Ani Choetso, or Maria Montenegro, born to Puerto Rican parents and hailing from Philadelphia, by way of Germany, Iowa, east coast places, India, and Iowa again. She has lived her life immersed in Dharma since an encounter with illness and mortality at 12 left her with questions she did not find answers to within the Catholic faith of her upbringing.

She went on to study world religions at Smith College and Harvard Divinity School, and trained intensively with masters from both the Theravada and Tibetan Buddhist traditions, inspired by Buddha's invitation to question deeply. Active as an editor and co-translator of Dharma materials since the 90s, she has also worked to engage the theory with the practice of active compassion, spending much time working with the dying, bereaved, or existentially challenged. She's an ACPE board-eligible interfaith chaplain having done four units of CPE in Vermont and New Mexico, and more recently, an ordained Buddhist nun.

Her website: https://indrasshimmeringnet.org

In this episode I interview Jane Weintraub.  Jane works as a coach, with a focus on the right career fit as an extension of meaning and purpose in life.  This interview is full of insights, including the role of a coach in one’s life and career and how to find a good coach.

You can reach her on Twitter: @janeweintraub

Shane Metcalf is the Chief Culture Officer and cofounder of 15Five.  He started 15Five to help companies bring out the best in their people.  This podcast episode was recorded just before the Covid happened.   Little did we know...

15Five is a human-centered performance management platform that creates effective managers, highly engaged employees, and top-performing organizations. From engagement surveys and 1-on-1 tools to performance reviews and OKRs, 15Five is the most complete solution that combines software, education, and community to develop successful managers and unlock peak employee performance. Built using the Positive Product Design™ method, 15Five is the only platform that offers software aligned to the latest positive psychology research. Through it’s HR Superstars community and podcast, 15Five aims to empower every leader to create highly engaged, high-performing organizations by helping people become their best selves.

Hello friends, welcome to Clear on Life.  How do you take ON a creative project that is bigger than yourself, with many responsibilities and a lot of unknowns?  The project in this case is the television travel docu-series FLY BROTHER with Ernest White II, and my guest is, you guessed, Ernest White II.  He is the show's host and producer.

Ernest White II is a storyteller, explorer, producer, and host of television travel docu-series FLY BROTHER with Ernest White II, currently airing in the United States on Public Television Stations and Create TV nationwide. He is also the founder and CEO of Presidio Pictures, a new film, television, and digital media studio centering BIPOC, LGBTQ, and senior/elder narratives.

Ernest’s writings includes fiction, literary essay, and travel narratives that have been featured in Time Out London, USA Today, Getaway, Ebony, The Manifest-Station, Sinking City, Lakeview Journal, Matador Network, National Geographic Traveler’s Brazil and Bradt’s Tajikistan guidebooks, and TravelChannel.com.

Appearing on the Travel Channel television series Destination Showdown and Jamaica: Bared, as well as in a documentary film about the dangers of mass tourism, Gringo Trails, Ernest is a Florida native, but based in San Francisco and Vancouver. His obsessions include South Africa, São Paulo, and Rita Hayworth. 

His obsessions include South Africa, Sao Paolo and Rita Hayworth. 

Check out his show's website at: https://flybrother.net/

Enjoy!

In this episode, I interview my good friend Michael Taft. Michael is a meditation teacher, author, and a neuroscience junkie living in the Bay Area.  He is the author of The Mindful Geek and the host of Deconstructing Yourself podcast.  In the last few years, his name, work, and career in the field of meditation have skyrocketed to new heights.

Now typically, one would interview Michael around the topics of meditation and spirituality.  This is an unusual episode in the sense that we don't talk so much about Michael's teachings as much as we look at his life as a spiritual teacher and an entrepreneur.

Michael has created an amazing platform for his offerings and it's often hard to see how much work and hustling goes into creating such a structure.  I explore what it took him to create his platform and make his gifts accessible to the world.  We also look at some of his fascinating life adventures and the risks he took along the way.

And for those of you looking for a dose of spirituality and mediation, rest assured.  The entire episode is colored with that flavor.  And so you get this rare mix of spirituality and hustling in this one episode.

