I began this post Thursday morning. I am writing this new beginning on Friday morning.

On Thursday morning I was eager to write and eager to post, but because I want the new blog year to be more intentional and credible, I paused on publishing. I wanted to take the time to read and reread and offer links to sources where available.

On Friday morning (about one hour ago as I type this), I woke up to a text from a friend sharing some information that is quite difficult to integrate. Overall, there was not a lot of information shared but one thing is definitive – the person we both knew is no longer alive.

The person was special. The person knew suffering and made space for other people’s suffering. The person was inclusive and made decisions that they felt were equitable and humanizing. In my experience, people mattered to this person and this person mattered to people.

This person saw through a younger version of me. Rather than what appeared naive and ungrounded, the person felt the energy that propelled the language and ideas.

The person offered me a job at a special place. It began five years of my most significant learning. When offered, the person specifically said that what the school needed was the gift I had to offer – love. This person believed in me.

I share a link below to a podcast interview between Esther Perel and Brene Brown. In the interview, Esther speaks of suffering. She says there has always been suffering, but there was community to bear witness and be in the suffering with one another. I use the term ‘bear witness’ as language connected to my Yoga training I also mention in the post below. Life is not about removing one’s own suffering or the suffering of others, it’s to be able to be in the suffering together – not alone.

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I feel eager to begin a new blog year.

I paused the blog this past August when I began a Yoga teaching training with Jordan Smiley of Courageous Space in Denver, CO.

I took the Yoga training to learn from Jordan. Jordan names the training Sacred Activism. My intention was not becoming a Yoga facilitator. However, I anticipate facilitating Yin/Vin and Restorative practices in my role as a “continually emerging” wellbeing facilitator.

I have flirted with blog writing for a bit longer than a decade. I blogged weekly throughout 2020 and 2021 which resulted in my self published books titled something more. connecting to the pulse of a shared humanity, and abetterway. using inner resources to create your own algorithm.

I created themes for 2020, 2021, 2022, and 2023. 2024 had a ‘Book Club’ focus, but I didn’t complete the year.

For 2025, I’d like to do a mash-up of a daily blog and weekly newsletter I am familiar with that do well. Tim Ferriss sends a weekly newsletter that shares five things he is listening to, reading, watching, and generally interested in. Seth Godin blogs daily. He said something on a podcast listen that I haven’t forgotten: ‘what do writers do? they write…what do bloggers do? they blog.’ He also names his blog Seth’s blog…and yes, I mimicked. I didn’t think he’d care. I like the simplicity of his blog site.

For today’s post I’d like to share a few podcast listens that have stuck with me.

Living Beyond Human Scale

I had not thought about this concept, or rather – put language to what is easily observable. Brene Brown opened up a series of podcasts with the general theme of what it means to live beyond human scale. In this interview with Esther Perel she tells the story of being in a hair salon when a man told her she looked like she ‘got shot out of a cannon’. He went on to tell her about what human scale meant to new pilots starting out in two seater planes. The pilots felt everything. He then said pilots quickly adapt and want more – want to go faster and higher. In the jet, if the pilot is present they will die. The pilot needs to be 60-90 seconds ahead of the moment. Paradoxically, a term shared in the story is controlled flight into terrain. This is when a jet pilot crashes but thought they had control until the minute all were dead. Ex: The pilot never lost control but flew right into the side of the mountain.

I have enjoyed all the (very intentional) podcasts Brene has shared this year. In addition, she shared three interviews specific to nonviolent support of the Israeli and Palestinian people. All three interviews were shared with no revenue, advertisement or commercialization.

Ali Abu Awwad and Robi Damelin on Nonviolence as The Path to Freedom

Rula Daood and Alon-Lee Green on Standing Together

Khaled Elgindy on his book: Blind Spot: America and the Palestinians

Wim Hof Story

I have heard of Wim Hof over the years. I saw him lead a group of women a few years back on Gywneth Paltrow’s Goop series on Netflix – the title of the show was Cold Comfort.

I think I had an indifference to Wim Hof because of my own dislike of being cold – not the possibility of how breath can regulate one’s nervous system and change one’s perception of experience, thus change what is possible.

I love story. I love context. I stumbled onto an interview with Steven Bartlett and Wim Hof, and for the first time listened to Wim’s story. Wow.

I love Zach Bush

The first time I listened to this interview I got angry. I felt as if the content was too dense and it wasn’t fair to the listener for Andre and Zach to talk so academically to a general audience. I hesitated to listen again on a Saturday morning (as opposed to AFTER work while sitting in traffic), and I was entranced. I love Zach Bush. He is passion and intelligence, art and love. He is humanizing. He is disruption.

I would love to suggest the podcast Know Thyself as a weekly listen. I linked it to Spotify, but it is easy to find on YouTube and Apple, as well as others I’m sure.

I love Trevor Noah as well. He posts on Thursdays. It’s smart, funny, and relevant.

To end this post, I want to share an interview that I just listened to a few days ago. It’s a game changer for me. Super inspiring.

Andre interviews Mindy Pelz re: fasting and menopause…

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And with that…I end the first post of the new year.

I love and believe in the person that is no longer here physically. He loved his people – his family. His energetic presence is too big to not continue to influence for good. No doubt.

Lead. Love. Learn.

I love you DW. I believe in you.