Twisting the Plot

What does it mean to be resilient?

How does one overcome tough challenges and yet continue to inspire?

On today's podcast, we hear from Aleka Artemis Munroe, who lives with serious physical disabilites.

A member of Twelve in Twelve 2021, Aleka discusses her struggles with her body, and shares the tools she uses to get through that include mindfulness, acceptance, creativity, and an incredible sense of humor.

She is the creator of Compasspoints: maxims for clearing the chaos in our cages, and is finishing her beautiful book, I Am Water, an allegorical photography and poetry story about life's obstacles and the flow of it all.

Take a listen to Aleka and learn how she twists through her many plot twists.

Bio:

Aleka Artemis Munroe has always needed to express herself with words. At age 10, as her father forced his narcissistic interpretation of reality on his family, she began photographing with her Papou's Brownie camera, recording reality and writing poems expressing her perspective. Aleka's linguistics and foreign languages education etched words into her soul. After careers in banking, training, then teaching, and raising a theatrical and musical family where words were essential tools, her fifties hit hard with the chaos of a failed adoption and multiplying autoimmune illness. Her creative and comedic family and friends, and prayer, pulled her through. Aleka believes God gives us the strength to get through pain, sorrow and suffering, to live, love, laugh, and especially to reach out to others who are struggling to choose between despair and courage, connection and disconnection. Mindfulness training sparked a renewal of using photography and words to envision alternate interpretations of scenes in her limited physical world with her camera lens and lyrical mediations. This developed into Compasspoints: maxims for clearing the chaos in our cages. Aleka is finishing a photographic book entitled "I am Water", an allegorical tale of being the water that constantly flows on toward the unknown of the ocean, despite the obstacles in its path.

Check out @AlekaArtemisAuthorPhotographer on Instagram

What is a creatrix, you might ask?

According to Stephanie Raffelock the word creatrix is defined as "a woman who makes or creates things." Stephanie suggests that creatrix may be a good replacement for crone when it comes to selecting an archetype for women to age into.

We love the idea of a woman continuing to "make things" beyond the biological clock of fertility.

Stephanie Raffelock herself is a creatrix. She is a storyteller and writer who published two books after she was 50. Creatrix Rising is her latest, and we were thrilled to speak with her about it on this week's Twisting the Plot Podcast.

Listen as Stephanie shares her story, the plot twists, and the role models who inspired her along the way. There is the poet Richard Blanco, her grandmother Julia, and the magical neighbor Austin.

Relationships matter to Stephanie. And now she matters to us.

We need to remind ourselves that as with all kinds of evolution, there is no destination point, no complete, all-the-way healing, but rather more unfolding, more work to be done. We grow psychologically and spiritually until the time we die. Stephanie Raffelock, The Creatrix Rising

Learn more about Stephanie Raffelock at https://www.byline-stephanie.com/

Picture this: you've come to a crossroads. It's time for a change. But, which way do you go? Where do you start? How do you start?

In our 12 in 12 program, twelve women meet for twelve months, with each woman starting out in a new direction. Each creates a project of her own design and begins work on it, supported by the group.

They decide where to start, and what comes next.

How? By constructing individual roadmaps to follow for the year. Each woman's roadmap envisions a path as well as the inevitable obstacles she may confront along the way.

The 12 in 12 roadmaps make up the stories that each woman lives and tells.

Listen as Una Betti, Lori McAndrew and Ronda Tamerlane share their roadmaps, and discuss how the women in the 12 in 12 have become markers and grounding for each other as they embark on their individual year-long journeys.

What about you? Do you have a roadmap that you can follow?

Does your plot need a twist?

Bios

Ronda Tamerlane was born in 1946 in Vallejo California. She has one daughter and two grandkids. Ronda was married 3 times, the last time to her soul mate who died six years after thirty years of being together. She got a BA in 1974 in psychology and had various working situations. She was even a rural carrier for 17 years. When she was in her late 40's, Ronda went to graduate school and began a career as a Licensed Marriage & Family Therapist which lasted for 20 years. In 2020, during covid, she retired. She is now writing her memoir.

Una Betti, the creator of Mindful Garden Designs LLC, has been gardening for over 30 years. Her gardens are her passion, and she finds great inspiration in the natural world around her. Una is a registered nurse and a certified project management professional. Her background in nursing and project management combines both the caring components and detailed mindset to design garden spaces that will come to life and thrive. Her mission statement speaks to all those who need to embrace their space; "To design gardens to create peaceful spaces to facilitate the practice of mindfulness, foster creativity and promote health."

Lori McAndrew is a Licensed Mental Health Counselor in the state of New York. She is pursuing a PhD in Counselor Education and Supervision from Oregon State University and is an Adjunct clinical supervisor for the Mental Health and Wellness Center at Molloy College. Her research interests include creative pedagogy in counselor education, multicultural counseling competence, and ageism. In addition to her academic pursuits and clinical profession, Lori is a Mom, daughter, wife, sister, aunt and friend.

