The Good Listening To Show: Stories of Distinction & Genius

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Please welcome Mike Dilke - Back & Ergonomic Products Expert & host of "The Relaxback Show" on UK Health Radio.

As we share a relaxed bit of back-chat (see what we're doing here?!) about all things healthy back!

Do you have back pain? Or would you like to know more about how to avoid it in the first place? 

If so, then "sit back - relax - and enjoy the show!" as Mike Dilke and I  “blow a bit of reciprocal smoke” at each other to share audiences from our respective UK Health Radio Shows!

"The Relaxback UK Show" on UK Health Radio has been hosted by Mike Dilke since 2017.

Mike Dilke also runs the Relaxback UK Company that provides ergonomic equipment to help people with back pain or help to ensure they avoid it in the first place.

Website – www.relaxbackuk.com Twitter handle – @relaxbackuk

Mike Dilke is a Civil Engineer, who became a Broadcaster and a Podcaster when his Professional Consultancy career eventually ended in an unacknowledged recession, created by the Noughties’ austerity measures. 

A yoga enthusiast, Mike designed a means of turning the human body upside down safely at home and tried, unsuccessfully, to secure a patent for his invention. Instead he became a business person in his own right as the UK distributor of an ergonomic, musculoskeletal Swedish chair that ensures better posture and less back pain. It also stimulates more healthy movement. 

Mike Dilke then met Johann Ilgenfritz, the founder of UK Health Radio and the two characters gelled instantly. No slouch by anybody’s standards, Mike is a family man with an unusual sense of humour, possibly related to his own unusual internal wiring system. Take cricket, for example. When he plays, which admittedly is not often these days, he is a right-handed batsman and a left-handed bowler. Yet he is not ambidextrous and by his own definition, he is just a bit weird. 

He constantly sees things as funny which others may not even see at all. Mike met his scientist wife in the first week of his first year at University and married her a few years later. Together they have a boy and a girl who are now teenagers. And a dog. 

Mike regularly turns to his wife and his children for guidance and inspiration for his weekly programme on UK Health Radio and his Podcast. As he has never studied or practised medicine, Mike makes the most of his natural curiosity to question people on subjects that interest him. He asks the questions that the (intelligent) man in the street might ask and explores issues with courage as well as good humour. For example, recent programmes have found him having his Liver tested and asking all kinds of questions on that vital but often neglected organ. Ignorance, he finds, can be a real advantage if used effectively. On another occasion, Mike used Dry January as a sound reason to explore the growing popularity of high quality alcohol-free drinks. 

The conversation in this episode travels through time and across the world with eccentric charm and occasionally chaotic cul de sacs. Overall and in the end, the posture of the pair is just about perfect. 

Mike’s mission to relieve back pain in as many people as possible and raise a laugh or two along the way is certainly above criticism. Chris Grimes’ improvisation skills are tested in real time when Mike leaves the Zoom meeting to get himself a glass of water. Altogether a surprising and rewarding encounter where the lack of editing adds to its authenticity!   

Reg Starkey
Editor - UK Health triangle Magazine

“The Good Listening To: Your Life & Times With Me Chris Grimes!” is the Show & Podcast series that features “The Clearing”:

Where all good Questions come to be asked - and all good Stories come to be told.

Enjoy!

Tune in next week for more stories of 'Distinction & Genius' from The Good Listening To Show 'Clearing'.  If you would like to be my Guest too then you can find out HOW via the different 'series strands' at 'The Good Listening To Show' website.

• Show Website: https://www.thegoodlisteningtoshow.com
• You can email  me about the Show: [email protected]
• Twitter thatchrisgrimes
• LinkedIn https://www.linkedin.com/in/chris-grimes-actor-broadcaster-facilitator-coach/
• FaceBook Group: https://www.facebook.com/groups/842056403204860

Don't forget to SUBSCRIBE & REVIEW wherever you get your Podcasts :)

Thanks for listening! 

Send us Fan Mail

Ladies n' Genminminmin (er, min...) please welcome Tom Seals to The Clearing!

For The Story Behind The Story Of  ‘The Man Behind the Keys’ Of Boogie-Woogie-Wonder Pants & Jazz Musician Sensation - The Real Deal Tom Seals!

To quote his own Hero Jools Holland: "Fantastic feel, fantastic voice, the wonderful Tom Seals!"

He has also been described as being "A master of the piano and with vocals to pierce your soul - a Boogie-boogie-Genuis!"

I was very recently introduced to Tom Seals c/o his lovely Agent Juliet Matthews as we have a venue in France in common!

It's www.lessoeursanglaises.com where I do my INSTANT WIT Comedy Improvisation "Laughter Lab" Workshops each year and where Tom is due to be hosting a "Boogie Woogie Weekend" 3 months after me!

