Wisdom From Lived Experience with Jennifer Winfield

Back in 2016, Two of my American girlfriends shared one of Bethany Webster's blog posts with me. I found her writing mind blowing, to have someone put words to all the ways I had felt over the years was both comforting and validating.

My mother who had died a year earlier and I was struggling with emotional roller coaster I was on. Bethany's work offered a way to slowly unpack all the stories I had in my mind and all the pain I had in my heart and a few years later I signed up for her online course "Healing the Mother Wound."

The course had a huge impact on my life and I began to create healthy boundaries that honoured my individual needs. I also began to develop a deeply loving and compassionate inner mother, the voice I had long to hear throughout my life.

Bethany and I had a rich conversation, we are very comfortable with each other because of the work we have done together. I found it so interesting listening to Bethany's story and how she developed this incredible body of work.

Bethany Webster is a transformational coach, speaker, and writer.

Bethany’s book “Discovering the Inner Mother” was published in 2021 and is the most leant out book in my personal library. 

To find out more about Bethany go to her website: www.bethanywebster.com

You can find her on facebook at "Healing the Mother Wound with Bethany Webster" and on Instagram @themotherwound

Immortal Soil emerged out of the "terrible awfulness" that was the pandemic of 2020. No longer enamoured with the lives they were leading in Sydney they decided to use the opportunity to move up to the Northern Rivers.

The boredom from being locked down inspired them to create botanical art installations in unlikely places. Their first creation was inspired by a burnt out car which they filled with bright red blooms sourced from the side of the road. Word travelled fast and before long they were ask to create a satellite event for the Lismore Regional Gallery called "The Dark Lodge."

Both Bob Horan and Selena Murray come from a floristry, and event management background. They were both apprentices in creative fields and that foundation has given them the skills and confidence to expand their creativity in a fearless and imaginative direction.

I first met them both at an event at our local hall and I found them both warm and funny.

A few months later I interviewed them as part of an art installation they had created at Pearces Creek Hall. Their creation was entirely immersive, an enchanting lost world with twists and turns, a huge wing of grasses and an outrageous privet berry monster hovering over the entrance.

A normally reclusive pair, Bob and Selena stepped out and claimed their work by sharing their process with the audience. It was a magical few days and I was delighted when they said "yes" to coming on the podcast to sprinkle some of their wit and wizardry with us all.

To find out more about Immortal Soil you can find them on instagram @immortalsoil.

This week I hopped on an impromptu Zoom call with Kim Deans as part of my research for my next podcast guest Immortal Soil. I decided to record the call as I knew there might be some gems in there that I might want to share.

If you would like to know about weeds you can download their free pdf here: https://www.reinventingagriculture.com.au/weeds-as-indicators

Winding through the remnants of the Gondwana rainforest you arrive at the base of Wollumbin, a majestic mountain and sacred site for the Bundjalung people of the Northern Rivers area of NSW.

Artist Gabriela Soelkner has lived on the edge of the Wollumbin National Park for 42 years. She and her partner live a very different life, immersed amongst the trees, rocks and creeks that form part of their property.

She creates extraordinary artworks in her studio which tucked in to a rock face on the edge of her property. These paintings are of ancient figures layered with archetypes and wisdom which she has brought to life with paint and collage.

I met her when I first went to Wollumbin and we immediately connected. I am thrilled she agreed to come onto the podcast and share her story with us all.

She will be exhibiting at the Mist Gallery in Cabarita in May, and you can find out more that and see some of her artworks on instagram @gabrielasoelkner.

Mist Gallery: @mistgallery

MArts Precinct: @m.arts.precinct

Australia is a magnificent country.

Within this enormous country there are vast amounts of space. These spaces are filled with beautiful, soundscapes, seascapes, and landscapes. I personally found that through connecting with the wisdom of the Aboriginal people it created this deepening that helped me understand the healing power of reconnecting to country.

There is just so much wisdom held within the land, so much knowledge yet to be tapped into.

In this episode I talk about my own experience reconnecting to country and how it has changed me and I also introduce my next guest, artist Gabriela Soelkner who lives on the only natural henge in the world...Wollumbin.

Wollumbin is a sacred site for the Bundjalung people here in the Northern Rivers. It is currently in the midst of heated debate as elders have requested that people do not climb the mountain, while others feel the opportunity should be available to everyone.

Enjoy this episode and please do leave a review if you enjoyed it.

You can find out more about me at www.jenniferwinfield.com or on instagram @jennifer__winfield

Ema Shin is a Melbourne based multi-disciplinary visual artist who was born in Niigata Japan. Her heritage is both Japanese and Korean and her art is influenced by both cultures and the family stories that have been woven together from that experience.

Her latest exhibition at Gallerysmith in Melbourne, is about acknowledging the 'daughters' in her Korean lineage whose names were never recorded on her family tree.

It is a fascinating conversation and I learnt much about both the Japanese and Korean culture through Ema.

If you would like to find out more about Ema's work you can find her at www.emashin.org or instagram @ema.shin

I hope you enjoy the episode.

Sometimes we have no idea where I am going, there is this magnetising pull towards something that asks for my rational mind to move over so that my intuitive and mystical senses can steer the ship.

In this week's episode I talk about heartbreak and how I believe it can leave tiny paper cuts on our hearts that offer an opportunity for deeper exploration into new and unchartered territory.

It also led me to discover the multi-disciplinary visual artist Ema Shin whose latest exhibition called "Hearts of Absent Women" celebrates women for the efforts and creativity that have gone unrecognised.

I had no idea why I had been so drawn to her incredible tapestries and textile sculpture hearts, and then I remembered my experience creating tiny fabric hearts the year before.

This felt like a very intimate conversation, and in parts that I had moved aside to allow a more empathic and gentle voice to be heart. I hope you enjoy it.

This episode precedes the interview I have with Ema Shin at Gallerysmith in Melbourne last month.

To find out more about me headed to www.jenniferwinfield.com or follow me on instagram @jennifer__winfield