This week’s conversation is hosted, as always, by Lizzie Winn and Justin Wise of Thirdspace.

00:00 Introduction and Welcome

05:30 The Importance of Making the Implicit Explicit

10:28 Exploring Resistance to Explicit Communication

15:26 The Role of Patience and Slowing Down

20:09 Navigating Complexity in Relationships

25:22 The Pragmatism of Explicit Communication

30:14 The Risk and Creativity of Sharing Implicit Thoughts

To achieve clearly understood communication in our relationships, personal, professional, casual, romantic, online, every level of life, it is critical that we remind ourselves to make the implicit explicit. That's the idea. Whatever we assume to be obvious, be it our emotional state, the purpose of an event, or the location of a stapler, we must teach ourselves to assume that it actually is not, and therefore must be stated out loud if we are to be understood. 

Why is this important to do? Because the literal opposite is true. What is most obvious to us is generally not obvious to other people, and in fact, they are often making a totally different and wrong assumption than the one you also wrongly assume they are making. 

Why does this happen? Well, there are several cognitive biases at work here… Primarily, there's what's called the curse of knowledge. Once we know something, it becomes difficult to imagine what it's like not to know it, so we overestimate how obvious our thoughts or intentions or explanations will be to others. 

There's the closely related illusion of transparency, where we overestimate how clearly our internal states, our emotions, thoughts, our sense of morality are visible to others. They're not. 

And last, naïve realism, where we assume our perceptions of reality of what's obvious about the world are shared by all. These misalignments happen constantly in our interpersonal lives, and they lead to resentment, misunderstanding, conflict, and harm. 

I think at times there are also certain common resistances to being explicit. One… is a sense of, "Well, if you really loved me, you would already know this about me," which is an understandable way to feel, but is really… a failure to communicate. 

Another may be a sense of self-respect or maybe self-preservation that warps into a kind of peremptory and self-defeating resentment. "Why should I have to make something explicit just to give you an understanding about me you haven't bothered to ask for?" And the answer to that is, if a greater understanding would be a positive outcome, however it's arrived at, why not just take responsibility to ensure it arrives? 

There's also, and I think this is the one that has most prevented me from making the implicit explicit as it pertains to my views on certain public issues, is the sense of not wanting to play the game, of not wanting to debase myself in order to pass somebody's morality test. And also the question of, what does this really change? … 

And yet… if playing the game and taking the test opens a door to greater understanding, a door through which perhaps more understanding can then travel through that otherwise might have remained closed, that may in fact be change enough to make the enterprise worthwhile… 

So if you've got questions for someone in your life, ask them. Expect that they have questions for you too. Preempt them. Make the implicit explicit. Talk to each other. Talk to each other. 

from ‘Making the Implicit Explicit’ 

Episode 44 of Jonah’s podcast ‘Being Jewish with Jonah Platt’

Photo by Priscilla Du Preez 🇨🇦 on Unsplash

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Our two day introduction to the deep and wonderful way of working with people that we call 'Integral Development Coaching'.

www.wearethirdspace.org/foundations-of-coaching

Our Turning Towards Life live programme of community, learning and reflection runs in six month seasons, in person on Zoom once a month. We're very excited about it. A chance to expand beyond the bounds of a podcast into forming a community of learning and practice.

You can find out more and join us here: www.turningtowards.life/live

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Turning Towards Life, a week-by-week conversation inviting us deeply into our lives, is a live 30 minute conversation hosted by Justin Wise and Lizzie Winn of Thirdspace.  Find us on FaceBook to join in the lively conversation on this episode. You can find videos of every episode, and more about the project on the Turning Towards Life website, and you can also watch and listen on Instagram, YouTube, and as a podcast on Apple, Amazon Music and Spotify.

Support Us: www.buymeacoffee.com/turningtowardslife

It’s such a rewarding, life-giving endeavour, and it teaches us ever more about being a person and taking care of others. Join us for an exploration of what ‘guiding people up and out’ might be, with inspiration from a lovely and inspiring poem by Ellie Steel.

This week’s conversation is hosted, as always, by Lizzie Winn and Justin Wise of Thirdspace.

