OPTIMIST In Progress

After OIP’s inspiring conversation with Citizen Cope - a musical artist who has successfully tuned into his intuitively-creative process throughout his career - Tom and Drea reflect on the concept of “flow” - a mental state  that is also referred to as “being in the zone”. This transformative feeling of energized focus and absorption is related to our sense of happiness and fulfillment, but how do we find it? Is there a formula for this special attunement of mind and body? And most importantly, can we bottle it?

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This week on OIP, the phenomenally-talented recording artist and producer, Clarence Greenwood, AKA Citizen Cope, talks to Tom and Drea about his musical journey from learning the trumpet at school to signing with multiple major labels and working with renowned artists such as Carlos Santana and Sheryl Crow. He discusses his uniquely  intuitive and poetic creativity and the challenges he faced along the way - from debilitating stage fright to the pressures of producing music for his label while touring. Today, he helps create musical opportunities for young people and has found his own inner peace, which enables him to create the authentic work he set out to do while finding new and empowering ways of engaging with his audience.

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Pavarotti singing Nessun Dorma

Aretha Franklin's Nessun Dorma

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For more about the show visit optimistdrinks.com and click on the journal pages.

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As the year draws to a close, it is oftentimes a period of reflection - and not always in a good way. Many of us sway towards focusing on the things we haven’t accomplished, our personal shortcomings and what goals we plan to set ourselves in the future. This week, Tom and Drea are energized by the inspiring optimism of Apryl Electra Storms and talk about strategies for banishing those end-of-year, self-loathing blues. At a time when life can get hectic and overwhelming before the holidays, a little self-forgiveness and kindness can go a long way. We are all optimists in progress.

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For more about the show visit optimistdrinks.com and click on the journal pages.

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It’s difficult not to be captivated by Apryl Electra Storms’ infectious optimism. In this episode the entrepreneur and co-founder of Minus Moonshine talks to Drea and Tom about their journey from chef to musician to owner of a ground-breaking alcohol-free drinks store in Brooklyn. Apryl has disrupted and defied expectations their whole life, living intuitively and constantly encouraging a reframing of scenarios to help themselves. Apryl talks candidly about identifying non-binary, the challenges they have faced, and the life-changing importance of language for trans people to feel safe and accepted in society.

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Listen to Depeche Mode on YouTube

Listen to Massive Attack

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For more about the show visit optimistdrinks.com and click on the journal pages.

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What keeps us going after a devastating loss, crisis or tragedy? How do we recover and even flourish after a traumatic event? This week on OIP, Tom and Drea discuss the remarkable resilience and positivity of bartender and chef Matthew Biancaniello. His restaurant, Mon-Li, was burned in the Woolsey fire, but ultimately he expressed feeling liberated by this event, and freed up to pursue his creative endeavors. They discuss whether our fundamental need for survival is instinctive or whether it can be learned and nurtured to prepare us for whatever life might hold.

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For more about the show visit optimistdrinks.com and click on the journal pages.

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Meet an indomitable creative force on OIP this week, and perhaps the best embodiment of the proverb “fall down seven times, stand up eight”. Category defying and self-taught bartender and chef, Matthew Biancaniello, came to fame with the legendary, farmers market-inspired cocktails he constructed at the Hollywood Roosevelt hotel, and at Malibu’s Mon-Li, where he created what has been described as “the most extravagant cocktail experience.” He found his calling unexpectedly, but the ride has been a wild one and it shows no sign of slowing down ...   

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Listen to whale music on YouTube

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For more about the show visit optimistdrinks.com and click on the journal pages.

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After existing for so long with pandemic restrictions, even the most familiar spaces can make us feel anxious or intimidated. And then there are those places and moments - the  gym, the public speaking event, the difficult conversation - that make the adrenaline rush, and not always in a good way. Flight often ensues.  But psychologists agree that some degree of discomfort is a good thing, a growth opportunity. Tom and Drea discuss some of the empowering tools to employ to prepare yourself for uncomfortable or unfamiliar situations, including “setting the table” of expectations, creating a positive association and voicing our vulnerabilities.

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When self professed nerds Christy Black and David Nett felt a little out of place in traditional gyms, they decided to create their own inclusive space where all bodies - and minds - could feel that they belong. Hero’s Journey is Los Angeles’ first fitness space specifically designed for the “geek community”, and it feels like part of a broader cultural change that embraces individuality and non-conformist ways of being. Christy and David discuss how their compassionate coaching approach eschews the body shame and competition that fuels much of the fitness industry. And if you want an anime figure skating themed workout? No problem. Capes are optional.

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More about Ministry for the Future by Kim Stanley Robinson

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For more about the show visit optimistdrinks.com and click on the journal pages.

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Last week’s conversation with Reginald "Syience" Perry got a lot of love and started up many conversations. When trying to work out which theme or insight to explore in this follow-up episode, we really struggled.  We don’t use the term "self-actualized" lightly, but when it comes to Syience … So, this week’s episode we’re calling "Syience lessons".  If you haven’t heard the conversation from last week, go ahead and listen to that first. Then tune in to Drea and Tom as they talk "durable" or active stillness, creative visualization, Stoicism and dispositional optimism, working towards deeper connections with yourself and with others, and a whole bunch of other stuff we might all really benefit from practicing. And to be clear, it will take some practice.

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For more about the show visit optimistdrinks.com and click on the journal pages.

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This week, OIP steps into another dimension with multi Grammy-award winning producer and creative dynamo, Reginald “Syience” Perry. He talks about his roots in Flint, Michigan and the remarkable, self-willed leap that led him to NY and - in less than a year - to collaborations with artists such as Jay-Z, Beyoncé, John Legend and Mary J Blige. Syience’s true calling though, as he tells Tom and Drea, came in the form of myriad dreams directing him towards a new way of story-telling - an epic collision of music, fiction and technology or what he calls his “universe in a box”. He talks about channeling this transcendental creative flow into his ambitious 10-year project, Radio Flyer, returning the power of imagination to education and reclaiming true, authentic connections. And if this sounds a little mind-blowing - it is … Listen now.

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Listen to Alice Smith on OIP

More about Interstellar

More about Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind

Watch the trailer: Ready Player One

To get in touch with us, email: [email protected]

For more about the show visit optimistdrinks.com and click on the journal pages.

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