11 episodes
Circle of Three Bonnie Loewen and Katharine Cherewyk
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- Religion & Spirituality
Are you longing to navigate change in ways that leave you invigorated and at peace? Are you looking for habits and rituals that keep you and yours living authentic lives? Welcome to Circle of Three, a conversation between two friends and colleagues with an invitation to you, the listener, to step into the circle. Through poetry, story and an offering of personal and collective practices, Bonnie Loewen and Katharine Cherewyk aim to spark your own reflection — on your voice, your wisdom, and your practices of self discovery. Bonnie Loewen is a spiritual guide who tends to different types of circles and retreats, all with the hopes of creating safe and healing ways to gather. Katharine Cherewyk is an executive coach who loves having conversations that keep her curious and have the potential for surprise. And for those who want to take an even deeper dive, head over to BeingBeloved.ca for resources referenced and reflective questions. Podcast Team: Recording and mixing by Madeleine Roger, theme music by Raine Hamilton and editing and production oversight by Cate Friesen, The Story Source.
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You Do Not Have To Be Good
Circle of Three, Season 2 invites you into a conversation between Katharine Cherewyk, Bonnie Loewen and Mary Oliver’s poem Wild Geese. One episode at a time, this iconic poem slowly unfurls while igniting reflective conversation about our human journey. We shed armour that keeps us from our true self; we claim habits that embolden and protect the soft animal of our body; we live wildly, honestly and authentically, understanding our place “in the family of things”.
In this 1st episode of season 2, we listen to Mary Oliver’s poem, Wild Geese. Oliver’s first lines: “You do not have to be good...you only have to let the soft animal of the body love what it loves” ignites this conversation. We wonder how external voices define “good” and how personal and collective habits get us back to the wild within.
Visit www.beingbeloved.ca for more conversation with Circle Of Three. -
11 Words from Mary Oliver's "Wild Geese"
In episode 2, we lean into 11 words from Mary Oliver’s poem, Wild Geese: “Tell me about despair, yours, and I will tell you mine”. After Bonnie tells about a poignant moment in her 5 year journey with a woman who suffered a degenerative disease, Katharine guides the conversation towards the wisdom gleaned from the habits created inside this intense journey of belonging.
Visit www.beingbeloved.ca for more conversation with Circle Of Three. -
Stepping into the River of Sorrow
In episode 3, Bonnie and Katharine step into the river of sorrow and open their arms wide to the surrender of grief. “Meanwhile”, and Oliver’s poignant use of that one word, holds the arc of Bonnie’s journey as she reflects on the unexpected death of her sister almost 7 years ago. As Katharine holds space, Bonnie steps deeper and deeper into that river of sorrow, and shows all of us how to surrender ourselves to its wisdom.
Visit www.beingbeloved.ca for more conversation with Circle Of Three. -
Wild, Clean and Home
Episode 4: Wild, Clean and Home, words used in Oliver’s poem Wild Geese, guide this conversation about belonging. It touches on Bonnie’s love for volleyball, her messy house, those places where we ultimately belong: places where we “do not have to be good”.
Visit www.beingbeloved.ca for more conversation with Circle Of Three. -
One of the Most Beautiful Blessings in the World
In episode 5, this blessing of Oliver’s completes their conversation: “Whoever you are, no matter how lonely, the world offers itself to your imagination”. This blessing launches a celebration of Oliver’s body of work, and then invites these questions: Where are we inspired to to live boldly? Where are those places that honour “the soft animal of our body”? What changes when we see that we belong to a “family of things”?
Visit www.beingbeloved.ca for more conversation with Circle Of Three. -
For Marj Reimer Heinrichs
Bonnie dedicates this final episode to Marj Heinrichs, a dear friend who died unexpectedly. Bonnie tells how Mary Oliver’s Wild Geese weaves through another deep river of sorrow that holds surprise, delight, and gratitude. Thank you Marj, for living our truth: ‘we do not have to be good’. For showing me, in your ways of outrageous generosity and deep presence, how ‘we belong in a family of things’.
To find the written version of this episode, go to beingbeloved.ca, to "letters".