00:00 Introduction

03:03 Exploring Aliveness: A Central Theme

05:54 Navigating by Aliveness: Insights and Reflections

09:10 The Distinction Between Aliveness and Happiness

11:59 Embracing the Full Spectrum of Human Experience

14:52 Creatures of Creation: Our Relationship with Life

17:55 Intimacy with Existence: The Heart of Aliveness

20:56 The Cost of Control: Reconnecting with Aliveness

27:13 The Dance of Control and Aliveness

30:01 Curiosity as a Pathway to Freedom

33:04 The Nature of Care and Connection

Here’s our source for this week:

(for Miss)

Under her wings I live and grow and against

and with the feathers soft and

strong that open over

the heads of all who

reach up guiding

up

and

out

until the wings

flutter away and we

who are not in need grow

wings for ourselves and open

them up to those without wings

From She Will Soar: Bright, Brave Poems about Freedom by Women

(link on Bookstore)

Photo by Torianna Marasco on Unsplash

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Our two day introduction to the deep and wonderful way of working with people that we call 'Integral Development Coaching'.

www.wearethirdspace.org/foundations-of-coaching

Our Turning Towards Life live programme of community, learning and reflection runs in six month seasons, in person on Zoom once a month. We're very excited about it. A chance to expand beyond the bounds of a podcast into forming a community of learning and practice.

You can find out more and join us here: www.turningtowards.life/live

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Turning Towards Life, a week-by-week conversation inviting us deeply into our lives, is a live 30 minute conversation hosted by Justin Wise and Lizzie Winn of Thirdspace.  Find us on FaceBook to join in the lively conversation on this episode. You can find videos of every episode, and more about the project on the Turning Towards Life website, and you can also watch and listen on Instagram, YouTube, and as a podcast on Apple, Amazon Music and Spotify.

Support Us: www.buymeacoffee.com/turningtowardslife

coaching, wings metaphor, againstness relationship, growth facilitation, multidirectional holding, self-generating capacity, coaching philosophy, lineage importance, power dynamics, tender development, mutual growth, generative listening, creative holding, leaping ahead, integral development, community practice, dignified support, holding system, personal transformation, growth orientation, generosity practice, wingless to winged

Ellie Steel (poet who wrote "Wings")

Martin Heidegger (philosopher referenced by Lizzie when discussing the concept of "jumping ahead" or "leaping ahead")

Cast of the TV Show 'Shrinking'

This week’s conversation is hosted, as always, by Lizzie Winn and Justin Wise of Thirdspace.

00:00 Introduction

03:03 Exploring Aliveness: A Central Theme

05:54 Navigating by Aliveness: Insights and Reflections

09:10 The Distinction Between Aliveness and Happiness

11:59 Embracing the Full Spectrum of Human Experience

14:52 Creatures of Creation: Our Relationship with Life

17:55 Intimacy with Existence: The Heart of Aliveness

20:56 The Cost of Control: Reconnecting with Aliveness

27:13 The Dance of Control and Aliveness

30:01 Curiosity as a Pathway to Freedom

33:04 The Nature of Care and Connection

Here’s our source for this week:

The concept that sits right at the heart of a sane and meaningful life, I’m increasingly convinced, is something like aliveness. It goes by other names, too, none of which quite nail it – but it’s the one thing that, so long as you navigate by it, you’ll never go too far wrong. Sometimes it feels like a subtle electrical charge behind what’s happening, or a mildly heightened sense of clarity, or sometimes like nothing I can put into words at all. I freely concede it’s a hopelessly unscientific idea. But I’m pretty sure it’s what Joseph Campbell meant when he said that most of us aren’t really seeking the meaning of life, but rather “an experience of being alive… so that we actually feel the rapture” – although personally I don’t think it’s always rapturous, per se – “of being alive.”In literal terms, of course, “aliveness” can’t be the right word here, because technically everyone’s alive all the time, whereas aliveness comes and goes. Still, I know it when I feel it. And I definitely know it when my misguided efforts to exert too much control over reality cause it to drain away. 

