Hey folks! I am back and this time I am talking withLaura Chung from the "⁠Awaken and Align⁠" Podcast about current short and long term astrological transits we are experiencing and how we can work with the changes that the outer planets are bringing as they all change signs this year. The song Laura picked to represent her 2025 was "PacMan" by Jae Park. I'll have a full playlist of songs from guests this season once the season closes. Also, I got some changes coming to the podcast that I discuss at the beginning of the episode. I plan on closing out this season soon and then shifting to creating my new podcast called "Embodied Strategic Dreaming". Stay tuned for more about that.

Music produced by Forest Brooks.

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Hey folks, welcome back! This time I am in conversation with my friend Donnell for a Thoughts While High. We are talking about grief and letting go of former versions of ourselves, leaning into creativity, music, hip hop, and the albums that have impacted us the most in 2024. It's a long but good one as the spirit of the plant helped guide us into the conversation we needed to have.

Donnell McLachlan is a writer, theologian, and social justice advocate working to create a more empathetic and inclusive society through writing, research, and storytelling. His research centers on black faith and life, including liberation theologies, womanist theology, and the spiritual and sociohistorical dimensions of hip-hop music and culture. In addition to his academic pursuits, McLachlan has a popular TikTok page with over 315,000 followers, where he shares insights on religious history, discusses religious deconstruction and decolonization, and offers social commentary. He was born and raised in Chicago, Illinois.

Songs selected by Donnell:

Boundaries by Big Sean

Know That You Are Loved by Cleo Sol

Man in the Garden by Kendrick Lamar

Music produced by Forest Brooks.

Ways to support and work with me:

⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠My ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠Website⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠ for consulting, dreaming, facilitation and speaking engagements.

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Welcome back and Happy Holidays ya'll! This episode I am in conversation with Kristianna Smith (she/they) about what it means to dream as a strategy of liberation. Or what I call "Strategic Dreaming" . What would it look like to lead with your dreams? What would it take for you to bring them into reality? Support for this podcast is always appreciated. Join my Patreon at just $5/month and help me keep the content free for folks to enjoy!

Kristianna Smith (she/they) is a visionary curious about how we bring our collective imagination to life.
They are a liberation cultural worker, published author, facilitator , theatre artist, educator, gardener, experience alchemist, intuitive, and Queer Black Abolitionist Mama intent on bringing the best of our collective imagination to life. They use play and theatre as mechanisms to dismantle institutional oppression and take up practices that move us closer to a structurally care-centered world.
Kristianna is the cultivator of many projects, most recently a written artwork that seeks to affirm and encourage folks as they seek to align their values with their day to day actions, Seed Packets for Liberated Practice: Harvesting Chaos Collection.

Kristianna uses their social media platforms to explore what it means to embody pleasure as a Black Queer Parent asking, "How might we bring what we dream into being?" Most days you’ll find them wandering through her garden (regardless of season) and learning from the lessons it offers.

In their whole, Kristianna practices generative conflict, embodied joy, and radical embodied dreaming.

Learn more about Kristianna and her practice at kristiannasmith.com

Socials
Instagram- @harvestingchaos
TikTok- @mochaeinstein27

Song selected was Lianna LaHavas "Weird Fishes"

Music Produced by Forest Brooks

Ways to support and work with me:

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Hey folks! I am back and this time it is just me and you as I talk about exchange and transaction. And here I argue that solidarity and coalition building require contracts and an understanding that we are all engaging in an exchange and transaction of some kind, so it needs to be stated and clearly understood. This is not capitalism, instead it is acknowledging capitalism has us all messed up and use to exploitation, so another way is being tried. Have a listen to hear more about this!

Check out my podcast playlist for interviews I have done on other platforms that speak more on capitalism, work, and why we have to break our attachments to it.

Music produced by Forest Brooks

Tickets for "Dreaming with the Ancestors: An Immersive Sound Incubator" can be found ⁠here⁠.

Ways to support and work with me:

⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠My ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠Website⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠ for consulting, dreaming, facilitation and speaking engagements.

⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠Patreon⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠ - please join and continue to support my work so this podcast can stay open to the public!

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Hey folks! This episode I am in conversation with my friend and former colleague Dr. Atiera Coleman. This time we are talking about both being DEI hires and what the term "DEI hire" really means in this present moment. Our fear of difference has us fearful of differences amongst one another, helping to lead the attack on the work of diversity, equity and inclusion overall. Have a listen as we talk about this and more. The song Atiera selected was Terry Kaye's "That's a Them Problem".

Dr. Atiera Coleman (she/her/hers) is the Chief Equity Officer for the State of Illinois, appointed by Governor JB Pritzker in July 2023. A transformative leader, Dr. Coleman has made substantial contributions to advancing equity and inclusion. Her expertise spans assessment and evaluation, grant writing, research methodology, and teaching. She is an accomplished facilitator and presenter, having spoken nationally on equity initiatives.

Before joining the Governor's administration, Dr. Coleman served as the Equity Manager for Rock County, Wisconsin, where she worked to ensure fair and unbiased access to county services. She also held the role of Associate Dean of Student Success, Equity, and Community at Beloit College, overseeing federally funded TRIO programs and leading the Anti-Racism Liaison team.

