Dr. Joye Hardiman: Cultural acticist
Vital Presence - Shaping the new story
Release Date: 09/07/2020
Christina Baldwin: Author of The Beekeeper's Question
Vital Presence - Shaping the new story
Author Christina Baldwin is a pioneer in the field of personal writing, a decades-long teacher of journal writing and story. In 2024, she released her debut novel, , a book I heartily recommend. We talk about a rich array of topics, including themes from the book, the relevance of a novel set during World War II to today, how Christina worked with a Native American advisor to make sure her story was appropriate and accurate, and the challenges and rewards of independent publishing.
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Vicki Robin—Coming of Aging
Vital Presence - Shaping the new story
Vicki Robin has been breaking ground throughout her career—now she's challenging how we think about aging with her Coming of Aging writings. We talk about the possibilities and paradoxes of aging. She challenged the stories of our times in 1992 with her seminal book written with Joe Dominguez, Your Money or Your Life, a book that challenged our obsessions with acquiring things rather than creating the time we need to live a rich life. She challenged us again with her book about eating locally with her book Blessing the Hands that Feed Us; Lessons from a 10-mile diet. She's a true social...
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CJ Miller The Spiritual Artist
Vital Presence - Shaping the new story
Chris Miller (CJ) is an entrepreneur, artist, writer, and speaker. He’s a lifelong Spiritual learner who has spent the last 20 years examining the creative process and its relationship to spirituality. He’s the author of the book, and produces a podcast by the same name in which he interviews artists and spiritual thought leaders. In addition, CJ holds yearly Spiritual Art Retreats where consciousness and art-making combine.
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Michael Williams: Storytelling as a Healing Practice
Vital Presence - Shaping the new story
Dr. Michael Williams is a Canadian-born storyteller who spent three decades living in Scotland, where he honed his skills as an oral storyteller. We talk about our mutual love of storytelling as we trace Michael's history as a contemporary bard, in Europe and Canada and his recent work with elders and hospice patients.
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Dr. Clarissa-Castillo Ramsey: Living and Leading Artfully
Vital Presence - Shaping the new story
Dr. Clarissa Castillo-Ramsey brings artfulness together with leadership and helping people grow. She is an organizational psychologist, artist, coach, and author of the book: .
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Francesca Aniballi: Fairy tales aren't just for kids
Vital Presence - Shaping the new story
Francesca Aniballi, PhD, uses fairy tales as a transformative tool for adults. She combines her knowledge of expressive arts, literature, myth, and Celtic culture, to offer us a path toward self-insight—tapping the healing power of the imagination.
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Sally Jean Fox: Following a Creative Call After Midlife
Vital Presence - Shaping the new story
younger? Author Sally Jean Fox made it her quest to discover what could bring heart and meaning to the second half of her life. She chronicles her story in her new memoir Meeting the Muse After Midlife: A Journey to Meaning, Creativity, and Joy. In this episode, she is joined by Dana Lynne Andersen, her friend, colleague, and teacher to explore what it means to follow an artful, transformative path into one's last decades. Dana Lynne Andersen is the Director of the Awakening Arts Academy in Assisi, Italy, where she offers courses and also leads a Transformative Arts Certification program,...
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Merle Saferstein: Writing and Sharing Your Legacy
Vital Presence - Shaping the new story
Legacy educator Merle Saferstein teaches the power of legacy journaling—capturing thoughts and memories that might be only for the writer's eyes but from which lessons might be shared with others. For 48 years, Merle Saferstein journaled, amassing a collection of 380 journals. From there she distilled key passages into two books Living and Leaving My Legacy Vols. 1 & 2 and interspersed her writings with tips on how to begin legacy journaling. Prior to writing her books, Merle spent twenty-six years as a Holocaust educator helping hundreds of Holocaust survivors to share their...
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Mik Kuhlman, The Actor as Activist
Vital Presence - Shaping the new story
Mik Kuhlman is an actor, physical theatre comedian, performance artist, theatre-maker, and teacher who has worked and taught globally. Building on her twenty-five years experience with original ensemble and solo theatre, she recently created a stunning outdoor performance and celebration of our connection with nature called, "The Standing Nation." Merging science and feminist inspiration, she performs a piece of art and activism that will forever change how you see trees.
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Gretchen Staebler: Walking your mother home
Vital Presence - Shaping the new story
Gretchen Staebler is an award-winning author in the Pacific Northwest who wrote a moving memoir about returning to her childhood home to care for her mother. It's a candid, complex, and well-crafted story that will be useful to anyone faced with providing end-of-life care or support for a family member. Gretchen also provides advice and support for caregivers at her website GretchenStaebler.com. In this interview, she offers some of her top tips for caregivers while talking about her own writing journey and how she produced her first book after sixty.
info_outlineDr. Joye Hardiman is a cultural activist who is showing us how to build a stronger tomorrow by learning from the artifacts and stories of the past. She is the producer (and star!) of Ancestral Art Works on YouTube. Joye has been an actress, a theatre director, scholar, writer, university professor, community activist, world traveler, storyteller, and higher education architect. She was the Executive Director of The Tacoma campus of the Evergreen State College urban campus and a member of the faculty.