Exploring the Concept of Genius Loci and Human Identity

I'm choosing to republish this episode that I had with David Whyte four years ago, because I had found myself revisiting his timeless book Consolations’ and rediscovering wisdom that felt appropriate for these times — which has remained within an arm's reach of my bedside ever since I first discovered it. It ratcheted open my mind to a new perspective on the definitions of words like Ambition, Courage and Heartbreak, that I thought I previously understood.

I’m not sure how to even begin to describe exactly what David does. On paper, he's an acclaimed poet, a writer, and a philosopher.  But to my mind, after having spent a magical week with him on the Irish Atlantic coastline on one of his poetry walking tours, I feel like he's a true elder with a deep philosophical curiosity and gift for weaving together our inner and outer worlds in what he calls 'the conversational nature of reality’.

It’s a wide-ranging conversation, and towards the end, we cover some really interesting ground on the questions he believes we’re living our way into as a society and how childhood is the act of growing older whilst adulthood is the act of growing younger back into body back into our birthright visionary experience of the world.

Official Links

👋  Follow David on Twitter, Facebook or Youtube
📝   Read the full transcript (with my photos of Ireland) over on Medium
🚶‍♂️  Apply for one of David's upcoming walking tours in Ireland, the Lake District, Tuscany & New Zealand
👀  Watch David's TED Talk 'A lyrical bridge between past, present and future'
🖥️  Find out everything else David is up to at davidwhyte.com

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🫁 Nervous System Mastery

This is my flagship 5-week bootcamp designed to equip you with evidence-backed protocols to cultivate calm and emotional regulation. Our 8th cohort will run in Fall 2025 ~ and applications are currently open. My sense is that if this conversation resonates with you, then you'd likely be a great fit for our upcoming cohort. This curriculum represents my attempt to distill everything I've learned in recent years about creating the conditions for our nervous system's flourishing.  It's run in an intensive cohort-based way since this is, in my experience, the most efficient way to embody and practice the protocols.

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