In this episode of Heart Work, Maureen interviews Melissa Mikel. A lifelong writer, Melissa recently completed her PhD in Holocaust and Genocide Studies and has been able to return to more creative writing and journaling. She reads an excerpt from her dissertation, which is in part a study on the powerful process of telling one's story as she examines the impact of holocaust education. 

Visit Melissa’s website here: https://www.mikeldaleconsulting.ca/

Find out more about her book The Doll here: https://www.mikeldaleconsulting.ca/resources

You can read Melissa's dissertation here: https://www.academia.edu/92657520/Pebbles_for_Peace_The_Impact_of_Holocaust_Education

In this episode, we talked about the morning pages, a daily writing practice included in The Artist's Way by Julia Cameron, which you can find here: https://juliacameronlive.com/book/the-artists-way-a-spiritual-path-to-higher-creativity

In this episode of Heart Work, Maureen interviews Steve Shikaze. A semi-retired environmental engineer, Steve’s been playing guitar and singing throughout adulthood, and recently begun a songwriting journey. He performs his song Times Like These. Written from a visual prompt in a songwriting group, this song offered Steve an opportunity to reflect on the loss of his father in April 2025.

Steve also makes cool digital artwork mapping watersheds of the world. You can find his work here: https://thewaterdroplet.substack.com/about

In this episode of Heart Work, Maureen interviews David Joyce. You'll find him performing meaningful music with his band, the Doomsday Poets. In addition to being an artist with a long history of writing, performing, and producing music as a way of expressing his thoughts and feelings, David is the owner of Treblecock Studios. David shares his song Iron Girl, a song about the connection and intimacy that can develop in the relationship between a tattoo artist and their client.

Learn more about David here https://www.treblecock.ca and dare to create with his team at Treblecock Studio. 

In this episode of Heart Work, Maureen interviews Matt Kowalyk. In addition to being an actor and director, Matt’s an artist with a long history of writing, playing, and producing music as a way of expressing his thoughts and feelings. Matt shares his song Only of You, a song that helped him break through a period of writer’s block that settled over him as his family moved through his partner’s diagnosis with and successful treatment of a life-threatening illness.

Learn more about Matt and his music at https://www.mattkmusic.ca

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This trailer introduces the Heart Work podcast, where conversations focus on the healing power of art.