivious to the fact that you live on Earth, or you can be extremely aware that you are of in within and near the earth at all times. Yeah, I really like that. That's beautiful. I love how so many meanings come from this tiny little poem?John Shoptaw Well, may I say I was not in a godlike position with this poem. For me. poems are like gardens and that they're less intended and tended, and they they grow of their own and I just tried to be the best collaborator with the poem that I can and not to ignore when it's trying to tell me something like, I need a monarch in here. Not to ignore that.John Fiege Yeah. Well, can you end by reading the poem once again. I can thank you very much.John Shoptaw Poem“Near-Earth Object”Unlike the monarch, thoughthe asteroid also slippedquietly from its colonyon its annular migrationbetween Jupiter and Mars,enticed maybe byour planetary pollenas the monarch by my neighbor'sslender-leaved milkweed.Unlike it even whenthe fragrant Cretaceousatmosphere meteorizedthe airborne rock,flaring it into what mighthave looked to the horridtriceratops like a monarchovipositing (had the butterflybegun before the periodbroke off). Not much likethe monarch I met when Irushed out the door for the 79,though the sulfurous dustfrom the meteoric impactoff the Yucatán took flightfor all corners of the heavensmuch the way the nextgeneration of monarchstook wing from the milkweedfor their annual migrationto the west of the Yucatán,and their unburdened mothertook her final flitup my flagstone walkway,froze and, hurtlingdownward, impactedmy stunned peninsularleft foot. Less likethe monarch for all this,the globe-clogging asteroid,than like me, one of my kind,bolting for the bus.ConversationJohn Fiege John, thank you so much for joining me today. This has been fabulous.John Shoptaw Thank you, John, for the opportunity. And I love conversing with you.---OutroJohn Fiege Thank you so much to John Shoptaw. Go to our website at ChrysalisPodcast.org, where you can read his poem “Near-Earth Object” and also see some of my photographs of him at his house in Berkeley and find our book and media recommendations.This episode was researched by Elena Cebulash and Brodie Mutschler and edited by Brodie Mutschler and Sofia Chang. Music is by Daniel Rodriguez Vivas. Mixing is by Sarah Westrich.If you enjoyed my conversation with John, please rate and review us on your favorite podcast platform. Contact me anytime at ChrysalisPodcast.org, where you can also support the project, subscribe to our newsletter, and join the conversation. This is a public episode. If you would like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit www.chrysalispodcast.org

My guest today is Rick Hanson. He is a psychologist, a senior fellow of UC Berkeley's Greater Good Science Center, and a family counselor. He is also a New York Times best-selling author, and his books are available in 31 languages, with over a million copies sold. He joined us today to talk about his book, "Making Great Relationships: Simple Practices for Solving Conflicts, Building Connection, and Fostering Love."How loyal are you to yourself? We are always loyal to the people we love, appreciating them, encouraging them for their accomplishments, and empathizing with them for their difficulties. The thing people seem to forget is that "you matter too'. Starting the conversation, Rick explains how people internalize the message that they don't matter.Anger is Mother Nature's jet fuel. Anger has the power to drive us into blinding rage. At the same time, anger can be energizing, focus attention, or even organize us. But you have to be careful not to let anger get you down along the way.Being heard is one of the greatest gifts that people can have because they like the sense of being received. If you can spare a few minutes to listen to someone, it can sometimes mean the world to them. You never know what someone is going through, so a small act of kindness can light up their world. In the next phase of the conversation, we talk about the importance of listening to people.A lot of people worried about not being recognized. It can come from family, friends, or the workplace. The lack of recognition will leave a huge hole in their hearts, no matter where they are or what they do. Rick dives into an evidence-based process where people can get rid of the recognition craving and slowly start to fill the hole in their hearts over time.[06.09] Being loyal – Why it's hard for us to be loyal to ourselves and how we can change that. [12.33] Handling criticism – Rick shares what we can do to handle criticism, complaints, and grievances in a safe, respectful way. [21.44] Practicing with the mind – We talk about the three categories of practicing with the mind: being with experience, reducing what's harmful, and increasing what's enjoyable. [27.18] Anger -Using mindfulness and tools to manage anger[37.32] Listening – We talk about how to be a good listener to someone you love and figure out what you need to do to make them comfortable. [48:09] The Power of Positivity – The importance of taking in positive experiences to counteract the negativity bias and cravings. They share their personal story and a method for internalizing good experiences. Connect with Rick: Website - rickhanson.net/ Twitter - https://twitter.com/drrhanson/Instagram - https://www.instagram.com/rickhansonphd/YouTube - https://www.youtube.com/user/drrhansonResources:Books by Rick Making Great Relationships: Simple Practices for Solving Conflicts, Building Connection, and Fostering LoveNeurodharma: New Science, Ancient Wisdom, and Seven Practices of the Highest HappinessBook by Robert A. HeinleinHave Space Suit—Will TravelBook by Tara BrachTrusting the Gold: Uncovering Your Natural Goodness

A river meanders across a snowy landscape in Yellowstone National Park. Find a moment of stress relief as you enjoy the sights and sounds of flowing water in this nature sound. Listening to water sounds is great for relaxation. The running water also acts as a natural white to cover up distractions. It's like a breath of fresh air for your mind! You may find it easier to fall asleep now that you've created a peaceful ambience. For 8 hours continuously the water white noise provides natural sound masking. It's like having a white noise sleep machine powered by Mother Nature. Here are some great products to help you sleep! Relaxing White Noise receives a small commission (at no additional cost to you) on purchases made through affiliate links. Thanks for supporting the podcast! Baloo Living Weighted Blankets (Use code 'relaxingwhitenoise10' for 10% off) At Relaxing White Noise, our goal is to help you sleep well. This episode is eight hours long with no advertisements in the middle, so you can use it as a sleeping sound throughout the night. Listening to our white noise sounds via the podcast gives you the freedom to lock your phone at night, keeping your bedroom dark as you fall asleep. It also allows you to switch between apps while studying or working with no interruption in the ambient sound. Check out the 10-Hour version on YouTube Contact Us for Partnership Inquiries Relaxing White Noise is the number one destination on YouTube for white noise and nature sounds to help you sleep, study or soothe a baby. With more than a billion views across YouTube and other platforms, we are excited to now share our popular ambient tracks on the Relaxing White Noise podcast. People use white noise for sleeping, focus, sound masking or relaxation. We couldn't be happier to help folks live better lives. This podcast has the sound for you whether you use white noise for studying, to soothe a colicky baby, to fall asleep or for simply enjoying a peaceful moment. No need to buy a white noise machine when you can listen to these sounds for free. Cheers to living your best life! DISCLAIMER: Remember that loud sounds can potentially damage your hearing. When playing one of our ambiences, if you cannot have a conversation over the sound without raising your voice, the sound may be too loud for your ears. Please do not place speakers right next to a baby's ears. If you have difficulty hearing or hear ringing in your ears, please immediately discontinue listening to the white noise sounds and consult an audiologist or your physician. The sounds provided by Relaxing White Noise are for entertainment purposes only and are not a treatment for sleep disorders or tinnitus. If you have significant difficulty sleeping on a regular basis, experience fitful/restless sleep, or feel tired during the day, please consult your physician. Relaxing White Noise Privacy Policy © Relaxing White Noise LLC, 2021. All rights reserved. Any reproduction or republication of all or part of this text/visual/audio is prohibited.

On this week's episode, we welcome Bill Kimler back to the show to discuss the ins-and-outs of the 2023 Democratic Party Convention in Columbia; James Corden ends the 23-year-run of The Late Late Show on CBS; Abortions in South Carolina are still legal; and Mother Nature Flexes in the Canadian North!John Kocsis, Jr. | "Play-by-Play from the Minors: Profiles of Baseball Broadcasters from Scranton to Yakima"Columbia FirefliesJames Corden Nightmare with All of Late NightTom Cruise and James Corden in The Lion King James Corden on Howard SternKen Pretty | FacebookDickie-Berg (Photo)Penis-Shaped Iceberg (Article)All this and more!The show is recorded live from the Podcast Studio at G.O.T Sounds Studio in Lexington South Carolina and is engineered and produced by Nique The Geek. Special thanks to Cake for the intro music, Muff the Producer for the outro music, DJ Lonzo, Zac King and you, our listeners.To follow Barrett, please visit his LinkTr.ee Page!The All About Nothing: WebpageThe All About Nothing: FacebookThe All About Nothing: TwitterThe All About Nothing: LinkedInThe All About Nothing: PatreonCheck out our "The All About Nothing: Podcast" Merch Caps! You can see them here in our Instagram Announcement! Get them while they're available! $30 (plus shipping if necessary). You can Venmo the show @allaboutnothing, or message us for details on where you can pick on up!Please Rate, Review, Subscribe, Like and Share where you can! Please email us; theshow@theallaboutnothing.com or call and leave a message at (803) 672-0533! We want to hear your feedback! Please also check out our #PartnerPodcasts.Zac and I host What The Pod Was That with Cari Simmons, available on most of your podcast platforms. You can visit whatthepodwasthat.com for links and details.As well you check out our own DJ Lonzo's Top 5 Hosted by

Host Ben Sudderth, Jr. & Irene Sudderth talking about the truest Mother & Mother Nature.

Welcome to Cannabis Insider! We're be bringing you the latest news and updates from the cannabis industry, as well as exclusive interviews with top executives and industry leaders! Whether you're a seasoned pro or a cannabis newcomer, there's something for everyone. So sit back, relax, and make sure to SUBSCRIBE! _______________________________________________________________________ Featured Guest(s): Will Terry, CEO - Farming First https://farmingfirst.com/ Meet The Hosts: Javier Hasse https://www.twitter.com/JavierHasse Elliot Lane https://www.twitter.com/ElliotLane10 _______________________________________________________________________

Recently I met with Don Wallace and we enjoyed a great tasting of many of Dry Creek Vineyard's best wines. Today we are opening and discussing a great favorite of mine...the 2019 Cabernet Franc Dry Crrek Valley. We will include first the tasting notes from their amazing website...drycreekvineyard.com. 2019 Cabernet Franc Dry Creek Valley Winemaker Notes: Cabernet Franc may have origins entrenched in Bordeaux, but it has a home here in California's Dry Creek Valley as well. We find that this delicious varietal adds a layer of finesse and a peppery perfume as a blending component for our Bordeaux–inspired red wines, but is also outstanding all on its own. The Cabernet Franc we grow on our estate Bullock House vineyard stands out vintage after vintage, so we set aside a few barrels as a special wine available exclusively at our family winery. This voluptuous estate Cabernet Franc displays intriguing aromatics of plum, black cherry and raspberry. Additional airing reveals nuances of mocha, coriander and fine leather. The palate is medium-bodied and rich with luscious flavors of black currant and cranberry complimented by savory notes of black olive, cumin, cinnamon and white pepper. A finish of fine tannins rounds out each indulgent sip. Our family has been growing grapes in Dry Creek Valley for nearly five decades, driven by the desire to produce appellation-focused, terroir-driven, varietal-defining wines. We believe in crafting our wines in the vineyard, with healthy soil and flourishing vines, so there is minimal intervention when the fruit is brought to the winery. Primarily known for Zinfandel and Sauvignon Blanc, our home appellation has become an undiscovered gem for Cabernet Sauvignon and Bordeaux varietals. We are proud that our 185 acres of estate vineyards are 100% certified sustainable. We walk the land, replenish the soil naturally, and make multiple pruning passes throughout the growing season to ensure that our grapes are balanced and delicious when they reach their peak ripeness. Using the sun as our guide and Mother Nature as our partner, we carefully manage our vineyards to ensure the highest standards of quality for each vintage. This is one of the best wines I have had recently,and I look forward to pairing this wine with many local chefs.Please click on the link below,and enjoy our audio feature with Don Wallace.it doesn't get any better than this!! Cheers! Click here and join us as we enjoy great food and wine .