And so an excellent question to ask yourself – when you’re facing a tough decision, say, or wondering if you’re on the right track – is: “Does this feel like it’s taking me in the direction of greater aliveness?”Crucially, aliveness isn’t the same as happiness. As the Zen teacher Christian Dillo explains in his engrossing book The Path of Aliveness, you can absolutely feel alive in the midst of intense sadness. Aliveness, he writes, “isn’t about feeling *better*; it’s about *feeling*better.” When I feel aliveness in my work, it’s not because every task is an unadulterated pleasure; and when I feel it in my close relationships, it’s not because I’ve transcended the capacity to get annoyed by other people – because believe me, I haven’t.

But to whatever extent I *do* manage what Dillo refers to as fully inhabiting my experience, life is good, in a deep sense, and more vibrant, and I feel more connected to others – and overall, happiness tends to predominate…   I think it might be the key to understanding how to think and feel about AI, how to respond to it, how to integrate it into our lives or not – and how to ensure, as technology marches on, that we don’t lose sight of what really matters for a meaningfully productive life. 

Most obviously, aliveness is what generally feels absent from the written and visual outputs of ChatGPT and its ilk, even when they’re otherwise of high quality… It makes you wonder if Wendell Berry had it right when he wrote: “It is easy for me to imagine that the next great division of the world will be between people who wish to live as creatures and people who wish to live as machines.”…  I think it’s good to stay fully, even slightly foolishly, committed to the idea that humans doing human things, with other humans, is and will remain at the vital heart of human existence. Because otherwise what on earth’s the point?

The full text of this wonderful post can be found on Oliver’s website ‘The Imperfectionist’, where you can also find out about his books and sign up to his mailing list.

Photo by yunona uritsky on Unsplash

---

Our two day introduction to the deep and wonderful way of working with people that we call 'Integral Development Coaching'.

www.wearethirdspace.org/foundations-of-coaching

Our Turning Towards Life live programme of community, learning and reflection runs in six month seasons, in person on Zoom once a month. We're very excited about it. A chance to expand beyond the bounds of a podcast into forming a community of learning and practice.

You can find out more and join us here: www.turningtowards.life/live

----

Turning Towards Life, a week-by-week conversation inviting us deeply into our lives, is a live 30 minute conversation hosted by Justin Wise and Lizzie Winn of Thirdspace.  Find us on FaceBook to join in the lively conversation on this episode. You can find videos of every episode, and more about the project on the Turning Towards Life website, and you can also watch and listen on Instagram, YouTube, and as a podcast on Apple, Amazon Music and Spotify.

Support Us: www.buymeacoffee.com/turningtowardslife

This week’s conversation is hosted, as always, by Lizzie Winn and Justin Wise of Thirdspace.

02:49 The Joy of Coaching and Community

07:08 Understanding the Shambhala Warrior

12:17 Interconnectedness and Community Resilience

17:08 Humility in Compassionate Action

23:12 The Complexity of Truth and Instant Gratification

28:46 The Call to Action and Hope

Here’s our source for this week:

Joanna Macy: The Shambhala Warrior

Now the time comes when great courage is required of the Shambhala warriors, moral courage and physical courage. That is because they’re going right into the heart of the barbarian’s power to dismantle their power and dismantle their weapons, weapons in every sense of the word. As they make their way into the pits and citadels where the armaments are made, so are they also entering the corridors of power where decisions are made.

Now, heed this. The Shambhala warriors know these weapons can be dismantled. That is because they are manomaya, an old word that means “mind-made.” Made by the human mind, they can be unmade by the human mind. The dangers facing us are not fashioned by some satanic deity or by an evil extraterrestrial force or by some immutable preordained fate. These dangers are created by our relationships, our habits, our choices.

“So now is the time,” said Chogyal Rinpoche, “for the Shambhala warriors to go into training.”

“How do they train?” I asked.

“They train in the use of two implements or tools.”

“What are they?” I asked, and he held up his hands the way the lamas hold the ritual objects, the dorje and bell, in the great monastic dances of his people.

