New Dimensions

Being with a person who is close to death may be difficult and confusing. Oftentimes it is mystifying to discern what they are talking about because their speech pattern can sound nonsensical. Lisa Smartt has done extensive research regarding the words spoken by many at this threshold and she advises us to be open to the experience our loved ones are having.She is a linguist, educator, and poet. She’s founder of The Final Words Project, an ongoing study devoted to collecting and interpreting the mysterious language at the end of lives. She lives in Athens, Georgia, and is the author of Words at the Threshold: What We Say as We’re Nearing Death (New World Library 2017) Tags: Lisa Smartt, nonsensical speech, paradoxical nonsense, signature metaphors, survival of consciousness, life after death, Raymond Moody, end of life care, Maggie Callanan, Patricia Kelly, coma, Death & Dying, Parapsychology, Paranormal

Humans live in a web of relationships, and true healing is always connected to family, community, and culture. Bedrick tells us that there is no symptom that belongs only to the individual, whether that ailment is emotional, spiritual, physical, social or financial. He gives examples of how symptoms are embedded and woven into all culture.Tags: David Bedrick, process psychology, depth psychology, process oriented psychology, depression, Robin Williams, anti-depressant medication, Maxine Waters, Sioux Nation and Black Hills land, Native Americans, weight, diets, inner critic, Maya Angelou, Judaism, Holocaust, Nagasaki, Hiroshima generation, Nazi Germany, Alzheimer’s, Psychology, Personal Transformation, Self Help, Indigenous Wisdom

Here you’ll learn how to start a circle of your own for honest, safe conversations and cooperation in a divisive world. Hear examples of how to maintain the integrity and mutual support in a circle. Oliver says “You don’t need to go somewhere or pay someone to start your circle. You can do it yourself.” Lauren J Oliver, Ph.D. received her baccalaureate degree from Harvard University and her doctorate in Clinical Psychology from UCLA. She currently provides coaching and organization development consultations for leaders, businesses, organizations, families, and individuals. She was co-founder with Dr. Robert Harrison Simmons of the California nonprofit Support Group Network. She is the author of Circle Culture: Tools for Cooperative Work (Bonnie Burstein) (Circle Culture 2023)Interview Date: 9/21/2023     Tags: Lauren J Oliver, special needs, Peer Counseling Program, circles, circling, Social Change/Politics, Personal Transformation 

Dogs are the best kind of teachers because they teach us just by being themselves. Wilson describes the undiluted love of a dog when we come home after an absence, “You can have a stressful day but having a dog greet you just changes everything.” Dog and cat companions have much to teach us if we take the time to pay attention and open ourselves enough to listen and learn. Hersch Wilson is an organizational consultant, pilot, former professional dancer, newspaper columnist, and 30-year volunteer firefighter-EMT. He is also a consultant who has worked extensively with leadership teams from a variety of organizations including IBM Japan, the US Postal Service, and the CIA, to name a few. He writes a monthly column on dogs for the Santa Fe New Mexican. He lives in Santa Fe, New Mexico with his wife Laurie, a daughter, and two dogs, a Great Pyrenees and a Chihuahua-Terrier mix. He is the author of Play to Win!: Choosing Growth Over Fear In Work And Life (coauthor with his late father, Larry Wilson)(Bard Press; Revised Edition 2004), Firefighter Zen: A Field Guide To Thriving In Tough Times (New World Library 2020) and Dog Lessons: Learning the Important Stuff from Our Best Friends (New World Library 2023)Interview Date: 9/11/2023   Tags: Hersch Wilson, dogs, animal guardians, veterinary care, pet insurance, animal shelters, Animals

Here we explore the legacy of the late Tony Schwartz with his son, Anton. Tony Schwartz created commercials for more than four hundred corporations, five presidential campaigns, and countless social causes. He was hailed as a guru of the newly emerging “electronic media” by Marshall McLuhan. In 2007, the Library of Congress acquired Schwartz’s entire body of work.Tags: Anton Schwartz, Tony Schwartz, media, communications, Folkway Records, advertising, partipulation, Subaru ad, American Cancer Society ad, focus groups, viral media, bots, fake news, life-long learning, Media, Education, History, Social Change/Politics