Some stories can only be told properly around a campfire in an elk camp. This is one of them. My good friend Stephanie embarked on a two-day horse trip in the mountains in August, and everything went wrong. Stephanie tells the story of coping with tragedy and takes us on a journey to survive.  I am very fortunate to have heard the story and to share it with the EatWild community. Thank you, Stephanie. You are an inspiration, and I am happy you sorted things out with Mother Nature.  As always, this podcast is brought to you by Seek Outside. They make unique ultralight tents and packs for your next adventure. Use the discount code EATWILD on your next purchase.

KSL Newsradio's Traffic Center is keeping tabs throughout the state and its floodwatch. Dave and Dujanovic discuss places that could get hit with high levels of water, as well as if the Gondola looks more plausible with these conditions with Snowbird President and General Manager Dave Fields.See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Despite all the rain, the Braves and Mets will eventually resume their first series of the season on Monday. In the episode of The Atlanta Journal-Constitution's Braves Report podcast, AJC beat reporter Justin Toscano and co-host Jay Black discuss how two days of rainouts may help Atlanta and how they will stack their rotation for the week. After the brilliant performances from Max Fried and Spencer Strider, we will discuss if the top of the Braves rotation might be better than advertised. Our crew also takes a deep dive into Marcell Ozuna's struggles. Justin has a conversation with hitting coach Kevin Seitzer to explain why the Braves DH is off to such a bad start and how he's trying to fix it. Follow the Braves Report podcast on Apple Podcasts, Spotify, Stitcher, Google Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcasts so you never miss an episode. You can also tell your smart speaker to “play the Braves Report podcast.” For more podcasts from The Atlanta Journal-Constitution, please visit our podcast page. Check out these AJC stories mentioned in this podcast ·        Braves rained out again; Monday doubleheader will follow ·        Michael Harris II is back: What it means for the Braves ·        Max Fried's brilliance, Matt Olson's blast lead Braves past Mets ·        Why you're no longer seeing Braves use the big hat to celebrate home runs ·        As Marcell Ozuna tries to find his old self, the Braves are sticking with him ·        Braves' Orlando Arcia has ambitious goal for when he hopes to return THE BRAVES REPORT PRESENTED BY KROGER: Make Mom's Day special with the help of Kroger. Visit Kroger.com/mothersday to make Mom feel special. ADVERTISE ON THE BRAVES REPORT: If your business wants to reach a loyal and passionate group of Braves fans, please contact email us at advertising@ajc.com. SUBSCRIBE TO THE AJC: If you aren't a subscriber to The Atlanta Journal-Constitution, click here to get unlimited digital access to the AJC at a special price. LISTENER SURVEY: We want your feedback on this podcast, so please take our survey and tell us how you feel about the show. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Mother nature devastates the current Florida Sun Grown Tobacco crop. Beware of the "P" word---Prohibition---of cigars in California and New York. Cannabis to outsell chocolate this year. It's Bud Lights Out for their VP/Marketing. More sexy time equals long life! Lightation Selection: Gurkha Revenant Maduro Libation Selection: Jack & Coke Zero

Our guest today has more than 30 years on the spiritual path. She is a soul singer, songwriter, and producer of music of consciousness and mantras. Grace is the art and musical director of the Network for Human Empowerment. She is also a healer, meditator, Reiki Master, and the founder of the Infinite Voice Academy, teaching meditation classes and voice workshops. Having previously produced 8 records, Grace has just finished the recording of the album "Alchemy” and is doing concerts and workshops worldwide.Today Grace comes to share with us about Xicome: The Call of Quetzalcoatl.Xicome (Pronounced she-ko-may) derives from náhuatl, the official language of the Aztec empire. Its meaning in náhuatl, although written with “ch”, represents the sacred number seven. Its phonetics when repeated several times gives the name of Mexhiko. Xicome is committed to promoting peace, art, science, spirituality, awareness, health, and wellness, preserving millinery cultures, encouraging human development and spiritual growth, promoting the Rights of Mother Nature, and generating research, based on the power of sound and music as a means, in benefit of all sentient beings and groups of society to generate a transformation in the collective and individual consciousness and intelligence to reestablish the harmony and peace of our Planet and Galaxy.This year, Xicome was invited to be a guest at The Glastonbury Festival of Contemporary Performing Arts, which is the largest greenfield music and performing arts festival in the world.In order for the Xicome team to be able to be a part of this great moment, we are asking for your support through any kind of donations that can come out of your heart.How to connect with Xicome:Donations: https://gofund.me/f3d97203Grace's Instagram to learn more about Xicome's mission: https://www.instagram.com/graceterryofficial/Podcast produced by Brilliant Futures Productions.Sponsored by Delaflor Teachings Int.

On this week's episode of Where Hope Grows, we dive into the 6 key principles of soil health. Demonstrated by the wisdom of Mother Nature, these soil building strategies are applicable in a wide range of settings and are a guiding light for those who are wishing to move towards a more regenerative model. Inspired by the pioneer work of Gabe Brown and Ray Archuleta, these lessons are the foundation for educational workshops at ROAM Ranch as well as a pivotal methodology we reference on a daily basis. Be prepared to see soil in a whole new light! Guest: Robby Sansom This podcast is made possible by the support of Force of Nature Hosted by: Taylor Collins, ROAM Ranch, @roamranch

Bob Bertog, president of Bertog Landscape Co. in Wheeling and a certified landscape professional with the National Association of Landscape Professionals, joins Wendy Snyder to answer all of your lawn and garden questions. 

Bob Bertog, president of Bertog Landscape Co. in Wheeling and a certified landscape professional with the National Association of Landscape Professionals, joins Wendy Snyder to answer all of your lawn and garden questions. 

This week's episode was inspired by a casual mention of "Josephine the Plumber" in an episode of the Golden Girls. We have commercial spokespeople these days like Flo from Progressive, Jan from Toyota, and the Limu Emu, but GamerDude grew up with some of the all-time classic commercial characters that lasted for decades. He talks about characters like Mr. Whipple, who couldn't help but squeeze the Charmin, and Mother Nature, who didn't like to be fooled, as well as many others.GamerDude also talks about the commercial jingles he grew up with, and how they have stayed with him for decades. He talks about (and sings!) jingles from Life Buoy soap and Oscar Mayer. He also talks about how the pop singer Barry Manilow got his start in commercial jingles, and shares some of his classic jingles. Copyright Disclaimer Under Section 107 of the Copyright Act 1976, allowance is made for "fair use" for purposes such as criticism, comment, news reporting, teaching, scholarship, and research. Fair use is a use permitted by copyright statute that might otherwise be infringing. Non-profit, educational or personal use tips the balance in favor of fair use. No copyright infringement intended. ALL RIGHTS BELONG TO THEIR RESPECTIVE OWNERS

Bob Bertog, president of Bertog Landscape Co. in Wheeling and a certified landscape professional with the National Association of Landscape Professionals, joins Wendy Snyder to answer all of your lawn and garden questions. 

Enjoy our video series! Episode #183! Here's our NEW Costa Rica Good News Report YouTube Channel. Over 500 Short, Entertaining Videos that will get you excited about Costa Rica: ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠https://www.youtube.com/@thecostaricagoodnewsreport/videos⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠ Here's a link to our Costa Rica Pura Vida Amazon Products Store!  Happy Shopping! ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠https://www.costaricagoodnewsreport.com/costaricaproductsamazon.html⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠ We appreciate your watching!  I promise you will learn all you need to know about one of the happiest countries on the planet!  Here's some links that will get you started in learning more about Costa Rica! ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠http://www.costaricagoodnewsreport.com⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠ ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠We provide RESIDENCY / LEGAL STATUS services and have done so for over 20 years! Here's our link: ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠http://www.costaricaimmigrationandmovingexperts.com⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠ So many GOOD-NEWS stories coming out of Costa Rica.  We'd love to share them with all of you!  Way over 100 stories ready right now.  Learn all about one if the Happiest Countries on the Planet. . Costa Rica!  Here's a link: ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠https://vocal.media/authors/williamage your audienceQ&A automatically added to new episodes on Spotify Ask your fans a question to get private feedback about your episode. We've added a default question, you can remove it or write your own. Learn moreShow meHave you read Spotify's Platform Rules? If not, click here.Episode optionsPublished on: 04/25/23 at 6:00 AMRevert to draftUpdate episodeEpisode contentCosta Rica Pura Vida Lifestyle Podcast Series: Video / Quiet Time in the Jungle: Just YOU & Mother Nature / April 25th, 20237.66 MB | 07:56Video preview available. Your video will be processed when you publish.ReplaceEpisode title*124 / 200Episode description*HTML-skip-licht⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠ Here's a link to the US Embassy here in Costa Rica:  ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠https://cr.usembassy.gov/ --- Send in a voice message: https://podcasters.spotify.com/pod/show/costa-rica-pura-vida/message

Keeping the trend for at least one more week...another California guest! Scott Daloisio, PR guy and announcer at Perris Auto Speedway joins us via phone for an enjoyable interview! Originally from Michigan, we hear his story of where he started, and some things he's done along the way. Also included is our 3 segments. Discussed: Where it all started with track photography. The old days at Ascot Park. What has been going on out at Perris Auto Speedway? Double Decker races, Young Gun and Senior Sprints, figure 8 races. California sprint car counts, and TV streaming thoughts. Other sports pastimes. What's cookin' on his grills? *End around 1:22:00 mark Stoking the Fire Social media posts of the week. Idiots that actually thought a race could be held in 30-40 degree weather. Mother Nature continuing to show her ass. Millbridge parking situation. *Ends around 1:29:00 mark Feature Finish Flo Racing night in America on Tuesday & Wednesday BOSS sprints @ Ohio Valley POWERi winged sprints @ Benton Jacksonville Speedway (IL) opener Vado Speedway USAC/CRA @ Kings Speedway Ocean Speedway season opener SCCT @ Merced World of Outlaws @ 411 & Talladega Short Track Williams Grove weekly *Ends around 1:38:00 mark The Smoke Chicken leg quarters Cheddars lunch Charlie's Nashville trip A few chill evenings And prep for a shrimp boil! Thanks to our sponsors: Back to the Roots Tree Service, Rounders Too Pizza, Kron Farms.

FOLLOW COLTEN @coltglovermusic on all socials, and follow us @idolunairedpodcast on Instagram on TikTok if you like this interview! Colten tells us what we DIDN'T see from him in Hollywood Week. What led to his elimination, and which judge offered him encouraging words when they stopped filming? Plus, a moment in his audition that gets deeper into the story we didn't get to see. That and lots more, including a clip of Colten's original: Mother Nature.

