The talented Megan Grant bought the futuresteading book to life with her vibrant depictions of a seasonal, intentional and ritual rich life.  After a year of being asked, this introvert who dreams and thinks in colours and pictures  finally said yes to being interviewed. We chat about her intuitive approach to creativity, her deep need to keep trying despite making plenty of work that doesn't make her happy and how a magnificent collaboration with clothing brand Gormon came about - but why she rarely wears the pieces herself.

Show notes

Making art her life by intuition 
She thinks and dreams in pictures
Why picture making is her language to connect to other people
Developing her style via lots of work that doesn’t make her happy until the ones that make her happy appear
Her love of children's art more than anything - tapping back into the innocence of children art - her main goal when she paints she has two brains that are in conflict which each other
Finding the balance between art that is intellectualised and art that is intuitive
Letting accidents happen and feeling her way through them
In art it’s important to make terrible work over and over again
The value of sleeping on things to clarify perspective
Being reflective to ensure evolution
Being happy for her work to represent her
The story of her involvement in the futuresteading book
Collborating with Gormon clothing
Being the kids of creative parents 
Art becoming part of your DNA when you’re the child of an artist
Being prolific in your creativity
The balance of being an artist that needs to fit ‘normal’ life into it
The financial compromise of being a full time artist. Part by design and part by necessity
The life long sacrifice of being an artist despite the reward of being able to create freely
Creating commission pieces
Setting out with blind faith and hope
Despite a 20 year career, she is ‘only just getting started’
The breathtaking discovery that you could ‘paint for a living’
Tapping into art for arts sake
Why art is an important part of simply being alive
Art brings peace, purpose and the bleeding obvious through interpretation
Why artists are the provocateurs of our community
Feeling fortunate to have an endless source of hope and optimism because she has art in her life
Painting for mental health
Self containment that comes from her creativity
Grappling with the need to use  art as a statement maker
Beauty is its own reason for being
Why art is culturally soothing
Noticing the weeds at the service station
Advice for her daughter 
We have to go and make the inspiration happen by doing
Finding a drive, style and direction in your own time
“You can’t wait for the inspiration to come”

References

Fenton and Fenton
Megan Grant Instagram
Gormon clothing
Gary Miles Art

Podcast partners ROCK!

Nutrisoil
Wwoof Australia 

Buy the Book - Futuresteading - Live Like tomorrow matters

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SUMMARY
We need an economic system based on values and trust to see genuine change in this critical decade. This intuition led powerhouse is collaboratively leading the thinking for philanthropy  & impact investment to shift away from reductionist outcomes to  a 'relationship first' approach where she believes the place to begin is with inner work to determine  'who you are', 'what makes you brave' and 'where your voice strongest'

We’ve got the solutions but the human capacity to make this change is what needs to begin first. 

SUMMARY
Why its harder to give money away with meaning than you might think
Wanting to be more than  not just a cheque book
Asking where humans fit into ecosystems
Her awakening to disconnection
Finding people who were also asking questions
Moving into sustainable ag and food security
Connecting the environmental crisis & what we eat
Her appetite to move beyond greenwashing  to transformation
The value of slowing down
Wanting people to think of her as a broke NGO leader not a rich philanthropist
Getting her ego out of the way
Embracing the world she was trying to push away
What is philanthropy - the skill of giving money away
Moving assets away from the extractive economic system
How investment can change systems
Understanding systems & the levers that need to be pulled to expedite change
The importance of mass decentralisation & taking a place based approach to bring change
Starting a relationship with open, honest transparency & an opportunity to co-create solutions 
Relationship requires a number
Moving at the speed of trust
Looking for replication not endless growth
Using compassionate debt as a solution to building relationships that can enable change
Creating opportunity for replication over scale
Building models that allow relationships to be at the core 
Rich relationships are paramount
Understanding connection to country - bringing gentleness from the land into her everyday
Daily spiritual practice to set the days intentions 
Whatever you resist persists
Daily practice of staying mindful and present - maintenance
The danger of defining yourself as “resilient” which doesn’t allow you to be fragile
Developing a hardiness by sitting in your discomfort
Keeping the ego in check
Gleaning joy from rich conversations
Cocreating a new language that releases our stuckness in the current paradigm
Discovering how we all contribute in a way that meets our super power
If its too easy then it must be in the current paradigm and we need to ask,  is there another way to do this?
Stepping around colonialism by being present & really listening
Being uncomfortable with the new to serve a changed world in the future
Self sustainability is the piece that often gets left behind
How can philanthropists play their part
Finding strength & bravery when you have your people by your side

