A Satisfied Mind

I met Polina as I wandered into the grounds of an Albergue one very cold morning  looking for a coffee whilst walking the Camino de Santiago. There was a sign they had put out on the Camino just the day before saying, 'warm up' with an arrow pointing away from the path. I followed it and found myself at Alberuge Amanecer.

There I had a coffee and some fresh banana bread but it was the conversation with Polina that really moved me. Polina is 26 years of age and with her parents, recently fled their home in Mariupol, Ukraine.  They have come to Spain and the Camino seeking refuge and to work, to build a new home and establish a new community.

I was deeply moved by talking with Polina and asked her if I could share her story. This conversation is some of it.

Link to the Facebook group mentinoed - TBC

Alberuge Amanecer is where Polina and her family work, please support them if you find yourself on the Camino. 

This was an impromptu episode. I was walking in between Hontillas de Camino and Castrojeriz on the Camino de Santiato and pulled over to share some thoughts. Perhaps it was the fact I had been walking all day with only my thoughts to keep me company that had me inspired to share, I was craving conversation!

I hope, despite the wind and poor recording conditions, that you enjoy this episode. It's very low-fi but talking about some hi-fidelity feels.

The podcast interview with Francis Weller I mentioned is here

And you can find more of Francis' work here

This conversation with Rainier Wylde is great example of why I created this podcast. 

To learn from people and their lived experience. To provide an opportunity for others to share their stories. To connect more deeply with people at a time when slow, intentional, consciously nurtured connections are replaced by desperate dopamine benders and superficial scrolling frenzies. 

To learn to listen better. To practice asking better questions. 

To share the wisdom and perspective of others who are generous enough to share their lives, their lessons and their own questions with me. 

Rainier has plenty to share and does so with a poetic meter informed by a life of well lived experiences. 

We dive straight into it as Rainier shares his experience of grieving the recent loss of his father. In his signature storytelling style, Rainier shares stories of key moments - both big and small, all profound, key moments that have changed his life and helped him connect to a greater sense of appreciation and awe for it all, especially the seemingly insignificant moments. 

Here's some of what we cover:

• Grief and why we find it so hard to deal with death and endings 
• His upbringing with in an evangelical sect and core lessons learned
• Falls from grace
• Facing his own shadow and history of infidelity, keeping agreements and redemption
• His creative process - paying attention to life
• Why a Negroni is the perfect metaphor for life

It's an inspiring conversation - it's raw, honest and heartfelt.

For more information on Rainier and how to access more of his work:

Rainer Wylde on Instagram
Into the Wylde on Substack
Work with Rainier

Thanks for listening.

Michael

You can feel the power of Mariam's presence through this conversation, and it's a beautiful thing. 

Mariam arrived in Melbourne from her Somali homeland as a refugee in 1998 with her husband, four children and a fifth on the way. Her story begins well before this however and we explore some pivotal stories, memories and lessons learned from this time. 

Having settled in Brighton, Melbourne, Mariam cofounded RAW-Resilient Aspiring Women in 2012, a not-for-profit organisation focused on building community and social spaces for women to connect in.

She launched her autobiography, A Resilient Life, in 2012, and continued to share her experience and commitment to improving refugee's lives by sitting on the board of Asylum Seekers Resource Centre, serving as an ambassador for Refugee Council of Australia and a Director at Family Peace.

Mariam continues to share her experience and commitment to improving refugee’s lives by sitting on the board of Asylum Seekers Resource Centre, serving as an ambassador for Refugee Council of Australia and a Director at Family Peace. 

She is an International Women’s Forum member and co-founder of Space2b, an art and design based social enterprise established to support asylum seekers, refugees and newly arrived migrants. 

She was recently awarded the Ambassador of Peace award from the Universal Peace Federation – in recognition of her on-going work promoting social cohesion amongst Melbourne’s culturally diverse population. She is regularly invited to speak to different community groups and featured in national Australian TV, radio and press.

We conver so much ground in this conversation and we go deep early. We discuss:

• Growth, transformation and evolution through challenge
• Catalysing grief into grace
• Integrating stories and experience into wisdom
• Elderhood and the desperate need for the wisdom of elders
• A profound story her grandmother shared with Mariam, this metaphor was a highlight of the conversation for me

I hope you enjoy this conversation as much as I did, my heart was full and I hope you feel the warmth and presence this conversation generated.

For more information and to follow Mariam's work:

Website: www.mariamissa.com.au
Instagram: @mariamissaofficial

To subscribe to A Satisfied Mind Journal and read previous entries, check it out here. 

Thanks for listening,

Michael

I head Lael Stone speak recently at an event about a school she founded, Woodline Primary, which focusses on a holistic and heart-lead approach to education. This is just one of the many ways in which Lael is changing the way we give raise and educate children from pre-natal to adolescence. 

Leal created the ‘About Birth’ program  after working with thousand of parents, children, families and identifying the need for a more connected and empathetic approach to assisting mothers and babies who had experienced trauma. About Birth has become Australia’s leading online childbirth program.

She’s been a Calmbirth practitioner, postnatal trauma counsellor, and Aware Parenting instructor. As her own children grew up she developed a sex education curriculum for secondary schools and has delivered a Ted Talk on How to Raise Emotionally Intelligent Children'.

She’s a podcast host of the very popular and successful ‘The Aware Parenting’ podcast with co host. Marion Rose and has just written a best selling book called ‘Raising Resilient and Compassionate Children’.

Oh, and as previously mentioned she’s founded a school - Woodline Primary that is revolutionising education by fostering connection and awareness through supporting and nurturing the whole child.