In celebration and recognition of Earth Day 2023, we are resharing a deeply meaningful and inspiring conversation with Karen Washington of Rise and Root Farm about soil health, intergenerational knowledge, and heeding nature's wisdom that was really well-received last year. Karen recently received and shared the 2023 James Beard Humanitarian Award with Olivia Watkins for their ongoing leadership and vision for community-focused change. Karen recalled how planting a tomato seed changed her life and introduced her to nature, land, and soil. She emphasizes the importance of having hard conversations about eating healthy so people and communities are all part of the solution and meet people where they are with soil health and environmental justice. There is room for everyone to grow food. Additionally, Karen Washington encourages all of us but especially the youth to sit down with our grandparents and parents to understand history, capture intergenerational knowledge, and listen to Mother Nature. What is nature telling us about soil health and the environment? What do previous generations know about soil health and nature? In the end, Mother Nature can guide us in what is needed; sometimes that means stopping and listening to the land and soil.To learn more about Karen Washington and her ongoing work, please visit https://www.riseandrootfarm.com/. We also encourage you to check out the new 4 The Soil blog at https://www.4thesoil.org/blog

Our episode this week shines a light on how to beat cold, damp soils this planting season and come out the other side with better yields. We know a lot of us are experiencing cool temperatures. Today Rod will share three tips that you can implement that will help you beat Mother Nature, let's go

Rainy days inspire us to seek comfort - so grab your favorite blanket, and tune in as the Horror Dads dedicate an episode to Rainy Day Horror Films. Whether these are films saturated with rainfall, or are simply movies that we feel compelled to watch during a downpour, the Horror Dads cover 10-films that are must-watches for you during Mother Nature's next squall.

