Spiritual Grit

Explore the role of Star Keepers in seeding light during turbulent times. Discover how to honor feelings of rage and grief while celebrating resilience. Uncover connections between pottery and personal growth, highlighting the importance of creative expression in activism. Learn about balancing the pursuit of liberation with the challenges of everyday life. This reflective journey encourages listeners to stay rooted and remember their essence amidst chaos.

In this week’s mini-sode, I talk about how pottery is yet again showing me what I don’t want to look at, making me ask questions I didn’t know I had, and teaching me about discernment — does one keep going or redirect? Or give up altogether? Tune in to hear about my adventure with Buddy, the imperfect pot, and whether I’m keeping him or not.

How do we hold both the mundanity of everyday life and the grief we experience at the collective level in witnessing the now yearlong g-side in Pali? How can we reconcile the contrast of going to a kid's birthday party when we are aware of how many children in G@za have been martyred before their first birthday? On the 1-year anniversary of the ongoing g-side, the tarot card Strength comes forward. It's the eighth card of the major arcana and is calling us to have courage and to keep going, to keep fighting for líberätion. We need to remember that every little bit matters, that every action and intention matters. Whether it is for what is happening in our personal lives or for the greater good of the collective and our planet. What we do in our everyday lives has ripple effects that we are not aware of.  In this episode, I encourage you to pay attention to where you focus your energy and how to balance between the everyday and the world at large. Tune in!  =============== Today’s poems/ Books mentioned: Major Arcana Card: #8 “The Fish and I will Chat” by Hafiz ===============  Courses / Exclusive Content / Book Mentioned: Subscribe to mailing list + community: suryagian.com/subscribe and get the 7-day meditation challenge, “Spark Joy in Chaos” Subscribe to “Adventures in Midlife” newsletter: leslieann.substack.com Instagram: @leslieannhobayan  Email: leslieann@suryagian.com Creative Writing Camp: https://www.suryagian.com/creative-writing-camp 

The tectonic shifts we have been experiencing cannot be ignored. Systems are burning to the ground. Empires are crumbling. How do we stay grounded in all of this when what we used to do is no longer effective? How do we not lose ourselves? There's so much we've forgotten. We need to get back to our magic. We need to remember. Listen in to this week's episode to find out how! And we need each other. Tune in!  =============== Today’s poems/ Books mentioned: Oracle card: Five of Cups (Reversed) “We Might Have To Medicate You” by Hafiz ===============  Courses / Exclusive Content / Book Mentioned: Subscribe to mailing list + community: ⁠suryagian.com/subscribe⁠ and get the 7-day meditation challenge, “Spark Joy in Chaos” Subscribe to “Adventures in Midlife” newsletter: ⁠leslieann.substack.com⁠ Instagram: @leslieannhobayan  Email: ⁠leslieann@suryagian.com⁠ Creative Writing Camp: ⁠https://www.suryagian.com/creative-writing-camp⁠ 

There is so much upheaval it’s hard to get our footing. The degree of change and the pace at which it’s happening is overwhelming. We easily get swept up in contentious arguments, get consumed by grief and rage. It’s hard not to fall apart. How can we stay steady on our feet? How can we not lose our balance during these times of extreme change? In this week’s episode, I’m offering you five ways to stay grounded during this collective evolution. It all comes down to the body. Are you listening to it? Tune in!  =============== Today’s poems/ Books mentioned: Oracle card: King of Cups “Passionate Lips” by Hafiz ===============  Courses / Exclusive Content / Book Mentioned: Subscribe to mailing list + community: suryagian.com/subscribe and get the 7-day meditation challenge, “Spark Joy in Chaos” Subscribe to “Adventures in Midlife” newsletter: leslieann.substack.com Instagram: @leslieannhobayan  Email: leslieann@suryagian.com Creative Writing Camp: https://www.suryagian.com/creative-writing-camp

The title of this episode is basically this: will you choose capitalism? Or humanity? Which is to say: you can choose to be a full human being with all of your facets and complexities, living life exploring this existence in all ways (art making! communities of care! food growing!). OR you can give your power away and allow capitalism to dictate your fated path by constantly running on the treadmill of productivity. (Reminder: you’re not a cog in a machine.) And before you get all “well, how am I supposed to live in a capitalist society if I don’t make money?”, listen to this episode. It’s about remembering your soul path and learning self-trust again. With the lunar full moon eclipse in Pisces, there’s a whole lotta unconscious releasing (which, if you ask me, includes the conditioned thinking we got from capitalism). And with that release is a remembering and an invitation to create. Tune in! Today’s poems/ Books mentioned: Oracle card: I Remember and I trust myself more than capitalism “The Heart is Right” by Hafiz ===============  Courses / Exclusive Content / Book Mentioned: Subscribe to mailing list + community: suryagian.com/subscribe and get the 7-day meditation challenge, “Spark Joy in Chaos” Subscribe to “Adventures in Midlife” newsletter: leslieann.substack.com Instagram: @leslieannhobayan  Email: leslieann@suryagian.com Creative Writing Camp: https://www.suryagian.com/creative-writing-camp

