This week I've been asked to be part of a presentation by Sustain Floyd to an Industrial Design class at Virginia Tech, shepherded by Martha Sullivan, the Department Chair and an Assistant Professor of Practice in the Industrial Design program. It was such an honor and exciting for me, because as you may know, I believe in good design!

Sustain Floyd is sponsoring a sustainability design contest, and I was asked to present problems for the students to think about from a householder point of view: everyday recycling challenges. I had so many!

I thought I'd share the presentation with you. I'm sure most of y'all aren't industrial designers, but anyone involved in product creation, non-digital marketing materials, and even everyday folks just trying to do a good job recycling might get some food for thought from this. (Also, I didn't have time because of this presentation to write a brand new post).

SLIDES: https://www.katymorikawa.com/wp-content/uploads/2022/01/Household-Recycling-Problems.pdf

Seaspiracy, Netflix documentary https://www.netflix.com/title/81014008

Breaking Boundaries, Netflix documentary based on the work of Johan Rockström, founder of the  Stockholm Resilience Centre https://www.netflix.com/title/81014008

The Nine Boundaries from the Stockholm Resilience Centre https://www.stockholmresilience.org/research/planetary-boundaries/the-nine-planetary-boundaries.html

Preserve Recycled Plastic Manufacturing pioneers https://www.preserve.eco/

Plastic by the Numbers from Eartheasy Guides & Articles https://learn.eartheasy.com/articles/plastics-by-the-numbers/

Check out my 2021 Eco Sampler Gift Pack which features a collection of daily household items that are both affordable, effective, and make a big dent in issues like carbon footprint and environmental costs: https://www.katymorikawa.com/the-2021-eco-sampler-pack/

This is an easy step-by-step process for creating a richer relationship with the natural world as well as with the imaginal. It offers a doorway for healing the disconnect between human and nature, self and other, inner and outer, and the mind, body, and spirit.

Following the post, there is a deep dive on one of the products from my Eco Sampler Gift Pack this year: Earth Breeze Liquidless Laundry Detergent Sheets.

Read the post/transcript https://www.katymorikawa.com/an-imaginal-journey-with-nature-in-7-easy-steps/

Becca Tarnas' 2019 Rune Soup interview https://open.spotify.com/episode/1JrZMneLQYJAR3lNa9mYUc and dissertation The Back of Beyond: The Red Books of C. G. Jung and J. R. R. Tolkein

 Chris Jordan's photo essay: Midway: Message from the Gyre (2009 – Current) http://chrisjordan.com/gallery/midway/ and link to "Albatross at Midway Atoll" https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/e/e0/Albatross_at_Midway_Atoll_Refuge_%288080507529%29.jpg

The Full Eco Sampler Gift Pack https://www.katymorikawa.com/the-2021-eco-sampler-pack/

Earth Breeze Liquidless Laundry Sheets https://www.earthbreeze.com/

This New Year's Eve at midnight, I greeted the star Sirius, having received the shamanic teachings about this moment from Jade Wah'oo Grigori. It was one of the most vivid experiences of synchronicity I've had in years.

Read the post/transcript at https://www.katymorikawa.com/sirius-gift-for-the-new-year

Watch 2021 interview with Jade Wah'oo Grigori, Curator of the Sacred at https://youtu.be/ImjXrXqchDg

Jade's website https://jadegrigori.com/

I wrote this post in March of 2021. And I never recorded audio for it, but I've decided to do that now with the launch of this new project of mine at katymorikawa.com and the new podcast. It felt like it might be helpful for listeners who are not readers to have the audio for this, what's a deeper dive into Who is Aran? And how did I start working with him?

Read post/transcript at https://www.katymorikawa.com/weekly-check-in-march-27-2021/

Read “Reflections on Harry and Meghan,” or listen on Spotify https://open.spotify.com/episode/5FUY1e1dpHLIOhlt37XBQz

One of my New Year's resolutions is to re-read The Lord of the Rings, making this the 17th time but the first time in 20+ years! I did rediscover fantasy a couple years ago, and have now sampled some of what's come out since Tolkein broke the mold in 1954. This is the Fantasy and SciFi that kept me sane during the pandemic.

These are not deep-dive reviews, but rather, informal reactions to: Brandon Sanderson’s Stormlight Archive, Robert Jordan’s (groan) Wheel of Time series, James S. A. Corey’s The Expanse series, Uprooted by Naomi Novik, Vorkosigan Saga and the Penric the Shaman series by Lois McMaster Bujold, and Mary Stewart’s The Crystal Cave and her other Arthurian novels.

I get virtually all of my reading done by listening to audiobooks - no surprise. I use Jabra Elite Active wireless earbuds, which are great for the price point: far less expensive than Airpods or Beats and the microphone is pretty good so they're great for hands-free talking on the phone. (Not an affiliate, just an enthusiast who has spent too much time nerding out over gear and happy to pass along my finds).

Read the blog article here (transcript): https://www.katymorikawa.com/a-pandemic-reading-list-in-fantasy-and-scifi/

Aran and I sat down on New Year's Eve in a new setting to talk about this new phase we're entering--a deeper dive into the creative, into the world of soul, into the soul of the world to make love-play-create with the anima mundi--with much thanks to Becca Tarnas and her contributions on the Imaginal.

Read post/transcript: https://www.katymorikawa.com/a-new-years-vision/

Who is Aran? Listen on Spotify https://open.spotify.com/episode/1pyIwaxTlVhqqAgCDMxZ4D or read post/transcript: https://www.katymorikawa.com/tag/conversations-with-aran/

Andrew Huberman on Armchair Expert https://open.spotify.com/episode/6ARrJfjusp7Xm4ApY9QX1s

Richard Tarnas & Matthew D. Segall "Journeying within a Cosmic Journey" on Conversations in Process https://open.spotify.com/episode/25k5IyY5coCzVarku1K9cO

Becca Tarnas on Rune Soup podcast: 

Becca also has a website, beccatarnas.com, and a book out called, Journey to the Imaginal Realm: A Reader’s Guide to J. R. R. Tolkien’s The Lord of the Rings (on Amazon).

This is Katy Morikawa, formerly of the Waking Up podcast and the A Little More Free podcast. I've resurrected my website at katymorikawa.com, and the beginning outline of a project is in the works. This is a quick rundown of what I've been up to in 2021 leading up to the launch of this new phase.

Read the blog article/transcrip here: https://www.katymorikawa.com/a-new-beginning/

More about Aran here https://www.katymorikawa.com/weekly-check-in-march-27-2021/

Becca Tarnas on Rune Soup, "Talking Tolkein and Jung," (2016) https://open.spotify.com/episode/7FSyftYXwyjja0mf4xWwv0

Waking Up on Spotify https://open.spotify.com/show/1aHXqB5TDOYOCOxRprs5Z0 and Anchor https://anchor.fm/waking-up, and most other podcast outlets except for Apple.

A Little More Free E34: The Last Episode https://alittlemorefree.com/episode-34-the-last-episode/

*Starshine* The Astrological Planner https://alittlemorefree.com/starshine/

The Building Our Small House series on https://www.floydworkshop.com/