Lifefulness: Live Life Fully

Today we speak with Vanesa Gomez Brake, the Associate Dean of Religious Life at the University of Southern California. Vanessa’s amazing because she is the first Humanist Chaplain to be a Dean of Religious Life in any American University.

In her role, she works to support and promote university religious and spiritual life, serving the spiritual needs of all students regardless of their religious perspective.

Vanessa’s fascinating because even though she became nonreligious in her teens, she studied religion at university and got a Master of Divinity degree - meaning she has spent years studying religion and religious identity as a sort of outsider. She’s thought about how all people can benefit from religious and spiritual practices, even if they don’t have religious beliefs.

We spoke to her because she is an expert in understanding how spiritual practices can be adapted for everyone, and she also knows how to do that within an organisation.   

What will you get from it?

• You’ll learn what what it means to be a chaplain in a secular and inclusive way, and what being a chaplain is actually is.

• You’ll be introduced to the idea of ‘stealth chaplaincy’. ‘Stealth chaplains’ aren’t vigilantes but Vanessa uses this term to describe how companies in Silicon Valley, now have the chaplain role but without the word.

• You’ll also really appreciate how Vanessa defines a ‘spiritual life’ - in a way that makes sense for religious and non-religious alike.

• She then digs into what that looks like on a university campus in a way that will be really useful for anyone in any type of organisation, school or community.

Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Today we are interviewing Tim Minchin - a comedian, musician, actor, songwriter and multi-talented genius. He’s played sold out comedy shows at the Sydney Opera House, his songs have gone mega-viral a bunch of times, he wrote the every award-winning musical Mathilda and we feel he should leave some of the success for everyone else.

Alongside this he’s been a proud skeptic, atheist and humanist who, through his art and public comment, engages deeply with why we are here, and how we should live.

What you’ll get.

What you’ll find in this conversation is:

• a brilliant discussion of why meaning is the most important thing in the Universe
• why Tim thinks the Universe is meaningless
• a moving description of the power of ritual
• and some very personal insights into the cost of fame

You’ll also find Tim engaging with the positive sides of spirituality and religion more than we've ever heard from him in the past.

Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Today we’re going to be talking money - which doesn’t seem that spiritual. Why are we doing that? Because before we launched our podcast we did a survey of the Lifefulness community asking one question: "What was preventing you living life as fully as possible?" A lot of people said money and finances.

That’s why we reached out to Dasha Kennedy - the inspirational founder of the Broke Black Girl community that gives financial advice catering to black women. At its heart is a 70 000 facebook group, that provides resources and support to this underserved demographic. Her advice is transforming the lives of her community members, and we think there’ll be loads in it for you and your broke ass.

What do we cover:

• Simple ways to get your finances under control.
• Ways to reframe saving.
• Insights into how financial services provide advice centred on white people.
• Understanding of black economic oppression.

In this conversation you will get brilliant insights in how to think about money, how to change your relationship with your finances and how to get better with it. I’ll be honest I was learning a lot because I am not great with personal finances. I loved learning about the Money Minute - find out what that ios and how it can help you in our conversation - and I really appreciated Dasha’s insights into how structural inequalities and racism affect financial advice.

Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

OK. This is our favourite Lifefulness podcast so far. Start here. We love the other shows but this was special. Why? Because we changed the format to make it more loosey-goosey, a bit sillier.

You get all the deep chat, all the dramatic life-changing insights AND dumb jokes.

We explore:

• How you can introduce the benefits of religion and spirituality into your life, even if you’re not religious
• How you can use ritual to bring soul to the workplace
• How you can respectfully adapt religious practices
• The dangers of bringing meaningful practices into the workplace

Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Community Life is the third pillar of Lifefulness and is obviously vital to spiritual communities. We think of a congregation we think of community!

We look through our own personal experiences of community, then dive into traditions, ways of finding community, the science behind it and some misconceptions we have about it.

This episode would go particularly well when paired with our interview with Lennon Flowers.

The second pillar of Lifefulness is Celebration because gathering together to adore what is sacred, or taking time to connect to your meaning individually, is a vital part of spiritual community.

James and I explore our own experiences with celebration in Sunday Assembly and The Ethical Society, before diving into the science, history, traditions and practices.

