OPTIMIST In Progress

The American Institute of Architects Los Angeles awarded Michael Lehrer the gold medal, their highest award, describing him as "an architect fully engaged with architecture as a means to contribute to society as a whole."  Michael has worked for clients across the social spectrum, but a great deal of his focus has been on finding innovative solutions to the crisis of 'houselessness' in LA.  He speaks to Drea and Tom about the importance of architecture as a means to restore our dignity and our humanity as a society, the creative opportunities afforded by 'focus in reverie', and the overwhelming power to be found in a simple smile.

For further info on anything you've heard: 

Lehrer Architects

Chandler: Tiny Little homes

Isabel Wilkerson’s Caste

Watch: The Titans that built America

More about David Hockney

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

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

Follow Optimist drinks  @optimistdrinks

Follow Dr Drea  Letamendi  @arkhamasylumdoc

Follow Tom Johnstone @tommyjohnstone

There's a lot of talk of burn out right now;  swathes of people are quitting their jobs (or seriously thinking about it) in what's being referred to as 'The Great Resignation'.  Companies are struggling to fill roles, and it feels that something transformational is happening in society. Are we on the edge of something truly significant or do we just need a summer off before we head back to the workplace in September?  Tom asks Drea to articulate what burn out actually is as they discuss the unexpected upside of stress, and Tina Turner's pre-performance nerves.

References: 

Forbes article on workers quitting in droves and The Great Resignation

Kelly McGonigal TED talk - How to make stress your friend

Tina Turner doc - Tina (on HBO)

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

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

Follow Optimist drinks  @optimistdrinks

Follow Dr Drea  Letamendi  @arkhamasylumdoc

Follow Tom Johnstone @tommyjohnstone
 

After a 'hyper-accelerated' existence as the NY-based music editor for Vice, covering the underground music and recreational drug scene all over the world, author and journalist Michelle Lhooq moved to LA and a 'California Sober' lifestyle (the now zeitgeist phrase she originally coined in jest). Her outlook ("where optimism meets absurdity") is perhaps more in line with Gen Z than her own 'ironic cool Millenial' gen, and her exploration into the evolving counterculture, the protest scene and the shifting nature of 'illicit' substances provide a fascinating glimpse into the intersections of avantguard culture, politics, social and racial justice.  Michelle talks to Drea and Tom about partying, particularly post-pandemic, as a form of connection and healing, the positive actions of the 'disassociation generation', and sobriety as a political stance.

Follow Michelle Lhooq @michellelhooq 

Subscribe to her newsletter - RaveNewWorld.Substack.com

For more on her book "Weed"

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

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

Follow Optimist drinks  @optimistdrinks

Follow Dr Drea  Letamendi  @arkhamasylumdoc

Follow Tom Johnstone @tommyjohnstone

In this episode we return to the concept of 'collective liberation' introduced last week in our conversation with Charlotte James and Undrea Wright of The Ancestor Project. How can this idea help us to create a more equitable future for all? For many of us this concept might be unfamiliar, and taking action to undo historic oppression and systemic injustices may feel overwhelming and can be very uncomfortable. Dr Drea Letemendi talks to Tom Johnstone about "doing the work", what small steps we can all take in our daily lives to stop perpetuating existing inequities and how “decolonizing the individual” can lead to recovery and restoration in the broader community.

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

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

Follow Optimist drinks  @optimistdrinks

Follow Dr Drea  Letamendi  @arkhamasylumdoc

Follow Tom Johnstone @tommyjohnstone

More about the Ancestor Project

Resources for Anguish and Action

Read these books for Action

Charlotte James and Undrea Wright came together to create - or channel - a radical and transformative path to healing through 'sacred plant medicine'. Through their ground-breaking work with The Ancestor Project, the Baltimore-based pair seek to integrate the ancient practice of legal psychedelics and non-psychoactive substances to support therapeutic journeys for the BIPOC community. This week on OIP, these remarkable frontline optimists talk with great consideration about reclaiming “Sacred Earth medicines” from historical systems of oppression, the badass indigenous ancestors we should look to for guidance, and how the aim of this work goes far beyond the self, towards a deeper collective liberation.