How many of us give our power away? How many of us look to other people for the solution? How many of us let other people decide our fate? In this week’s episode, I invite you to reclaim your power and remember that words matter. What we say, how we say it, the language we use – it all matters, even when we feel it doesn’t. (See: “ceasefire”)  When we speak, when we possess the power to tell our stories and write our narrative. The challenge here is: are you writing it in integrity? Are you writing it with the truth of the heart? Too many lies are being manufactured by mainstream media and if we allow for that to pass as truth, then we’re in bigger trouble than I thought. Listen in to understand the power of words and the frequency they carry and how that affects us all.  =============== Today’s poems/ Books mentioned: Oracle card: Eight of Swords “Scratching my Back” by Hafiz Articles mentioned: “Klamath River Dam Removal Allows Salmon to Run Free for First Time in More Than a Century” https://znetwork.org/znetarticle/klamath-river-dam-removal-allows-salmon-to-run-free-for-first-time-in-more-than-a-century/ “The Shapes of Grief: Witnessing the Unbearable” by Cristina Sharpe https://yalereview.org/article/christina-sharpe-shapes-of-grief ===============  Courses / Exclusive Content / Book Mentioned: Subscribe to mailing list + community: suryagian.com/subscribe and get the 7-day meditation challenge, “Spark Joy in Chaos” Subscribe to “Adventures in Midlife” newsletter: leslieann.substack.com Instagram: @leslieannhobayan  Email: leslieann@suryagian.comCreative Writing Camp: https://www.suryagian.com/creative-writing-camp

How are spirituality and activism connected? What do they have in common? Short answer: it's about the journey. (Cliche, I know.) But sometimes the journey is long and frustrating. If we don't see tangible results, we get discouraged and might feel like giving. How can we use spiritual practices to keep us devoted and grounded in our work for liberation? How can we keep the momentum going? Tune in to learn more!  =============== Today’s poems/ Books mentioned: Oracle card: Night of Pentacles “All The Talents of God” by Hafiz ===============  Courses / Exclusive Content / Book Mentioned: Subscribe to mailing list + community: suryagian.com/subscribe and get the 7-day meditation challenge, “Spark Joy in Chaos” Subscribe to “Adventures in Midlife” newsletter: leslieann.substack.com Instagram: @leslieannhobayan  Email: leslieann@suryagian.com Creative Writing Camp: https://www.suryagian.com/creative-writing-camp 

The tectonic shifts we have been experiencing cannot be ignored. Systems are burning to the ground. Empires are crumbling. How do we stay grounded in all of this when what we used to do is no longer effective? How do we not lose ourselves? There's so much we've forgotten. We need to get back to our magic. We need to remember. Listen in to this week's episode to find out how! And we need each other. Tune in!  =============== Today’s poems/ Books mentioned: Oracle card: Five of Cups (Reversed) “We Might Have To Medicate You” by Hafiz ===============  Courses / Exclusive Content / Book Mentioned: Subscribe to mailing list + community: suryagian.com/subscribe and get the 7-day meditation challenge, “Spark Joy in Chaos” Subscribe to “Adventures in Midlife” newsletter: leslieann.substack.com Instagram: @leslieannhobayan  Email: leslieann@suryagian.com Creative Writing Camp: https://www.suryagian.com/creative-writing-camp 

Since the quarantine years, many of us have been hungry for community. We've been longing for real connection. But how badly do we want it? At what cost? Not all communities are created equal. Not all communities are built with your best interest in mind. Are we willing to compromise who we are in order to feel like we belong somewhere? During this time of jen-0cide of Pali-stin-ians, it's becoming harder to find communities of care and support. It's on us to create them and communicate that it's a safe place. Tune in to hear my experience of a community that suddenly became unsafe for me and how we might build the safe community that we need.    =============== Today’s poems/ Books mentioned: Oracle card: Ten of Cups “Too Beautiful” by Hafiz ===============  Courses / Exclusive Content / Book Mentioned: Subscribe to mailing list + community: ⁠suryagian.com/subscribe⁠ and get the 7-day meditation challenge, “Spark Joy in Chaos” Subscribe to “Adventures in Midlife” newsletter: ⁠leslieann.substack.com⁠ Instagram: @leslieannhobayan  Email: ⁠leslieann@suryagian.com