Tom Seals is a man definitely on the ascension.  He has been lauded as being "quite possibly the future of Jazz, Blues & Pop!" and as I say to him in the Podcast: "I'm glad to have caught you here in The Clearung before you 'Rocket Man'!" (see what I'm doing there, as he's also been compared to Elton John!)

His new show format, devised during lockdown "The Tom Seals Show in Isolation" was picked up by Sky TV for its own 13 Show Season.

Tom Seals has played with the likes of Jools Holland, Gregory Porter, Jamie Cullum, Dame Cleo Lane, Hugh Laurie, Katie Tunstall, Billy Joel and Sting to name but few!
Scales have played an important part in Tom Seals’ life. As a lad, his older sister got him to play them for her on a simple keyboard to help her with her singing practice. 

More about Tom:

At 18 a record company told Tom he needed to lose a lot of weight (3 stone) before they would even talk to him. He himself has always been acutely aware of his ginger hair, his glasses and of ‘carrying more weight than his frame might otherwise wish’. 

At 10 writing his first autobiography, Tom recorded his admiration for Jools Holland. He now plays piano with him 7 or 8 times a year. When Tom Seals was playing pub gigs for fifty quid as a teenager, he set himself 3 ambitious goals: to play piano at Ronnie Scott’s, to be broadcast on BBC Radio 2 and to appear on stage with his band at the Royal Albert Hall. Still in his twenties, Tom has achieved his first two goals and has this year been invited to represent the best of what Britain has to offer at the international Expo in Dubai. 

Tom Seals may travel the world but he still lives in Crewe - with his partner and lifelong friend, Laura and their dog, Charlie. 

Tom’s grandfather on his dad’s side had a big band called ‘The Versatile Concert Orchestra’. His grandfather on his mum’s side was a role model and childhood hero. Tom still has the highest respect for his mother’s work ethic and wisdom. 

He remains a family man through and through. Self-employed and self-motivated, Tom Seals’ focus is on musical achievement rather than just money. He loves his life and appreciates the rewards for his energy and effort. The smart money is in no doubt that this is a young man with a world of opportunity in front of him. 

Jools Holland described him as “wonderful."  Tom’s spectacular versatility on stage makes him hard to label. “If you like good music and incredible musicianship, you’ll like my band.”
Tom also quotes a line from Billy Joel: "I’d rather laugh with the sinners than cry with the saints". Tom Seals will definitely be in that number, singing and laughing, when the saints really do ‘go marching in.’

Reg Starkey
Editor - Health Triangle Magazine

“The Good Listening To: The Story Behind Your Story Show!” is the Show & Podcast series that features “The Clearing” (or 'Serious Happy Place' of your choosing)

The Clearing is where all good Questions come to be asked - and all good Stories come to be told…

Enjoy!

Tune in next week for more stories of 'Distinction & Genius' from The Good Listening To Show 'Clearing'.  If you would like to be my Guest too then you can find out HOW via the different 'series strands' at 'The Good Listening To Show' website.

• Show Website: https://www.thegoodlisteningtoshow.com
• You can email  me about the Show: [email protected]
• Twitter thatchrisgrimes
• LinkedIn https://www.linkedin.com/in/chris-grimes-actor-broadcaster-facilitator-coach/
• FaceBook Group: https://www.facebook.com/groups/842056403204860

Don't forget to SUBSCRIBE & REVIEW wherever you get your Podcasts :)

Thanks for listening! 

Send us Fan Mail

Ladies n' Genminminmin (er, min...) please welcome to "The Clearing" for her "damn good listening to!" the wonderful Actress, Stand-Up Comedienne & Performance Poet Angie Belcher!

Angie Belcher is an award-winning stand-up comedian and a popular performance poet. She also teaches comedy and recites deliberately poor political poetry through a young male caricature comic-creation called appropriately, Odious Vex.

Angie is patron of charity in Uganda called ‘Youth with a Vision’. She has her own young son called Ulysses. Angie Belcher is Comedian in Residence at Bristol University. She has her own Hidden Comedy Club. And now she is pioneering a Comedy on Prescription project for the NHS. 

The first course has some 15 traumatised people who are willing to work on a new way of recovering from the individual horrors they have all experienced. Angie provides a safe space in which she encourages the participants to cleanse their wounds by reviewing their vulnerability and reframing it for the rest of the group to experience. 

She turned down a request from Channel 4 to cover it for broadcast because it would compromise the confidentiality of the therapeutic endeavour. Angie’s own personal relief comes from an hour in the local Park every day focusing on the Guardian crossword, created by their somewhat sinister nom de plume: Professor Serpent. 

Angie recently lost her mother who was and still is an inspiration to her. Her mother, Angie tells us, never told jokes but was always very funny. Blessed are those who are willing to play the fool in order to bring smiles and laughter into our troubled world. Angie’s own guiding concepts are that Doing is better than Worrying.  And that “Chance favours an open mind”.  