“One,” he said, “is compassion. The other is insight into the radical interdependence of all phenomena. You need both,” he said. “You need compassion because it provides the fuel to move you out where you need to be in order to do what you need to do. It means not being afraid of the suffering of your world. That tool is very hot. By itself it is so hot it can burn you out. So you need the other tool, the insight that reveals the interbeing of all that is. When that dawns in you then you know that this is not a battle between good people and bad people but that the line between good and evil runs through the landscape of every human heart. And you know that we are so interwoven that even our smallest acts have repercussions that ripple through the web of life, beyond our capacity to discern. But that knowing is kind of cool. It can seem at times a bit abstract. That’s why you need the heat of real passion.”

From One Earth Sangha

Photo by Daniele Levis Pelusi on Unsplash

---

Our two day introduction to the deep and wonderful way of working with people that we call 'Integral Development Coaching'.

www.wearethirdspace.org/foundations-of-coaching

Our Turning Towards Life live programme of community, learning and reflection runs in six month seasons, in person on Zoom once a month. We're very excited about it. A chance to expand beyond the bounds of a podcast into forming a community of learning and practice.

You can find out more and join us here: www.turningtowards.life/live

----

Turning Towards Life, a week-by-week conversation inviting us deeply into our lives, is a live 30 minute conversation hosted by Justin Wise and Lizzie Winn of Thirdspace.  Find us on FaceBook to join in the lively conversation on this episode. You can find videos of every episode, and more about the project on the Turning Towards Life website, and you can also watch and listen on Instagram, YouTube, and as a podcast on Apple, Amazon Music and Spotify.

Support Us: www.buymeacoffee.com/turningtowardslife

This week’s conversation is hosted, as always, by Lizzie Winn and Justin Wise of Thirdspace.

05:48 Introducing the Source: Harold Schulweis

11:57 Personal Reflections on Change and Growth

17:47 The Power of Openness and Change

24:08 The Importance of Dialogue and Disagreement

29:52 Creating a World of Connection and Kindness

Here’s our source for this week:

The last word has not been spoken

the last sentence has not been writ

the final verdict is not in.

It's never too late 

to change my mind 

my direction

to say 'no' to the past 

and 'yes' to the future 

to offer remorse

to ask and give forgiveness.

It is never too late 

to start all over again 

to feel again 

to love again 

to hope again.

It is never too late 

to overcome despair 

to turn sorrow into resolve 

and pain into purpose.

It is never too late to alter my world 

not by magic incantations 

or manipulations of the cards 

or deciphering the stars 

but by opening myself 

to curative forces buried within 

to hidden energies

the powers in my interior self.

In sickness and in dying, 

it is never too late.

Living, I teach 

Dying, I teach

how to face pain and fear.

Others observe me, children, adults, 

students of life and death 

learn from my bearing, my posture, 

my philosophy.

It is never too late - 

Some word of mine,

some touch, some caress may be remembered 

some gesture may play a role beyond the last 

movement of my head and hand.

Write it on my epitaph 

that my loved ones be consoled.

It is never too late.

Photo by Ümit Bulut on Unsplash

---

Our two day introduction to the deep and wonderful way of working with people that we call 'Integral Development Coaching'.

www.wearethirdspace.org/foundations-of-coaching

Our Turning Towards Life live programme of community, learning and reflection runs in six month seasons, in person on Zoom once a month. We're very excited about it. A chance to expand beyond the bounds of a podcast into forming a community of learning and practice.

You can find out more and join us here: www.turningtowards.life/live

----

Turning Towards Life, a week-by-week conversation inviting us deeply into our lives, is a live 30 minute conversation hosted by Justin Wise and Lizzie Winn of Thirdspace.  Find us on FaceBook to join in the lively conversation on this episode. You can find videos of every episode, and more about the project on the Turning Towards Life website, and you can also watch and listen on Instagram, YouTube, and as a podcast on Apple, Amazon Music and Spotify.

Support Us: www.buymeacoffee.com/turningtowardslife

never late, starting over, forgiveness practice, teaching presence, continuous becoming, habit remaking, interior forces, curative powers, death teaching, final verdict, life ongoingness, changing direction, opening myself, human power, world making, truthful standing, cynicism rejection, spiritual openness, destination pressure, community presence, disagreement kindness, intentional space, learning together, transformative choice, last breath

This week’s conversation is hosted, as always, by Lizzie Winn and Justin Wise of Thirdspace.

