Aloha, and welcome to Random Acts of Living!  In this episode, I talk about getting back home to  Molokai, setting up my new/old life, going back to school, and I finally going back to my values of living simply am riding my e-bike everywhere. It's a little nerve-racking as there are really no bike lanes so there's no barrier between me and vehicles racing past at 60 mph.. luckily there is not a great deal of traffic and everyone is pretty good at sharing the road!  I am doing it because it is important that people see me out there riding the back every day, even in the rain, that they ask me questions and begin to think that if I can do it, well they can too, YOU can, we all can!
Really my deep-seated Dutch cheapness did come into play- I am tired of spending money on a car that I really only need for about 60 minutes a day..
I  mean really think about how long your travel time is and the bulk of time that car spends in parking lots, or driveways - we pay. for the convenience of having a car at our disposal but everyone pays for it and we know that we are killing the planet for our addiction to that lifestyle "freedom".
I have always thought that real freedom actually comes from not being attached to or beholden to these things like fossil fuel or beholder to leaders like Vladimir Putin, who we let get away with so many terrible things because of our desire to continue the fossil fuel lifestyle.. WHEN WILL WE LEARN????!!!!!

Here is a great read on just that- our addiction to oil  and the need to stop drilling for oil and create a green economy https://www.nytimes.com/2022/05/14/opinion/gas-prices-oil-renewable-energy-drilling.html 
This is the serious side of riding the bike the fun side is logging 125 miles a week, feeling healthy and strong and knowing that I am not paying $6/gal, insurance, and maintenance of the car.. although my tire cost is adding up thanks to the amount of CRAP on the side of the road that is sharp and pokey.. and a huge shout out to Phillip of Molokai Bikes for going above and beyond roadside assistance to get me to my student teaching and empowering me with the changing of the tires.. 
the other fun side is that I have discovered the wireless AirPods and am working my way through playlists that I can sing while riding the bike... So.Much.Fun. like my own private roving karaoke bar! 
I know I am not the only person going down this road so I want to hear from you! 
Let me know how you change your routines to lessen fossil fuel use. In what ways are you challenging yourself and your families, and communities to adapt or mitigate climate change??

Happy Valentine's Day gentle listeners! I know that not everyone gets into this day and it can be hokey or require way too many expectations around relationships but I do like the idea of setting a day to celebrate love.. really celebrate love, big love like Radical LOVE!

"To be loving is to be open to grief, to be touched by sorrow, even sorrow that is unending.” Writer, scholar, and trailblazing feminist bell hooks wrote these words in her 2002 book, All About Love.

I have been thinking about these words by bell hooks and the idea of radical love has been. coming to me throughout my grieving process for my father, finally, I summoned the courage to talk about it openly with someone that I feel has lived this truth in her own life,  my friend, colleague,  Scorpio sister and fellow creative, Aubrey Yee.  There is so much  I could try to say about Aubrey but it would simply fall short, so best to listen to her own words about her life,  the radical love she holds for herself, her family,  the world, and Gaia!

Aubrey Yee is a Life & Leadership Coach, Futurist, Facilitator, Writer and Speaker. Her life’s purpose is catalyzing and supporting others to find their own unique life-print and purpose: the reason they are here at this time on this planet. She is the mother of two amazing small humans who teach her new things every day, married to a surfer masquerading as a salesman, living on the north shore of Oahu where the sun shines and the waves beckon us to remember how to play!  Please check out her website Ourbelovedfuture.com and see the amazing adventures Aubrey is creating you can also follow her on IG @aubrey.morgan.yee  or @aubreyyee  

follow me @molokaiemillipottery

Welcome to Random Acts of Living, dear listener!  We have a super episode for you today as Chris Block and I talk on the last day of 2021 about all things large and small then we settle on authenticity in leadership- more specifically how to bring that part of ourselves the most vibrant, the truest self that is needed to be in the public eye - how do we lead with authenticity???? How do we integrate authenticity to change the big overarching systems??? 
Also, Chris points out that really a majority of the people we share the planet with want to make the best decisions to care for each other and that is a silver lining indeed as we walk through the difficulty of leadership with our bundles of problems to solve.. hmmm have we all become just giant problem solvers without becoming changemakers????? 
Chris holds nothing back, so buckle up gentle listener as you are in for a wild, honest, and soul-searching ride!   


  

Aloha gentle listeners welcome to season two of Random Acts of Living, with me your hostess with the mostess Emillia Noordhoek!  

It’s been a bit of a wild ride the past few months,  when we last spoke I was just getting settled into my new place in Amsterdam exploring, getting my residency, I thought setting down roots in my ancestral home with my people, ah but it was not to be so easy. 