Ladies and Gentlemen, please meet the one and only Angie Belcher!

Reg Starkey. 
Editor UK Health Triangle Magazine

Enjoy!

“The Good Listening To: Your Life & Times With Me Chris Grimes!” is the Show & Podcast series that features “The Clearing” (or 'Serious Happy Place' of your choosing)

The Clearing is where all good Questions come to be asked - and all good Stories come to be told…

Think 'Desert Island Discs' but in a Clearing - and with Stories rather than Music!

With some lovely juicy Storytelling metaphors to also enjoy along the way:

The Clearing itself - a Tree - a lovely juicy Storytelling exercise called “5-4-3-2-1” - some Alchemy - some Gold - a couple of random Squirrels - a cheeky bit of Shakespeare - and a CAKE!

So it’s all to play for! 

Hurrah!

(…and indeed Huzzah!)

Tune in next week for more stories of 'Distinction & Genius' from The Good Listening To Show 'Clearing'.  If you would like to be my Guest too then you can find out HOW via the different 'series strands' at 'The Good Listening To Show' website.

• Show Website: https://www.thegoodlisteningtoshow.com
• You can email  me about the Show: [email protected]
• Twitter thatchrisgrimes
• LinkedIn https://www.linkedin.com/in/chris-grimes-actor-broadcaster-facilitator-coach/
• FaceBook Group: https://www.facebook.com/groups/842056403204860

Don't forget to SUBSCRIBE & REVIEW wherever you get your Podcasts :)

Thanks for listening! 

Send us Fan Mail

Ohhhhh yes! Ladies n' Genminminminmin (er, min...) please welcome to The Good Listening To Podcast "Clearing" for her 'damn good listening to' Presenter & Broadcasting legend Janey Lee Grace!

With the sea-scapes of St Ives for her 'serious happy place' or "Clearing", Janey is an occasional Mermaid (that can't swim!) and constantly distracted by shiny things! Listen and all will become clear (and shiny!)

"I wanted to change the world but got distracted by something shiny!"

You join us for a special "Show within a Show within a Show " (You're welcome! And how very Shakeseperean!) as Janey is also a fellow-Presenter with me on UK Health Radio, with her own show "The Natural Health & Sobriety Show"

Janey's passion is all in pursuance of "optimum health & wellbeing underpinned by sobriety".

Janey Lee Grace is known to over 9 million listeners via BBC Radio 2's "The Steve Wright Show". She's author of 5 books on holistic living and runs the popular natural products recommendations site Imperfectly Natural.

Janey writes columns for many magazines having ditched the booze - plus she's given a TEDx talk called ‘Sobriety Rocks – Who Knew?!’

She founded The Sober Club www.thesoberclub.com offering inspiration and support for people wanting to focus on optimum health and wellbeing underpinned by sobriety.

More about Janey Lee Grace:

"Janey Lee Grace describes herself as a broadcaster, author and coach. She is all of that and much, much more. 

Her Ted Talk sets a benchmark for precision, coherence, clarity and surprise. Janey Lee Grace has had no fewer than 4 children and an extraordinarily colourful life. Who else can claim to have been commissioned by Mattel to present Barbie Doll as a rock chick? Who else can claim to have founded The Sober Club? Who else is so busy they have to diarise time to be beside the sea for their own mental health? 

Janey Lee Grace has a holistic approach to life, which no longer includes any alcohol any time. She now encourages others to ditch their win-or-lose-on-the-booze approach to daily life - but only if the idea appeals to them. She proclaims that it is as valid a lifestyle choice as for example, becoming a vegan. 

Janey Lee Grace reminds us that alcohol is the only drug you will be challenged for not using. She positively enjoys helping people reach their full potential without the distraction that alcohol provides. 

Janey Lee Grace acknowledges and accepts imperfection. She glorifies authenticity and action. In her words “You don’t have to get it right. You do have to get it going!” Listen. You will learn something!

She is also the founder of The Sober Club"

Reg Starkey
Editor, UK Health Triangle Magazine

Enjoy!

“The Good Listening To: Your Life & Times With Me Chris Grimes!” is the Show & Podcast series that features “The Clearing” (or 'Serious Happy Place' of your choosing)

The Clearing is where all good Questions come to be asked - and all good Stories come to be told…

Think 'Desert Island Discs' but in a Clearing - and with Stories rather than Music!

With some lovely juicy Storytelling metaphors to also enjoy along the way:

The Clearing itself - a Tree - a lovely juicy Storytelling exercise called “5-4-3-2-1” - some Alchemy - some Gold - a couple of random Squirrels - a cheeky bit of Shakespeare - and a CAKE!

So it’s all to play for! 

Hurrah!

(…and indeed Huzzah!)

Tune in next week for more stories of 'Distinction & Genius' from The Good Listening To Show 'Clearing'.  If you would like to be my Guest too then you can find out HOW via the different 'series strands' at 'The Good Listening To Show' website.