For further links and reading see below:

The Ancestor Project

LEARN MORE ABOUT “Our badass indigenous ancestors”: Fannie Lou Hamer - https://www.pbs.org/wgbh/americanexperience/features/freedomsummer-hamer/

Lilla Watson - https://www.cambridge.org/core/journals/queensland-review/article/abs/lilla-watson/16131B34E295C6039BCBC01804CB5344

The Four Agreements - Miguel Ruiz

Braiding Sweetgrass by Robin Wall Kimmerer - 

Of water and the spirit by Malidoma Patrice Somé - 

MOVE:-

 Kemetic yoga - https://yogainternational.com/article/view/the-black-history-of-yoga

LISTEN:-The Healers: The Last Chapter by Black Motion - https://blackmotion.lnk.to/TH10

https://thenativemag.com/black-motion-the-healers-last-chapter/

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

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

Follow Optimist drinks  @optimistdrinks

Follow Dr Drea  Letamendi  @arkhamasylumdoc

Follow Tom Johnstone @tommyjohnstone

Most of us rush through the endless ‘to do’ list of daily chores feeling distracted and impatient. How often do we really pay attention to the thing that's right in front of us, to the task at hand? In this episode of Optimist in Progress, Dr Drea Letamendi shares her insights on how to create moments of mindfulness as we fold laundry, chop carrots or do the dishes. By tuning in to those repetitive tasks, and connecting to the sensations of everyday activities, she explains,  the small moments take on a new significance, creating a profound sense of gratitude, and enhancing our mental wellbeing.

For more on Jon Kabat Zinn

For more on the Zen koan, Chop Wood, Carry Water 

A brief intro to Zen 

A definitive guide to Zen by Alan Watts - The way of Zen 

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

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

Follow Optimist drinks @optimistdrinks

Follow Dr Drea Letamendi @arkhamasylumdoc

Follow Tom Johnstone @tommyjohnstone

Whilst she may not recognize herself as an optimist (“rainbows and ponies?”), the work that UK based food writer and nutritional coach Lizzie King is doing to educate people about how to 'eat well' in every sense certainly demonstrates an inherent commitment to building a better future for people and planet. Raised in a family of obsessive “foodies”, long summers spent in Tuscany had a huge influence on shaping Lizzie’s understanding of farming, seasonality, ingredients, and the importance of sharing the experience of preparing, cooking and eating together with your people, whoever that might be.

For more info about Lizzie King

For Lizzie's book Lizzie Loves Healthy Delicious Nutritious (US) 

Further reading: Earthed by Rebecca Schiller 

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

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

Follow Optimist drinks @optimistdrinks

Follow Dr Drea  Letamendi @arkhamasylumdoc

Follow Tom Johnstone @tommyjohnstone

It sounds a little like therapy-speak, but finding your authentic self, living authentically is just another way to say we’re ‘keeping it real’. Authenticity has always been highly valued in our societies, particularly for artists and creatives, but what about the rest of us? How do we live an authentic life, and make sure our actions are closely aligned with our values and personal beliefs. Nobody wants to be called a faker. Jung and Gandhi had plenty to say on this,  and it was one of Shakespeare's recurring themes. In the words of Polonius to his son Laetres: “This above all else: To thine ownself be true.”

If you are looking for more on this theme, listen to “Unlocking us with Brené Brown”

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

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

Follow Optimist drinks @optimistdrinks

Follow Dr Drea Letamendi @arkhamasylumdoc

Follow Tom Johnstone @tommyjohnstone

Singer/songwriter Alice Smith was nominated for a Grammy for best newcomer when she hit the scene with her highly original sound and powerful stage presence. Record label politics though went on to have profound consequences for her on both a professional and a very personal level. She explains how her people, her commitment to her art, and a relentless pursuit of authenticity allowed her to reconnect with herself and gain strength from that traumatic period to become the artist she is today.

For more on Alice or listen to her  latest album Mystery on Spotify, Apple music or wherever you get your music from. 

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

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

Follow Optimist drinks @optimistdrinks

Follow Dr Drea Letamendi @arkhamasylumdoc

Follow Tom Johnstone @tommyjohnstone

Much of the past year has been spent in isolation; we've been existing in small 'social bubbles', and relying heavily on technology to feel connected. Though quarantine helped our society to survive this virus, as Dr Drea explains to Tom in this episode, isolation is the opposite of what we need to foster resilience. Rebuilding those connections, even the minor daily interactions with strangers, is the key to healing and reviving our emotional and physical worlds. Just be prepared for some awkward elbow shaking and hug-ducking along the way.

For more on  Cameron Hughes, Harvard Loneliness Studies, Gazing Therapy & Marina Abramovic Art Experiment see links below: 

Cameron Hughes, King of Cheer

Harvard Loneliness Studies

Arthur Aaron Research & Gazing theory

Marina Abramovic Art Experiment 

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

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

Follow Optimist drinks @optimistdrinks

Follow Dr Drea Letamendi @arkhamasylumdoc

Follow Tom Johnstone @tommyjohnstone