INTRODUCTION: EPISODE #100!!! AMOR ES ARTE | ARTE ES AMORLOVE IS ART | ART IS LOVEA memoir written by Andrew Velázquez Through the lens of lotería—the Latinx game of chance, I explore my experience of being gay, young, and a creative loco in East Los Angeles. I reimagine ten lotería cards to represent the people and events that shaped my first 40 years of life. Each chapter testifies to a lotería card image such as El Diablito (Little Devil), La Rosa (Rose), and La Muerte (Death). Using these cards of destiny, I find my true self to navigate the world. My memoir defies the conventional thinking that a sensitive, lonely barrio kid, traumatized by relationship abuse and family crises, eventually falls victim to gang violence, addiction, or suicide. I bring my stories and images together to show how I overcome self-destructive behavior and how I channel my energies toward a successful career in Hollywood's beauty industry. I tell an against-the-odds life story that connects self-acceptance to art and love. Andrew is also a makeup artist:This born and bred Angeleno always knew he was meant for a career in beauty. Andrew has created signature looks for some of Hollywood's brightest stars including Lady Gaga, Michelle Williams, RuPaul, Demi Levato, Neil Patrick Harris & Carmen Electra. As a makeup artist on ”Keeping Up with the Kardashians,” Andrew regularly created the sisters red carpet ready looks and at the 2010 MTV Video Music Awards, he was the key makeup artist for Florence and the Machine, including applying avatar-like body makeup for her radiant dancers.  INCLUDED IN THIS EPISODE (But not limited to): ·      Lots of Fan Clacking!!!·      Mí Corazón – Andrew's Makeup Line·      Amor Es Arte, Arte Es Amor – Andrew's Memoir·      Being Raised In The LatinX Community·      MADONNA·      Los Angeles Nostalgia ·      Prevalent Insecurity In the LGBTQIA+ Community ·      Coming Out·      Angels In The Psych Ward·      Andrew On American Beauty Star (Top Three)CONNECT WITH ANDREW: Website - Book - Makeup: https://AndrewVelazquez.comYouTube: https://www.YouTube.com/AndrewVelazquezInstagram: https://www.instagram.com/andrewvelazquez_Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/andrewvelazquezcom CONNECT WITH DE'VANNON: Website: https://www.SexDrugsAndJesus.comWebsite: https://www.DownUnderApparel.comTikTok: https://www.tiktok.com/@sexdrugsandjesusYouTube: https://bit.ly/3daTqCMFacebook: https://www.facebook.com/SexDrugsAndJesus/Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/sexdrugsandjesuspodcast/Twitter: https://twitter.com/TabooTopixLinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/devannonPinterest: https://www.pinterest.es/SexDrugsAndJesus/_saved/Email: DeVannon@SDJPodcast.com  DE'VANNON'S RECOMMENDATIONS:·      Survivors of Narcissistic Abuse & Codependency Support Groups (Virtual) - https://www.meetup.com/pittsburgh-narcissism-survivor-meetup-group/·      COSA – 12 Step Recovery For Victims Of Compulsive Sexual Behavior - https://cosa-recovery.org·      A Recommended Reading To Help Heal From Narcissism - https://amzn.to/41sg6FO ·      Pray Away Documentary (NETFLIX)o  https://www.netflix.com/title/81040370o  TRAILER: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tk_CqGVfxEs ·      OverviewBible (Jeffrey Kranz)o  https://overviewbible.como  https://www.youtube.com/c/OverviewBible ·      Hillsong: A Megachurch Exposed (Documentary)o  https://press.discoveryplus.com/lifestyle/discovery-announces-key-participants-featured-in-upcoming-expose-of-the-hillsong-church-controversy-hillsong-a-megachurch-exposed/ ·      Leaving Hillsong Podcast With Tanya Levino  https://leavinghillsong.podbean.com  ·      Upwork: https://www.upwork.com·      FreeUp: https://freeup.net VETERAN'S SERVICE ORGANIZATIONS ·      Disabled American Veterans (DAV): https://www.dav.org·      American Legion: https://www.legion.org ·      What The World Needs Now (Dionne Warwick): https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FfHAs9cdTqg INTERESTED IN PODCASTING OR BEING A GUEST?: ·      PodMatch is awesome! This application streamlines the process of finding guests for your show and also helps you find shows to be a guest on. The PodMatch Community is a part of this and that is where you can ask questions and get help from an entire network of people so that you save both money and time on your podcasting journey.https://podmatch.com/signup/devannon  TRANSCRIPT: ANDREW VELÁZQUEZ [00:00:00]You're listening to the sex drugs and Jesus podcast, where we discuss whatever the fuck we want to! And yes, we can put sex and drugs and Jesus all in the same bed and still be all right at the end of the day. My name is De'Vannon and I'll be interviewing guests from every corner of this world as we dig into topics that are too risqué for the morning show, as we strive to help you understand what's really going on in your life.There is nothing off the table and we've got a lot to talk about. So let's dive right into this episode.De'Vannon: Andrew Velázquez is here with me today to mark the 100th episode of The Sex Drugs in Jesus podcast, and that is a huge accomplishment. Y'all and I could not be more grateful. Thank you, God. Thank you everyone who listens to and supports this show now, Andrew has written the book, it's called.Love is art. Art is love or amor, esp.He also had the makeup line called me[00:01:00]and do the celebrity makeup artist and alsoan educator.Now in his memoir, Andrew defies the conventional thinking that a sensitive, lonely barrio kid who's been traumatized by relationship abuse and family crises must eventually fall victim of gang violence, addiction, or suicide. In his book, Andrew brings stories and images together to show how he was able to overcome self-destructive behavior.Establish a successful career and bring art and love together in a way that's never been done before.Now Andrew has created signature looks for some of Hollywood's brightest stars all including Lady Gaga, RuPaul Dimmi, Lovato, Neil, Patrick Harris, you name it. He's done. Please listen in as Andrew and I get real and vulnerable with you that are to help someone lonely, isolated, and hurting out there. We love you.Hello all of you beautiful people out there and welcome back to the Sex Drugs in Jesus podcast. I'm your host Devon, and I have with me [00:02:00] today for our 100th episodes, a beautiful, talented, incredible, lovely. Queer creative with a beautiful wavy hair that you see right there. Andrew Velazquez. Darling, how are you?Hello. Andrew: Good. How are you coming? So I had that, and if you need that sound audio again, that, De'Vannon: God, Andrew: that thing is huge. Thank you so much for having me. Yes. I'm gotta, I gotta get you one. I'm gonna send you one. De'Vannon: Gosh, that thing is to be beautiful. So y'all, so before I get into Andrew here, the 100th episode is a really big fucking deal.And why it is is because most podcasts is, I understand they don't make it to this point. People get into just about anything in this world for all kinds of reasons. And podcasting is one of those things that looks glitzy. It looks glamorous. So everybody wants to go run off and start a podcast. And [00:03:00]then you see most of them, I got like 10 episodes, 15 episodes, you know, or they might do like, you know, maybe like 10 episodes a year.You know, I hit the ground running a year before last, and I didn't stop. I released a show every week, nonstop, every Thursday, you know, you know, unless some shit done went down. But generally speaking, it's every Thursday. And so it's a really big fucking deal to make it to episode 100. This means I'm serious, that I'm committed.This is meant to be and it is gonna be here to stay. Andrew: Oh, happy for you. Congratulations, congrat. Congratulations. So happy for you. It is definitely a milestone. Yeah. Well earned, well deserved all De'Vannon: that. Thank you. And so, when I was toiling over who the hell I could get to, to share this moment with me Andrew's, Andrew's people reached out to me, and his story is so enigmatic, it's so cataclysmic, it's so polarizing, and I felt like I had so much in common with him.He's from Los Angeles. Everybody who [00:04:00] knows me knows the City of Angels is all I talk about. I love la I was out there in the military and everything. I'm obsessed with that city. And when I'm rich enough, I will go back and you know, I'm queer and I love me some Latin men, that's all the dick I used to get when I was out there.I, I've sat on plenty of Latin dick Andrew: and that's right. We're dangerous too though. We're spicy and dangerous. De'Vannon: So am I. So we always, along y'all, he's an author. He has his own memoir out. He and our both 40 years old, he's a celebrity makeup artist. He's worked with Lady Gaga, Demi Vato fucking like everybody.He's an educator. He's a spirit light worker. He is a healer. Y'all. He's, he, he's like me. You know, like, you don't have to worry about what you're gonna talk to with somebody like this cause he is done so much, you know, it's just how we're gonna get through this hour and give you credit. So he is literally [00:05:00] the definition of everything, and that is why he is here today for episode one.Double O tell us about yourself, Andrew: baby. Wow. I mean, that just, I, I have chills. Your listeners can't see this, but yeah. I am so honored to be here for your hundred episode. Congratulations on all of your successes and what you're doing. The service you provide, the light, I feel it, the energy that you're exuding, it's beautiful.And I know that your followers and your audience appreciate that too, because you're healing. That's why good things are coming to you. I'm gonna call you divine cuz I see only a divine human being in front of me and that's exactly what you are getting the divinity of, of life. And yeah, that's, that's my philosophy too is, you know, I first generation Mexican-American parents are immigrants from Mexico.They met in their teens and I was their first born in East La Boyle [00:06:00] Heights. And yeah, being raised in such like a macho area was a little difficult for me for being just a such creative, feminine, flamboyant kid. And everything that I was trying to be a kept being told that it was wrong.Cause you know, where my parents got married, it was like the church. I was raised Catholic, so I got baptized there. I did my first communion, I did catechism. All, you know, knowing that I'm sinning and because I like boys and trying to hide, that was just, It was heavy. It was really heavy. And my mom just was the first to be like my mentor, my icon.She introduced me to Madonna in the eighties, who I'm obsessed with. I am the proud owner of four Madonna tattoos. She's right here. There's, there's other ones. Yeah, this is from erotica. And she just celebrated her 30th year anniversary for the sex book, which was released here in Miami. [00:07:00]And so she was really like my first, I don't know, my first like muse, you know, watching my mom do her hair and makeup in the eighties and just taking me to cosmetology school while she was going.She just was fierce. Just drag hair, makeup, done, jewelry, accessories, and she was my queen. So for her to support my my arts and my interests in wanting to like be creative meant a lot for me. But, You know, helping raise my brothers. Cause I, I have three younger brothers and my dad worked as a mechanic during the day.A tow truck driver at night was a lot of responsibility for the oldest sibling to, you know, be a provider also and be their mentor. So I just remember like, I don't know, watching 9 0 2 oh saved by the bell and seeing the drama there. And I'm like, why don't I have that drama in my life? Why do these teenagers have all these dramas and I'm this perfect cookie cutter kid helping raise my brothers Like, this is not.[00:08:00] Hmm. So I made the drama and that's chapter three in my book called elto, which means little devil, I call it My bad. And that's really where I started to rebel. And, you know, we all go through like self-discovery and just that cross of like youth child into adolescence. You're not an adult. Yeah, it was just like an awakening moment.I went 180, I just flipped. Went from this perfect kid to just rebel partying with drag queens. Met my first club kids, went to the Rays and the nineties in LA was just all rage. It was so fun. They used to call me Space Boy and I would you know, dress in all these crazy like avan garde colorful outfits.And I finally felt like free and liberated with other creative people and, and queer people. Finally, like my first drag queens, you know talking [00:09:00] like Stacy Hollywood, DJ Irene, like these are the people that I used to party with like in the early nineties. Like it was the hard house. That was just the rage, right?Yeah. So Arena Circus the Alexandria Hotel, like, oh, I remember going to a rave at Knottsberry Farm. The K Rave. Yeah. And it was just so lit that these kids were jumping. Because NASP Prairie Farm had never done that. So they were literally jumping the gates trying to get into, into the rave and just like party out all night.But they canceled it right away and they shut it down. So they never had a rave at ATSP Farm again. But yeah, it was, that was, that was very liberating and finally feeling like I was part of this community. But with, with that nightlife there, there's also a dark side, right? There's also like alcohol, drugs and all of that.And finally, like, experimenting with boys and having my first experiences and [00:10:00] just being exposed to addict addiction and then realizing, oh, my mother, my mother's also an alcoholic and has been suffering from chronic depression. And I was basically her like right hand man. So that was the hardest part to, for her to she kind of like rejected me when I finally came out and.I just went through like, like a huge depression cuz here was this like queen that I used to look up to and then she said, no, this is the route you're going. Like, I don't want anything to do with it. And I ran away and left. But, you know, I remember I'm gonna be extremely vulnerable because that's like, what's, that's what's I think the most important thing to be authentic and, and expose like the truth to, to grow and learn from.But yeah, after a couple suicide attempts that were failed, I was [00:11:00] taken to hospital at psych Ward 51 50 where I discovered therapy. And I just remember having this epiphany and this like my aha moment, right? My my reality check where this young Latino man that was in that only spoke Spanish, looked at me and was like, Andrew, you don't belong here.Like you have a light. What? And, and this was, he was only telling me this in Spanish, and he would write me poetry. And I finally felt like, heard, seen and like I existed in that matter. So I remembered that very distinct moment saying, I don't wanna live this life. Like, I don't wanna go down this dark path.I realized the addiction can, can be real. And it's in my, it's genetically in our family. So I chose to follow my passion and my craft and my career. And at the age of 16, I graduated and took my GD and I just started my [00:12:00] my journey in, in the arts and the fashion industry. So fashion school, cosmetology school, and then working in retail, corporate cosmetics truly saved my life and.Here I am now been in the industry for 22 years, gonna be 23 next month. I've been independent freelance artist for eight years now. I'm a memoir, author of owner of a cosmetic company also. And it's all based around the same thing, like my culture, my passion, my craft. It's called Love is art.Art is love because for me, the other one cannot exist with the other. And in Spanish it's called. So that's the story. It's, it's a lot. I mean, to get the detail, you gotta read the book. I can't give too much away, but that's like the synopsis, De'Vannon: right? And so, yo the book covers beautiful, like he said, like the different cards and everything are on the front.[00:13:00]You know, in Spanish they call it Yeah. Good job. Good job. Yes. I was down till, like, a couple of weeks ago and they were complimenting on my Spanish, and now that I'm back here, it's like I can't fucking put three goddamn syllables. When Andrew: when you're in it. Yeah, when you're in it, it just, it just kind of rolls out. You gotta be in, in the community and then, or vela, that's when it really comes out.Exactly. Would all that, yes. De'Vannon: So I wanna go back and touch on a few things that you said. It, it registered me Absolutely heard you said that, you know, you were raised in that macho community and, you know, the, the Latino community can be very machismo, very toxic, toxically, masculine. Mm-hmm. And, you know, and so, mm-hmm.I remember when I was a kid, I was like super femme and everything like that. And I wanted to play with Ken and Barbie dolls and twirl [00:14:00] around and I'd wear my, me too, right? I'd wear my mother's heels and take a belt and make a dress out of an oversized shirt. And and my dad would take me out into the yard and, you know, insult me and berate me for being feminine and try to make me learn how to box and stuff like that.And I'm all like if I, Andrew: yeah, you're, you were in the De'Vannon: military. I went in the military when I was 17, but this is when I was like, in elementary school. He was out there trying to make me a man, whatever the fuck that's supposed to be, you know? I'm like, no, I wanna see what's under Ken's pants. Damn it.I know you're, Andrew: you're. Surprise though. It was just like flat or a little De'Vannon: bulge. Yes, I am a, I was a baby, right, Lester, when I was in the third grade deal with it. Judge me if you wanna. Andrew: And so we all had that. We all had that. De'Vannon: So I wanna know you mentioned you went from being [00:15:00] good to bad because everything was so good.You, you were trying to find the complications. I felt this way too. When I was in the church. I felt like I was a little bit too good when I get kicked out of the church. Then that's when I got caught up with the drag queens and the alcohol and the drugs. I became a drug dealer. Like you had felt, I felt liberated.I felt like I was being myself. I don't know if I was numbing some of that pain from being kicked out of church. I think I was with the drugs and alcohol. Tell me, did you ever get bad into alcohol or drugs or anything like that? Or, Andrew: or were you able to Oh yeah, absolutely. Yes, for sure. I definitely had some partners that, and some boyfriends that I probably were not the best choices.And in my book, this is chapter five , which is the spider. Just to give you a quick history on it, is Mexican bingo game of chance. And I was [00:16:00] mesmerized by all the artwork cause they resembled tarot, which I didn't even know at the time what tarot was as a child. Cause my mom introduced me to this game and my brothers.But later I realizing that with tarot and with Loya, each card has a symbol. So the reason I chose these tens specific cards is because they resonated with the timeline of my life. And so laa for me is the triggers and traumas of all the bad relationships. I'm not even gonna call 'em bad relationships.I'm gonna call them challenging relationships that have taught me because now I'm I'm at the point where I've done a lot of like self work and I mean, I'm still, I'm, I call myself. A student of University of Mother Nature and I'm always gonna be learning. And so all those moments have helped me realize, you know, that we're all just kind of like these lost little souls, like these lost little angels that are trying to like, figure out and navigate where the right path is.So these partners that I had that did have addiction problems [00:17:00] you know, at the time it was fun because like, yes, everyone's partying and you're just like, you wanting your wasted the quickest thing. I remember just waiting in line at Arena with like Mad Dog 2020 boondog, like the grossest stuff, but we would drink the fastest, cheapest shit to just like get the most shit wasted before we entered the club.Cause it was just like, we gotta get wasted before we get inside the club. Cuz we didn't, we were young, it was ages club, but we were not even old enough to drink and we were just, you know, getting wasted to. Loosen up dance and just like party all night. But through that, like fast forward into like my twenties, you know another Latino individual, this is a, I'm Mexican, so this is a different type of Latino.This, he was Columbian, Ecuadorian, and I just was a different world that I had an experience with, like the salsa me mbia, and then just [00:18:00] the, the lifestyle and the party of that culture. It just kinda like infatuated with me. But as as like fast and heavy and dangerous as it was, is as quick as I realized, like, whoa, this is, like, this can go dark.And he would drink all the time, you know, he would do drugs. He started going to like sex clubs and. I don't know what, where I was mentality wise. Like my self-esteem was just shot and I felt like this is the best that I can do, so I'm just gonna settle with it. I don't know, I really dunno where that came from.But I did, I got a D U I because this one time we partied and he wanted to continue to party and was threatening me if I didn't take him to get more liquor, that he was just gonna go to sex club and do like his own thing. So I felt like obligated [00:19:00] to, all right, I'm gonna take you. And he was driving and it was swerving and then I was like, no, let me take over.So a, after getting that D U I, I just, it was like my rock bottom. It was like my lowest of low because of the partner that I had chose the time. And I'm realizing later in reflection, like. I chose these partners for a reason. And I think I was trying to fix them. I think I was trying to groom them up cause I was introducing them to fashion and art and all that as well.And then all of a sudden they would change. And later I'm realizing like you were trying to fix yourself. Like you were actually, you are projecting what your insecurities were onto this individual and it just counteracted and affected you where you took the dark that was being, and, and you know, dark attracts each other, right?Like light attracts light. And so yeah, [00:20:00] I mean I, I obviously I'm not with that person anymore. Very happily married. We're 13 years together now and gonna be nine years married this May. And that's a lot for a gay man. And, you know, our, because it's, it's, but it's like I realized like I had to go through all those.Relationships and those triggers and traumas to, to like really fix me and love me for all of me. And that's when I, I was able to attract and the person that I kind of deserved and earned and, and actually saw me for me and didn't make me feel judged and didn't make, forced me to be something that I wasn't meant to be.You know? So I honestly, I'm even grateful for all those, those challenging moments for sure. De'Vannon: Right. And so I hear maturity, you know, in your words there because you understand how much good things come from the fire, from heat and intensity. You know, you've really [00:21:00]grown in life when you can grasp that and you don't look at problems and things that make you uncomfortable and things that hurt you as necessarily inherently negative, you know, cuz so much So when I, when I hear you talk about like the alcohol and the drugs and the sex, you know, vice.You know, it's one of the things that really take any anybody down in life. They are a gargantuan problem in the lgbtqia a plus community. Y'all, our people can't get picture is, can't get enough. Crystal meth, can't get enough, all that. Can't get enough Dick, can't get enough calm, can't get, can't get enough blow jobs, can't have enough origin for me.Andrew: For me it's work now though. But yes, there's always something De'Vannon: because you've grown to that point and you know, but before you had to go through being abused by all of these vices. And look, I'm not saying that there's nothing, anything inherently wrong with crystal meth and crack and cocaine and orgies and sex clubs.[00:22:00] But you know, bitch, when you at the sex club every night when you, and you leaving your boyfriend at home and not telling him you're going and when, or if you just at sex club every night, you single or you are high, Andrew: like it's gonna take a toll De'Vannon: eventually. It's gonna take a toll. But my point is, I need people, bitch, I need you to ask yourself what you really doing it for.Because after a point is not for the entertainment lonely or are you insecure? Are you seeking validation in these, right. Keep going back. So our community is hella insecure, no matter how pretty, we are always at the damn gym. Six packs, bubble butts everywhere. And don't nobody like the damn self. I don't see what the fucking point is.Andrew: What's the why? What is that all about? Like what? I'm still trying to figure that out. You know? What does RuPaul call it? Inner saboteur. Some people call it little bitch voice. Like, I think it's just learning how to navigate with that. Like it's [00:23:00] never gonna go away. It's always there. However you can. I, I think through writing this book and through the, the experience that I've, experiences that I have gone through have taught me that through trauma you can transform and triumph into power.You just have to believe it. You just have to know it. And, and really at the end of the day, it's being of service to others like, like you're doing with, with your audience and sh and, and sharing the knowledge and the, the growth. And that's, I think that's like the legacy we all need to leave behind as humans is through our, you know, journeys and our experiences that we can share that and, and share the growth and the tools that have helped shape us to where we are in a stable place, that, that truly brings happiness.Then that can also be infectious, just. And addicting as like alcohol and drugs and sex, you know what I mean? Like the positivity can also be just as addicting. And I [00:24:00] know that we share mutual podcast friends with a survivor to thrive and give 'em a little shout out. And they're on that same mission, you know what I mean?And I feel like it's not a coincidence that we've all been introduced to each other for, you know what I mean? During this time when it is the considered the, the most depressing time of the year, which is also my, happens to be my birthday December 27th. And now we're in January, which is melancholy and can be hard for our community or anybody going through mental health issues.So why not lift each other up and why not celebrate your struggles and, and transform them into something good, you know? Mm-hmm. Whatever that means for you. De'Vannon: The, yeah. Yeah. And I am gonna dig deeper into the mental health aspects of your book in just a moment. And y'all, like he said, you know, he's written his book to help the people's transparency that y'all heard me say a thousand times, [00:25:00] you know, is the greatest form of help because we learn and grow by listening to what other people have gone through.It is a trap when we think we're isolated and alone, when really the person sitting right next to us is either going through the same thing or has gone through the same thing. When I got H I v I thought I was the only one. I thought I was gonna die. I didn't know half the damn queens in Houston at the shit too.No one talked about that. We were too busy doing all the cocaine. Exactly. Doing all the cocaine at F Barn at South Beach, you know, and everywhere else. And at Jrs to do rather than to actually have real conversation. And so he, right, Andrea's wrote, written his book in order to help help some of you save your lives, to prevent you from committing suicide, to stop you from hurting other people, to stop you from hurting yourself.Cuz when you read that book, you're gonna know. Okay, this fucker went through the same shit. Maybe it's not just me. It is incredibly empowering to know that it's not just you or as they say over on Survivor, the thriver know that you are not alone. Andrew: [00:26:00] Absolutely. You said that beautifully. So I wanna know, and that, that's really No, go ahead.Sorry. De'Vannon: Yeah. I wanna know, you mentioned Catholicism from in the past. Mm-hmm. Where are you at in terms of spirituality today? Andrew: Like I said, yeah, I mean, I was born into that. It was it was all I knew, like it was, we lived on that block, you know, where my parents got married, where I was baptized, where I did my first commune and confirmation where I became a godfather.It was it was just when you're, when you're Mexican in east LA that's just what it is. Like, it just gets part, it's like peanut butter jelly comes with the territory. But And I I De'Vannon: about today specifically because people are born mm-hmm. Into all kinds of religions. I was born Pentecostal, you know, that's what you're okay for.Your family gives you, I don't feel like, like the learn behavior. Right. I feel like it's more valid once you become an [00:27:00] adult and you consider all the options. Mm-hmm. If you still wanna stay with that, then I think it becomes authentic. But until then you Yeah. What people told you to do. So what, what spiritually have you discovered for yourself?Andrew: I mean, obviously at that point, I, I, as a kid, I didn't agree with marriage only being between a man and a woman. And then, you know, just the, the history of the priests and the abuse and the, all that. I, I didn't agree with any of that. But even, even, even even Madonna too with Journey and her being Catholic and like a prayer and being the first advocate for l g BT Q, putting in her cd in her tape a condom and to protect se use protection for sex and literature on aids.Like, she was the first one to kind of give me a voice. And I, I felt seen, like [00:28:00] just the fact that I knew that I was gay. I felt like I was gonna get AIDS just because of that simple reason in the eighties and the nineties. But I mean, even that's kind of like part of my spirituality. So for me my husband and I go to non-denominational church.We are part of Unitarian. It's more of a communal thing. And it's more of just because they're accepting of everything. And the, the philosophy is to celebrate love, life human experiences. And it's, it's really lovely. I mean, it's. I ki I, I liked it because it brought me a little ba back to the nostalgia of the good things of going to church when I was Catholic.But I'm, I'm a spiritual person by Mother Nature and the universe. I believe in the law of attraction. I meditate every day. I practice gratitude. I journal, I visualize I consider my dogs my spirituality as well. I have dog, I have three dogs, you know, I have dog therapy [00:29:00] with them daily. I practice kind acts with others.I I'm an earth sign, so I love anything that has to do with the outdoors and just going on hikes and doing yoga. We're gonna do yoga tonight. You know, it's being healthy. We're both vegan, we're both animal lovers. My, my cosmetics is vegan and animal cru tea free as well. So I'm just, I'm a spiritual person as far as just energy, you know what I mean?Like this's just. What I love about being a human being is that I'm so connected with Mother Nature and we're all the same at the end of the day. Like there, it has nothing to do about your color of skin, your orientation, your gender, hus in your bedroom, what you eat, nothing like, we're all literally the same breathing things, elements, you know what I mean?It's looking at like, my veins is just like looking at the roots at a on a tree. [00:30:00] When you're like in a plane and you're looking down as the earth shrinks and you see all the little cracks in the rivers of, of earth, those are the veins of earth. It's all the same thing, you know? And so whatever spirituality is for the individual, if it makes them feel special and, and seen and that's, that's all that matters, whatever gives them that like happiness, that joy, that light.And for me it's, its mother nature. So that's my form of spirituality. De'Vannon: Okay. Look, I love to keep me a good garden in the back. I love eating off the, I love riding horses. You know, when I'm not riding Dick, you know, and everything like that. Exactly. Appreciate I can appreciate the fuck out of that. So, I wanna go back to this