• Show Website: https://www.thegoodlisteningtoshow.com
• You can email  me about the Show: [email protected]
• Twitter thatchrisgrimes
• LinkedIn https://www.linkedin.com/in/chris-grimes-actor-broadcaster-facilitator-coach/
• FaceBook Group: https://www.facebook.com/groups/842056403204860

Don't forget to SUBSCRIBE & REVIEW wherever you get your Podcasts :)

Thanks for listening! 

Send us Fan Mail

Ladies n Genminminminmin (er min...) welcome BACK - for a second pass through the Good Listening To "Clearing" - this time with even better sound - the warm, wonderful and absolute comic genius that is "Tweedy The Clown" from Gifford's Circus! 

A special interview complete with "Keef - the Pet Rescue Iron!" for company!

Ohhhhh yes! Alan Tweedy Digweed aka "Tweedy the Clown" is a true comic genuis in the Stan Laurel 'Vaudevillian' styley. 

Me and my extended Fam-Squad have been going along to see him in Gifford's Circus for the last 17 of their 21 years of existence. Tweedy is always at their heart as the warm & wonderful comic centrepiece that he is!

A source of great joy, for me he is a living personification of Stan Laurel which is why I adore him so much!

A wonderful converation indeed riffing on all things comedy,  slapstick & Vaudeville!

More about Tweedy:

Alan ‘Tweedy’ Digweed was born to be a Clown. He was born small and hung onto his childhood a lot longer than most. He did not go through puberty until he was in his late teens, by which time he had learned to make people laugh since his early school days, as an effective coping mechanism. 

He was inspired by a generation of silent comics in black and white movies on TV. Legends like Laurel and Hardy, Buster Keaton and Harold Lloyd were later joined in real life by lesser known local stars like Johnny Hutch and Barry Grantham. 

Alan Digweed was at Art School learning animation when he realised he did not want to draw the character, he want to be the character. He decided to try his luck in show business. Panto provided Alan with his first opportunities to make members of the public laugh at his antics. 
Then his first clowning job was for Zippo’s Circus but as a publicity clown not in the big top itself. The name ‘Weedy’ was already taken so Alan took the name ‘Tweedy’ acknowledging his Scottish heritage. 

Tweedy learned his traditional Clown-craft over 8 years at Zippo’s before joining Gifford’s Circus where he has been for the last 16 years developing his own unique character and style, celebrating his inner child, with the aid of an iron called Keef which he rescued from a wardrobe rubbish bin. 

Tweedy’s strange signature hair is the result of a visual gag that went wrong! At each show Tweedy fell into a birthday cake and stayed there to keep the laughter going. On this occasion his hair caught fire without him even realising it at first. When he did, he spontaneously used the cake itself to put the fire out! Improv meets Health and Safety with a smile... 

Tweedy is a fascinating multi-faceted character who has been described as “the Mark Rylance of Clowns” which is praise indeed. This is a weird and wonderful episode which gets beneath the traditional facade of circus clowning and provides priceless insights into its rich history and heritage. 

Smile! You’ll feel better for it, guaranteed".

Reg Starkey
Editor - Health Triangle Magazine.

Enjoy!

“The Good Listening To: Your Life & Times With Me Chris Grimes!” is the Show & Podcast series that features “The Clearing” (or 'Serious Happy Place' of your choosing)

The Clearing is where all good Questions come to be asked - and all good Stories come to be told…

Think 'Desert Island Discs' but in a Clearing - and with Stories rather than Music!

With some lovely juicy Storytelling metaphors to also enjoy along the way:

The Clearing itself - a Tree - a lovely juicy Storytelling exercise called “5-4-3-2-1” - some Alchemy - some Gold - a couple of random Squirrels - a cheeky bit of Shakespeare - and a CAKE!

So it’s all to play for! 

Hurrah!

(…and indeed Huzzah!)

Enjoy!

Tune in next week for more stories of 'Distinction & Genius' from The Good Listening To Show 'Clearing'.  If you would like to be my Guest too then you can find out HOW via the different 'series strands' at 'The Good Listening To Show' website.

• Show Website: https://www.thegoodlisteningtoshow.com
• You can email  me about the Show: [email protected]
• Twitter thatchrisgrimes
• LinkedIn https://www.linkedin.com/in/chris-grimes-actor-broadcaster-facilitator-coach/
• FaceBook Group: https://www.facebook.com/groups/842056403204860

Don't forget to SUBSCRIBE & REVIEW wherever you get your Podcasts :)

Thanks for listening! 

Send us Fan Mail

Ladies n' Genminminminmin (er, min...) welcome to a very exciting Episode indeed! Yes, it's  'roll out the Red Carpet' time here in "The Good Listening To Show" Clearing as we warmly welcome Scottish TV Presenter & Broadcasting legend Ross King (MBE).

