MEND Season 3 - Episode 45

Mama Bear

Hello.  

Welcome back.  

You may notice a couple changes around here

For starters, you may have logged how it’s only 1 voice you’re now hearing at the beginning of this show - instead of two.  

Yes, this means what you think it means, my friends.

My beloved friend & co-creator Anne Fricke is temporarily stepping down from her work on this show.  

She is in a season of her life - as you will hear inside this chat I ahd with her a week back - where there is much calling for her attention and her care.

And so, after much talk back and forth, she has decided to step back for a season of this podcast.  

Doing that amazing thing that women have been taught never to do - of saying No - for this moment in time - to this tiny tributary - so that she can dive deep into the other currents, maybe even Oceans of possiblity that are waiting for her to explore.  

But I’ll let her tell you more about those.

You may have noticed that there’s a slightly different through-line for the stories we’re collecting this season.  

If I had to strip it down to one enduring thought moving forward for ths show - it would be -

What do you believe?

What truths do you hold in your innermost heart?

And what actions are you taking out there in the world - to see those truths take form?

As I’ll be doing in many of the interviews to come - I asked Anne where she feels herself called to work and serve and mend right now - and in answer, as she often does, she presented us with a beautiful poem - which I hope you’ll listen through to the end to hear - it’s - as always - a full-fledged treat.  

She references the Mama Bear - & the Mama Bobcat - and which one She feels called to be at this place and time.

Preparing to share this chat with you - which you’ll find I’ve left mostly raw & unfiltered - come as you are and take what you need - I pulled a card from my favorite deck - the Animal Medicine Cards from Jamie Sams & David Carson - and it is these words I wanted to share with you….

”This can be a very difficult power totem for you to have….

It involved lessons on the use of power in leadership.

It is the ability to lead without insisting that others follow.

It is the understanding that all beings are potential leaders in their own ways.

The use and abuse of power in a postioin of influence are part of this medicine.

If she has come to you in dreams… it is a time to stand on your convictions and lead yourself where you heart takes you.  

Others may choose to follow, and the lessons will multiply.  

The pitfalls are many, but the rewards are great.”

It is with this spirit in mind, that I am pleased and tickled and honored to present to you - this - our maiden voyage of MEND Season 3.  

Thank you for sharing the journey with us.  

As always, if you resonate with what we’re sharing here and owuld like to let us know, leave us a comment or rating in iTunes.  It boosts our visibility and lets others know.

If you have thoughts or dreams or ideas or living breathing examples of people out there in the world - doing marvelous things - drop us a line and hip us to them!  You can reach us @ mendpodcast@gmail.com

And keep showing up.

Keep listening.

Keep speaking

Keep roaring, moving & doing the work that is needed in this world.

We are so happy you are here.  

MEND Season 2 - Episode 44

Season Finale & Wrap-Up with Amy & Anne

It was a season begun with tea.

Sitting down to enjoy the art of conversation and contemplating what it might be like to move inside a world where we begin to value one another, this earth, beauty, thoughts, feelings, creative expression & simple self-determination - over the stingy value of a paycheck?

What would it look like to live inside a world that values it's people above it’s property?

That values it’s heart above it’s hierarchical standing in the larger world?

That values Nature above the supposed resources which it can provide us?

What would it look like to inhabit, move into, and begin to imagine a world like that?

Can we make it?

Can we find it?

Can we begin to converse & thereby imagine it into being?

These were some of the questions we set out to explore on this past season of MEND.

And so, we sat down - once more - teacups in hand - to reflect back on the conversations we’ve had.

To see what we’ve learned - how we’ve shifted - and how we can continue to move toward a future that is altogether different than the past - the present we now know.

What would it look like for two ordinary, inexpert people to begin to live differently - to uplift and inspire others to do so as well?

What if we believed these imperfect hearts and hands held some piece of the great MENDING that is needed in the world right now?

What if you belived it too?

What if we all jumped on board and rode that train to it’s completion?

Where would it lead?

Join us as we sit with these - and a few other questions - besides.

Here’s to the cups of tea we’ve shared inside this space.

And the conversations - visions - and movements - they’ve inspired - along the way

Cheers.

MEND Season 2 - Episode 42

The Culture that We Create..

with Anne & Amy

First, let's define our terms.  

(With a little assistance from our pal, Wikipedia.) 

Culture.  

As in...

..."the social behavior and norms found in human societies"

As in...

..."the set of customs, traditions, and values of a society or community, such as an ethnic group or nation"...

As in...

..."the set of knowledge acquired over time"...

As in...

..."the development of a philosophical soul, ... (or) the highest possible ideal for human development"...

As in...

..."all the ways in which human beings overcome their original barbarism, and through artifice, become fully human."

As in...

..."to inhabit a place sufficiently intensive to cultivate it—to be responsible for it, to respond to it, to attend to it caringly"..

As in, something We create.  Inhabit.  Something we must be constantly tending, examining. sifting through and excavating what is useful, what is good, what is worth keeping and what is now ready to leave behind.  

This week, we sit down and ponder what is happening right now inside this country and the dominant culture there.  We look at our responses.  And examine it all through the rich and multi-faceted lens of our earlier conversation with Lyla June Johnston - poet, activist, scholar, and proud conduit of LOVE.  

What is an appropriate response to injustice?

How do we react when we feel the anger rising just beneath our skin, but in our hearts we wish to conduit peace, and lasting transformation?

How do we respond to the braided truths that we carry?  Do we abscond with the pieces of our selves and our past which we can no longer stomach?  Which we can no longer abide?  Or do we willingly and bravely turn towards them, confront them and gently start to shift the way the tide is turning?  

Apologies, in advance for the sound recording herein.  As usual, we had some kerfuffles with technology and ended up just sharing this conversation as is - A phone call between friends.  Two women, shooting from the hip, and speaking from the heart.  Grappling with the questions.  Somehow attempting to live our way - with you - into an Answer.  

Enjoy.  

MEND Season 2 - Episode 33

Financial Capital with Bari Tessler

"Money is like love; it kills slowly and painfully the one who withholds it, and enlivens the other who turns it on his fellow man."

~Kahlil Gibran

This week we delved into a realm that was, admittedly, uncomfortable at first, and seemed perhaps counterpoint to the intention of this season.  It was, however, written into the framework that we have chosen to follow, so we forged ahead into the realm of Financial Capital. The resulting talk we had was far more inspiring and cohesive with our motivations that we would have thought even possible.  Bari Tessler, is a Financial Therapist, a Mamaprenuer and the founder of the Art of Money, book and year-long program described is “Financial Therapy for your Soul”.  

A large part of Bari’s work is helping people understand how money connects to our bodies and our emotions.  For her there is a direct connection between Financial Literacy and Emotional Intelligence. 

We spoke about our relationship to money…as women, as products of our educational and cultural system, as member in a partnership, and as mothers….and the importance of understanding this relationship.  She offers us a glimpse into the work she does with others by offering some advice and gems of wisdom when dealing with the ebbs and flows of our financial story.  She even manages to bring in a bit of Zen Buddhism and discusses how we can work through our own Money Koans.  

This is a money talk like you have probably never had.  So pour a cup of tea, grab a pen and paper for notes…and enjoy.