In this episode we talk about all the above and focus on:

• Childhood trauma - what is it and how can we prevent it?
• What is 'aware parenting' and how can we do it?
• How to address childhood trauma as an adult
• How to raise emotionally inteligent children as a parent and teacher
• Trauma and re-parenting ourselves as adults

Lael Stone's Website

The Aware Parenting podcast

Raising Resilient and Compassionate Children book

Woodline Primary School

Subscribe to A Satisfied Mind newsletter

Thanks for listening,

Michael

Shadow work.

You may be familiar with it, you may have done some, perhaps you're well acquainted with your shadow. Maybe you have no idea what this all means but have heard people talking about it.

It's work what has fascinated, compelled and challenged me for most of my life and specifically the past couple of years working with Kerrie.

For context, her bio is a compelling introduction to this work and the topic of this conversation:

"Kerrie works at the crossroads of vision, creativity and imagination as an author, tarot reader, shadow guide and practicing witch. Her first book Morsel was released in early 2022 after a decade of writing online. Making her home on the wild east coast of Australia Kerrie works worldwide online, guided by the moon and stars above and earth below, intentionally creating safe curated spaces for you to connect to your path and power, your soul self and your innate guidance.

With a decades old background in natural and alternative therapies, plant and magical lore and a deep commitment to ongoing learning, Kerrie is passionate about reflecting your innate wisdom back to you in myriad forms."

In this episode we discuss:

• What is our shadow, and does everyone have one?
• How might we come to understand and integrate our shadow?
• The role of trauma, shame and guilt in shadow work
• How Kerrie came to be doing this kind of work
• The cultural, environmental and familial contexts in which our shadow is both formed and projected

It's a deep dive into places we tend to avoid, but are ultimately so liberating and rewarding. I hope you enjoy this conversation and if you'd prefer to watch, I've uploaded it onto YouTube here. 

For more information on Kerrie's work, check out her website.

You can buy her book, Morsel, here.

Follow her in Instagram here.


Please like, share, rate and subscribe to this podcast and newsletter. Your support, comments and feedback are appreciated. 

Cheers,

Michael

Since it was founded in 2008, the social enterprise Thankyou has raised over $17.5 million dollars for its impact partners on a mission to eradicate extreme poverty. Thankyou has always done things differently, taken risks and creatively disrupted systems that need to change and it's been quite the rollercoaster.

From their original campaign to sell bottled water to  fund life-changing water projects in developing nations, to abandoning that campaign (you can read about why below), Thankyou has been quick to adapt and has never shied away from setting audacious goals.

There was the cheeky marketing campaign that leveraged the support of customers and community to encourage Coles and Woolies to stock Thankyou (it worked), to the most recent campaign to leverage the reach and power of the biggest product companies in the world to partner with Thankyou and redistribute profits to impact partners (a work in progress - check out the 'no small plan' link below)

Oh, and there was the best-selling, groundbreaking book 'Chapter One' that documents it all, albeit in a typically unconventional way. 

It's been a fascinating journey and I've always been fascinated by the people who make this kind of big, systemic change happen. In this case, its Daniel Flynn.

In this episode we talk about the challenges of running a purpose driven social enterprise during a time of rampant capitalism, during a pandemic whilst up against the might and power and control of global multinationals.

And, we talk about the personal challenges that Daniel experiences as he grows as a human, a husband, a father and a leader.

I hope you enjoy this conversation as much as I did.

Michael

Thankyou website  

The 7-Eleven campaign

The Coles & Woolworths campaign  

Chapter One book

Why Thankyou is no longer selling bottled water

No Small Plan campaign

To subscribe to the Satisfied Mind newsletter - join us here.

Self awareness in leadership. It's a hot topic that deserves far more attention than it gets. There's plenty of books on both, but too few on how to combine and apply both in practice.

Cassandra Goodman's new book, 'Being True - How to Be Yourself at Work' does just that, and it is brilliant. Not only does it provide a compelling call to action for why this work is essential now, it provides clear principles and practices to make this a very handy guide for transforming the way you lead and live your life.

Cassie uses the IFS framework and applies it to leadership. It's a beautiful marriage and one that cuts through all the jargon and platitudes of leadership while providing a clear and concise guide for practice.

I loved this book and was so excited to dig into it with Cassie in this conversation. I hope you enjoy this conversation as much as I did and I know you're going to learn plenty.

For more information and links mentioned in this episode:

The Centre for Self Fidelity

Buy the book here - Being True

Richard Schwartz - 'Greater Than the Sum of Our Parts'

In this episode I talk with director, Genevieve Bailey about the power of storytelling. We talk specifically about the stories we tell about men, mental health, masculinity and diversity. This conversation was inspired by her film, Happy Sad Man.

Happy Sad Man is a beautiful documentary and it's an important one. With deft sensitivity it features the stories of five men who each have various experiences of living with mental health challenges.

I hope you enjoy this conversation and I hope it's a catalyst for more meaningful conversations for you and the people you love.

If you'd like to join us for a special screening of Happy Sad Man in Melbourne on the 8th December, DM me directly on Instagram or  click here.

For screenings around the country happening now, click here.

For the Happy Sad Man trailer and website, click here. 

Thanks for listening,

Michael

Hi,

Just dipping my toes back in, I feel a bit nervous putting out a new episode after a break. This one is just shaking off the cobwebs.

Links mentioned:

Happy Sad Man Film

The Mancave

Ben Bohmer set from a hot air balloon in Cappadocia

Thanks for listening,

Michael