Ross King is nothing short of a Broadcasting legend with 4 News Emmys, 2 Sony Awards, 1 Golden Mic  - a Cycling Proficiency Test Certificate - a 25M Breastroke Certificate - a Duke of Edinburgh Award - and an Alan Partridge in a Pear Tree!

 A man completely at home on the red carpets of Hollywood at both the Oscars & the Golden Globes and always with his finger on the pulse of all the Showbizz news & gossip: As "Our Man in Hollywood" for the likes of the "Lorraine" Programme on ITV and "Good Morning Britain"!

Multi-talented, multi-award-winning Hollywood ‘leg-end’ Ross King is delightfully self-deprecating. Talking about his childhood dreams of playing professional football for Partick Thistle-nil, as he says Billy Connolly always called them, he quotes the manager’s assessment of his talent in these words: “You’ll wear out more mirrors, son, than football boots!” 

Or in reference to one of his many superstar interviews: “As George Clooney once said to me - ‘Get out of my garden!’” Ross King likes to make people laugh and is very happy to be the butt of the joke if that’s what does the job. 

A great impressionist too with Sean Connory & Roger Moore to name but 2 (Ross is a self-confessed James Bond obsessive) with Ronnie Corbett as a cheeky-chappyand-much-shorter-chaser!

He still describes himself as ‘a silly boy from Glasgow’ who is delighted on a daily basis to be ‘a silly boy in Hollywood’. Ross King‘s feet remain comfortably on the ground, while his head  is in the clouds. He says he is “too blessed to be stressed “. 

He constantly acknowledges all the people who have helped him get to where he is today - starting with his mum, dad and sister, moving on to his Maths Teacher, Roddy Hood, not for teaching him primary numbers or Pythagoras but for pointing him towards Hospital Radio aged 15. A year or so later, this led directly to Ross becoming the ‘Saturday Boy’ for Radio Clyde. 

This good grounding experience as general factotum/gofer on live sports broadcasts provided Ross King with an early and an excellent show business portal. The record shows he made the most of it with a diverse and impressive body of work in various media for a variety of countries. 

Now with writing partner, Shari Low, Ross King has produced two books under the nom de plume Shari King. These are published by Macmillan and now the team has a third sparkling forward in the creative process. 

When Ross said he has red eyes, it’s no wonder, given how much he has set himself to do. He is a humble man and yet he has so much to be proud of - some of which he talks about here. 

Listen up and be delighted! 
Reg Starkey 
Editor, Health Triangle Magazine

“The Good Listening To: Your Life & Times With Me Chris Grimes!” is the Show & Podcast series that features “The Clearing”:

Where all good Questions come to be asked - and all good Stories come to be told…

Think 'Desert Island Discs' but in a Clearing - and with Stories rather than Music!

With some lovely juicy Storytelling metaphors to also enjoy along the way:

The Clearing itself - a Tree - a lovely juicy Storytelling exercise called “5-4-3-2-1” - some Alchemy - some Gold - a couple of random Squirrels - a cheeky bit of Shakespeare - and a CAKE!

So it’s all to play for! 

Hurrah!

(…and indeed Huzzah!)

Enjoy!

Tune in next week for more stories of 'Distinction & Genius' from The Good Listening To Show 'Clearing'.  If you would like to be my Guest too then you can find out HOW via the different 'series strands' at 'The Good Listening To Show' website.

• Show Website: https://www.thegoodlisteningtoshow.com
• You can email  me about the Show: [email protected]
• Twitter thatchrisgrimes
• LinkedIn https://www.linkedin.com/in/chris-grimes-actor-broadcaster-facilitator-coach/
• FaceBook Group: https://www.facebook.com/groups/842056403204860

Don't forget to SUBSCRIBE & REVIEW wherever you get your Podcasts :)

Thanks for listening! 

Send us Fan Mail

In The Clearing: Life-Changer, Warrioress, LinkedIn Trailblazer, Confidence & Career Success Coach, Roller Skater, Wild Swimmer & Awesome Pants Angie McQuillin!

"Brand Strand" is where I wrap an episode of the Podcast around a particular individual or company to help amplify their Company or Pesonal Brand:

"Who are you? What's your story and what do you do?" 

Former people-pleaser and dedicated dog- lover, Angie McQuillin spent many  superficially successful years in the corporate world before launching out on her own to share the truth as she sees it. 

An atheist with a degree in Psychology, Angie was 30 something when she experienced her spiritual awakening and committed herself over time to living her individual coaching dream on a daily basis rather than compromising her personal integrity on the popular measures of salary, status and prospects. She admits that she is obsessed with honesty in all of her dealings, at work and at home. Not the brutal honesty of expressing judgment at every opportunity or the simplistic minimum of not telling lies but a rigorous honesty based on core values and vulnerability, expressed with intelligence and sensitivity. 