References
Impact sustainability - her business
Sustainable Table
Sentient Impact group

Podcast partners ROCK!

Nutrisoil
Wwoof Australia 

Buy the Book - Futuresteading - Live Like tomorrow matters

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This homeschooling mum of three spends her days foraging, growing, swapping & upskilling all in the name of continuing to live her version of normal in an abnormal world where we've lost touch with our food, medicine & the natural world.
After taking her time with her families transition to this way of life, her newfound confidence & conviction ensures she won't be told what to do by big business or have her opinions changed by corporations. Although not all plain sailing-she shares valuable insights into the bumpy but ultimately rewarding path she's been on.
"Living in a cushioned culture is limiting in our ability to share skills & share knowledge"

SHOW NOTES
Eating meat that you’ve met - being responsible for the whole life cycle
Stepping stones to this way of life - starting small, with what you’ve got
Learning from failure as you scale
The fallacy of being self sufficient
Foraging, bartering & selling excess of what you do grow to access the things you don’t grow
Why being dogmatic isn't always the answer to the long game
Homeschooling - learning happens everywhere, everyday
Being led by kids & their natural interest areas
Building a family rhythm around the personal needs of everyone in the family
Rebuilding normal
Why it’s difficult to be a people pleaser but stay true to yourself
Learning to trust your honesty will be supported & not knocked
It’s hard to live your normal in an abnormal world - the way we eat, shop treat people
Education of self  is the first step in shifting towards taking agency
Why food was her on-ramp to understanding how to make her own decisions
Accepting that a shift in our lives will take time - we each need to take it as we are ready
Transitioning via new skills & a new mindset
Letting this way of living be a lifetime of work
Learning one skill and mastering it each year
Using herbs to heal now and in the future
Learning to get used to people not agreeing with how she lives her life
Making mistakes in safe places while you learn
Learning how to manage microclimates
Building an annual seasonal rhythm to ensure balance
450sq m of intensive growing space for a family of five
300 sq metres managed by the kids
Water bath canning, dehydration
Collecting food waste every week by salvaging food from mainstream supermarkets to supplement her families food
Why she is opting for a house cow not a house goat
There’s always next year…..
Learning to forgive your short comings
Connecting without belonging
How not going to a school was a disadvantage
While she feels at home she doesn't feel like she belongs
Defying the odds of ‘surviving this life’ & thriving
Finding ways to connect with people who have different ideals
The value of relying on your neighbours - creating a sense of place by calling on your neighbours
Things only move at the speed of trust & a willingness to push through the awkward.
Start where you are with what you’ve got
Relying on the building blocks of experience

References

Living the dream permaculture 

Podast partners ROCK!
Nutrisoil
Wwoof Australia 

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This conversation is difficult to process but important to hear.  It asks: "How does Socioecological justice prevail  in the face of an irreversible collapse"?

Its time to accept that infinite growth on a finite planet will be short lived and that those who have agency & privilege have much to do - in big or small ways 
 It’s hard to really accept collapse when we have a comfortable lifestyle but let's consider preparing while we still have abundance in our system. 