Poetry, at its best, takes us beyond our analytical minds and lands us in an embodied experience. It helps us meet the despair which inevitably rises up in the darkest moments. Poetry can cut windows and doors in your despair and give you a way to walk back into the world with others. Jane Hirshfield is an award-winning poet, essayist and translator. She's the author of ten books of poetry and two collections of essays. She has edited and co-translated four books presenting the work of world poets from the past. Her books have received the Poetry Center Book Award, the California Book Award, and the Donald Hall-Jane Kenyon Prize in American Poetry. Her poems appear in a wide range of prestigious outlets. A resident of Northern California, she is a chancellor emerita of the Academy of American Poets. She presents her work at literary and interdisciplinary events worldwide. In 2017, in conjunction with the March for Science in Washington DC, she founded Poets for Science, an interactive exhibit of science poems and writing invitation housed at Kent State’s Wick Poetry Center, which has traveled to venues across the country.Jane Hirshfield has authored many books including The October Palace (HarperCollins 1994), The Lives of the Heart (Harper Collins 1997), Women in Praise of the Sacred (HarperCollins 1994), Nine Gates: Entering the Mind of Poetry (Perennial 1998), After (Harper Collins 2006), Given Sugar, Given Salt (Harper Collins 2001), Come, Thief (Knopf 2011), Ten Windows: How Great Poems Transform the World (Alfred A. Knopf 2015), The Beauty: Poems (Alfred A. Knopf 2015), Ledger (Alfred A. Knopf 2020) and The Asking: New and Selected Poems (Alfred A. Knopf 2023)Interview Date: 9/1/2023   Tags: Jane Hirshfield, Poetry, Hersch Wilson, bryophyta, mosses, kinship of all life, despair, March for Science, beauty, Poetry, Art & Creativity, Ecology/Nature/Environment, Philosophy

In her prequel to the Earthsong series of novels that take place in Neolithic times, Mary Mackey envisions when the matristic and patriarchal cultures clashed. One culture lived in collaborative partnerships with a communal way of governing. The other was a more warlike and aggressive culture. She shares the research on which she bases her stories.Tags: Mary Mackey, Neolithic history, matristic, matriarchy, matriarchal, goddess worshiping, Marija Gimbutas, empathy, compassion, Neolithic graves, Neanderthal, fairytales, Beowulf, Grendel, oral cultures, troubadours, Linear B, Cumaean Sybil, Leonard Shlain, oral tradition, email, conquistadors, Neolithic ceramics and pottery, Kurgan nomads, publishing, Writing, History, Women’s Studies

How we talk to ourselves sets the tone for every experience in our life. Our voice is a powerful guide in releasing emotions, traumas, and difficult memories. It can be dramatically effective in transforming our lives in meaningful ways. As we start speaking to ourselves out loud with kindness and curiosity, our body will loosen up and speak back to us. Vasavi Kumar is a first generation Indian American, a life coach and licensed therapist who holds degrees in social work and special education from Hofstra and Columbia Universities. She runs the Say It out Loud Safe Haven community for coaches, creatives, and entrepreneurs. She is the author of Say It out Loud: Using the Power of Your Voice to Listen to Your Deepest Thoughts and Courageously Pursue Your Dreams. (New World Library 2023)Interview Date: 7/7/2023    Tags: Vasavi Kumar, trigger points, procrastinating, procrastination, Gabor Maté, curiosity, Personal Transformation

Margaret Renkl inspires us to make an “untidy” garden that will nurture our soul and the natural world. She encourages us to fall in love with the natural companions in our lives: the spiders, the hummingbirds, crickets, and racoons, and all the other species who are living right beside us. When we fall in love with them, we can't help but want to save them. Renkl is a contributing opinion writer for The New York Times, where her essays appear weekly. She has been recognized with numerous prestigious awards for her writing. She is the founding editor of Chapter 16, a daily literary publication of Humanities Tennessee. A graduate of Auburn University and the University of South Carolina, she now lives in Nashville. She  is the author of Late Migrations: A Natural History of Love and Loss (Milkweed Editions 2019), Graceland, At Last: Notes on Hope and Heartache from the American South. (Milkweed Editions 2021) and The Comfort of Crows: A Backyard Year (Spiegel and Grau 2023)Interview Date: 6/19/2023     Tags: Margaret Renkl, birding tradition, blue jays, crows, bird language, tadpoles, amphibians, frogs, toads, endocrine disruptors, chemical fertilizers, insecticides, pesticides, monarch butterflies, Methuselah generation, Roundup, glyphosate, pollinator plants, rabbits, manicured lawns, spiders, hummingbirds, walking, Ecology/Nature/Environment, Writing

Mark Nepo shares how we can have direct connection to the attending guiding spirit within. He further suggests that we describe three reliable truths which are our personal foundation to return to as we meet the challenges of daily life. Nepo writes about how the net of relationship distributes our suffering. He is the author of many audio learning projects and over 20 books including Reduced To Joy (Cleis Press 2013), Seven Thousand Ways to Listen: Staying Close To What Is Sacred (Free Press 2012), The One Life We’re Given: Finding the Wisdom That Waits in Your heart (Atria Books 2016), More Together Than Alone: Discovering the Power and Spirit of Community in Our Lives and in the World (Atria Books 2018), Drinking from the River of Light: The Life of Expression (Sounds True 2019), The Book of Soul: 52 Paths to Living What Matters (St. Martin’s Essentials 2020), Surviving Storms: Finding the Strength to Meet Adversity (St. Martins’ Essentials 2022) and Falling Down and Getting Up: Discovering Your Inner Resilience and Strength (St. Martins’ Essentials 2023)Interview Date: 6/30/2023  Tags: Mark Nepo, heart mind, head mind, Dante, The Divine Comedy, inner guiding spirit, honor, Indra’s net, fear, inner guide, Philosophy, Personal Transformation, Relationship