Angie is inspired by her client’s’ willingness to identify their own self limiting beliefs and change their behaviour for the better. It’s a gamechanger and everybody benefits! For Angie, authenticity is not measured in the money you earn, the car you drive or the clothes you wear. It’s about being free from fear, free from shame and never being afraid to speak up for what you truly believe in. 

Angie practises what she preaches. She earns enough money to live the life she enjoys. She works hard but not compulsively. She walks her dog Louis every day ‘through fields and forests.’ She drives a camper van. She loves having ‘wheels on her feet, the sun on her face and the wind in her hair.’ She likes wild swimming and recognises the value of regular meditation. Angie says and you believe her: “I’d rather be disliked for who I am than liked for who I’m not.” Angie is very open and very direct. 

She no longer needs any of the old measures of validation to reinforce her once fragile self-esteem. Angie now knows she has always been good enough. She doesn’t need L’Oreal or anyone else to tell her she’s worth it - but if they do Angie will be delighted to acknowledge the compliment. 

For her, honest human connection is at the heart of genuine authenticity. Personal development takes time, work and commitment. As Angie might have said:”By the inch it’s a cinch. By the yard it’s hard.”

Angie McQuillin is someone well worth discovering.

Reg Starkey
Editor, Health Triangle Magazine 

“The Good Listening To: Your Life & Times With Me Chris Grimes!” is the Show & Podcast series that features “The Clearing”:

Where all good Questions come to be asked - and all good Stories come to be told…

Think 'Desert Island Discs' but in a Clearing - and with Stories rather than Music!

With some lovely juicy Storytelling metaphors to also enjoy along the way:

The Clearing itself - a Tree - a lovely juicy Storytelling exercise called “5-4-3-2-1” - some Alchemy - some Gold - a cheeky bit of Shakespeare - and a CAKE!

So it’s all to play for! 

Hurrah!

(…and indeed Huzzah!)

Enjoy!

Tune in next week for more stories of 'Distinction & Genius' from The Good Listening To Show 'Clearing'.  If you would like to be my Guest too then you can find out HOW via the different 'series strands' at 'The Good Listening To Show' website.

• Show Website: https://www.thegoodlisteningtoshow.com
• You can email  me about the Show: [email protected]
• Twitter thatchrisgrimes
• LinkedIn https://www.linkedin.com/in/chris-grimes-actor-broadcaster-facilitator-coach/
• FaceBook Group: https://www.facebook.com/groups/842056403204860

Don't forget to SUBSCRIBE & REVIEW wherever you get your Podcasts :)

Thanks for listening! 

Send us Fan Mail

Welcome to a special "Good Books" series strand Episode of "The Good Listening To" with Madeleine Black - The Courage Cultivator!

"The Good Listening To" is the Storytelling Podcast Series & Show that sets out to discover "The Story Behind The Story Of You!"

(If you've written a Book we set out to uncover the "story behind the story of your cover" - see what we're doing there?!) 

Madeleine Black is author of the best selling Book "Unbroken: Used, Beaten But Never Broken" and Presenter of "Unbroken: The Podcast - Healing Through Storytelling"

She is the self-described "Courage Cultivator", with a powerful and compelling story to tell:

A profound story of rape - not once but 3 times - forgiveness - of how to invert shame - of how to get back up, regain your power and move on, more powerful than ever - in how she now inspires and helps others, through the power of Storytelling, to do the same.

"We are not defined by what knocks us down. We are defined by what gets us back up". Madeleine Black

If you too have written a Book and would like to get involved and be "given a good listening to" too to tell us all about it, then by all means do get in touch:

[email protected]

+44 (0) 7711 644 094

MORE ABOUT MADELEINE BLACK: 

At 13, Madeleine Black survived a fate worse than death. Over 40 years later, she is now willing to talk about it. 

Aged 13, with a friend from school, it just seemed like a good adventure - a night on their own in an empty house, with a cover story to keep their parents happy. 

For Madeleine it turned into just about the worst imaginable nightmare - vodka, violent abuse, torture, humiliation and rape by two older boys, one with a knife, lasting four hours! Followed by 3 years of secrecy and silence, where the untreated trauma expressed itself in feelings of utter worthlessness, casual sex - non-consensual on three particular occasions - depression, an eating disorder and a suicide attempt. 

It took literally years of therapy with a variety of different practitioners, a lot of work and the love of one good man to arrive at a place where Madeleine can at last accept that she need no longer fear men or dream eye-for-an-eye revenge on the teenage monsters who years ago threatened to kill her if she ever broke her silence. 

Madeleine has now found her voice, has the same loving husband and their three inspirational children. At 5 feet and two inches, as Shakespeare might have put it,  “Madeleine may be little but she is fierce.” Her children are evidence of her own ‘best revenge’. She now has the courage to speak her truth and to write her book about it.  

