In this enlightening conversation, Cormac Russell, a social explorer and author, shares his extensive experience in community development across 35 countries. He reflects on the importance of shifting from 'doing' to 'being', emphasizing genuine solidarity over misguided self-help efforts. Cormac challenges the idea of individualism, advocating for recognizing the interconnectedness of communities. He also encourages listeners to channel their emotions into meaningful actions, ultimately awakening to the deeper value of community connections.

On the 99th episode of What is a Good Life? podcast, I am delighted to introduce our guest, Darcia Narvaez. Darcia is Professor Emerita of Psychology at the University of Notre Dame, and Fellow of the American Psychological Association, American Educational Research Association, Association for Psychological Science, and the American Association for the Advancement of Science. She uses an interdisciplinary approach to studying evolved morality, child development and human flourishing. Her most recent books include Restoring the Kinship Worldview, and The Evolved Nest: Nature’s Way of Raising Children and Creating Connected Communities. Her book, Neurobiology and the Development of Human Morality: Evolution, Culture and Wisdom won the 2015 William James Book Award from the American Psychological Association and the 2017 Expanded Reason Award. Her recent short films are Breaking the Cycle, The Evolved Nest, and Reimagining Humanity. She hosts the webpage EvolvedNest.org and serves as president of KindredWorld.org.In this enlightening conversation, Darcia shares her journey to creating The Evolved Nest, a concept that integrates insights from child development, parenting, and adult behaviour. We discuss reconnecting with our natural rhythms, engaging with the world around us, fostering welcoming social environments, embracing play, and allowing the spirit of both children and adults to flow freely.This conversation is a wonderful invitation to reconnect with our primal wisdom, reflect on how we disconnect from it, and learn how to create the nurturing environments we need to thrive.For further content and information check out the following:- Darcia's Newsletter: https://darcianarvaez.substack.com/- The Evolved Nest YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/@TheEvolvedNest- The Evolved Nest website: https://evolvednest.org/- For the What is a Good Life? podcast's YouTube page: https://www.youtube.com/@whatisagoodlife/videos- My newsletter: https://www.whatisagood.life/- My LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/mark-mccartney-14b0161b4/Contact me at mark@whatisagood.life if you'd like to explore your own lines of self-inquiry through 1-on-1 coaching, take part in my weekly free silent conversations, discuss experiences I create to stimulate greater trust, communication, and connection, amongst your leadership teams, or you simply want to get in touch.00:00 Introduction03:11 What is wrong with the world?07:51 The path to The Evolved Nest10:26 Soothing Perinatal Experiences 12:41 Disconnecting from our natural rhythms16:41 The wonder of nature and breastfeeding21:51 A welcoming social climate26:10 Embracing joy and wise teachers 30:11 Play and experimenting 33:11 Wisdom and wildness37:13 Punishment and connection to spirit40:11 Minimising babies’ needs and work46:31 The need for multiple nurturers and mentors48:51 Nature and immersion with landscape55:13 Restorative healing practices1:01:49 What is a good life for Darcia?

In this thought-provoking discussion, Nora Bateson, an award-winning filmmaker and the mind behind Warm Data theory, explores the inherent ambiguities of life. She delves into the perils of seeking certainty, urging a shift towards mutual learning and understanding. The conversation touches on the power of language and the necessity for nuanced communication in a polarized world. Bateson emphasizes interdependence, urging listeners to embrace complexity while fostering genuine connections and awareness within communities.

Diarmuid Lyng, co-owner of Wild Irish Retreats and a former Wexford hurling captain, dives into the importance of reconnecting with nature and ourselves. He shares transformative experiences that shaped his journey toward self-acceptance and love. Diarmuid discusses the balance between modern life and embracing our wild instincts, encouraging listeners to leave space for aliveness. Through stories of community, hurling, and spiritual growth, he invites everyone to explore deeper connections and the essence of a fulfilling life.