Show notes

A new form of activism - possibilities to make the world a better place
Why climate activism is the most important issue of focus
The shift in activism following covid
Introducing disruption to activism 
Socioecological justice
Justice can only be relative 
Creating a collapse community to help relieve anxieties of reality & locate ourselves
Putting differences aside to open the door to building localised communities
Acknowledging how difficult it can be to create community in the individualised society of the affluent west.
As we ratchet back, our community will be where we physically are.
Having faith that we can rely on each other 
Consciously connecting is inevitably in train and we will be pushed together
Relearning to connect, compromise and communicate
Its unhelpful to create utopian or romanticised ideals 
Insurgent planning - actively creating a plan of readiness to this inevitable collapse
Being led by the greater group with place based solutions
Why there is no prescription to future solutions - we need to figure that out for ourselves based on our understanding of the soil, water, culture we are working within
Breaking down individualisation & risks: outrageous debts & our reliance on fossil fuels
#talkcollapse - linking people to plant the seeds of a different and just future
Planting seeds physically and metaphorically for a socioecological collapse
Talking collapse is not about converting those who don't want to hear it 
The emotional reality of procesing climate grief - face it, expereince it and let is sit behind you with echoes
Depression goes with the territory but its not a reason to avoid reality
Ecological awareness as the foundation to  discovering more
Understanding the fragility of the world while also being a ‘doer’
What a cyclical grief process looks like and feels like
Cognitive dissonance of having endless choice and capacity to purchase while simultaneously being aware that collapse is inevitable
The myth of progress being perpetuated by every message around us
The need to decomplexify 
Building solidarity via social media
Being sure to remind yourself of how wondrous the world actually is
Supporting mental wellbeing with various tools
It’s so important in this point in history to embrace life in whatever form

References

Limits to growth - Club of Rome
Just Collapse

Podcast partners ROCK!

Nutrisoil 

Wwoof Australia 

Buy the Book - Futuresteading - Live Like tomorrow matters

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Described as  'all striving no arriving…' Sarah thrives in the early stages of a movement - feeling her way into the zeitgeist of now & unpacks in ways that resonate with reality.  Ultimately driven by curiosity & shunning growth,  she talks about Wild Activism  as a responsibility of the current age with agency in tact. 

Having less fucks to give about speaking her mind & with a bipolar superpower, she shares how she is unlearning & returning to humanity to navigate out of a spiritual PTSD,  simulteneously saving but living the fuck out of  life’, and why she is off to Paris

Show notes  

• Taking her cue from International women of strength
• Owning her intensity
• Has the lucky country become more racist and bigoted?
• Why laid back Aussies don’t want their comfort boat rocked by the reality of the less wealthy.
• Why Aussie’s are aching to not be the anti intellectual country down South
• Feeling into where the pain points are for the humans around her
• The story behind donating 100% of the I Quit Sugar profit
• Her conscious decision to live rather than take her life by stepping into the option of shedding everything and letting go of ALL the things she was attached to.
• Setting a 5 year goal to be content w not being beholden to the endless desire for more.
• Trodding her ego into the ground & the outcome thrusting her into growth 
• Every time she releases her grip & lets the flow of life back in - growth prevails.
• Learning to get engaged & enraged about the climate crisis
•  Turn anxiety into action
• We live in a culture where discomfort & inconvenience thrive yet we feel alive when we are on the edge & pushed out of our comfort zone.
• Lighting the way back to love
• Defining her Dharma
• Fostering indigenous children as a respite carer
• The responsibility of steadying yourself when living with anxiety
• Anxiety can be a super power - hyper vigilant, hyper sensitive
• The evolutionary purpose of anxiety
• The rebellious act of bucking the growth paradigm

References

• This wild and precious life - Sarah Wilson
• Helen Lewis interview with Jordan Peterson
• Helen Lewis - Difficult Women
• First we make the beast beautiful - Sarah Wilson
• Steve Jobs - Commencement Speech

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What if all the memories you made as a kid had been replaced by screens? When an aha moment makes you realise that its time to reframe childhood and embrace an analogue life - one that stimulates creativity, imagination and experiences that instill a need to fight for the natural world over technification.   With a biological need for at least 3 hours outside every day...the time to replace screen time with green time is now.