02:25 Exploring Ingrid's Poetry

06:30 On Ordinary Moments

10:07 Connection to the World Around Us

14:34 Receiving from the World, Finding We Are Not Alone

19:24 Discovering our Non-Separateness

Here’s our source for this week:

What is Timeless and True

When mist settles thick on the water

as far as the eye can see,

may you hold yourself in generosity,

and ask what do you endlessly dream?

When the first star breaks its light

through the darkest evening sky,

what is the wish that flutters

in the temple of your heart?

When rain dances with joy

on the roof above your head,

what do you feel most grateful for,

and for what do you give thanks?

When the catbird settles on a branch nearby,

tips his head back and sings,

what sweet urgency pours from your life

into the living, breathing day?

When you stoop to pick up an acorn

that has fallen along your trail,

allow yourself to wonder:

what seeds do you plant and grow?

When the autumn leaf lifts

on a swirling current of wind:

what journey are you missing?

What adventure do you long to begin?

When the present insight slips

into the vast eternal realm,

what do you still remember

in the very bones of your soul?

When the morning sun wakes you

and asks for your finest gift,

what do you pull from your infinity

to give and give, and open to, and give?

Photo by Lucas van Oort on Unsplash

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Our Turning Towards Life live programme of community, learning and reflection runs in six month seasons, in person on Zoom once a month. We're very excited about it. A chance to expand beyond the bounds of a podcast into forming a community of learning and practice.

You can find out more and join us here: www.turningtowards.life/live

----

Turning Towards Life, a week-by-week conversation inviting us deeply into our lives, is a live 30 minute conversation hosted by Justin Wise and Lizzie Winn of Thirdspace.  Find us on FaceBook to join in the lively conversation on this episode. You can find videos of every episode, and more about the project on the Turning Towards Life website, and you can also watch and listen on Instagram, YouTube, and as a podcast on Apple, Amazon Music and Spotify.

Support Us: www.buymeacoffee.com/turningtowardslife

timeless questions, sweet urgency, temple heart, infinity giving, autumn leaf journey, catbird settling, acorn wondering, star breaking light, rain dancing joy, mist settling thick, bones soul memory, morning sun gift, world offering attention, contact receptivity, contracted separation, life calling back, rose smelling presence, ordinary invitations, belonging planet, softening contact, generous participation, separateness fear, social media hysteria, retreat fantasy, bodily contraction, woods walking

This week’s conversation is hosted, as always, by Lizzie Winn and Justin Wise of Thirdspace.

04:14 Introducing Parker Palmer and this week’s Source

08:52 The Concept of Faithfulness vs. Effectiveness

15:42 The Challenge of Complex Issues in Life

22:33 Finding Fulfillment Beyond Short-Term Goals

Here’s our source for this week:

Our heroes take on impossible jobs and stay with them for the long haul because they live by a standard that supersedes effectiveness. The name of that standard is "faithfulness" - faithfulness to your gifts, to the needs of the world, and to offering

your gifs to whatever needs are within your reach.

The tighter we cling to the norm of effectiveness, the smaller the tasks we'll take on, because they are the only ones that get short-term results. Public education is a tragic example. We no longer care about educating children - a big job that's never done. We care only about getting kids to pass tests with measurable results, whether or not those tests measure what matters. In the process, we're crushing the spirits of a lot of good teachers and vulnerable kids: there are millions of kids in this country who long to be treasured, not measured.

Care about being effective, of course. But care even more about being faithful, as countless teachers do - faithful to your calling and to the true needs of those entrusted to your care. You won't get the big jobs done in your lifetime. But if, at the end of the road, you can say, "I was faithful", you can check out with a sense of satisfaction.

from "On the Brink of Everything", p47-48

Photo by Alexey Demidov on Unsplash

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Our Turning Towards Life live programme of community, learning and reflection runs in six month seasons, in person on Zoom once a month. We're very excited about it. A chance to expand beyond the bounds of a podcast into forming a community of learning and practice.