On the 96th episode of What is a Good Life? podcast, I am delighted to introduce our guest, John Oliver. John is an artist and sense-making facilitator, exploring multidisciplinary practices based on complexity principles and narrative frameworks. Since 2020, he has developed an artistic practice that integrates the arts with complexity principles, working in portraiture film, and experimental installations. Certified in developmental psychology coaching and co-founder of Human-Equity Ltd, he specialised in qualitative metrics for organisational development and human insights in investment portfolio management. Previously, John managed technology transfer projects in Nepal and Ghana for the NGO Intermediate Technology Development Group, spent 15 years in strategy consulting, and was an early team member at the French start-up OneAccess. He holds a BEng from Brunel University and an MBA from EDHEC in France.In this expansive conversation, John shares his journey towards greater creativity and his explorations of self and no-self. We discuss sense-making through dialectics, revelations through creativity, and the concept of positive disintegration. We also delve into the dissonance experienced during transitions, with John sharing his insights on the arts as a spiritual practice.If you are currently navigating, or contemplating, major or minor life transitions, this conversation offers many valuable insights and themes that are worthy of your contemplation.Subscribe for weekly episodes, every Tuesday, and check out my YouTube channel (link below) for full interviews and clips.For further content and information check out the following:John's experimental art: www.tyler.worldJohn's portraiture film: www.interiortruth.comJohn's positive disintegration piece: https://www.tyler.world/positive-disintegration- For the What is a Good Life? podcast's YouTube page: https://www.youtube.com/@whatisagoodlife/videos- My newsletter: https://www.whatisagood.life/- My LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/mark-mccartney-14b0161b4/Contact me at mark@whatisagood.life if you'd like to explore your own lines of self-inquiry through 1-on-1 coaching, take part in my weekly free silent conversations, discuss experiences I create to stimulate greater trust, communication, and connection, amongst your leadership teams, or you simply want to get in touch.00:00 Introduction02:50 The path of no self07:50 Sense making through dialectics 12:10 Revelations through creativity19:05 Positive disintegration24:55 New paths and intergenerational influence29:10 Sense of self and connection to collective33:40 Navigating the dissonance between transitions39:20 Realisation through suffering or awareness?48:20 Integrating the whole 53:20 Silence and being enough58:20 The arts as a spiritual practice 1:04:05 The Soul and the Spirit1:10:35 Sexuality as a spiritual practice1:14:00 What is a good life for John?

On the 95th episode of the What is a Good Life? podcast, I am delighted to introduce our guest, Madelaine Ley. Madelaine is a philosopher, spiritual ecologist, and contemplative artist. Her varied work includes lecturing at Delft University of Technology and Lassonde Engineering School in Canada on digital citizenship, responsible AI, intersectional approaches to tech, and robot-ethics; hosting Sacred Sessions, non-religious gatherings that blend philosophy, art, science, contemplative practice and collective reflection; writing and podcasting for Beauty in the Mire; and experimenting with contemplative art. She was named one of the “100 Brilliant Women in AI Ethics” by Lighthouse3 in 2022 and has been featured by the BBC, Leidsch Dagblad, Yes! Magazine, and Life Itself, as well as funded by The European Pavilion, Horizon 2020 and the Social Science Research Council of Canada.In this glorious conversation, Madelaine shares how she is deepening her awareness of her embodied experience of life. We discuss how the birth of her daughter revealed an inner bravery, while also exploring the importance of embracing grief, along with the profound grounding and lessons she received from her spiritual mentor in embodying agenda-free presence and resisting the urge to fix or give advice.This whole conversation is a wonderful invitation to pay attention to your felt experience of life and to recognise the wisdom our bodies can offer.Subscribe for weekly episodes, every Tuesday, and check out my YouTube channel (link below) for full interviews and clips.For further content and information check out the following:Madelaine's Website: https://www.madelaineley.com/Madelaine's Newsletter: https://madelaineley.substack.com/Contemplative Art: https://liquidbecomings.eu/28th-september-in-utrecht-liquid-becomings-x-sonnenborgh-museum/- For the What is a Good Life? podcast's YouTube page: https://www.youtube.com/@whatisagoodlife/videos- My newsletter: https://www.whatisagood.life/- My LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/mark-mccartney-14b0161b4/Contact me at mark@whatisagood.life if you'd like to explore your own lines of self-inquiry through 1-on-1 coaching, take part in my weekly free silent conversations, discuss experiences I create to stimulate greater trust, communication, and connection, amongst your leadership teams, or you simply want to get in touch.00:00 Introduction02:50 Intuition & living at the edges of our skin08:10 Breakthroughs from motherhood and meltdowns13:50 The significance of breakdowns and ruptures16:35 Listening to energies that visit our bodies22:08 The value of an awareness of death27:05 The importance of embracing grief32:20 Agenda free presence37:55 The influence of a spiritual mentor42:12 What is beyond measurement45:07 The experience of silence49:20 The feeling of bravery from childbirth56:50 What is a good life for Madelaine?

