This week's guest Ron Waller, has become a good friend and a man, I listen to when he speaks...

A Bit about Ron

Ron Waller is a recently retired Silicon Valley engineer. He has spent over a decade in sobriety after realizing he could not find peace, serenity, and happiness by consuming substances. Through the 12 step program, and outside help, the benefits of honest assessments of behaviors, and the work to modify them, along with enhancing the connection to spirit, Ron has discovered a far better way to live life.

Becoming connected to spirit, life allows him to find, behave, and move through the world as his most authentic self and better connect with others.

He and I both trust, actually we're pretty confident, you will find some words of encouragement in the sharing of his story. Let this inspire you on your journey to be a positive light in the world, filling yourself and everyone you meet with grace and compassion.

A reminder to join Greg & Jennifer of SriPonya Collective's "Healing Circle", on line at "Becoming A Heart"...Tuesday's at 6pm, Pacific Time.

I want to thank Trevor Hall for allowing us to feature "Blue Sky Mind" as "One Breath's" intro.

And then my very good friend Jay Pinto for allowing us to feature "We Breathe The Same Air" as we fade out....

Until Next Time

Peace & Love

Greg Mead

e: [email protected]

p: (206) 947-4734

"...In My Sobriety, I Have Never Felt More Powerful"

Roberta Romero is a mental health advocate and Emmy award winning journalist at KING 5 (NBC) News. She spent the first 22 years of her career reporting on major news events in the Puget Sound Region, from the Nisqually Earthquake to the Boeing Dreamliner debut, but her specialty was telling and sharing the stories of everyday people.

She left TV News in 2015 for the nonprofit world, working at Residence XII a treatment center for alcoholism and addiction and Peer Washington, a peer to peer support network.

Roberta is open about her own recovery from alcoholism and shares her story to help remove stigma and raise awareness.

Roberta returned to her first passion of Journalism and KING 5 in 2021, becoming the Executive Producer for the award-winning Facing Race unit. She is proud to help guide and tell stories about the BIPOC community and confronting the complex issues of race and racism.

Volunteering is a vital part of her life and she sits on the board of the YWCA Seattle/King/Snohomish, Peer Washington, Chad’s Legacy, and Bridges-Seattle Youth Alternative Peer Group.

Roberta is married and has a son and twin daughters. (and rescue dog).

Until Next Time...Peace & Love,

Greg Mead

SriPonya's "One Breath" Podcast

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p: (206) 947-4734

Co-Founder (And My Wife) Jennifer Eales joins me for this very special episode of SriPonya's "One Breath" Podcast. In fact Jennifer begins by turning the mic in my direction and occupies the seat of "host" for much of our conversation.

What begins as the story of personal recovery becomes a deep dive into our collective cultural dilemma and the need to "recover" from the insatiable appetite to consume and extract LIFE from one another and our 'Great Mother' earth.

We can find our way 'home' to one another and to peace WITH the earth...we MUST!!!

Join Jennifer and I every Thurs evening at 6pm Pacific Time for SriPonya's Healing Circle. Engage in the conversation as we walk one another home.

Until Next Time...

Peace & Love,

Greg Mead

e: [email protected]

p: (206) 947-4734

Frank Smith is an elder with the tribes of Warm Springs.  He carries a fire for the healing and recovery of the members of his community, The Confederated Tribes of Warm Springs, who suffer from addiction He is a peer mentor in prevention for the tribes of Warm Springs and often teaches culturally specific programs on the reservation. 

Frank was an incredible athlete and was a boxer for the tribes of Warm Springs, and coached boxing for a number of years.  His dad was a boxer and at one time was 10th in North America.

Our conversations and friendship continue to stretch me beyond my "white" western Christian ways of seeing the world. I am expanded to consider the mystery more deeply because of Frank's presence in my life. Let him touch YOURS.

Until Next Time...

Peace & Love,

Greg

e: [email protected]

p: (206) 947-4734

Will hails from Northern California. After graduating from National Broadcasting School in 1988 he set out on journey to find his place on the radio waves. Eventually he found his way to KWSO in 1999 as popular 'voice' in Central Oregon until 2015. After a short break away from radio Wilman returned to the airwaves with KWSO in the spring of 2023. 

As is the case for many, Will's life and career have not been a linear path to a life well lived. Will encountered the debilitating and soulless existence of addiction which took its toll over many years...until he was confronted with a truly remarkable 'moment of clarity' and began the courageous journey home to who he truly is and what he is called to do in this world.

Will’s energy, enthusiasm and passion for his work, his community and his life, is often unmatched and there is no place he would rather be. He says “Central Oregon feels like home. We live in a place where we can connect with nature and feel at peace” 

Will lives life as a contribution to many. Among other passsionate interests, Will is a guitar player...so maybe, soon, we can sit down together and get 'busy' with "three chords and the truth".

Until Next Time

Peace & Love,

Greg

p: (206) 947-4734

e: [email protected]

"Racial Justice is the Presence of LOVE..." (Matt LaVine)

Matt LaVine is an activist for racial, environmental, and social justice.  In addition to being on the ground and in the streets, he is a senior race equity consultant and facilitator at the Center for Equity & Inclusion in what is now known as Portland, Oregon (ancestral, unceded, occupied lands of peoples from the Confederated Tribes of Grand Ronde, Confederated Tribes of Warm Springs, and Confederated Tribes of Siletz Indians). 

