In-Versing Your Life Cynthia Blomquist Gustavson

Cynthia talks about wearing all kinds of lenses that give us a different perspective on the world around us. Some of those lenses are dividing us and we need to get rid of them. Are we even aware of how those lenses are creating our opinions? It is very important to be able to talk and understand each other, especially now when Election Day is near. It is time to re-check some of our lenses and try to talk to people we could not talk to before.

When you need help, you need to rely on others. People of Tulsa are very good at helping others, but so are Canada geese. Cynthia reads a poem about them which features a gosling that cannot fly. She also reflects on personal, private experience after her husband's accident when he could not move, but had all the love and support. We cannot live alone.

There are more funerals in October, it seems. At some funerals there are many people - at some others, no one shows up. Death is a loss, but there are so many other losses. In this episode, Cynthia tells us how loss is dealt with in our culture and shares a moving, emotional poem found in two of her books.

When you have breast cancer survivors in your family, you have to check yourself for lumps often. Cynthia honors her Mother and her Sister, both breast cancer survivors, with a poem.

Cynthia talks about her book, "Between Tahlequah and Tulsa", the Ozark Mountains, and the Cherokee Nation. She reflects on both the experiences of the Native Americans and immigrants, like those with her, Swedish, ancestry, in the area. As usual, that results in interesting tasks and questions.

In this episode, Cynthia gives us the idea of our "home" grid to ponder on. At the home you grew up in, you know where each side of the world is, you see the world through it. But there is even more to that.