You can find out more and join us here: www.turningtowards.life/live

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Turning Towards Life, a week-by-week conversation inviting us deeply into our lives, is a live 30 minute conversation hosted by Justin Wise and Lizzie Winn of Thirdspace.  Find us on FaceBook to join in the lively conversation on this episode. You can find videos of every episode, and more about the project on the Turning Towards Life website, and you can also watch and listen on Instagram, YouTube, and as a podcast on Apple, Amazon Music and Spotify.

Support Us: www.buymeacoffee.com/turningtowardslife

faithfulness practice, effectiveness obsession, long-term commitment, cultural critique, big jobs worth doing, short-term results, treasured not measured, educational reform, calling dedication, gift recognition, world needs, satisfaction fulfillment, loyalty examination, complex missions, unfinished work, life dedication, cultural metanarratives, social exclusion fear, heart questioning, purpose alignment, decision making clarity, service orientation, love peace justice, parenting faithfulness, recognition limitations, life filling, tribe dedication, spiritual satisfaction, deeper commitment, relationship building, podcast longevity

This week’s conversation is hosted, as always, by Lizzie Winn and Justin Wise of Thirdspace.

02:50 The Emergence of a Collective Self

06:07 Exploring Uncertainty and Aliveness

09:05 Navigating the Unknown: Embracing Change

11:50 The Dance of Certainty and Uncertainty

15:07 Partnership with Life: Making Our Moves

17:50 The Nature of Human Qualities in Crisis

20:57 Reflective Practice and Self-Discovery

24:00 Being Human in Uncertainty

26:49 Closing Reflections and Gratitude

Here’s our source for this week:

We look with uncertainty

beyond the old choices for

clear-cut answers

to a softer, more permeable aliveness

which is every moment

at the brink of death;

for something new is being born in us

if we but let it.

We stand at a new doorway,

awaiting that which comes…

daring to be human creatures,

vulnerable to the beauty of existence.

Learning to love.

Photo by Karissa Mason on Unsplash

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Our Turning Towards Life live programme of community, learning and reflection runs in six month seasons, in person on Zoom once a month. We're very excited about it. A chance to expand beyond the bounds of a podcast into forming a community of learning and practice.

You can find out more and join us here: www.turningtowards.life/live

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Turning Towards Life, a week-by-week conversation inviting us deeply into our lives, is a live 30 minute conversation hosted by Justin Wise and Lizzie Winn of Thirdspace.  Find us on FaceBook to join in the lively conversation on this episode. You can find videos of every episode, and more about the project on the Turning Towards Life website, and you can also watch and listen on Instagram, YouTube, and as a podcast on Apple, Amazon Music and Spotify.

Support Us: www.buymeacoffee.com/turningtowardslife

uncertainty acceptance, essential qualities, human aliveness, partnership with life, permeable existence, doorway metaphor, vulnerable beauty, reflective practice, present moment awareness, control letting go, death brink living, softness cultivation, new birth allowing, offering making, response receiving, qualities emerging, steadfastness courage, generous heart, human goodness, unpredictability embracing, participation dance, life partnership, essential self, turning towards life, relationship reflection

This week’s conversation is hosted, as always, by Lizzie Winn and Justin Wise of Thirdspace.

02:56 Gathering in Community

05:50 Machado’s Poem Last Night as I Was Sleeping

08:58 Imagining New Possibilities

11:59 Turning Towards Joy and Failure

14:53 The Imaginative Act of Being Human

17:47 Finding Connection in Shared Experiences

20:50 The Invitation to Storytelling

23:45 Practicing Presence and Openness

Here’s our source for this week:

     Last night, as I was sleeping,

I dreamt -- marvellous error!—

that a spring was breaking

out in my heart.

I said: Along which secret aqueduct,

Oh water, are you coming to me,

water of a new life

that I have never drunk?

     Last night, as I was sleeping,

I dreamt -- marvellous error!—

that I had a beehive

here inside my heart.

And the golden bees

were making white combs

and sweet honey

from my old failures.

     Last night, as I was sleeping,

I dreamt -- marvellous error!—

that a fiery sun was giving

light inside my heart.

It was fiery because I felt

warmth as from a hearth,

and sun because it gave light

and brought tears to my eyes.

     Last night, as I slept,

I dreamt -- marvellous error!—

that it was God I had

here inside my heart.