Show notes

Feeling like she was failing as a mum
Breaking the cycle of raising children on full schedules
“Kids are supposed to be outside for 4-6 hours a day when the weather is good” - Charlotte Mason
Her first good day as a mum was spent outside as part of a challenge in order to make friends.
How outdoor play enhances every development for children which gives lifelong benefits
Setting our kids up for success simply by spending time outside
Busting screen time statistics
On average kids are on screens for 7 hours a day but only outside for 7 minutes
1200 hours a year outside creating  rather than on screen 
3 hours of outdoor play for kids of all ages 
Keeping children balanced
Rescheduling early childhood
Raising kids who were ruddy, tough, sleeping better
Outdoor play enhances childhood developing in every sense = cognitive, sensorial, emotional
Laying the groundwork so they keep it up
Play that stretches their body and teaches them to trust their bodies and builds endurance, stamina, alertness
Filling our life with the important things first and push out the time that's left over for screens
It’s never easy to make this your committed approach but it’s worth it
Creating rituals that are intentional
The benefits of being uncomfortable
Why time slows down when you are doing something new and your senses wake up
Building identity via time in the outdoors
If they don’t love an analogue life, they won’t fight for it
Building a foundation in kids that they can resist the tech pull
Success is living a fulfilling life that is balanced, connected, maintained ground on values and illusions but grounded and taken day by day
If we live well today then tomorrow will take care of itself
Clothes for the season: Wonders of wool to enable the kids to play for so much longer
Passing down the things = less stuff
Imagination over screens
Nature is enough - it meets us all at the stage we are at 
Start right now and be happy to bloom at your own pace which follows your instinct
Trust your kids to create their own path

References

1000 hours outside- book, podcast

Charlotte Mason - Childhood educator

Balanced and barefoot - Angela Hanson

Rewilding the urban soul - Claire Dunn

The Comfort Crisis - Michael Easter

The singularity is near - Ray Curswhile

Podcast partners ROCK!

Nutrisoil 

Wwoof Aust

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Summary

We know that Western culture lives excessively, endlessly seeking the newest and shiniest new thing.  Its shocking that 40% of our food goes to waste, one third of our building materials are never even used. But this way of life will be short lived and thankfully being wasteful is now  on the nose and cool cats like Joost are making waves by making junk UBER COOL. What can we do to create a new way forward in what he describes as the most exciting time in human history?

Show notes

Keeping family as number one 
Keeping it real with family to ensure they are present
His journey through waste which began using other peoples junk
Spending his spare time in junkyards collecting and using other peoples waste
Even the poster boy doesn't get everything right - examples of things that haven't worked
For every project that gets up there are 3 or 4 which didn't - that’s having a go! And through the Process we discover a new way forward
Attracting like minded people to build a community and deliver amazing projects
Showcasing the innovation and vast knowledge that exists in this country
Creating binless hospitality businesses
Curating the message for living waste free so that people understand it.
Considering materials based on their ability to be recycled
Living in the most exciting time in human history
Getting creative to find solutions that allow us to continue our existing lives with minimal compromise
There's something mentally wrong with us when we endlessly chase the next, new, shiny, big thing. 
Being properly nourished and connected to the outdoors satiated our desires and replace our desire for STUFF.
Using plants to support our sleep
Reverting to primitive practices to reconnect to ourselves
Starting our day with simple, natural world practices
If we’ve got 3 hours to be on social media, surely we’ve got time to make our everyday actions more intentional.
We feel great after gardening not just because its sensorially beautiful but because you are breathing in microbiomes
Observation is a lost trait we need to rebuild
His fascination with the perfect sized branch for birds
All his buildings are covered in 8 mil rio mesh because it's perfect for the birds
If you really want to understand why he makes the decisions he does then check out his instagram pages

References

The Greenhouse film - 

Future Food System Instagram

Podcast partners ROCK!

