In the Absence of the Ordinary: A Conversation With Francis Weller

Hello, listener friends!

We’re delighted to share with you our most recent conversation with our dear friend and mentor, Francis Weller, psychotherapist, soul-activist, and author of the life-changing book The Wild Edge of Sorrow, as well as a newly released book of essays which we discuss in this interview. It is titled: In the Absence of the Ordinary: Essays in a Time of Uncertainty and is available for free or by donation on his website. https://www.francisweller.net/store.html

In this episode, recorded on May 26th, 2020, we jump right into discussing our current global circumstances as what Francis calls a Rough Initiation. We explore Francis’s suggestions for responding to overwhelm: self-compassion, turning toward our feelings, being astonished by beauty, and having patience. We explore what Francis calls growing an apprenticeship with sorrow, and the possibility metabolizing our sorrows into something medicinal for soul and for community. Francis speaks to a powerful quote from  Human biologist Paul Shephard, that states, “The grief and sense of loss, that we often interpret as a failure in our personality, is actually a feeling of emptiness where a beautiful and strange otherness should have been encountered.” We explore this beautiful and strange otherness and so much more. We are sure you’ll enjoy this beautiful conversation as much as we did. Many thanks to Francis for sharing his words and wisdom so generously.