Photo by Vivek Doshi on Unsplash

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Our Turning Towards Life live programme of community, learning and reflection runs in six month seasons from September. It's going to be in person on Zoom once a month. We're very excited about it. A chance to expand beyond the bounds of a podcast into forming a community of learning and practice.

You can find out more and join us here: www.turningtowards.life/live

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Turning Towards Life, a week-by-week conversation inviting us deeply into our lives, is a live 30 minute conversation hosted by Justin Wise and Lizzie Winn of Thirdspace.  Find us on FaceBook to join in the lively conversation on this episode. You can find videos of every episode, and more about the project on the Turning Towards Life website, and you can also watch and listen on Instagram, YouTube, and as a podcast on Apple, Amazon Music and Spotify.

Support Us: www.buymeacoffee.com/turningtowardslife

marvellous error, secret aqueduct, golden bees, sweet honey, old failures, imaginative capacity, turning towards life, heart opening, sacred aliveness, storytelling power, redemption possibility, fiery warmth, divine presence, new life water, creative interpretation, dream consciousness, life-giving conversation, spiritual recognition, meaning making, transformation language, wonder invitation, possibility thinking, cynicism rejection, literal thinking, narrative choice

Antonio Machado (Spanish poet, author of the poem)

Robert Bly (translator of the poem)

Roger Housden (author of "Ten Poems to Change Your Life")

Rosemerry Wahtola Trommer (podcast host of "Emerging Form")

Christie Aschwanden (podcast host of "Emerging Form")

Emerging Form Episode 146, Maria Kelson on Switching Genres

https://emergingform.substack.com/p/episode-146-maria-kelson-on-switching

This week’s conversation is hosted, as always, by Lizzie Winn and Justin Wise of Thirdspace.

00:00 Introduction to Turning Towards Life

03:03 Exploring the Source: Of Gravity and Light

05:43 The Significance of Menial Tasks

08:47 The Relationship Between Thinking and Receiving

11:45 Belonging and Recognition

14:43 Connection and Community

17:44 The Mystery of Existence and Our Place in It

20:59 The Importance of Acknowledging Our Already Existing Ways of Belonging

23:43 Creating a Sense of Belonging in the World

26:55 Conclusion and Invitations

Here’s our source for this week:

What we need most, we learn from the menial tasks:

the novice raking sand in Buddhist texts,

or sweeping leaves, his hands chilled to the bone,

while understanding hovers out of reach;

the changeling in a folk tale, chopping logs,

poised at the dizzy edge of transformation;

and everything they do is gravity:

swaying above the darkness of the well

to haul the bucket in; guiding the broom;

finding the body’s kinship with the earth

beneath their feet, the lattice of a world

where nothing turns or stands outside the whole;

and when the insight comes, they carry on

with what’s at hand: the gravel path; the fire;

knowing the soul is no more difficult

than water, or the fig tree by the well

that stood for decades, barren and inert,

till every branch was answered in the stars.

Photo by Merri J on Unsplash

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Our Turning Towards Life live programme of community, learning and reflection runs in six month seasons from September. It's going to be in person on Zoom once a month. We're very excited about it. A chance to expand beyond the bounds of a podcast into forming a community of learning and practice.

You can find out more and join us here: www.turningtowards.life/live

----

Turning Towards Life, a week-by-week conversation inviting us deeply into our lives, is a live 30 minute conversation hosted by Justin Wise and Lizzie Winn of Thirdspace.  Find us on FaceBook to join in the lively conversation on this episode. You can find videos of every episode, and more about the project on the Turning Towards Life website, and you can also watch and listen on Instagram, YouTube, and as a podcast on Apple, Amazon Music and Spotify.

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menial tasks, ordinary moments, body kinship, earth connection, belonging fully, inner mystery, thinking patterns, gravity metaphor, physical presence, everyday insights, transformation edge, soul simplicity, cultural belonging, human mystery, inclusion practice, overthinking habits, fearful analysis, mindful walking, dish washing, leaf sweeping, grounded presence, mysterious depths, embodied wisdom, life belonging, earthly home

John Burnside - The poet whose work "Of Gravity and Light" is discussed throughout the episode