rejection of your mother because you know, she's a, you know, she sounds like the embodiment of a drag queen's in a straight woman's body.She supported you until you made it official. There's no goddamn way. She couldn't have already [00:31:00] known mothers. No, the bitch wasn't blind. I mean, I don't mean that insultingly. I mean that You're Andrew: good. You're good. De'Vannon: You know, I'm like, girl, you could see, you could read the tea. Andrew: I mean, I was going to the makeup.Yeah. So I was going through all De'Vannon: that. So, So you felt accepted and she already knew what it was. So it almost like for her, it might have been better if you never would've made it a official by saying the words. Hmm. So for those, for people out there, for queer people, especially Latinx people who have been rejected and there is a lot of rejection of L G B LGBTQ people because of how the Catholic church is, your culture is hella Catholic, you know?Mm-hmm. And so take me, take me back to when that rejection first happened and really give me some words to those feelings. Cause I want you to embody what somebody else is going through right there. I want you to vocalize that. Andrew: Yeah. [00:32:00] And 10th grade, and I, I think I had ditched school that day. I lived in a studio that was on the same property.My parents a lot of Mexicans do this where they build homes inside their homes and other. And it's just like a lot of houses. And so I, I, I was grateful for that cause I had a little bit of privacy, but my mom always had a key of course. And so I remember having my friends over the night before and we're listening to like Morris depe.And it was just kind like that vibe wearing all black, my doc Martins, you know, my black bomber jacket and drinking red wine and thinking we're cool and smoking marble red cigarettes. We were disgusting and clothes, but it was just, that was the thing that we did. And I just remember like waking up like hungover and it was time for school and I'm like, ah, I'm [00:33:00] not feeling it.I'm not gonna go. So I stayed home painted my fingernails and was just kind of like being lazy and just bumming around the house. And then my mom came in and like, just like, and Mexican moms. Can rage and just open the door and slammed and was like yelling, what are you doing in Spanish? Of course,you know, like all that kind of stuff. It was very . And and then she was like, picking up my jacket, picking up the bottles. She's like, what is this stuff? Why are your nails painted? Why are you dressing like this? What are you doing? Like, what are you gay? And that was the first time she had ever ever asked me that.And I finally like, I was so tired of yelling back and forth to like, I remember we were both yelling so much that we had to take a break to just take a, a breather. And then I finally yelled back and I said, yes, I'm [00:34:00] yay. You know, and a part of it felt good to just finally say it and vocalize it and to put it out into the universe, but also like seeing the sadness in her eyes did not feel good.And I just, I saw her like just kind of shrink and just, that made me shrink too. And then she just said, well, I don't support that. You're gonna have to leave you. If you're not gonna go to school, then you need to get outta here. And she left. And so I just remember feeling rejection alone, abandoned. Why am I here causing so much stress to all these people around me?And, you know, the per, the one person that I, that I thought was always gonna be my hero, that I, that supported me is now like, just telling me to get out and that I'm done with you. You're not good enough. Like when she said, De'Vannon: does she mean you no longer can [00:35:00] live here? Or when she's saying, I can't see your face today, what did she mean as a.Andrew: A teenager, I thought I took it as like, you, you don't, you're not gonna live here anymore. Like, if you're gonna live like that, you're not gonna live here. Like, those are the words that I heard. Yeah. That's how it sounds to me. So I, so I said, okay, and I, I did run away. Obviously I had to come back to get my stuff.And again, just going through the lows of the lows, seeing the alcohol, drinking that some more, discovering Tylenol pm, taking some of those. And the combination of it, I was just like, I was just, I was so sad. I was so alone that I didn't think I was able to get over this, like, low. So I just, I decided I wanted to take my own life.You know, I was gonna try and it [00:36:00] didn't work, you know, it didn't work. I woke up the next day. With my wrists, still bloody, but kind of like crusting and trying to heal just disorientated and dizzy from all the wine and the, the pills. And I'm like, all right, well, I guess I'm gonna go to work.I'm sorry to school. I didn't, it didn't work, you know, just put on my bomber jacket, go to school. I'm like, second period, get a call from the school counselor and says, you need to report to your school counselor's office. Get to the office. And they're like, your mom just called and apparently she went into your room and saw all this stuff and is really concerned about you.We need to see your wrist. And so I was hesitant, but obviously ended up showing, and they were like, all right, well you're a minor at this age in Roseville High School, we're not allowed to let you out of our site. We need to report to the center quad area, and we're gonna let you know what [00:37:00] is gonna happen to you then.So I get escorted with the security to the center of quad area. The bell rings and as the bell rings, the gates open up and an ambulance drives in as the ambulance is driving in the doors open and the security is escorting me into the ambulance. All the schoolmates come out running and seeing me getting into this ambulance and girl, I was mortified.I was, I was the most embarrassing moment and just kind of like, that's it. I'm over. I can never get back from this. There's no, there's not gonna be a way to fix this. You know what I mean? It was, it was very heavy, it was very embarrassing and exposing and was rushed off to White Memorial Hospital in Royal Heights, and they pumped my stomach and they stitched up my wrist and.[00:38:00]And yeah, I was admitted to a psych ward as a one 50 minor. It was who continued? Are you okay? Say what? I mean, it was, honestly, it hon, at that point I just surrendered. I, and I just kind of, I gave it to God at that point, you know, and was like, I'm just gonna be reborn. I'm gonna be a child. I'm gonna be infant.I'm gonna just let you guide me. This is where I'm supposed to be now to, to learn and to grow. I, I guess I'm gonna listen to these therapists. So I discovered therapy, which I fell in love with immediately cuz I'm finally being heard. I'm finally having tools and resources to, to help navigate my emotions, my feelings.And then I met that angel That young man that wrote me poems and [00:39:00] talked to me and said, you don't belong here. And told me I was special. And, and I finally like, believed it, you know? And that's, that's when I told you earlier that I made that conscious decision to not go down that route anymore.And I'm, I'm still in therapy to this day. I mean, it's not every week I mean like it used to be, but it definitely saved my life. And I feel that person was an angel. Cause fast forward to later, as I'm going through self-discovery and I'm writing my book and I'm journaling, I'm like, what happened to him?So I tried to research, but obviously through the privacy of hospitals, like they're not allowed to expose any information. But they were like, yeah, you were the only, they said you were the only one there in your room. So what the heck does that mean? You know, like they're saying that I was the only one in my room, but I distinctly remember this.Young man named Miguel telling me, you're, you're, you know, [00:40:00] you don't belong here. You, you need to follow the light. How long was Miguel? De'Vannon: That's crazy. How long was Miguel Andrew: in there with you? I mean, I, I was only in there for two weeks. He had already been there for a month. Mm-hmm. But yeah, I don't remember.We never exchanged numbers. Like So you think, I mean, we had pagers I think at the point, De'Vannon: right? So you think maybe it was, I remember the pager days. Beep, beep, beep, beep. Do you remember Uhhuh, I'm sorry you went through all of this and mental health is a big fucking deal in the queer community because a lot of our issues come from our parents because our parents have their own unresolved issues.The church has told them what to think about their own children. Not, not all mothers and parents are able. Be like, this is my child. I don't even a damn what the church has to say because, you know, our parents have their own issues. And so this is a huge reason why there's a lot of insecurity in our community.It comes from our own households. Now do you think this was son [00:41:00] who was in there with you, perhaps And y'all son, Miguel is just like son, son, Miguel, St. Michael, the Arche angel. Andrew: Yes, yes, yes. I don't know. I mean, I don't know. I, it was definitely an angel and I, when my mom I, I was born two days after Christmas.I was supposed to be born like on Christmas, but it happened to be two days after. And she said cuz she was really into Like astrology. And she used to watch Walter Melo, I dunno if you know Walter Melo, who it was like the famous like tarot card reader in in the Latino community. It was like the thing that we watch religiously every Sunday, like after the, the, no, it was Walter.And he would tell you like, capric, Corno, tourist, blah, blah, blah. So she, cause of him, she used to tell me, you, when you were born, the sun, the Earth and the Moon and Mercury were line and you were born at 6:05 AM I, they gave [00:42:00] me you, you, they gave you, oh, sorry, let me rephrase this. They gave me you in a red stalking and as you're going in my arms, I just saw a big star on your head and a light on your right side.And I'm just staring at this little gift in this red, like stalking this and I'm holding it. And so she kept telling me that as I was. Growing up, like you have a star, you have a light on your, so I don't know, I, I can't help but go back to that, you know what I mean? Like go back to these little angels, these little whether it's whoever, you know, maybe it's, maybe it's a drag queen that past life, but she's saving me.That's what I like to I feel like we all have some kind of angel to protect, you know, some kind of either light energy, whatever you want to call it, you know, it could be our [00:43:00] past ancestors or ancestors. It could be maybe your past self and your reincarnate. I don't know. But something was there.It was very prevalent. It was, and it was the moment that I changed my mind. Otherwise, I could have gone down that addiction route. I could have gone down, you know, The gang route and like been in the closet and continued to live this straight life because of course I acted like I was straight forever.Because that's what you do when you're in that kinda environment. Otherwise you're gonna get clocked, you know, and jumped and bullied and I was all those things. But yeah, I, I can only say like now being with my husband, his name is Johnny Debut for 13 years. Accepting me for all of me. My femininity, my masculine side.He, yeah, he's just, he's my homie for life and he's the one that's just [00:44:00] I don't know my mean, like reminded me to love myself too. And I'm just very grateful for that. Cause it's been, we've had a journey on our, on our own as well and the good and the bad and but yeah, we're best friends. He is, he is just been The rock for, for everything.And I'm gonna be that right back to him too. For sure. Hey, hey Johnny, De'Vannon: Daniel, whatever you ask me, introduce Savannah and I'm saying Andrew: hello, hello, hello, hello, hello. De'Vannon: Hey Johnny, how will I get to have cocktails with you one day? Yes. So let's lighten this up as we get, we're down like our last couple of minutes here.So we've talked about some darkness, bring some light, and so yeah, we, we get light through darkness and angels are real. You know, I've spoken about how they've appeared to me before, all kinds of places on the side of the street and restaurants, you know, and there's [00:45:00] been times where it's like nobody else even sees this person in here.And I'm not the only one talking to them and everything like that. I turn around sometimes my husband sees them. Now look, y'all, they don't, I've never had them, except for in dreams appear to me in any sort of glorious way. When they appear to me on the street, they're just plain clothes people. And then we talk mm-hmm.Stuff like that. And I turn around and then they're gone. One of my favorite appearances is one time I was out in my yard, this is the last time I ever touched a rake in my life when I was in high school, raking these leaves. I hate yard work. I'm like, can we get a fucking, can we get a fucking maid? Do you see my nails?I'm queer. I shouldn't be doing this. Ugh. So, so I'm raking this fucking leaves and I hate wet ground and, ugh. This, this, this black guy walks down the street and he's just like, Hey, be careful for those poisonous snakes. Now we are in the hood, you know, just in the middle of the city. Oh, we're not out in the country.Why the fuck would there be a snake? He's like, were you careful of those snakes? The next [00:46:00] pool, there was a goddamn damn poisoned snake flopping all around in. They're trying, oh, hell no. I threw that right down. I'm like, I don't, not a snake. I don't give a damn with my dad. I want me to do, ain't no more chores being done in this yard.I looked up that that guy had told me this, like not a split second, and I looked up and he was gone. And I had something like that happen when I was a kid. You know, they'll show up, say whatever. I looked down and I'm like, he, they can't take nobody. Run that damn fast. You know? Or as or as the Hebrew scripture tells us, you know, we've entertained angels at unawares and be careful how you treat strangers.Mm. Mm-hmm. Mm. Absolutely talk about makeup. So y'all, like he said, he has own makeup line. Oh,Andrew: it was a good segue. It was a good segue. Had to do it right. And De'Vannon: every time he cls that fan has a title of his book, AOR Art Arta Moore. Or love is art. Art is Love. Yes. So [00:47:00] his first color palette is, is called Me Corone, which stands for my heart, you know, in Spanish. Mm-hmm. Go ahead and hold it up. So, Ooh yes.It ain't no bunny ram harm in making that. That's what I'm here for. That shit is vibrant. Thank you. You know, every now and then, you know I might beat this face up. You know, I'm gonna have to get your shit. Oh, I would love Andrew: to do your makeup. Yes. Let's make that happen. Oh, don't. I'm gonna De'Vannon: be in LA soon. God.I pray to God the next time I go to Los Angeles, cuz I'm in Louisiana where I live now. I pray to God the next time I go to Los Angeles it's, I'm there to stay. God. Need to go Andrew: home. Wait, I'm actually gonna, I'm actually wait, I, I'm going to Nashville in February. De'Vannon: That's a bit away from Louisiana still. I mean it might be kinda like Yeah, you're right down here by New Orleans and stuff.So whenever you come to Mar are you ready to do you a Mardi Gras carnival? Andrew: We do [00:48:00] love New Orleans. Yes, I do. I got De'Vannon: you hooked up bruh. So, okay y'all, so he bought this show called American Beauty Star and that, that color palette, he just showed up. You know, go ahead and tell everybody like, you know where they can find that.Your website is gonna be in the show notes. I'm gonna put your link tree so people can find you in case you wanna go ahead and vocalize it. You can tell them where they can find that in your book. Andrew: Thank you so much. Yeah, you. Search for the show on Amazon Prime, just type American beauty star, and you can binge watch me on season one.I'm right there working all the magic. That's where I started writing a book as form of therapy. While we were quarantined, I had no access to devices, so I would resort back to my hotel room and just start drawing and went back to my roots. What brings me passion is that's my, my craft. And then I wrote the book.This has been a four year project. The first year was to [00:49:00] write and edit the book. The second year was to design the cover of the book as well as the cover of each chapter. So I took 10 models and painted them from head to toe and turned them into these characters that you see on, on the cover of the book that represent Theia cards.And through the process of making the body makeup is when I realized there was like a lack of pigment. So I went into product development and that's where I chose to create my first palette, which is called . And you can see like one of the actual models wearing the colors and all the artwork inside is in, is in, is the artwork that's infused into the book.So it's all part of the same brand. And then through that, seeing my models get emotional and hot and you know, sweaty, I decided to also make a fan, which is also part of the same collection. And all the artwork from the book is infused onto the fan. And I lastly have a calendar. Which is good [00:50:00]for 2023.So this is the only way you can get the actual print of each card is by having your Amos Art calendar. So you can find everything on amos art.com or love is art artist love.com and that's where you can shop for the palette, the fan, the calendar, and the book as well. You can also go to Amazon and search for the book and just type Andrew Velazquez.And then my website is andrew velazquez.com for my salon portfolio and all the thanks, beauty tutorials, et cetera, De'Vannon: all the things. I love the options. You know, are you a Sagittarius as well? Andrew: US gays like options too. De'Vannon: You right. That's damn true. So, you know, I'm born on December 16th. I need everything.And so, Andrew: oh, nice. We're close. Capric the 27th Capricorn. Yeah. Capricorn. Oh, you can? Yeah, you can come. I have a [00:51:00] Saurus Rising double Capricorn with the Sagittarius Rising and all my besties are Sagittarius as well. You can come De'Vannon: to the Sagittarius Ki Keani. I'm gonna get you in. Mm-hmm. Mm-hmm. So this is, so I looked up a couple of the videos and y'all, I love Andrew's his Instagram and his YouTube channel or Clutch.He has this beautiful avatar, avant garde look that he does on this girl, which is so like on tempo right now with the way of the water just coming out. You know, he has a Marvel inspiration stuff that he does. Th this, he does full body art, not just face, you know, this is head to toe fear shit, bitch.Here. Shout out to Mama Ru Paul right now. So on, on this American Beauty star. We're gonna talk about Lady Gaga, RuPaul, dim Lovato last. It's gonna out. So you're good before that. American Beauty star. So I look this up. So you got this panel of judges, these people on here doing this makeup, Andrew's in charge of the full scale production for this Oh.Show and everything. And then they will [00:52:00] be judged just like you've seen on Project Runway, you know, all the different things. So Andrew comes out, this stone cold bitch is sitting there with like white hair, you know, white outfit. And the, the person that left the review, I, I don't, I, I don't think that was Christie.I think that was the other girl. And and Andrew: so anyway, it was Huda from Huda Beauty, De'Vannon: right? And so I think somebody might have thought she was a little bit too hard, but, you know, I was just leaving everybody's opinions for that. But you know, Andrew's out there on stage and they're like, are like Andrew and then all the stuff, no, every judge's face just has no fucking emotions.You know how they fuck with the contestants and, and they leave them there in silence. For, for what? Felt like an eternity for me. And I wasn't even the one on stage. Yeah. Felt like Andrew. He's all like, oh shit. The look on the look on your face. We loved your look.[00:53:00]Andrew: That's exactly how it was. Oh my God, you did your research. Well, you gonna be so goddamn dramatic right De'Vannon: now. I'm, I'm sitting here in my house, gimme a cup of tea to deal with this stress. And you know, Andrew did well. He made it to the top three. That's a big deal to be there that long with all of that shit going on.And I love the way that you would talk with your co, I guess competition, friends, I don't know exact term on set. Mm-hmm. You know, in the back. But it's almost like you were there like guide, you know, you were giving them advice and everything like that and like keeping them together. It was very nurturing the words you would say to them on this show.Talk to me about your experience on this show before we talk about Gaga. Andrew: Oh, yes. No oh my God. That it feels, what was it like five years ago? Yeah, it was five years ago. I had just wrapped working with [00:54:00] Tyra Banks on America's Next Top model. So, and that was like the third cycle that I had worked with her doing hair and makeup.And, and what I did while I was on Top Model is I absorbed her like a sponge, cuz I knew that this show, American Beauty Star was coming right around the corner. And so the premise of American Beauty Star was to basically be Tyra Banks create a director. So not only did I have to do hair and makeup, but I had to conceptualize and create the runway for the fashion show design, the wardrobe accessorize, design the nail.I also had to choose the music for the, the platform. I had to tell Emily Rose, the International Vogue cover director to photograph and tell the model how to pose. So all these things that I knew were coming up, I knew like, this is, this is what I do like this. I'm, I feel very good about this. I feel very confident going into this.And I'm gonna come in, in, in a [00:55:00] humble approach. And so that was my intent, right? Going into this and always putting the energy exuding out for my mother's health is what I would kind of like meditate every day on my own. Because they said, you're gonna be quarantined for three weeks. Do you have no access to your devices?You have no access to your loved ones. You're, this is a frozen hard environment, which is basically you can't talk, you can't speak unless the cameras are on. And it's a production strategy to conserve your energy for camera type. But it's also. A psyching test to test your patients, your stress levels.And it's so funny because that's where I started developing this little twitch that happens on my arm. It's actually happening right now as we speak. I don't know if you can see it, like the little eye on the, it's switching a little bit, whatever, to that degree. Yeah. And so and I never had that before until [00:56:00] this show, but because we were only allowed to bring paper and my old school like iPod, you shuffle, I would listen to music like Madonna Ray of Light.Obviously, you know, other people that would like made me zen. I came up with Zen Drew, and this is where I started drawing for the book and creating the concept behind of what I wanted to do. I didn't know I had a concept during the time of the the show though. I just knew that I was like, Journaling.This is my form of therapy. And so I, I, I, I listened to the direction from the judges. A Adrian a Lima is the host who I loved, and she's stunningly gorgeous, even more in person, more so in person. Serjan is our mentor whose Beyonce's makeup artist. And, you know because I had been in production on a reality competition show [00:57:00] before, I knew a little bit more, I had a little more insight on kind of what goes behind the scenes.But now I'm the one in front of the camera place on hard ice. So I kind of knew that there were, there was three parts to the, the production In the morning you would come in, dress in the outfit that you were in the last night's outfit that day we had to recreate for continuity, whatever we did on the challenge last night again.Then we would find out, like you saw with the white snow queen, that we were gonna stay or leave. And yes, I was sweating. My back was drenched and my arm was twitching. But my goal was to always listen to the, the, the feedback and put that into the next challenge. Then the second part of the day was your, your kind of like, your interviews and what you see in between they, they call 'em the confessionals.And so that's where oftentimes they would set you up with the producer [00:58:00] and they would ask you questions and I could pick up when they were trying to alter my answer or get something else outta me. And I would say, no, that's, that's not something that I would say. I'm not gonna say that. Don't ask me to say that.And I, I remember asking for a different producer when I didn't, when I was in vibing that, you know, the, this, this isn't coming out through for my best interest. This is coming out for. Airtime or production, and I'm not here for it. Like I wanna be authentic, Andrew and what I came up with, what's called my Zend.So they listened to that and I went, I had another producer, and she really made me feel like safe, made me feel heard, and, and, and I feel it's because of her. She was another angel that I was able to, to be vulnerable and to, and to be just true. And then the last part of the day was the next challenge.And then you're introduced to a new a new ex whatever [00:59:00] project you're gonna come up with. And I, I felt everybody's anxieties, right? I felt everyone's trying to, like some people were trying to be shady. So the what you see is real, you know, some of it, yes, it's beefed up because they want to stir up some drama specifically on America's next time model.But for American Beauty Star I think they were, they would, they would find. People's strengths and weaknesses and then enhanced them by and, you know what's the tar the right word? By instigating stuff and by asking right questions and by like probing. I wasn't here for it. I think they picked up on that.I think that's also why I didn't win. But I think that's why I made it to the finales because they knew like, oh, this guy, he's well put together. He's corporate, he's professional, but I wasn't drama. You know what I mean? And because I sense everyone else's anxieties, I would try to give them positivity and, and give them zen as and just tell [01:00:00] 'em to, Hey, just trust your, in your intuition.Just go with what brings you joy and follow that regardless of what everybody's telling you. Like follow that. And I feel like that's kind of like what helped me stay at towards the end. Although I didn't win in the winning title, I won so many other ways and growth and exposure and experience, I was able to open up a salon after that.And I'm very grateful for it, you know what I mean? Would I do it again? Absolutely. I would bring it on all stars. I will come back on season four and go up against my students, go up against whoever. And I'll win that. I'll win that bitch. I'll take that bitch home. Hell season four all stars. De'Vannon: Take me with you.I can I can supply the underwear. I'm sure y'all need a pit crew for my down under apparel brand. Hey, I can do something. Andrew: Let's go. De'Vannon: Okay. So then, so as you thank you for that breakdown. I love you had this fabulous experience and I just speak more exposure over you and riches, both in this world and in the one to come and in the [01:01:00] unseen realm too.Yes, Andrew: yes, yes. Between De'Vannon: Lady Gaga, RuPaul and Demi Lovato, which one of these can you give us the most dramatic story from, from working? Andrew: I mean, I can, I can talk about all of them briefly. Who did I work with first? It was probably RuPaul. We, Mac Cosmetics was the sponsor brand for season one, and through that sponsorship, David not only provided the cosmetics, they provided artistry support, which was myself and I managed the pro store on North Robertson in Beverly Hills and West Hollywood.So we were like the flagship that all entertainment would approach for. Sponsorship product, artistry help, whatever it was. So I worked on season one and we were in charge of just doing the guest judges. So I did like Michelle Williams from, you know, Destiny's Child. And Ru [01:02:00] Ru is just great.She's just such a big flirt and just you can feel her energy when she comes into the, the room. And this is still season one, so it was very fresh. I was invited to come back for season four this time through an agency and still do the guest judges and the pick crew as well. So we had to oil them up and and then you can see me actually on season four in the background cause they would sometimes have us be in the audience.And this is the one with Sharon Needles. I think who else was. Fifi O'Hara and they're fighting like on the wwf, kinda like wrestling. So you can see me in the back, like yelling. So that's a little behind the scenes. And then Gaga was through Sharon Gold, who was Madonna's hairstylist during the Blonde Ambition tour.And Sharon we're shop with us at Mac frequently to get product, to get her discount. Cause we offer, they offered a pro membership [01:03:00] discount for anybody in the industry. And so she hit us up once and said, Hey, I'm coming in tomorrow. Can you make sure that we have. A little private area. Yeah, absolutely.Yeah. We're gonna need your face charts, your pigments, and some brushes. I have an artist a musician that I'd love to introduce you guys to. She's new. She's up and coming. Okay, great. This is like during MySpace, right? So she was, they kept calling her a MySpace artist. I'm like, all right, cool, whatever.MySpace come in. All good. So here I meet this little tiny brunettes you know, skinny young, like 20 year old. She was like, twinky, right? Her name is Stephanie. And she is like, how do you, what do you do with these space charts? Show me how to use these space charts. I'm doing this music video and I want you to work on the music video.I'm like, okay, cool. Yeah. So I was Sharon's assistant for the music video love game. But again, not knowing who this individual was, I didn't even know her artist's name until we got to the set. And now they're saying, oh, you're working with Lady Gaga? Who's Lady Gaga? What is that? What does that [01:04:00] mean?And literally, In like a matter of two weeks, she was on logo Next, next now award show and overnight she just became this huge sensation and her album just like skyrocketed. And that was it. Like that was the one time consulting with her in the store and then working in the music video. And I will forever take that to my grave cause she's Queen, you know, to all of our LGBTQ community as well.And then Demi was for another big queer moment during the la gay Pride. And I was in charge of the avant garde body makeups. And I was also able to do her like glam that morning for a really don't care music video. So it was a 13 hour day. She's such a hard worker. I remember she just came back from Paris.She, this is when she used to shave the [01:05:00] CI of her hair. She's like, You know, can you clean me up? I didn't bring clippers cause I wasn't aware that I was gonna do like grooming and I, I just was prepared for makeup artistry. So I had to, th this is another fun fact I'm gonna share with your audience. I had to taper and sh and shave, fade the side of her head with lash scissors and a mascara one and just like a cute little blend to make it look tight.And then the rest of the day was turning these dancers into like mannequin avant garde, like avatar makeup. So like blue, pink, gold and black. And it was hot during real life on afloat, during la gay pride in a little pickup truck behind her, touching her up every so often and touching them up. Just exhausting, but, you know, really, really great to work with.And she was very gracious. And this is when she was dating I forget his name. The my Latino, I should [01:06:00] know his name, HETE. But anyhow, it was a, it was a great experience. She was fun. Gaga was fun, RuPaul was fun, and I love them all as artists. I think what they represent as, you know, ex a self-expression and what they do for our community is just, is awesome.So I'm gonna forever take that to my grave. Hell yeah. And De'Vannon: look, I hopefully you get to work with them again. I speak it so. Mm-hmm. So I've