On the 94th episode of the What is a Good Life? podcast, I am delighted to introduce our guest, Jennifer Murphy. Jennifer is an Irish mythologist, anthropologist, creativity mentor, and the founder of The Celtic Creatives. A Dubliner born and bred, from the time she could talk, Jennifer's grandmother, Frances O'Sullivan, filled her ears with tales from Irish myth and folklore, fuelling a now 40-year fascination with the stories of her lineage. Jennifer's apprenticeship in following her soul’s breadcrumbs over the past twenty years has guided her work and formal studies in Medieval Irish and Celtic Studies, Sociocultural Anthropology, Creativity and Innovation, and Jungian Psychology and Art Therapy. She supports creatives from diverse fields to (re)connect with the mythopoetic imagination of Ireland, using ancient wisdom to inform modern creativity through myth, dreamwork, imagination, and the body. She is currently writing a book on what Irish mythology can teach us about our creativity.In this glorious conversation, Jennifer shares her journey of listening to her soul’s story—a path which has revealed her Dán (soul’s gift) and includes balancing the masculine and feminine, Sus and Imbas—the scientific and divine inspiration—exploring dreams, other worlds, and Irish mythology, and imbuing everything around us with life.This whole episode may offer you many new lines of inquiry, as well as ways of perceiving this world, which may be integral to experiencing your own good life.Subscribe for weekly episodes, every Tuesday, and check out my YouTube channel (link below) for full interviews and clips.For further content and information check out the following:Jen's Website: https://www.celticcreatives.com/Jen's Substack: https://celticcreatives.substack.com/Jen's Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/celticembodiment/- For the What is a Good Life? podcast's YouTube page: https://www.youtube.com/@whatisagoodlife/videos- My newsletter: https://www.whatisagood.life/- My LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/mark-mccartney-14b0161b4/Contact me at mark@whatisagood.life if you'd like to explore your own lines of self-inquiry through 1-on-1 coaching, take part in my weekly free silent conversations, discuss experiences I create to stimulate greater trust, communication, and connection, amongst your leadership teams, or you simply want to get in touch.00:00 Introduction03:00 What is my Dán (Soul’s gift)?09:48 Taking up the path of the soul15:00 Wisdom: Sus and Imbas20:00 Balancing masculine and feminine energy23:30 Exploring the masculine & unconscious27:30 Mythology - exploring the story of the soul30:30 Exploring dreams & other worlds33:30 The land is alive with soul35:30 Other worlds & connecting with land39:10 Reconnecting to the divine45:40 The Irish psyche & mythology49:48 Connecting with the language and folklore55:30 What is a good life for Jen?