In this episode we cover:

• The hustle of doing your art/craft.
• Doing marketing, running the tech
• Making a career in the world of meditation and how this differs from a typical corporate jobs.
• Structure vs fluidity in life and finding the sweet spot
• How to help people and consent
• The importance of a community
• Dichotomies
  • Chaos vs Structure
  • Individualism vs Collectivism
  • The world of ideas vs embodied feelings
• The benefit of psychological tools and tests on the spiritual path and life in general

Enjoy!

Editing Team:
Jazzwall Sharad
Wesley Wolfbear Pinkham
Camille Lojewski

Danielle is the founder of Daughters of Rosie.  She's an engineer, entrepreneur, and a mom who cares deeply about unlocking the capacity of the US workforce.  At Daughters of Rosie she helps high-potential hourly workers explore careers where they can grow. 

Danielle grew up learning how to build things around the house.  And besides being a hands-on build-anything entrepreneur, she is also very gifted at looking for and understanding the underlying data patterns and trends and using those insights in guiding her business decisions and actions.

This interview is an attempt at looking at how she thinks and operates in the world.  And how she approaches problems and obstacles.  This helps me go beyond being inspired and gives me something to model my life after.  I hope you find this interview inspiring and useful in your life as well. Enjoy!

Link to Daughters of Rosie: https://www.daughtersofrosie.com/ 

Production Team:
Jazzwall Sharad

Clear On Life 002 - Michael Owens Pt 2

We explore what Buddhism has to say about procrastination, creativity, relationships.  We also take a short detour into Buddhist Tantra and how that relates to creativity.   Also, ever wondered why Buddhist rituals in the US are so somber?  We talk about the fascinating reason why.  Our modern society is riddled with choices.  This applies to spiritual paths as well. We discuss why curation, therefore, is so important.

You can find more about Michael and his work at www.lotusunderground.com

Also, a big shout out to SF Dharma Collective for facilitating this interview late last year.  SF Dharma Collective is a community run collective that hosts live online meditation classes, talks, and events. Check them out at sfdharmacollective.org

I hope you enjoy and get as much out of this episode as I did recording it. Please subscribe on your favorite podcast platform and leave me a review on Apple Podcasts.  Here we go.

Editing Team:
Jazzwall Sharad
Wesley Wolfbear Pinkham
Camille Lojewski

In this episode I talk with Michael Charles Owens.  He is a  Buddhist teacher, translator, and author.  We explore what Buddhism has to say about purpose and meaning in life. But not the Buddhism you might be thinking of.

You see, in American Buddhist communities, there's a heavy emphasis on sitting meditation practice and not so much on the Dharma teachings. And even less on the Buddhist Sutra texts. Michael is an expert and a big proponent of Buddhist Sutras. And so, we explore the often overlooked magical world of these sutras and talk about how it can be applied in our modern daily lives.

You can find more of him and his work at www.lotusunderground.com

Also, a big shout out to SF Dharma Collective for facilitating this interview late last year.  SF Dharma Collective is a community run collective that hosts live online meditation classes, talks, and events. Check them out at sfdharmacollective.org 

I've decided to split this interview into two episodes to keep each under 45 minutes. I would call this interview a journey.  Enjoy.

Editing Team:
Jazzwall Sharad
Wesley Wolfbear Pinkham
Camille Lojewski

Hey friends, my name is Jazzwall.  A few years ago. In my mid thirties, I went through what some would call an early midlife crisis. I had many doubts about my direction in life and where I was headed.  And the worst part was, I didn't know what I wanted.  Time felt like ticking by.  This was not a pleasant experience at all.

As I looked around, it became clear that I'm not the only one.  There are many amazing folks who are creative, capable, and intelligent, but experiencing the sense of aimless drifting and lack of fulfillment.  I didn't have any answers, but recently I started having conversations with meditation, teachers, psychologists, life, coaches, entrepreneurs, artists, activists, all to explore how they have helped themselves and others in finding meaning in life.

I also interviewed those who were struggling (like myself) to see where those struggles were. With that said, I'm excited to share with you that this weekend I will be publishing the first conversation as a new podcast called Clear On Life. My hope is that you will find something useful, interesting,  inspirational that helps you with your life.

You can subscribe now by searching for Clear on Life, on your favorite podcast platform, including Apple, Spotify, Stitcher, and Overcast. Thanks so much!