An Explosive End For A Massive Rocket This week, SpaceX attempted the first uncrewed orbital test flight of its massive Super Heavy rocket topped with an experimental crew capsule known as Starship. After one aborted launch earlier in the week, the huge rocket successfully lifted off Thursday morning—but minutes later, the Starship component failed to separate from the Super Heavy booster, and the combined rocket stack exploded. While a setback for the team, SpaceX head Elon Musk said that a lot had been learned from the flight, and another test launch would take place in several months. Purbita Saha, senior editor at Popular Science, joins SciFri's John Dankosky to talk about the launch and other stories from the week in science, including an Earth Day look at water conservation issues across the country and the materials science of Maya plaster. Plus, you can now listen to Science Friday's new arts podcast, Universe of Art. SciFri producer and Universe of Art host D Peterschmidt joins John to give a sneak peak of some of the episodes.    Dismantling Myths About Menstruation Saying the phrase “menstrual blood” or or the word “period” can feel almost dirty. That's because in the western world, people with periods are taught not to discuss this exceedingly normal biological process. Half the world will menstruate at some point in their lives, and yet menstruation remains exceedingly under-studied. Biological anthropologist Kate Clancy dug into the history of menstruation research, and the myriad misconceptions about it, while working on her book “Period: The Real Story of Menstruation.” What she found was a lack of basic understanding of the biological process, from physicians and menstruators alike. Clancy speaks with guest host Maddie Sofia about the misconceptions of a “normal” menstrual cycle, and other persisting period myths. Fighting Climate Change With Genetically Modified Trees Vince Stanley has a saying, which he holds as true in a commercial forest as on a row crop farm: Every acre has a plan. In a wetland he owns in Tattnall County, about 70 miles west of Savannah, downhill from an orderly grove of predictably profitable loblolly pines, he is trying out something new. “Now, look at this guy right here,” Stanley said, pointing out what looked more like a stick in the mud compared to the tupelos growing a few yards away in the deeper water. This stick, surrounded by pin flags and planted about six feet away from its sister, had signs of new life: dark green leaves. “That's impressive,” Stanley said. And the germ of the new plan for these acres, is something that, until now, Stanley said he didn't really have. “We're just leaving this up to Mother Nature,” he said. “So now with Living Carbon, we've gone to Option B.” This nascent tree and 10,499 others are at the heart of Option B, what might be the first effort of its kind in the nation: genetically engineered trees planted in a forest. What's more, these trees are for sale. Read the rest at sciencefriday.com.   All You Need To Know About Anesthesia If you've ever had surgery, you've probably wondered about how anesthesia works, or maybe even lied awake at night anxious about going under. If you've ever been there, I'm sure you remember: Right before surgery, you get rolled into the operating room. The anesthesiologist tells you to start counting down from 10. The next thing you know, you're awake in the recovery room and you don't remember anything that just happened to you. How exactly did anesthesiologists manage to get you safely into that state and back out again? Guest host John Dankosky talks with Dr. Louise Sun, professor of anesthesiology, perioperative and pain medicine at Stanford University Health and Dr. Gunisha Kaur, anesthesiologist, director of the Human Rights Impact Lab, and medical director of Weill Cornell Center for Human Rights at Weill Cornell Medicine about the basics of how anesthesia works.