Dr. Coleman earned her doctorate in sociology from the University of Wisconsin–Milwaukee and remains deeply committed to fostering a more just and equitable society.

Music produced by sound architect Forest Brooks

Tickets for "Dreaming with the Ancestors: An Immersive Sound Incubator" can be found here.

Ways to support and work with me:

⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠My ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠Website⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠ for consulting, dreaming, facilitation and speaking engagements.

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Hey folks, welcome back! This is Season 3 and this time around I am focusing on stories from the margins. To kick off this season I am in conversation with my friend and kick ass intellectual Dr. Moya Bailey. We are talking about what it means and takes to gather people together in this present moment. A moment where folks are more lonely than ever while also being more connected via social media than ever. So than what do we need to shift, break, reimagine about how we come together in order to make the spaces we say we want for our liberation and freedom? Have a listen and see what comes up for you!

Moya Bailey is a professor at Northwestern University, the founder of the Digital Apothecary, and co-founder of the Black Feminist Health Science Studies Collective. Her work focuses on marginalized groups’ use of digital media to promote social justice, and she is interested in how race, gender, and sexuality are represented in media and medicine. She is the digital alchemist for the Octavia E. Butler Legacy Network and the Board President of Allied Media Projects, a Detroit-based movement media organization that supports an ever-growing network of activists and organizers. She is a co-author of #HashtagActivism: Networks of Race and Gender Justice (MIT Press, 2020) and is the author of Misogynoir Transformed: Black Women’s Digital Resistance (New York University Press, 2021). She is the director and producer for the forthcoming documentary, Misogynoir in Medicine.
https://linktr.ee/moyabailey

Music produced by Forest Brooks

Ways to support and work with me:

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Hey folks - welcome back! This is the end of Season 2 and here I give some overall thoughts on what this season focused on "The Crossroads" is teaching me. Cause I am dead set in the middle of my Uranus opposition that is having me sit at the crossroads and get clear on who I am and what I want. The main lesson I am learning is that I can't say I want a new life and then keep doing things in my old ways. So what does it mean to DO things differently? Well, it means you got to dream. So I get into this and more this episode. And as always let me know what you think in the comments! I will be back for Season 3 in the Fall so please enjoy the first 2 seasons and join me on Patreon for even more exclusive content around strategic dreaming.

Ways to support and work with me:

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Hey folks! I am back and this time I am in conversation with my friend, colleague and fam Forest Brooks who was here back in Episiode 16. This time we are talking about what it means to build community as 42 year old Black queer folks in a new stage of life. How do we learn from past experiences so that we can build more sustainable communities in the present? For us music, dancing, and coming back into the body is what we are experimenting with. Take a listen and let me know what comes up for you in the comments!

Ways to support and work with me:

⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠My ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠Website⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠ to book me for ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠Speaking Engagements⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠, Executive Leadership coaching/strategizing, consulting, astrology readings, and more!

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Hey folks! This may be a little late but it is a good one as I am back in conversation with astrologer and Reiki Master https://www.laurakchung.com/https://www.laurakchung.com/ from Awaken and Align Podcast. This time we are talking about astrological middle age, the time between 36-45, when life gets real and we are asked to review where we are have come from and reflect on where we are going. This is when generational planets become personal, showing us how connected we are to one another therefore how much we do need each other. So who is the Self showing up as you go through this period of ongoing growth, change and transformation? We get into this and more this episode. As always let me know what you think below!

⁠⁠⁠⁠My ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠Website⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠ to book me for ⁠⁠⁠⁠Speaking Engagements⁠⁠⁠⁠, Executive coaching, consulting, astrology readings, and more!

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$drnicoletruedell (Cashapp and Venmo), [email protected] (Paypal and Zelle)

Hey folks! Donnell and I are back with another "Thoughts While High". This time we are talking about women's basketball and how race-gender-and the state come into play; music and these so call rap battles; and what it means to create community where we can actually breathe and live. This is a good one!

Donnell McLachlan is a writer, theologian, and social justice advocate working to create a more empathetic and inclusive society through writing, research, and storytelling. His research centers on black faith and life, including liberation theologies, womanist theology, and the spiritual and sociohistorical dimensions of hip-hop music and culture. In addition to his academic pursuits, McLachlan has a popular TikTok page with over 315,000 followers, where he shares insights on religious history, discusses religious deconstruction and decolonization, and offers social commentary. He was born and raised in Chicago, Illinois.

You can find Donnell @donnellwrites on ⁠IG⁠. ⁠Tik Tok ⁠ and ⁠YouTube

Ways to support and work with me:

⁠⁠My ⁠⁠⁠⁠Website⁠⁠⁠⁠ to book me for ⁠⁠⁠Speaking Engagements⁠⁠⁠, Executive coaching, consulting, astrology readings, and more!

⁠⁠⁠⁠Patreon⁠⁠⁠⁠

⁠⁠⁠⁠Substack⁠⁠⁠⁠

$drnicoletruedell (Cashapp and Venmo), [email protected] (Paypal and Zelle)