For her, acceptance still remains 180 degrees away from approval. 

As Maya Angelou expressed it: “I can be changed by what happens to me - but I refuse to be reduced by it.” 

Madeleine has transformed her pain into purpose and now uses her story to help others start to heal their own individual traumas. Madeleine‘s brutal honesty is well worth listening to.

Reg Starkey, Editor Health Triangle Magazine

“The Good Listening To: Your Life & Times With Me Chris Grimes!” is the Show & Podcast series that features “The Clearing”:

Where all good Questions come to be asked - and all good Stories come to be told…

Think 'Desert Island Discs' but in a Clearing - and with Stories rather than Music!

With some lovely juicy Storytelling metaphors to also enjoy along the way:

The Clearing itself - a Tree - a lovely juicy Storytelling exercise called “5-4-3-2-1” - some Alchemy - some Gold - a cheeky bit of Shakespeare - and a CAKE!

So it’s all to play for! 

Hurrah!

(…and indeed Huzzah!)

Enjoy!

Tune in next week for more stories of 'Distinction & Genius' from The Good Listening To Show 'Clearing'.  If you would like to be my Guest too then you can find out HOW via the different 'series strands' at 'The Good Listening To Show' website.

• Show Website: https://www.thegoodlisteningtoshow.com
• You can email  me about the Show: [email protected]
• Twitter thatchrisgrimes
• LinkedIn https://www.linkedin.com/in/chris-grimes-actor-broadcaster-facilitator-coach/
• FaceBook Group: https://www.facebook.com/groups/842056403204860

Don't forget to SUBSCRIBE & REVIEW wherever you get your Podcasts :)

Thanks for listening! 

Send us Fan Mail

Ladies n' Genmininminmin (er min...) please welcome to The Good Listening To  "Clearing" the warm and wonderful Environmental Economist and fellow Podcaster -  host of his own podcast "Serendipity Soup", Matt Georges!

With The Monty Python "Fish Slapping Dance" Quay for his Clearing at Teddington Lock in London: The location for the seminal dance & unforgettable Monty Python Sketch with Michael Palin & John Cleese circa 1971 - hurrah!

Matt Georges and I first met way-back-when, when as a delegate at an Environmental Conference that I was co-Facilitating, Matt stepped forward to volunteer (and even take 2 days of unpaid leave!) to help me as a Runner in a Short Film I was about to make, called "Knock Knock..."

For which I've been grateful to him for ever since! And our paths have subsequently continued to criss-cross in subtle ways ever since. How's THAT for serendipity? (see what I'm doing there?!)

Matt's Podcast which is well worth a listen is called "Serendipity Soup " which he positions as being the 'antedote to the Clebrity Culture Podcast'.

More about Matt: 

Matt Georges is an environmental economist with the courage to admit that he frequently gets real pleasure from spread sheets. Matt has been involved in cost:benefits analysis for the Environment Agency for almost 20 years. One man among over 10,000 souls, Matt has now set up in business on his own account with the intention of demystifying the language usually used in this field. Currently just a one man band, the enterprise is called Orbital Econmics.com which gives it plenty of scope for growth. 

Matt is a quiet, thoughtful man who nevertheless enjoys talking and is immensely proud of his dual heritage : Cypriot father, Welsh mother. Married with two children, Matt discovered that while he constantly suppressed his responses to stresses at work, he then expressed them inappropriately at home. 

10 years ago his father died prematurely aged 62, approximately 10 years below average life expectancy at birth. An average man of 62 might reasonably expect another 15 or more years but Matt’s father had had a heart attack at 46 and his co-morbidities of diabetes and high blood pressure were lifestyle related. Matt’s immediate reaction was anger - which he also suppressed. One definition of depression is anger turned inwards. Matt was diagnosed with moderate depression, which is one area where ‘Moderation in all things’ does not apply. Low grade is bad, moderate is worse, anything higher can be totally debilitating. 

Matt made the most of the therapy on offer and is grateful that his wife has been consistently supportive. During Lockdown, Matt created his own new podcast series called "Serendipity Soup":

This gives him permission to ask questions from people who interest him. For him it works on the basis that ‘Energy begets energy’ and he finds it relaxing. In this frank interview he reveals an enquiring mind with both poetic and philosophical dimensions. He loves sunshine after rain. He appreciates random acts of kindness. He has a lot to say. And it is all worth listening to.

Reg Starkey 
Editor, Health Triangle Magazine

“The Good Listening To: Your Life & Times With Me Chris Grimes!” is the Show & Podcast series that features “The Clearing”:

Where all good Questions come to be asked - and all good Stories come to be told…

Think 'Desert Island Discs' but in a Clearing - and with Stories rather than Music!