Nutrisoil 

Wwoof Australia 

Buy the Book - Futuresteading - Live Like tomorrow matters

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 If you're yet to hear Mitch perform 'You're the voice", I beg you to head to the link at the bottom and listen.
 Carrying the message of unification, love and kindness. Culture is not foreign to Mitch who imbeds a celebration of it into every facet of life as tools to build identity and a strong sense of place. For him living and breathing culture is the start middle and end of it.
An articulate, straight talker he sheds light on why everyone deserves a chance to not only survive but to thrive.  His super-power-story-telling ability notches up a few ranks when on stage and over the last few years he has found a platform for passing on knowledge through song and dance. 

Nerves and awe aside, Jade manages to dig a little into the psyche of this incredible individual, who without question shows us why the first nations people of this country were not hunters and gatherers but the most purposeful people to have ever walked.

Show Notes

• Ma-wollagoolabah - self, family, community
• Falling in love with his identity and eagerly celebrating this in a respectful and authentic way
• The value of being raised by a strong single mother
• Publicly honoring women to the point of reverence
• Being relentless in our desire to keep talking to convey a message of transparency
• Circle people - we are connected to everything and everything is connected to us
• Can song and dance as mediums take their place as a much needed storytelling tools
• Emojis are an ancient format 
• Humans disconnection from spirit, soul and heart
• Being the most connected and the most disconnected simultaneously
• Holidays = connection to the natural world. Do we love holidays or do we love the opportunity to unconsciously  connect to our evolutionary place
• Building an understanding of the spirit in the land
• Opening yourself up to ‘feel’ 
• Honoring our ancestors, offering a rightful seat at the decision table and acknowledging the knowledge held by indigenous people
• "We're not hunters and gatherers, we’re the most purposeful people to have ever walked
• There are so many conversations to be had - we need to keep talking
• His mob cared for the land to co-exist not to be captured or controlled 
• Walking together and healing so we can get to where we need to get to
• The first people of a land MUST be heard first 
• If your hearts in the right place you can only do the best you can with what you've got to ‘level’ up’
• Stradling the reality of living an urban life with intent and purpose while knowing how powerful a childhood on country can be
• Self perception vs how others perceive you
• Instilling identity, belonging and connection through ritual
• Living and breathing culture as part of every day life
• Avoiding the traps of fame by staying focussed on his purpose
• Staying grounded by knowing that he is just a vessel with a message who is part of something so much bigger than him
• Starting with self love - heal, educate
• Conditioning that has bred fear of difference
• Coming together with an intent to heal, love and listen. 
• Having real conversations which are birthed out of truth

Mitch Tambo Instagram
Mitch Tambo - You're the Voice


Keen to buy the Futuresteading book? Its now available at all good bookstores or you can order online here.

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This heart led Mumma of three has been luring us with images of a dreamy, bloom filled life on her Daylesford apple orchard & words of equal romance via her craft blog for over a decade. She laughs easily, has found balance in being real & makes the simplest of thoughts feel like genuine aha moments.  Kate Ulman is wrenchingly honest about the reality of farm life with young children, turning inwards when self care is needed & whether her babies will return to life on the land. Although not at her kitchen table, the intimacy of this conversation feels very personal & will leave your cup full & your heart nourished.