Look out for those bloodthirsty trees and turn every sentence you speak into a question as we run incomprehensibly towards M. Knight Shyamalan's The Happening.  Who told Mark Wahlberg that acting smaht just meant raising the inflection of your voice up at the end of everything? Is Zooey Deschanel the only cinematic example of the Depressive Pixie Dream Girl? (And if so, thank god for that.) And can we all just agree no one ever wants travel hot dogs? Like Marky Mark, we've got more questions than answers with this episode. 

Welcome to our Podcast #3,005! Here's a link to our Costa Rica Pura Vida Amazon Products Store!  Happy Shopping! ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠https://www.costaricagoodnewsreport.com/costaricaproductsamazon.html⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠ We appreciate your listening and hope you find the time to go through the 100's of episodes that we have recorded already.  They're short, so listen to a few every day!  I promise you will learn all you need to know about one of the happiest countries on the planet!  Here's some links that will get you started in learning more about Costa Rica! You've GOT TO SEE our "Costa Rica Good News Report" Website: ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠www.costaricagoodnewsreport.com⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠ If you're thinking about moving to Costa Rica, we can assist! Visit "Royal Palms Costa Rica Real Estate". . we are DEDICATED BUYER'S AGENTS.  Check out our website at ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠www.costaricaimmigrationandmovingexperts.com/buyersagent.html⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠ Here's our NEW Costa Rica Good News Report YouTube Channel. Over 500 Short, Entertaining Videos that will get you excited about Costa Rica: ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠https://www.youtube.com/@thecostaricagoodnewsreport/videos⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠ Check out an amazing travel website catering to those travelers age 50 and over! Dozens of incredible expert contributors writing about so many destinations:  ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠https://www.travelawaits.com/⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠ Here's our 1st contribution to the TravelAwaits website:  ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠https://www.travelawaits.com/2789789/questions-to-ask-if-thinking-about-retiring-in-costa-rica/⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠ Here's a link to our 2nd article on the TravelAwaits website as promised: ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠https://www.travelawaits.com/2798638/tips-for-driving-in-costa-rica/⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠ Here's a link to our 3rd article on the TravelAwaits website: ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠https://www.travelawaits.com/2794704/how-to-gain-residency-status-in-costa-rica/⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠ Check out our NEW COSTA RICA LOVE STORIES!  There's ONE THING BETTER than falling in love. . falling in love in COSTA RICA!  Here's the link: ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠https://www.costaricagoodnewsreport.com/lovestories.html⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠ So many GOOD-NEWS stories coming out of Costa Rica.  We'd love to share them with all of you!  Way over 100 stories ready right now.  Learn all about one if the Happiest Countries on the Planet. . Costa Rica!  Here's a link: ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠https://vocal.media/authors/skip-licht⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠ Become a "COSTA RICA PURA VIDA" Brand Ambassador & Share the LIFESTYLE with EVERYONE! Here's the link: ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠https://www.costaricagoodnewsreport.com/brandambassador.html --- Send in a voice message: https://podcasters.spotify.com/pod/show/costa-rica-pura-vida/message