This podcast will give you ideas of what you can do in your life, as well as a broader understanding of this vital part of Lifefulness.

Lifefulness Podcast Launch Contest

As you heard on the podcast we are running a competition for the until 29th September which you can apply to join at www.lifefulness.io/podcast. The more you share the podcast, the more chance you have of winning.

Lifefulness Small Groups

We are passionate about the podcast but we are even more keen on building community. Not just community for the sake of it, not community in a bullshit 'You're part of the Corn Flakes community' but real connections that help you live your life as fully as possible.

We are launching Small Groups which will meet twice a month to discuss the big issues we engage with on the podcast, to hold each other accountable, and to inspire each other to be our fullest selves.

You can apply to join at www.lifefulness.io/membership.

Subscribe, rate, review and share.

You can find us here on social media.

Insta: @thelifefulnessproject

FB: /thelifefulnessproject

Twitter: @lifefulnessprjt

Lifefulness At Work

We love to take Lifefulness into the workplace to help create wonderful work environments through events, training and consultancy. Check out Lifefulness At Work.

The Hosts

James and I would also love a follow.

James Croft

Twitter: @croftspeaks

Sanderson Jones

Insta: @sandersonjones

Twitter: @sandersonjones

Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

The second pillar of Lifefulness is Celebration because gathering together to adore what is sacred, or taking time to connect to your meaning individually, is a vital part of spiritual community.

James and I explore our own experiences with celebration in Sunday Assembly and The Ethical Society, before diving into the science, history, traditions and practices.

This podcast will give you ideas of what you can do in your life, as well as a broader understanding of this vital part of Lifefulness.

Lifefulness Podcast Launch Contest

As you heard on the podcast we are running a competition for the until 29th September which you can apply to join at www.lifefulness.io/podcast. The more you share the podcast, the more chance you have of winning.

Lifefulness Small Groups

We are passionate about the podcast but we are even more keen on building community. Not just community for the sake of it, not community in a bullshit 'You're part of the Corn Flakes community' but real connections that help you live your life as fully as possible.

We are launching Small Groups which will meet twice a month to discuss the big issues we engage with on the podcast, to hold each other accountable, and to inspire each other to be our fullest selves.

You can apply to join at www.lifefulness.io/membership.

Subscribe, rate, review and share.

You can find us here on social media.

Insta: @thelifefulnessproject

FB: /thelifefulnessproject

Twitter: @lifefulnessprjt

Lifefulness At Work

We love to take Lifefulness into the workplace to help create wonderful work environments through events, training and consultancy. Check out Lifefulness At Work.

The Hosts

James and I would also love a follow.

James Croft

Twitter: @croftspeaks

Sanderson Jones

Insta: @sandersonjones

Twitter: @sandersonjones

Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

This is the Lifefulness podcast from The Lifefulness Project but what is Lifefulness? This 6 Part Mini-Series goes over the 6 Pillars of Lifefulness and number 1 is Ultimate Meaning.

Meaning decided what is important to you and Ultimate Meaning is the most important thing to you. This podcast is about the most important thing in your whole life.

That's some claim.

But how often do we really spend thinking about our Ultimate Meaning? How often do we cultivate it? How much of our lives do we dedicate to it? Probably not quite enough.

Lifefulness Podcast Launch Contest

As you heard on the podcast we are running a competition for the until 29th September which you can apply to join at www.lifefulness.io/podcast. The more you share the podcast, the more chance you have of winning.

Lifefulness Small Groups

We are passionate about the podcast but we are even more keen on building community. Not just community for the sake of it, not community in a bullshit 'You're part of the Corn Flakes community' but real connections that help you live your life as fully as possible.

We are launching Small Groups which will meet twice a month to discuss the big issues we engage with on the podcast, to hold each other accountable, and to inspire each other to be our fullest selves.

You can apply to join at www.lifefulness.io/membership.

Subscribe, rate, review and share.

You can find us here on social media.

Insta: @thelifefulnessproject

FB: /thelifefulnessproject

Twitter: @lifefulnessprjt

Lifefulness At Work

We love to take Lifefulness into the workplace to help create wonderful work environments through events, training and consultancy. Check out Lifefulness At Work.

The Hosts

James and I would also love a follow.