My father passed away three weeks after my arrival and that loss was the icing on the proverbial cake as it was, shorn clear through it felt like sucker-punched in the stomach.. All that and more felt in the moment and it made me reconsider where I belong in this world and who belongs with/to me. 

I  was grateful for the past year and a half due to the pandemic that I was able to spend with my parents and know that we are complete in our connection and relationship to each other, we said the things that needed to be said and there was nothing left on that table except great love and to cherish the memories so I do and will continue to do so. 

But, now, where do I belong???  Well first my heart shifted then I was able to shift my head, and then I knew that place called home and this is where I now speak to you from, my home, my heart, my whaling center, my Molokai. 

Here is the story of getting from point A - Amsterdam to point M- Molokai with Iowa in between.

Mahalo for listening and if you are so inclined please leave a review and/or email me at [email protected] 

Aloha gentle listeners and welcome to the last episode of  Season 1 !  WOW!

Thank you so much for tuning in and not dropping out!  In this last episode, I have made it to Amsterdam after a full year and a half of living with my parents, when I am not freaking out over the move I have made I am enjoying bike riding, running. learning Dutch getting my paperwork done and submitted for permanent residency and well enjoying the sights and sounds of my ancestorial home...  I know maybe it has been a little rough going as I find my voice and figure how to tell the stories that are meaningful to all of you and I think the guests have really enriched the stories and definitely my life and I hope yours. 

Well, the very first guest is the most amazing Teresa Shook founder of the women's march fellow Scorpio and maker of good trouble always an inspiration to talk with and know!  So much gratitude to Chris Block for taking our conversations to the podcast space and for being spontaneous and such a great storyteller!
 
Edd Stone for sharing his joy of bucket lists - Edd is on some big adventure cycling around Europe and I think he is currently in Spain thanks so much Edd! Dave Haines for sharing his experience in the 2020 Democratic  Presidential campaign in Iowa and for advising me don't the most epic road trip ever to Zion and Arches national parks!
 
Jonas  Vansteenkiste who name I will  I will finally master for season 2  as we follow his amazing artwork and please go take look at his new book collaboration with a good friend and fellow artist Joke Raes, 'Transitoria',  which you can pre-order here!

I think this season I wanted to share the stories and art of people that admire who are making a difference in their artwork and no one do I admire more than the cat saving,  amazing and soulful artist, Laura Jean McLaughlin of the Schulmpy Funk Manifestoes, see her new works here!

Remember the amazing, brilliant, and insightful  Sheva Pekar knowledgeable on the healing power of psychedelics and her work to provide equal access for everyone? https://psycannadvisors.com/

I met Sheridan Ruth doing some research on a project and future podcast series on equity and including and was so inspired by her and her story I immediately asked her to be on the podcast I could not help myself.  So much goodness and inspiration from this young leader it will be exciting to see what she does in the world, I predict it is going to be amazing!

A huge mahalo to Mikico Tashima ( Mickey) for her inspiration to be present and keeping the faith when you find your passions and that creativity does not have to be tied to any one thing but a creative life is accessible to all of us,. Follow her on Facebook!

Finally many thanks to my dad for being himself and always telling me the tough stories even when they are hard to listen to and hard to tell!
Whew, amazing all these people shared stories this season and I hope t share many more! 

I have to thank my technical and emotional support Anna who is the world's greatest coach and believer in what one can accomplish, visit her website here! The best is last here for sure Leon is the world's greatest sound editor and collaborator and on to season 2!
Season One was completely self-funded and a labor of love and learning but as I roll into next season with big plans for life-changing storytellin

In 1970, James Baldwin wrote a letter to Angela Davis in which he said, “What has happened, it seems to me, and to put it far too simply, is that a whole new generation of people have assessed and absorbed their history, and, in that tremendous action, have freed themselves of it and will never be victims again.”

