The Dervish and the Mermai‪d‬ Pace & Kyeli

Podcasting five years, it’s been swell!


But now we are saying farewell.


Let’s talk about why


We’re saying goodbye


With many more stories to tell.

A last parting gift, our ten jewels,


Ten easy-to-memorize tools


For living intentionally


And unconventionally:


They’re what we call our House Rules.

Pace & Kyeli’s House Rules



* Resilience, Not Perfection

* How About Now?

* It’s Always OK to Ask; It’s Always OK to Say No

* Always Mumble

* Never Hurry

* Never Wait

* Just Keep Crying

* Grown-Ass Women

* Assume Love

* You Are Not Alone

* Don’t Be Creepy in the Bathroom





* WCML 004 – Living in an Instagrammed world

* WCML 068: Wild Crazy Meaningful Death, with Caitlin Doughty

* WCML 107: What Kelly learned from living with us for a year (and vice versa)

* Direct vs. subtle communication (aka ask culture vs. guess culture, low context vs. high context communication)

* WCML 070: Wild Crazy Meaningful Day Job

* We are selling our RV and moving to Portland. Here’s why.

* “Be a tube, not a bucket”




* WCML 051: Love Like You Don’t Share a Bathroom with Patty Newbold, assumelove.com

* Why I hate compassion



Thanks for listening to The Dervish and the Mermaid! If you miss us, you can find every episode we’ve ever recorded at PaceSmith.com.

That’s also where you can download my free ebook, Find Your Path Now. It’ll help you stop living on autopilot and start living a wholehearted, intentional life.

Kyeli helps Pace deal with her attachment to other people being moved by her creation.

Before my creation is hatched,


I’m already hella attached.


If nobody cares


To sample my wares,


My plan might as well stay unhatched.



* bitching vs. venting

* game jams

* Compass Rose

* September Safari

* Games

* The Usual Error

* Time & Again

* internal motivation vs. external motivation

* “How do I want to feel while working on this?”

* “How do I want to feel once I’ve released this into the world and nobody gives a shit?”



Thanks for listening to The Dervish and the Mermaid! If you enjoyed this episode, please review us on iTunes and send your friends to PaceSmith.com.

That’s also where you can download my free ebook, Find Your Path Now. It’ll help you stop living on autopilot and start living a wholehearted, intentional life.

This applies to any fandom that strongly relates to its characters. Spoiler warning for Undertale.

To choose a new topic at random,


Consider the Undertale fandom.


Some say they’re the best,


Some say they’re obsessed,


But we want to just understand ’em.



* What is Undertale?

* What is a fandom?

* Immersion, empathy, and fourth-wall-breaking in Undertale

* Ryukahr playing Undertale

* Is it important to respect the gender of fictional characters? Yes.

* Gendered Tetris

* SJWs

* The 2 reasons Undertale fans are perceived as annoying by outsiders

* Potterheads

* Steven Universe fans

* Coca-Cola fans



Thanks for listening to The Dervish and the Mermaid! If you enjoyed this episode, please review us on iTunes and send your friends to PaceSmith.com.

That’s also where you can download my free ebook, Find Your Path Now. It’ll help you stop living on autopilot and start living a wholehearted, intentional life.

Why is our culture obsessed with believing in some dogma and sticking to it 100% obsessively? Why doesn’t 99% count for partial credit?

Another fine myth to debunk:


100 percent or you flunk.


Eat one bite of meat


And you’re now obsolete,


99 percent’s basically junk.



* allergic to chocolate

* If you’re a Quaker, you don’t have to serve in the military. But if you “just” think it’s wrong to kill people, oh well, here’s your gun. “does not include essentially political, sociological, or philosophical views, or a merely personal moral code.”

* “I can’t go up or down steps”

* If everyone ate 50% less meat, that would be just as good for the planet as if 50% of people became vegetarian. But this all-or-nothing mentality discourages people from even trying.



Thanks for listening to The Dervish and the Mermaid! If you enjoyed this episode, please review us on iTunes and send your friends to PaceSmith.com.

That’s also where you can download my free ebook, Find Your Path Now. It’ll help you stop living on autopilot and start living a wholehearted, intentional life.

You live, and you do, and you age.


Why not go explore the backstage?


What makes people tick?


Is this safe to lick?


Don’t go through the motions, engage!



* game like a designer

* observe without judgement

* ask why

* Myers-Briggs S vs. N

* everyday philosopher

* “I don’t know for sure, but here are my thoughts”



Thanks for listening to The Dervish and the Mermaid! If you enjoyed this episode, please review us on iTunes and send your friends to PaceSmith.com.

That’s also where you can download my free ebook, Find Your Path Now. It’ll help you stop living on autopilot and start living a wholehearted, intentional life.

When you’re watching a kitten be cute


But your camera’s not all set to shoot


By the time that you’re ready


The cat has already


Moved on, and so you follow suit.

So unless one is very astute


It is hard to get proof absolute


Of a cute little cat.


So why does just that


Doom weird shit into disrepute?



* Radical Wholeness, with Philip Shepherd

* pseudoskepticism

* physics envy: wanting softer sciences to be more like physics

* Kyeli’s 7th grade science story: “You stayed open and curious!”

* Persimmon Village

* Staying open and curious, and modeling it for others



Thanks for listening to The Dervish and the Mermaid! If you enjoyed this episode, please review us on iTunes and send your friends to PaceSmith.com.

That’s also where you can download my free ebook, Find Your Path Now. It’ll help you stop living on autopilot and start living a wholehearted, intentional life.