Episode notes

• Seeing your home the way others do
• Realising she is driven by making, creating & beauty
• Taking an ugly foundation & making it ‘beautiful’ slowly & sure
• The essence of a creative soul raising more creative beings
• Evolving with our children who are becoming the people they are going to be
• Creating a ‘place’ for our children
• The impact of an early childhood experience on a kibbutz
• Learning to farm at 30 & retrospectively being amazed they could do it
• Growing things organically was our religion but we actually didn’t know how
• Life before social media - 10 years of ‘ugliness’ because we could afford the beautiful 
• Sharing the raw truth of life on the land with a small family
• Expectation vs reality
• Seasonal appreciation
• “Every season is another chance to get last years mistakes better”
• The annual pre Winter crises & assessment of reality
• Pre farming life as a crafter & blogger
• Acknowledging there's a time & place for everything
• Filing your soul with the small &simple things but being realistic about doing whats possible
• Being kind about expectations
• “Being a martyr & running yourself ragged is NOT the solution but being aware & keeping it joyful means you can do it forever”
• Saying “I don't know” comfortably
• When we take our actions so seriously that it puts other people including  the next generation off ever wanting to participate in something worth doing
•  Letting go of the little things like baking bread for the sake of the bigger picture
• Actively engaging with community wherever a snippet can be garnered
• Putting her energies into writing a book
• Taking back her families story so it wasn’t available to the world online
• Rediscovering herself post early childhood mother-dom
• Being the complete opposite of organised
• Creating a plan for ‘older life’ so the love of the farming life continues
• Why bigger is not better. The active vision to make things simpler
• Why her mum is her greatest inspiration for her approach to motherhood
• How she became the encourager of creativity
• Daily exclamation marks of ritual elude her because she follows inspiration instead
• Why her good intentions for ritual get forgotten
• Why deep diving quickly into real conversations is important to her
• Her definition of success as living her truth & being filled with honesty, creativity, availability to the things she cares about 
• Having the confidence to live from your heart
• Gifting your future self by thinking ahead

References

Fox’s Lane

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Strap in for a fast paced chat with this natural born story teller.  From the heady heights of top restaurants, starring in his own reality tv program and radio shows to his definition of “enough” - which  begins with rude health and healthy kids before settling with sovereignty of time and community belonging. 

As practical and grounded as he is charismatic with a touch of aussie larrikin, ‘Westy’ is whip cracking fast making it easy to listen and laugh at his tales - like serving uncooked rice as his first attempt at cooking.

This high energy human wraps up the season for us with insights and stories that are endearing and inspiring in equal measure.

Episode notes

Choosing your island foods

Are you an eater or a foodie ?- Westie grew up as an eater until he was 17 before becoming a foodie

Embalmed cats above the fresh food aisles at the local supermarket 

Moving from his first out-of-home cooked meal: Raw rice, frozen peas, ham and soy sauce to cheffing in lofty places

His first wwoofing experience that sowed the seeds for his ‘NOW’ life:

Witnessing the loftiest ideal for human life as life on the land growing food, connecting to community, physical work

His winding but whip fast hospitality adventure

Using the age good food guide as a way to get a job and crash landing into Vu De Monde to cut his teeth

Turning his back on fine dining cuisine to return to the roots of growing food.

A yearning desire to really understand the rhythms of food

How fatherhood changed him, from self to selfless. Why he never wanted to be a ‘phone in’ dad

Reframing his expectations of fatherhood for him, his kids and his wife.

Creating patterns to set up our kids for the rest of their lives and using food as the central guide for this 

The virtues of tapping into the primal human nature.

Transitioning from kitchen to farm grew his understanding of long standing ecological needs.

River Cottage - the inside scoop on the steep learning curves and truth behind producing a reality TV program. The juggle of actually living a 365 day farm life but needing to fit in the production of a stage production alongside.

The hard work of farming! Far from white clothed lunches under a tree

The repetition needed for growing

Now living a life that's the amalgamation of his previous lives 

Creating a life of belonging in a village across generations

The perfect combo of small-house big block.

Building ritual around food markers, what the gardens providing, when the crayfish and oysters are harvesting, 

Making an effort to observe the natural spectacles and building ritual around it

His ENOUGH

References:

Aftertaste ABC Series
River Cottage Australia SBS on demand series
The Edible Garden Cookbook and Growing Guide - Paul West 2013

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