 Aloha gentle readers and welcome to the latest episode of Random Acts of Living!
 So the above sentence by James Baldwin caught my attention because well I am wondering if really it is true? If we understand our history on a micro and macro level can we free ourselves of it?   isn't it really when our past shames us that it holds power over us?? 
This week's episode is another talk story session with my dad when he was in the hospital and as it turns out he really likes being on my blog.. that is what he calls the podcast.. So we delved into a subject that may be difficult for most of us  I know it has been hard for me ..   
I am impressed that my dad through his research into the KKK in Iowa in the 1960s ( actually is still quite active in the area even today- which will no doubt be another podcast episode) finds out about my grandfather's past affiliation with the KKK pre-WWII.
Maybe after WWII, after his nephew was killed by the Nazi's,  fighting in the Dutch Resistance maybe my grandfather,  a Dutch immigrant himself, had a  reckoning about white supremacy,   and saw that buying into racism maybe had some clear economic fears that were preyed on upon by those who had the most to lose and wanted my grandfather to tow that white supremacist line.. he still hat he did,  to me what is more important is what my father decided to do, the choices he made helped to create my world view and that of my son for which I am grateful.
I am also grateful to hear his compassion and how as he calls out what is wrong he continues to embrace my grandfather for all his flaws and to this act of radical compassion even as he moves his family to be raised in a much more diverse environment is amazing to me and gives me hope. if we can all access that in ourselves and for others, maybe just maybe we will be able to shift this paradigm on a systemic level..

 I recently read an article by Nicolas Kristoff about Daryl Davis, 63,  a Black musician with an unusual calling: He hangs out with Ku Klux Klan members and neo-Nazis and chips away at their racism.  He essentially used his curiosity around racism to forge friendships. with KKK members, and through these friendships he is able to reach people and help them change.

“Daryl Davis demonstrates that talking face-to-face with your ideological opponents can motivate them to rethink their views,” said Adam Grant, an organizational psychologist at the Wharton School of the University of Pennsylvania. “He’s an extraordinary example of what psychologists have repeatedly shown with evidence: In over 500 studies, interacting face-to-face with an out-group reduced prejudice 94 percent of the time.
“You won’t get through to people until you’ve earned their trust,” Grant added. “You’re not likely to earn their trust until you’ve met them face-to-face and listened to their stories.”
Read the entire article here!
So if we can have the conversations and tell our stories and walk into this very messy and uncomfortable world with our truly curious hearts and mind and with an understanding about what that shadow side is of humanity and how it works, tell our stories,  take the power away from them and show them the light of day.. yeah maybe we can change the world..  gentle listener it is worth trying right, what have we got to lose??
Thank-you for 

Random Acts are small, short vignettes of unedited moments and thoughts - I hope you enjoy this one! 

 Aloha gentle listeners and welcome to the last month of season one!!  July will be the last month of the first season,  woohoo and so much gratitude to you for listening to the stories that  I have loved sharing. This week's story comes from an experience I had the other day while out walking the dogs, my dog, and the two littles my parent's dogs.. Walking all three on leashes can a handful but we do our best and mostly we are good unless there are other dogs that maybe have owners who don't pay attention or just assume all dogs are okay talking to other dogs but mine are not, they have had trauma.  things happen when we are unexpectedly accosted by three women and one of their dogs that is allowed to charge at us, yeah so it. gets weird and doesn't end there but with them. following us out of the nature reserve..  but luckily I have seen all the Fast and Furious movies and I know I need to lose the car,  so taking car chase like emoves,  I drive that way to the Sheriff's Office  (these are strategies that I use when being followed by men) because Iowa is an open carry state and anyone who calls me names with my dogs- is probably someone that would carry around a gun in case they needed to defend themselves from the likes of me or anyone and that thought made me rethink all the ways in which I have always carried myself-I will not miss this part about the US. that is one level of trust and personal safety I do want to think about if someone is armed when they approach me,  at all..   such a weird world we live in currently.   
So taking no chances here, I am about to get to leave Iowa to Amsterdam so I am walking carefully to ensure that I get on that plane on Wednesday!  Shoot me your thoughts on this episode I love hearing from you gentle listener, have a great day! 

Welcome to another episode of Random Acts of Living!  We are winding down our first season  ( woo-hoo and amazing! ) I recorded several episodes with my dad when he was in the hospital and this is one. IT occurred to me that we really do not have a  very good conversation on the caretaking of the elderly in the US and as it is fast approaching that I will be taking care of my parents and that they will need some type of support from their family I decided to take advantage of my dad sitting in the hospital.. I think my dad is pretty funny,  but that could just be me and the more I talk to him the more I see how alike we are..  I hope you find some nuggets of truth, gentle listener, from his lips to our ears may we become a more compassionate society and figure out how to take care of all of us in kind and wholistic ways!Happy Sunday!

I am trying out an idea that I want to be a small mini-podcast during the week.. there. sometimes is so much that goes on in our lives I forget all the little things that are a gesture of love or intent yet really important to living in the present ..
I want to be in the moment upload for my community sharing something special or deep or funny, but not an entire episode with no or very explanation in the show notes... it is a surprise  so here is the first   "Random Act" !