The Everyday Human

Eastin DeVerna
  • 5.0 (6)
  • Books

Welcome to the Everyday Human podcast.  My name is Eastin DeVerna. Each day, I'll share a reflection written by me and inspired by literature, poetry, music, movies, video games, and more. And after that, I'll share a prompt for you to write your own reflection. Together, we'll explore what it means to be human. Every month we'll walk a new path, taking a look at life, death, the universe, and everything in between. Thanks for coming along. For more, visit eastindeverna.com or join me on Instagram @the_everydayhuman.

  1. 23h ago

    Worlds Are Waiting

    August: On Wonder and Awe August 19 Reading the fantasy stories of Jacques’ Redwall, Tolkien’s Hobbit and Lord of the Rings, Martin’s A Song of Ice and Fire, Haydon’s Symphony of Ages, and countless comic books, stole me away from a life that I sometimes did not wish to inhabit, and thrust me into fantastical worlds and realms with magic, sorcery, powers, heroes, villains, and breathtaking landscapes.  As I was reading these stories, I became other people. The young boy from Amityville became a holy knight of Redwall Abbey, a brave and humble hobbit from the Shire, a stoic bastard son of nobility from Winterfell, or a roguish card-slinging mutant from Louisiana. Living these lives gave me a break from my own. Like for so many people, they allowed me time to breathe, to step away from the yelling and the violence, from the schoolwork and the bullies. They brought me to places I never could have imagined. They shocked me with the unthinkable evils enacted by villains, and they widened my eyes and dropped my jaw with the brave and selfless and noble deeds of the heroes. They filled my young mind (and now my 40-year-old mind) with wonder. Read every chance you get. It’s wonderful to take in stories through other media, but reading is something special in its own right. It’s a deeply human thing sending another’s thoughts directly into your brain, and it’s one of our superpowers—granting us the ability to live another life, to inhabit other worlds, and to learn so much about others and ourselves in doing so.  Reflection title: Worlds Are WaitingCreative inspiration:  George R.R. Martin, A Dance with DragonsReflection question: What lives have I lived through reading? How has it helped me? Can I forgo other uses of time like television and social media to read more?

  2. 1d ago

    A Pinch of Stars, a Pinch of Sea

    August: On Wonder and Awe August 18 It’s not the spoon that brings out the flavor, is it? The flavor is in the sauce itself, in each and every ingredient that comes together to make a single, solitary entity. The spoon just gives it a gentle nudge to bring it all out and push it toward something beautiful. And just so, the capacity for wonder and awe is within us all. I can’t quite say what it is, and words don’t seem adequate to describe it (as with many other things, emotions in particular), but it’s there. And lucky for us, we’re in a world full of spoons that are just waiting to stir our souls. Reflection title: A Pinch of Stars, a Pinch of SeaCreative inspiration:  Meindert DeJong, The Little Cow and the TurtleReflection question: What stirs the wonder in me? Is it the stars, the mountains, the river, the oceans, the animals, or other humans and their creations?

  3. 2d ago

    Do You Know About the Ground?

    August: On Wonder and Awe August 17 “The danger!” “The danger, yes—that’s real, but I would also venture to say the business of love. I love her, Darrel. And something happens . . . once you step off the last leaf of your flower here. Your eyes open up to it all: the beauty, wonder, and yes, the danger, but no matter how hard you try . . . you can’t shut them again. Because the ground is out there, and it’s calling.” “The ground, eh?” “The ground.” “Hmph. I still think it’s dangerous.” Reflection title: Do You Know About the Ground?Creative inspiration:  Terry Pratchett, Wings Reflection question: Have I dared to venture down onto the “ground,” or have I been holing up in my flower? And if I’ve gone, what beauty, wonder, and danger have I seen? What life have I experienced? If I haven’t, what life would I like to experience?

  4. 3d ago

    Ain’t a Thing Green

    August: On Wonder and Awe August 16 That smile on his face at the wonder of its impossible existence. Would I trade that for an image or idea of something I’ve never seen? Something I might believe others had, or have? Or will I hold it, cherish it, protect it— —because it is more than just an old photograph. More than a deceased idea from a dead world. So much more. In that it is real. Reflection title: Ain’t a Thing GreenCreative inspiration:  Eastin DeVerna, Dead World: A Post-Apocalyptic TaleReflection question: Am I reserving wonder for an idea—something I hold only in mind or something out there? Or am I spending it on the things and those around me?