Lori McAndrew has been waiting for a long time.

But now she waits no more.

At 57 she is pursuing her doctoral degree which she plans to finish when she is 60.

Listen as Lori shares her journey to this point, the struggles, the obstacles, the triumphs and… the waiting…

Lori, a Twisting the Plot 12 in 12 group member, discusses her project: a dissertation on ageism.

There's a lot to talk about, and it's all worth the wait.

Bio

Lori McAndrew is a Licensed Mental Health Counselor in the state of New York. She is pursuing a PhD in Counselor Education and Supervision from Oregon State University and is an Adjunct clinical supervisor for the Mental Health and Wellness Center at Molloy College. Her research interests include creative pedagogy in counselor education, multicultural counseling competence, and ageism. In addition to her academic pursuits and clinical profession, Lori is a Mom, daughter, wife, sister, aunt and friend.

Last week we talked. This week we act.

After last week's episode, we asked ourselves, could we do this thing called psychodrama over Zoom for a podcast?

We decided to give it a try.

Listen as Cecilia participates in a psychodrama facilitated by Heidi Landis and supported by Greta Schnee, Marianne Franzese and Cara Connors.

Together we explore the technique called future projection. Yes, future. Even at our age.

Take a listen for something entirely different.

Heidi is Licensed Creative Arts therapist (LCAT) Registered Drama Therapist and Board- Certified Trainer (RDT/BCT) and a Trainer, Educator and Practitioner of Psychodrama (TEP). Specializing in trauma-informed work and the use of creative arts therapy techniques, she has a private practice and consulting business in in New York City where she sees clients and facilitates trainings nationally and internationally. She was most recently the community coordinator of mental health at an international school in the South Bronx. For 14 years Heidi worked at Creative Alternatives of New York, as Associate Executive Director of the clinical and training programs where she ran Trauma-Informed Drama Therapy groups with many different populations as well as trained staff and site partners in using creative techniques in psychotherapy and in the classroom

Heidi is an adjunct professor at New York University and Yeshiva University in NYC, Lesley University in MA, Concordia University in Montreal and on faculty of the KINT institute. She has published about her work in the books Trauma-Informed Drama Therapy: Transforming Clinics, classrooms and communities, Handbook of Child and Adolescent Group Therapy: A Practitioner's Reference, Creative Arts-Based Group Therapy with Adolescents: Theory and Practice and Current Approaches in Drama Therapy as well as in peer reviewed journals.

https://www.heidilandis.org

Psychodrama, "the psyche in action," is an experiential form of psychotherapy where our inner and outer impulses can be explored through enactment.

Heidi Landis is a trainer, educator, and practitioner of psychodrama. On this Twisting the Plot Podcast she explains that psychodrama is a kind of group therapy utilizing dramatic techniques and helps individuals understand themselves, communicate better, and imagine how else things could be.

Heidi tells us that psychodrama gives us the chance to warm up to our lives, be spontaneous and take new action.

With a good warm up, we can be more flexible, open, and more creative with what's next.

In this conversation Heidi enlightens us about psychodrama's origin and theory.

It's fascinating.

Check it out.

Bio

Heidi Landis is Licensed Creative Arts therapist (LCAT) Registered Drama Therapist and Board- Certified Trainer (RDT/BCT) and a Trainer, Educator and Practitioner of Psychodrama (TEP). Specializing in trauma-informed work and the use of creative arts therapy techniques, she has a private practice and consulting business in in New York City where she sees clients and facilitates trainings nationally and internationally. She was most recently the community coordinator of mental health at an international school in the South Bronx. For 14 years Heidi worked at Creative Alternatives of New York, as Associate Executive Director of the clinical and training programs where she ran Trauma-Informed Drama Therapy groups with many different populations as well as trained staff and site partners in using creative techniques in psychotherapy and in the classroom.

Heidi is an adjunct professor at New York University and Yeshiva University in NYC, Lesley University in MA, Concordia University in Montreal and on faculty of the KINT institute. She has published about her work in the books Trauma-Informed Drama Therapy: Transforming Clinics, classrooms and communities, Handbook of Child and Adolescent Group Therapy: A Practitioner's Reference, Creative Arts-Based Group Therapy with Adolescents: Theory and Practice and Current Approaches in Drama Therapy as well as in peer reviewed journals.

https://www.heidilandis.org

We are entering the last third of our 12 in 12 2021 year. Twelve women, working together for twelve months, each woman creating a project of their own choice and design.

With each other, we are learning, growing, sharing and creating. Together, we are facing our pasts, embracing obstacles and envisioning new futures. We are supporting each other. We are challenging each other. We are doing more than getting through, we are doing more than managing change, we are the change makers.