With some lovely juicy Storytelling metaphors to also enjoy along the way:

The Clearing itself - a Tree - a lovely juicy Storytelling exercise called “5-4-3-2-1” - some Alchemy - some Gold - a cheeky bit of Shakespeare - and a CAKE!

So it’s all to play for! 

Hurrah!

(…and indeed Huzzah!)

Enjoy!

Tune in next week for more stories of 'Distinction & Genius' from The Good Listening To Show 'Clearing'.  If you would like to be my Guest too then you can find out HOW via the different 'series strands' at 'The Good Listening To Show' website.

• Show Website: https://www.thegoodlisteningtoshow.com
• You can email  me about the Show: [email protected]
• Twitter thatchrisgrimes
• LinkedIn https://www.linkedin.com/in/chris-grimes-actor-broadcaster-facilitator-coach/
• FaceBook Group: https://www.facebook.com/groups/842056403204860

Don't forget to SUBSCRIBE & REVIEW wherever you get your Podcasts :)

Thanks for listening! 

Send us Fan Mail

Please welcome to "The Clearing" for a lovely-jubbly double episode of The Good Listening To Podcast, Natural Storyteller, Creative ‘Puck-Like’ Sprite, Wellbeing and Resilience Blogger and all round HappyPants Anneliese Paul!

MORE ABOUT ANNELIESE:

As  a Creative Project Co-ordinator and Well-being Coach, Anniliese Paul exudes joie de vivre. 

At 16 she said she wanted to act and was told there was no money in it. At 26, Anneliese was a Business Manager in the Sanctuary spa in Covent Garden. By 28, she and her partner and their beautiful new surprise-baby had moved to Bristol to ‘live on lentils’ as  Anneliese now puts it. Money may have been in short supply but there was an abundance of optimism. 

At 12, Anneliese had had a near death experience where failure to recognise appendicitis when the opportunity was given, had led to an emergency operation for peritonitis. Anneliese still has a scar to remind her that life is fragile and that time spent with loved ones is priceless. 

Over 10 years later, Anneliese dealt with her justifiable teenage resentment about being blocked from acting by signing up for evening and weekend drama classes at the Bristol Old Vic. This was designed as a two year course but by the time she had completed it, Anneliese found herself pregnant again. Nevertheless a third year of evening and weekend classes became available and Anneliese jumped at the opportunity to remain a drama student. Even though her desire to spend maximum time with her children has denied Anneliese a realistic career as an actor, she is in no doubt about the benefits of her studies. “Everyone should learn drama” she proclaims with enthusiasm. 

 Anneliese teaches people to write and tell stories. Curiosity and creativity work together in harmony. She talks about three concentric circles. In the outer circle are all the stories people are willing to share with anyone, post on Facebook or offer as PR versions of the truth at cocktail parties. The next circle in is reserved exclusively for close personal friends and people you trust completely. The centre circle contains the stories you hope no one will ever hear. Never, ever. That circle is dark and deep. Anneliese’s near death experience is true and has a happy ending so it sits comfortably in the outer circle. The fact that her father was a bipolar alcoholic with suicidal thoughts who was sectioned for his own good is certainly in the inner circle and elements of it may even cross into the central darkness. Who knows?  Anneliese is not going to volunteer the information. “You know me and you don’t know me” she chooses as her favourite quote. 

Now  Anneliese is involved in exploring links between Play-Creativity-Well-being at the University of the West of England. At a less academic level,  Anneliese shares her personal insights in self-care in her biweekly newsletter Well-being Wednesday.

This whole episode really is a joy to listen to. Thanks  Anneliese. Thanks Chris.

Reg Starkey 
Editor, Health Triangle Magazine 

“The Good Listening To: Your Life & Times With Me Chris Grimes!” is the Show & Podcast series that features “The Clearing”:

Where all good Questions come to be asked - and all good Stories come to be told…

Think 'Desert Island Discs' but in a Clearing - and with Stories rather than Music!

With some lovely juicy Storytelling metaphors to also enjoy along the way:

The Clearing itself - a Tree - a lovely juicy Storytelling exercise called “5-4-3-2-1” - some Alchemy - some Gold - a cheeky bit of Shakespeare - and a CAKE!

So it’s all to play for! 

Hurrah!

(…and indeed Huzzah!)

Enjoy!

Tune in next week for more stories of 'Distinction & Genius' from The Good Listening To Show 'Clearing'.  If you would like to be my Guest too then you can find out HOW via the different 'series strands' at 'The Good Listening To Show' website.

• Show Website: https://www.thegoodlisteningtoshow.com
• You can email  me about the Show: [email protected]
• Twitter thatchrisgrimes
• LinkedIn https://www.linkedin.com/in/chris-grimes-actor-broadcaster-facilitator-coach/
• FaceBook Group: https://www.facebook.com/groups/842056403204860

Don't forget to SUBSCRIBE & REVIEW wherever you get your Podcasts :)

Thanks for listening!