Do you know what day it is on April 22?   On behalf of the Health Made Simple Team, Happy Earth Day!   We're celebrating by discussing one of the most important (and politicized) topics out there right now: the state of our climate, and how it impacts our health.   We're discussing important topics like: •How harmful chemicals are seeping into our drinking water and the bed you sleep in. •The harsh reality of how bad pollution has REALLY gotten. •5 easy changes you can make TODAY to make the planet a healthier place.   It's never too late to make our world a better place, so what are you waiting for?   How are you committing to showing Mother Nature some love this Earth Day? Let us know in the comments!   To know more about Dr. Bart Precourt go to balance30a.com ▸Instagram: @drbartprecourt ▸Facebook: @drbartprecourt

The 4:51 crew gather again for a mix of business and foolery. The crew sets up an intervention to address those hurt in the midst of Alan's on-going conflict with Mother Nature. The crew discusses the poor life decisions of Adam as he watched the Starby between Sharta and Josh Gatt's former team. Of course, there is discussion of the Miami draw and upcoming Sacramento match this Saturday. Denis shows up late and leaves early while Jaime falls asleep in a rocking chair only to wake at 2am with his contact lenses glued to his eye balls. Enjoy the show! --- Send in a voice message: https://podcasters.spotify.com/pod/show/451podcast/message Support this podcast: https://podcasters.spotify.com/pod/show/451podcast/support

"Mother Nature does not create monocultures". Paying attention to the climate and our soil is something we need to be focusing on these days. I sat down and chatted with Ian Williams on why we should care about climate change and regenerative agriculture and what we can do today to help.In this episode Ian talks about…His story and background in drugs and alcohol and how he turned his life aroundWhy he was more into holistic and integrative practices of health and wellnessWhy he is involved in regenerative agriculture and climate changeDescribes his book “Soil & Spirit: Seeds of Purpose, Nature's Insight, & the Deep Work of Transformational Change”And so so much more, you want to listen all the way to the end. Such an enriching conversation, I could listen to Ian talk for hours and hope you feel the same. Ian's Bio: Years of addiction and recovery forced Ian to relentlessly pursue self-awareness and behavior modification. Decades of talk therapy, deep immersion in the energy arts, and a single mystical experience led him to a discovery: the only way out is in. In other words, the way to transform the world is to transform ourselves.That is why, when it comes to scaling solutions to global challenges, Ian believes in the power of people. As a teacher and business advisor, he understands that systemic change applied to the epicenters of culture (individuals) and environmental impact (organizations), can reshape the world for the better.Ian is a gifted speaker and process facilitator who leverages a background in education and regenerative design to generate simple solutions for complex challenges. He holds a Masters of Public Affairs, with an emphasis in Leadership Strategy and Organizational Culture from the University of Minnesota, Humphrey School. Connect to Ian: Email: ian@reviveuandi.comWebsite: https://www.reviveuandi.comWebsite: https://www.stillpointinsight.comLinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/ian-c-williamsFacebook: https://www.facebook.com/reviveuandiInstagram: https://www.instagram.com/reviveuandiSupport the showPlease support this podcast: https://patreon.com/therootofourhealthJoin my emailing list for monthly updates including podcast episodes and launching of Healthy Achievher executive health coaching - http://bit.ly/monthlyupdatesemailEmail me: therootofourhealth@gmail.com

Learn more about this episode and see Maraya's Special Offer: https://bit.ly/3GgHwWU ================== Make sure not to miss a single video from the New Earth One Network! Click here to subscribe: https://bit.ly/3e6dtX3 ================== New Earth One Network Podcasts, Courses and Webinars to help you live in the Heart, in Balance, in Higher Self Connection Heart-centered wisdom and spiritual technology for New Earth Living. Register for free courses and get free Plant Music Remedy MP3: https://newearthone.com ================== Register for our Zoom Audience for upcoming Quantum Conversations: http://www.acoustichealth.com ==================

People are not good at relaxation. It gets lost in the shuffle of your busy life. Here is a menu of relaxation techniques and the reasons why you should make the effort to change your ways. You have exactly ONE LIFE and you are the only one that can curate your experience. Take ten minutes now and see what's here for you! If you want to contact or coach with me,  Wakeupwithjoni@gmail.com wakeupwithjoni.com

Many of us in the Western World have lost our connection to Mother Nature. In the Great Rise of consciousness now during the Aquarian Age, we're experiencing a reclamation and remembrance of our Plant Allies and their medicine and wisdom!! May this episode fill the mind, heart, soul and spirit with a wild dance, as we sink back into the essence of our primal relations… today's interview brings us back to the plants, and the land that holds their steady medicine + growth. Join us as we sit with Shannon Mulligan-Mayernik, an herbalist, plant medicine maker and Co-Owner of Mayernik Kitchen, as well as Beekeeper & Educator of all things local and homemade. We explore: - Shannon's journey into plant medicine and the creation of Mayernik Kitchen - how to find your plant ally - going on plant walks (even in the city!) - weeds as Mother Nature's gift - the most powerful plants  - wild harvesting + foraging - how to create your own plant medicine  - shift of collective consciousness from allopathy to natural medicine  - potential side effects of herbal medicine - how to get started on your path, no matter where you're at Connect with Shannon Mayernik Website: https://www.mayernikkitchen.com/ Instagram: @mayernikkitchen Join THE TABLE Membership (doors close this Sunday 4/16!): https://www.mayernikkitchen.com/the-table

Join Premium! Ready for an ad-free meditation experience? Join Premium now and get every episode from ALL of our podcasts completely ad-free now! Just a few clicks makes it easy for you to listen on your favorite podcast player.  Become a PREMIUM member today by going to --> https://WomensMeditationNetwork.com/premium Sink into the soothing sounds of the ocean, The soft melodies that lull you to sleep, The comforting blankets of nature covering you, And connecting you to her,  To the water, The fish, The birds, The wind, The trees, The sand. Surrender to the ocean, and fall into deep, peaceful sleep. JOURNAL PROMPTS: Before Bed Write down any good memories or experiences you've had with the ocean? How do you feel when you envision the ocean? In the Morning How can you connect with Mother Nature today?  

This week Elite Series winner Bryan Schmitt joins to talk about his 2023 Classic performance, the daily grind and the remaining events on the schedule. 

Admit it, we've all seen videos and photos of spectacular outdoor living areas that make your house seem like …. Well, I've put together some simple ideas on ways you can upgrade your outdoor space…so that it becomes almost like a magnet. The more comfortable it is for you and your family, the more time you will spend outdoors in the fresh air…and if you are a regular listener to this show, and I hope you are or will be, you know that I love any excuse that gets me out of a building and into Mother Nature…and of course cooking something is just a bonus in my world! So here's a few ways that you can turn your outdoor living area into a social Mecca