Becoming Who You Truly Are, with Marlena Fiol, PhD

I'm pleased to introduce our last guest of the season, Dr. Barbara Dossey. Barbie, as she is known, is internationally recognized as a pioneer in the holistic nursing and nurse coaching movements – and she's been at it since the 1960s. She's a Florence Nightingale scholar, nurse theorist, a national and international speaker and teacher on the role of integrative nursing, and author or co-author of 25 books.

I am thrilled and privileged to introduce today's guest, Dr. Ira Byock. Ira is a leading palliative care physician, author, and public advocate for improving care through the end of life. He's been involved in hospice and palliative care since 1978, and over the years has received too many awards and honors for me to name here. He has authored numerous peer-reviewed academic articles on the ethics and practice of care, and he's the author of three award-winning books. In this interview, I draw on Ira's first book, Dying Well, which has become a standard in the field of hospice and palliative care.

I'm pleased to introduce today's guest, Jennifer O'Brien, author of The Hospice Doctor's Widow: A Journal. Jennifer's physician husband Bob had for years been part of an interdisciplinary healthcare team that provided end of life care to their patients. And then it was his turn. He was diagnosed with a stage IV, metastatic cancer. Jennifer traces their journey together during the 22 months following his diagnosis until he died, as well as her early widowhood. She's all about being fully present during even the toughest moments, honoring grief, and going forward after devastating loss.

I feel honored to introduce today's guest Dr. LaVera Crawley. In the field of medicine and ethics, LaVera is internationally known for her work on healthcare disparities in palliative and end-of-life care. After a 16+ year career at Stanford as an empirical bioethicist, LaVera Crawley began a new career in spiritual companionship, bringing together her work in medicine, ethics, social justice, teaching, research, and public health with her longstanding interest in spirituality. She is currently the Palliative Care Chaplain at the Alta Bates Summit Medical Center and a certified educator for hospital chaplains. She's also Chair of the Board of Father Richard Rohr's Center for Action and Contemplation.

I am pleased to introduce Apricot Irving, award winning author of The Gospel of Trees, and one of her teachers Suzette Goff-Geffrard. Apricot grew up as a missionary's daughter in Haiti – where Suzette was her teacher – during a time of social and political upheaval. Suzette has worked for many years in educational, organizational and development-related programs here in the US as well as in two African countries, Haiti and France.

I'm pleased to introduce today's guest, Gopar Tapkida, from the Mennonite Central Committee, MCC. But while Ann Graber Hershberger, our last guest, was at HQ in the US, Gopar is MCC's Representative in Zimbabwe, Africa. Gopar has led interfaith dialogues between Muslims and Christians in Nigeria, Chad and Ethiopia.

I am privileged and honored to introduce the Executive Director of the Mennonite Central Committee, Dr. Ann Graber Hershberger. The Mennonite Central Committee, referred to as MCC, is a global nonprofit organization, focused on providing relief, development and peace in over 50 countries worldwide. And this year – 2020 – MCC celebrates its 100th anniversary. You'll love how honestly and vulnerably Ann talks about MCC's brilliant achievements, but also some of the costly blunders along the way.

Today, I'm honored to introduce Shawn Askinosie, coauthor with his daughter, Lawren, of the book, Meaningful Work: A Quest to Do Great Business, Find Your Calling, and Feed Your Soul. Shawn is the founder of Askinosie Chocolate, which was named by Forbes as one of the 25 best small companies in America, and he was named by Oprah as one of 15 guys who are saving the world. Shawn is all about chocolate. I've tasted it, in fact, I have the 72% dark chocolate from Tanzania in front of me right now and it is amazing. And no, he didn't pay me to say that. But he and his chocolate company are also about so much more. Using his company's revenues, Shawn's chocolate business has provided over a million meals to hungry students in Tanzania and the Philippines. They've delivered thousands of textbooks to schools and they've drilled water wells for villagers.

I'm pleased to introduce today's guest, Kim Colegrove. Kim has been a meditator for over 40 years. But meditation became the focus of her service path when, in 2014, she lost her husband David to suicide, less than three months after he retired from a 30-year law enforcement career. She created The PauseFirst Project, which we'll talk about, to honor David's memory, and to help other first responders cope with stress and trauma. As you'll soon hear, Kim suggests that first responders may sometimes get so focused on service to others, that there's bit of denial around the care that they themselves need. But this conversation is not just about first responders. Kim says it's time for us as a society to better balance our external focus by turning our awareness toward also caring for our own internal needs.

I'm pleased to introduce Dr. Dawna Markova. Dawna is an internationally renowned thought leader and personal growth expert. She has lived many incarnations in the past seven decades as an author, teacher, psychotherapist, researcher and executive advisor. One of the creators of the best-selling Random Acts of Kindness series, Dawna is the author of many other inspirational books. Today, we'll be talking about her latest book, Living a Loved Life: Awakening Wisdom through Stories of Inspiration, Challenge and Possibility, which invites us to do whatever is necessary to create a life we can love and to love the life we have.