James Croft

Twitter: @croftspeaks

Sanderson Jones

Insta: @sandersonjones

Twitter: @sandersonjones

Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Our guest this week is Zoe Cormier, author of Sex, Drugs and Rock n’ Roll: The Science of Hedonism and the Hedonism of Science, who challenges us to take fun seriously. And not just fun: joy, ecstasy, transcendence, pleasure, the whole shebang.

Zoe’s journalism has featured in Rolling Stone, The Times, Wired, Nature, New Scientist, The Guardian, The Globe and Mail, BBC Focus and many other publications. As a founder of the organization Guerilla Science, Zoe believes that science is not only a tool but a wonderful window into the biggest questions of existence, and that understanding the world better helps us live life more fully. 

What we get from this:

There’s so much in this conversation because almost every spiritual tradition, and Lifefulness, makes joyful celebration a key part of a good life. 

Zoe’s passion for science - and for the hedonistic aspects of life - shines through in our discussion, so you’ll feel good about having fun. We dive into why, and how, art, comedy, music and dance are so vital to humanity.

She was really insightful when she stressed how monastic religious traditions - ones which insist we find spiritual truth and fulfilment in solitude, silence, and asceticism - have got it all wrong. Rather, she thinks we find our greatest source of spiritual wonder in the hedonic acts we perform with each other: bopping on the dancefloor, writhing at the rave, and bonking in the bedroom. (Quick disclaimer: while I (Sanderson) am writing this in the first person, James chose the word 'bonking').

If you want to live life more passionately and less guiltily, this is the conversation for you.

Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Mark Stevenson is an author, futurologist, entrepreneur and podcaster. The book that catapulted him to renown was The Optimist’s Guide To The Future - which examined how humans could make the next century the best century. 

Before you throw your phone into the sea because you don’t want to hear a mindless optimist, then let me reassure you, that’s not what you’re going to get. Mark describes himself as a possibilist because a great future is possible - if we make the change.

I know Mark because he’s spoken at Sunday Assembly many times, and he's always been great. He, like me, was a stand up early on in his career though he made a cleaner break than I did. I think I'm still waiting, like a bank robber trying to go straight, for one last big job (that always turns out well).

Conversation: 

Mark gives us an overview of Systems Change - the best way of thinking about changing the world in my humble opinion. There’s practical tips on how to fight climate change and a super simple of overview of how to create change, 

This is super relevant to The Lifefulness Project because one of huge benefits of being part of a spiritual community is this idea that you will change the world (that's why Changing The World is one of the 6 Pillars of Lifefulness). However a major problem today is we feel the world is so big, that we can’t possibly have an impact.

Lastly, we loved Mark’s encouragement to make the most of this pandemic. The COVID-19 pandemic is a disaster, but it’s also an opportunity to make change in your community, organization, business, or life - because if you can’t make radical change now, when can you?

Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Our guest today is Lennon Flowers - an amazing thinker, doer and creator who is an inspirational figure in this world of reimagining spiritual community in a way that is non-religious. 

She does this through The Dinner Party - a non-profit that helps people in their 20’s and 30’s who have lost loved ones and are experiencing grief. The work is inspired by her own mother’s death when she was at college, which left her feeling isolated because no one knows what to say.

It was after college that she arranged a dinner party for younger people who were grieving, and a movement was born. Today there have been dinner parties in over 100 cities, and she’s been recognised as an outstanding social entrepreneur, and a reanimator of spiritual traditions.

Conversation:

We loved this conversation because Lennon is GREAT and I could talk to her for hours. You’ll get an insight into grief, the grieving process, the transformative potential that lurks within loss; the power of community for change; what makes a good community; and so much bloody more. 

James and I had our ears on stalks because this was such a rich conversation. James was really connected because his dad died only a couple of years ago, and this conversation made him really wanted to join one of the dinner parties. What she said about loss and the need for community resonated with him and he actually signed up for a virtual Dinner Party.

Lennon is the perfect example of someone who is doing Lifefulness (without knowing the word). Her work revives and makes sacred the act of coming together to eat and - classic segue - I think you’ll find this conversation absolutely delicious. On reflection, using the word 'delicious' in relation to any woman, even tangentially, instantly sounds priddy creepy.

Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.