  5. 4d ago

    That It Even Exists

    August: On Wonder and Awe August 15 To stand before art is not just to behold its beauty and feel the emotions stirring within you, it is also to marvel at the fact that another human, likely in another time and another place, created something so special and beautiful, and to feel like it exists almost solely for you—while knowing it exists for every other human who experiences it. Consider art for its own sake. Consider it for the human who created it. Consider it for the feelings and thoughts it creates in your soul and mind. And enjoy it, because it is perhaps one of the most human things about us. Reflection title: That It Even Exists Creative inspiration:  Sarah J. Maas, A Court of Thorns and RosesReflection question: What piece of art last moved me? What art am I creating that might one day move someone else?

  6. 5d ago

    Take the Time, Take the Time

    August: On Wonder and Awe August 14 Look at the mountain from the bottom of a field and you will know what it feels like to be an ant. Look at the doe cleaning her fawn in the glade toward the peak and you will know that love and care transcend humanity. Take the time to see the mountain from afar and from up close—as a part of it. Take the time to see your loved ones, the world, and everything in it through eyes of mystery and scale, empathy and credence, and wonder and awe. Reflection title: Take the Time, Take the TimeCreative inspiration:  Anthony Doerr, Four Seasons in Rome: On Twins, Insomnia, and the Biggest Funeral in the History of the WorldReflection question: Am I looking at things from a single perspective? Am I stepping back to see the scale? Am I moving closer to understand?

  7. 6d ago

    The Tonic of Wild and Wonder

    August: On Wonder and Awe August 13 It’s getting more difficult to find unexplored and mysterious lands in this world, but there is much still unfathomed by you as an individual. There is so much you haven’t seen and do not understand, and luckily, there always will be. Leave the stale air and artificial light behind. Leave the news and incessant chattering, those ear worms of social media and the impulse to check every text and email, every notification buzzing away in your pocket. The mundane and the horrible have existed on Earth for as long as humans have, but to survive them, we must remain children of the wild and of wonder. Reflection title: The Tonic of Wild and WonderCreative inspiration:  Henry David Thoreau, Walden: Or, Life in the WoodsReflection question: When did I last find wonder in the wild? When did I last reject the gold-plated snares of modern life and instead embrace the wonder of the mountains and oceans?

  8. Aug 12

    A Noisy World, Indeed

    August: On Wonder and Awe August 12 Most everything we exist beside in the modern world (manmade stuff at least) is screaming in your face and waving its arms around jumping up and down, demanding information or attention or even answers from you. Wonder on the other hand, makes one simple request of you: it asks that you exist in the moment and in the stillness and silence of your mind, simply experiencing your existence as a human being . . . without the noise. Easy to come by? Hardly. And it only seems to be getting more elusive by the day. But it’s not out of reach. And you don’t have to travel to the most remote regions of the planet to find it either. You can find it in your backyard garden. If you don’t have a backyard garden, you can find it on your apartment balcony. If you don’t have an apartment balcony, you can find it at your kitchen table. If you don’t have a kitchen table, you can find it outside in the sky above your head. The point is, you can find this internal silence anywhere. But you’ll have to be smart about it. Set time aside. Turn off your phone, computer, and TV. Tune out the voices in your mind, and let your mind wander into wonder. It will take a few tries to get it right, but oh my, some time away from this noisy world is well worth the effort. Reflection title: A Noisy World, IndeedCreative inspiration:  Fred Rogers, Remembering Mr. Rogers (Interview with Charlie Rose)Reflection question: When did I last find wonder in silence? Am I able to tune out the noise and the voices? How will I do this?

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Ratings & Reviews

5
out of 5
6 Ratings

About

Welcome to the Everyday Human podcast.  My name is Eastin DeVerna. Each day, I'll share a reflection written by me and inspired by literature, poetry, music, movies, video games, and more. And after that, I'll share a prompt for you to write your own reflection. Together, we'll explore what it means to be human. Every month we'll walk a new path, taking a look at life, death, the universe, and everything in between. Thanks for coming along. For more, visit eastindeverna.com or join me on Instagram @the_everydayhuman.

Information

  • Creator
    Eastin DeVerna
  • Years Active
    2025 - 2026
  • Episodes
    233
  • Rating
    Clean
  • Copyright
    © 2026 The Everyday Human
  • Show Website
    The Everyday Human