And, we are having fun.

If you want to know more about how all this happens, listen to this week's Twisting the Plot Podcast as three of our twelve group members share their project ideas and discuss their experience.

This conversation with Kim Dickinson, Heidi Michaels and Mary Condon Hobbs, is all about possibility. Theirs and ours.

It's a collaborative and collective twist.

If you want to be more visible, get more support and reinvigorate your own life, then considering joining us.

Applications for 12 in 12 2022 are now open and available here. https://twistingtheplot.lpages.co/twelve-in-twelve/

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Heidi Michaels is a personal trainer and life coach based in Westchester NY, who specializes in working with women 45+. Her knowledge and unique blend of skills and personal experience guide, motivate, and inspire women through any physical and mental obstacle. [email protected]

Mary Condon Hobbs is a licensed mental health counselor living in Corrales, New Mexico. She currently works with adults with developmental disabilities, assisting them in creating a meaningful life. Mary enjoys photographing in-between moments, riding a mountain bike on pavement, learning to play the drums and gathering with friends around the firepit all year round. Divorcing during the Pandemic made her question love and relationships, intimacy and desire. Her Podcast in the making, Famished: to Fulfilled, helps women 50+ explore their passions and stay curious about their sensual selves.

Kim Dickinson lives on the east coast of Massachusetts in Scituate. She found herself artificially retired from teaching due to Covid. She has a background in psychology and costume design and has a great love of the outdoors. She finds joy in being a wife and mother and loves working with young people. Kim believes in the power of intentional action. She also thinks we could all use more humor and play in our adult lives.

Life is filled with many twists and turns, but eventually, if you follow your heart, you find yourself exactly where you are meant to be. This week we spoke with someone who is exactly where she is meant to be; Rebecca Dudley, Children's Book Author, Architect, and Activist.

When Rebecca and her husband moved to Chicago from Seattle, they missed going to see the North West Ballet production of The Nutcracker with costumes by the late Maurice Sendak. As a gift for her husband, Rebecca decided to re-enact the ballet using stuffed animals. Inspired by the experience, Rebecca began making elaborate diorama's that she photographed and posted as a blog called Storywoods. This led to two whimsical, creative, and beautifully conceived books; Hank Finds an Egg and Hank Has a Dream.

Rebecca talks with us about how her experience in the theater, studying dance in college, a degree in economics, her work as an architect and activist have all played a role in her current work as a children's book author. Listen as Rebecca explains how she uses her camera to explore the worlds she creates and discovers the story waiting to be told.

Check out Rebecca's blog Storywoods

Buy 'Hank Finds an Egg' and 'Hank Has a Dream' on Amazon.com

Every now and then, Cecilia and Hannah wonder, "are we there, have we made it, can we finally call ourselves adults?" It just seems like we've been waiting for decades for that certificate of achievement, or that special feeling that lets us know we've made the grade.

Yes, we are in our sixties and still asking ourselves, What does it mean to be an adult?

So this week on our Twisting the Plot Podcast we talk with Julie Lythcott-Haims, who wrote Your Turn: How To Be An Adult.

A former corporate lawyer, Julie became a Dean at Stanford University and then wrote a book, How to Raise an Adult. She also wrote a memoir, Real American, about growing up black and biracial in white spaces.

In her latest book, Julie has a lot to say about growing up. Her voice is direct and encouraging. She gets candid about her experience and she fills her book with stories by and about many different people navigating adulthood. Julie calls the storytelling her "commitment to inclusion." The stories by diverse groups of storytellers confirm a very important message: being an adult is universally complex, ongoing and not easy.

We felt reassured after reading the book. It gave us a lot to think about, a lot of tips and tools. We understand that being an adult is less a destination and more an ongoing process.

Julie's book is written for young, emerging adults but it's good for us older adult wannabees too. Perhaps it is finally "our turn."

Visit julielythcotthaims.com

How do you bloom? Are you an annual or a perennial? Do you bloom late? Are you still sprouting? Or are you waiting, held inside some bulb that is planted deep within the earth, for your time?

Today we talk to Yvonne Marchese, host of Late Bloomer Living Podcast.

Yvonne believes midlife can be a time to step into a new experience, learn new things and, well, bloom again.

She calls herself a "serial pivoter." She is an actress, storyteller, photographer, wife and mother.

We are so happy to connect with Yvonne. She is a part of the cultural web of women who support others in embracing life, rebooting desire and re-finding purpose in midlife and beyond.

Take a Listen.

Check out Yvonne's websites latebloomerliving.com and yvonnemarchesephotography.com

Check out Yvonne's free workbook 5 Steps to Your Midlife Reboot

Check out Yvonne's Instagram, Facebook page, and Linkedin