i want what SHE has Theresa Lyn Widmann

Inspired by this podcast, Marielena and I discuss the 7 Deadly Sins of Diversity, Equity and Inclusion ("DEI"). Here are the cliff notes (AI?) version if you are unable to listen. Let us know what you think and where you stand on DEI.

We wrap up the show with a fun chat about optical illusions and what they can teach us about how we think and interact with others.

Mary Evelyn Pritchard is an artist and community weaver whose work focuses on creating sacred spaces and experiences. In her business practice The Holographic Home, she works as a Feng Shui practitioner, interior designer and land worker. In addition, she has been actively exploring the realms of feminine embodiment and eros through study and personal practice for the last 8 years, and more recently, has begun sharing opportunities to explore these topics with others.  She has a particular passion for facilitating community ritual as a pathway to individual and collective healing.

Today our conversation plays with notions of the feminine and what it means to embody all aspects of this divine energy. Mary Evelyn shares personally her journey into feminine embodiment when she was initiated by an ectopic pregnancy leading to a major surgery. Her recovery and reclaiming has seeded her with a deep wisdom and a passion for exploring and sharing the gifts of freedom that unfold from an embodiment of the feminine. She sees community ritual as being potent medicine for women who are healing and recovering their connection with the "dark feminine." We learn about her evolution into the work she now offers in the spaces we reside and how this too is an offering of daily ritual into the places we call home.

She's hosting a retreat in her sacred home space for feminine embodiment with her mentor and collaborator Whitney Ullom, Tending the Well, July 19-21. She has a few spaces open so if you are interested, be in touch soon!

Jo Shuman is a mental health nurse, in the field for 30 years. She has worked in several settings: Community Mental Health Clinics; Substance Abuse Programs; a State Prison; and has spent the last 10 years working for the Ulster County Mobile Mental Health Team. She just completed  a year long program through Psychedelics Today called Vital: Psychedelic Therapies and Integration. She has been a volunteer for the Restorative Justice 180 Program for 10 years and marvels at the growth she has witnessed in the youth it serves. She is a life long activist and has experienced the power of civil disobedience and getting into good trouble. She is also a proud mother of four in a blended family and grandmother of 8.

Today we get to learn about Jo and her beautiful life, from fighting back against racist behavior in junior high, to protecting the land and humans from uranium mining and the danger in the transport of nuclear weapons, she's been a long time activist who is really lead by her heart in all she does. We learn about her work and why she's taken on such impactful roles, what she's learned about humans and relating with others, and how we can better take care of ourselves and others. Our conversation goes philosophically deep into many of the issues that Jo has been involved with in her work, and she shares her insight eloquently. If you'd like to connect with Jo as a resource in any of the subjects she discussed, please reach out and I will connect you. You can also find her on Instagram.

She's beginning a monthly gathering for folks who have had a psychedelic or non-ordinary state experience in conjunction with the O+ Festival on July 9th. RSVP if you'd like to be a part of it.

Sheila Dvorak Galione is a writer, artist, singer, mother, healer, and intuitive coach who seeks to bring her insight and passion for the power of story to every aspect of her work. For years, Sheila supported non-profit and community organizations through grant writing and other responsibilities, but she stepped into the void to first process the passing of her sister and then clear the way for her to pursue her own work that allowed her a greater balance between work, motherhood and her health. She created Painted Pathways, a healing practice combining artistic expression, reflection, and conversation. Throughout the process, she assists others in creating a visual representation of your life, allowing you to see your strengths more clearly, and identify where you can visualize growth and change. When she's not doing this work, she's directing school plays, writing music, and performing as Sheila Dee with the band Sheila & The Deep End.

The band formed in 2014 and quickly grew from performing originals and covers during dinner theater shows, to opening sets for rockabilly band Lara Hope and the Ark-tones, to headlining historic venues and clubs around the Hudson Valley, including the Rosendale Theater and Live at The Falcon, among others. She writes and performs original, evocative, old-school rock-n-roll, and her debut album “Has to Be Real” is available on all streaming platforms and features melodies that take hold in the heart, funk that moves your feet and dynamic harmonies that fill your ears.

During our conversation, Sheila eloquently and authentically shares her life with us, from growing up in a musical family, to being disillusioned by Hollywood after a stint with a reality show and moving to the Hudson Valley where she reconnects with her love of music. She openly shares about the unexpected loss of her sister and how she continues to move through the grief of it all including writing music with her in mind. She recommends the podcast Quit Happens to anyone else out there looking to make the leap, and she wants to bring back the Tributon to the Hudson Valley so if you too yearn to join forces with other musicians to honor music's faves, get in touch!

Inspired by the thoughts and speakers in this Ted Radio Hour, Marielena Ferrer and I dig into the topic of language. Was the alphabet responsible for the demise of the Goddess? Are we resistant to language changes? Are language changes imposed upon us like Colonizers? Are they able to change culture? We meander through these questions and more today on the show!

In the first half of today's show I am joined by Margaret Bensfield Sullivan, an author, illustrator, and family photo curator, whose work combines her personal passion for archiving with visual storytelling skills she honed over nearly two decades in brand marketing. Margaret was a partner at WPP's marketing and branded content agency Group SJR, where she designed storytelling campaigns on behalf of clients like TED, Target, Disney, and USAID. She left corporate life to spend a year with her husband and two young children crisscrossing the globe, visiting 29 countries and six continents. She wrote about their adventures in Following the Sun: Tales (and Fails) From a Year Around the World With Our Kids (December 5, 2023).

In the second half of the show, I am joined by the one and only Tami Lynn Kent, a women’s health physical therapist and the founder of Holistic Pelvic CareTM where she utilizes her ability to read energetic patterns of the body to help women reconnect to their bodies and feminine. Tami maintains a private practice and an international training program in Portland, Oregon. She has authored three previous books. Her latest, Wild Mothering: Finding Power, Spirit, and Joy in Birth and a Creative Motherhood (Atria Books, May 7, 2024), is a newly updated edition of her classic, Mothering from Your Center.