Special Series E3 | Play and Creativity in Uncertain Times with Toan Lam
The Recess Life with Louise Wo
Release Date: 04/15/2020
S4 E9 | An End of the Year Life Update
The Recess Life with Louise Wo
Holy moly, where has the year gone? I jump on the mic to say hello and share a quick life update. I talk about what I am learning in this season of life and what this might mean for the future of the podcast. (Hint: the topics of lifelong play and creativity isn’t going anywhere!) Have an amazing end of 2021 and happy new year! For the shownotes from this episode visit . You can also follow us on Instagram @therecesslife. If you enjoyed this episode please share this with a friend and give us a review on iTunes!
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S4 E8 | Play for our Shared Humanity with Jeff Harry
The Recess Life with Louise Wo
We are starting 2021 with more tensions than ever. What is it going to take to bring us together from all across the different spectrums? Could play be the answer? In this episode I speak with Jeff Harry, positive psychology coach, speaker, workshop facilitator and my favorite person to collaborate with on TikTok! We discuss the choice between understanding and being right and the power of play to heal our divisions. We talk about what Jeff has learned about how play can change the world through everything from consulting for companies like Google and Facebook to being a black man. In...
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S4E7 | Embodiment and Play with Shawnrey Notto
The Recess Life with Louise Wo
When Shawnrey Notto describes embodiment, it sounds like it has a lot in common with play: engaging the senses, feeling fully alive, savoring every moment. Yet most of us understand play as a concept way more than embodiment. In this episode, I speak with Shawnrey, a sex and intimacy coach and dancer about how embodiment and play are interconnected and how both are key to feeling fully alive. How can we feel good when a lot of our worldly pleasures have been stripped away from the pandemic? Embodiment might just be the answer. In this episode we talk about: The...
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S4 E6 | Playing with Gratitude (solo episode)
The Recess Life with Louise Wo
Thanksgiving is upon us and some of us are having trouble finding gratitude this year. I don't blame you AT ALL. It would be easy to brush off finding gratitude as a silly tradition and one that is unnecessary this year but I want to offer a different perspective. In this episode I share some science and studies on the importance of gratitude and a different way to approach it than your daily "5 Things to be Grateful for" list. I help you to think of gratitude as a fun playful activity and where to find the opportunities in our constraints this holiday season. For shownotes:...
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S4 E5 | Conditions for Play with Gwen Gordon
The Recess Life with Louise Wo
Right now it's easy to look around and wonder if our country can get to a place of collective joy. In this expansive conversation with Emmy award-winning creative director, author and speaker, Gwen Gordon, we talk about how play and joy is the foundation for the world we want to create. The transformation starts with a belief of safety, love and connection. Get ready for a heart-warming and beautifully challenging episode. In this conversation We talk about why safety is at the core of transformation how play is possible no matter our life circumstances why play doesn't need to be a part of...
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S4 E4 | Beyond American Idol with William Hung
The Recess Life with Louise Wo
In 2004, William Hung was thrust into the limelight with the American Idol audition heard around the world. His famous rendition of "She Bangs" by Ricky Martin received attention that ranged from praise to ridicule. I talked to William about his journey from his American Idol audition and beyond and how he has maintained a positive playful spirit in the process. We discuss embracing the uncertainty of following your curiosity and his current transition to move back in to the public spotlight. In this conversation We talk about his journey to get on American Idol how he dealt with the...
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S4 E3 | Never Leave the Playground with Stephen Jepson
The Recess Life with Louise Wo
Falls are the leading cause of death for seniors aged 65+. Of those seniors that survive a fall a majority of them will never live independently. That is a scary statistic that Stephen Jepson decided he would do something about. Stephen is the creator of Never Leave the Playground, where he teaches his philosophy of lifetime activity and play. At 80 years old he can juggle, tight rope walk and ride a unicycle. That's just scratching the surface of what he can do! He believes these activities will change everyone's lives, not just seniors, to live a long, healthy and playful life. In this...
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S4 E2 | Walk Run Reinvention with Laura Nix
The Recess Life with Louise Wo
As an immigrant and refugee the last thing on your mind would likely be anything creative and playful. For Chinese-Vietnamese immigrants Paul and Millie Cao, this was their story until a few years ago. The documentary short Walk Run Cha Cha explores their story of fleeing Vietnam and how they are reinventing themselves now through ballroom dance. In this episode, I spoke with Laura Nix, the Oscar-nominated director of Walk Run Cha Cha about her process in creating the film and the themes she explored around dance, immigration and reinvention in middle-age. We talked about how creating...
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S4E1 | Born to Dance with Peter Lovatt
The Recess Life with Louise Wo
You are born to dance. Yes, you. Think about it. As babies we wiggle about and giggle when we hear music that piques our curiosity. No one teaches us how to do that - we just know! So why do we grow up and become balls of anxiety when we see a dance floor? Dr. Peter Lovatt's work in dance and psychology explores that question. He is a former professional dancer, psychologist, author and keynote speaker who is leading the way for us to look at dance differently in our culture. We had a wonderful conversation that expanded beyond dance and into the way creativity and the arts are valued in...
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Special Series E8 | Christianity, COVID and Reconnecting after 20 Years
The Recess Life with Louise Wo
We are back with part two of the conversation with Alison Calhoun. In this episode we tackle our perspectives on coronavirus and break down her Facebook post: "When you stand up for something you believe in and people don't like it you've officially detached yourself from the chains of approval. Feels darn good. Keeping abortion clinics open as an essential business during a pandemic that threatens the lives of the vulnerable is the biggest double standard on the face of this planet. Please don't tell me this shutdown is a good idea because it saves lives and then fund the killing of unborn...
info_outlineSPECIAL SERIES INSPIRED BY THE COVID-19 CRISIS: Play and Creativity in Uncertain Times
We are in a time where it's really hard to think about play and creativity in the conventional ways. Performance venues, movie theaters, events, TV and movie productions are all shut down. We can't take creative classes or laugh with our friends in real life. I have struggled to talk about play in my typical way so I turned to the creative people in my world to learn how they are dealing with time. How has this crisis affected their creativity? How are they rethinking play during this time? What have they learned about themselves that can be relevant to us?