Prior to this, Matt spent a decade working in higher education as a DEI Analyst and teaching courses on Africana Philosophy, Environmental Ethics & Justice, Residential Segregation, Global Intellectual and Cultural History, Mathematics, and the History of Analytic Philosophy. While he was very excited to move outside of the confines of higher education and into the CEI community, he still occasionally engages in writing and podcasting on racial justice, gender justice, and environmental justice.

Let us find our way to being the love in social justice and freedom in social justice.

Until next time...

Peace & Love

Greg Mead

p: (206) 947-4734

e: [email protected]

Bonita's story is one of powerful, sustainable transformation. It is the miraculous exchange of "beauty for ashes, love for hate and a warm blanket for a cold stone"...

Bonita Shares:

I’m a wasco woman from the warm springs reservation. I’m a mother to two sons, and have been in Recovery for 8 years and 3 months. My goal after getting sober was to inspire hope in others to recover. I have used my Recovery to reach my hand out and help others up, and to use my voice for the voiceless, and everyday I am blessed with, I’ll continue to do so. 
Bonita E Leonard

What more can I add? Except "thank you again Bonita, for being a voice of courage; clear-eyed and whole hearted. Your story inspires many. It will for a long time to come.

Until Next TIme, Peace With...,

Greg

p: (206) 947-4734

e: [email protected]

"Alleviate The Pressure & Make It Yours..." (Rodger Eales)

Rodger was born and raised in Point Loma, California. The youngest of four children by parents Rodney and Gayle Eales. Rodger graduated from the University Of San Francisco with a degree in US History. Eales furthered his degree with completing a teaching credential program through USF as a part of an Ameri-Corp social justice grant program.  Throughout his College years he was an ocean front lifeguard for the City Of San Diego.

At the completion of his degrees he participated in the competitive interview process to become a full time lifeguard with the San Diego Fire-Rescue Department and was selected in 2015. In the same year he was married to his girlfriend of 3 years. Together they have worked in respectable occupations that serve the community. Rodger's wife Kelly has a Master's in Autism and serves as the Vice President of Clinical Operations for KYO care. Together they have 3 children and own a home in Point Loma.

Eales was selected as Lifeguard 2 of the year in 2020 amongst a challenging pandemic year for his skills and steadfast approach to the dynamic times. Currently Rodger is the Junior Lifeguard Coordinator for the City of San Diego. 

Don't miss this...Rodger is featured in the big wave surfing documentary "Primary Distractions"

This is a GOOD ONE!!!

Until next time

Peace & Love

Greg

e: [email protected]

p: (206) 947-4734

Refiloe Mofokeng (she/her) is a South African dreamer, explorer and student of life.

She made the decision to walk the sober path after deeply feeling that alcohol did not align with the life that she desired for herself. A few months into her sobriety, she launched her podcast, Sunkissed and Sober, where she shares reflections on her recovery. With it, she hopes that people drawn to the podcast will realize that sobriety is abundance, not deprivation. She is currently in the process of obtaining her Somatic Facilitator Certification from Brain Body Being. Somatic work, coupled with sobriety, has deeply transformed Refiloe’s life. She aims to share this wisdom with those who are ready to feel more connected to themselves, others, this planet and Divine Spirit.

The podcast: Sunkissed and Sober

Refiloe on Instagram: @justrefiloe

The podcast on Instagram: @sunkissed_andsober

We are in for a joyful conversation so stay with us all the way through this episode. You'll be glad you did!!!

I want to give a 'Shout Out' to Trevor Hall for allowing us to use his song "Blue Sky Mind" as our intro music. And then my good friend Jay Pinto gifts us with his song "We Breathe The Same Air" that takes us out each week.

Peace & Love,

Greg

p: (206) 947-4734

e: [email protected]

James Edmund Greeley honors the wisdom of his elders who said to him, not long ago, "No more Father; No more Mother; That Makes YOU The Next Elder".

James has been playing the flute for the past 20 years. "My first flute was gifted to my dad (Hamilton Greeley), and I pretty much took it upon myself," he explained. "Dad wasn't musically inclined; it would have been sitting on the wall collecting dust."

James shares, "Native flute music has been here 3,000 years plus," He says the "original flute player, the deity Kokopa aka Kokopelli crossed paths with my Hopi Nations Family in the Southwest of America. His melodies and chants were from various wooden flutes and bone whistles. The rain would fall and bring harvest and fertility among the Hopi people." I told James he embodies the spirit of Kokopelli for such a time as this.

James is conscious that he performs "to enlighten and bring back my heritage for ALL nations and to ALL my relations."

In 2000, he performed at the Smithsonian National Museum of the Native American Indian, in New York City, and by 2007, he had completed his first CD, "Honoring the Supernatural."Greeley was nominated for numerous awards at the NAMA that year, including Flutist of the Year, Debut Artist, and Long-Version Video, but didn't win.

Ten years later, his second CD of original flute compositions — released in late 2016 — was submitted, and Greeley became a NAMA winner.

As if winning a NAMMA award wasn't enough, he collaborated with Esperanza Spalding and won a Grammy for "Formwela 2" on Esperanza's "Songwriters Apothecary Lab". James plays a 'bone whistle' which he carved himself.

James told me "I happen to feel like I'm a channel, or gateway," It opens up like a doorway from somewhere; I know its beginning, middle and end."

Yes James Edmund Greeley is a musician of renown and most certainly has a prosperous career ahead. In addition James is a powerful advocate for maintaining and passing on the sacred traditions of his people. He is also on the path of recovery and shares his courageous journey out of alcoholism into sobriety and recovery.

"In Peace"

Greg

e: [email protected]

p: (206) 947-4734