On the 93rd episode of the What is a Good Life? podcast, I am delighted to introduce our guest, Kemo Camara. Kemo is the visionary behind Omek, a community-centric platform whose mission is to amplify the talent, voices, and energy of biculturals of African descent. A social entrepreneur, community influencer, economist, and captivating speaker, Kemo's journey has spanned continents, with impactful engagements across Africa, the United States, and Europe. He has held extensive leadership roles and responsibilities in community organisations and co-founded multiple businesses and non-profit organisations in the United States and Europe. His passion lies in activating our collective human potential, bringing people from diverse backgrounds together to work towards a common goal.In this wonderful conversation, Kemo shares his journey of building community and realising purpose in his life. He discusses the insights around community that he gained from his upbringing and family in Guinea, the values of trust, dignity, and respect that were instilled in him, and the energy we drain from ourselves by constantly having our guards up.This entire conversation is a great example of the importance of reflection, understanding who we are, and paying attention to the feedback life provides in order to utilise all aspects of ourselves to realise greater purpose in our lives.Subscribe for weekly episodes, every Tuesday, and check out my YouTube channel (link below) for full interviews and clips.For further content and information check out the following:Omek's Website: myomek.comKemo's LinkedIn: LinkedIn- For the What is a Good Life? podcast's YouTube page: https://www.youtube.com/@whatisagoodlife/videos- My newsletter: https://www.whatisagood.life/- My LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/mark-mccartney-14b0161b4/Contact me at mark@whatisagood.life if you'd like to explore your own lines of self-inquiry through 1-on-1 coaching, take part in my weekly free silent conversations, discuss experiences I create to stimulate greater trust, communication, and connection, amongst your leadership teams, or you simply want to get in touch.00:00 Introduction02:50 What kind of impact do I want to make?06:20 What do people in my life say about me?10:30 What is fundamentally important14:50 Family, elders, and respect19:50 Giving trust and possibilities27:20 Building community in other countries35:00 Realising what matters most40:50 Paying attention to the life’s feedback44:50 Speaking to people as humans at work47:35 The journey to building new leaders & community54:05 Bringing all of who we are57:05 What is a good life for Kemo?

On the 92nd episode of the What is a Good Life? podcast, I am delighted to introduce our guest, Rachel Donald. Rachel is the creator of Planet: Critical, the podcast and newsletter for a world in crisis with 15,000+ subscribers from 160 countries. Planet: Critical connects the dots of science, art, language, politics, media, philosophy and power to reveal the big picture. Rachel speaks internationally on this ecosystem as an independent researcher and writer. Alongside Planet: Critical, her world exclusive investigations into climate corruption have been published in The Guardian, Al Jazeera, Mongabay, The Intercept, Byline Times and the New Republic.In this wonderful conversation, Rachel takes us on her journey of looking beyond the veil, as for her, the world never seemed the way people said it was. She shares her experiences of questioning what is real and true, letting go of certainty, becoming more aware of and focused on the relationships between everything, and the joy that comes from doing work you love that serves others. She also explores finding ways to engage with the world while staying true to your own nature.This entire conversation is filled with insights and realisations that deeply connect to experiencing a fulfilling life, while Rachel’s path may inspire you to think more critically and to reflect on what you are actively questioning and choosing in your own life.Subscribe for weekly episodes, every Tuesday, and check out my YouTube channel (link below) for full interviews and clips.For further content and information check out the following:Rachel's Website: www.planetcritical.comRachel's LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/rachel-donald/- For the What is a Good Life? podcast's YouTube page: https://www.youtube.com/@whatisagoodlife/videos- My newsletter: https://www.whatisagood.life/- My LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/mark-mccartney-14b0161b4/Contact me at mark@whatisagood.life if you'd like to explore your own lines of self-inquiry through 1-on-1 coaching, take part in my weekly free silent conversations, discuss experiences I create to stimulate greater trust, communication, and connection, amongst your leadership teams, or you simply want to get in touch.00:00 Introduction02:52 Not holding onto answers or certainty08:02 The shift towards accepting uncertainty11:12 Getting out of our way to grow14:52 No decision is permanent17:52 Making big decisions with clarity24:12 Empowered to choose your own struggle28:22 Sensing something wasn’t true31:52 Seeing the world differently36:52 Engaging with the world while remaining who we are43:02 New ways of lifting the veil47:22 A network of responses50:32 Developing empathy for different perspectives56:22 What is a good life for Rachel?

On the 91st episode of the What is a Good Life? podcast, I am delighted to welcome our guest, Andrea Hiott. Andrea is a philosopher and the founder of Making Ways, a private educational consultancy that works with individuals, businesses, and organisations such as EMI to explore the guiding philosophies at the core of our lives and actions. She is also an author and educator, holding degrees in the philosophy of mind, neuroscience, and UNESCO World Heritage. Andrea has authored several books, including Thinking Small, and her work has appeared in renowned publications such as the The Wall Street Journal, The New York Times, Bloomberg, Huffington Post, National Geographic, and the San Francisco Chronicle. In addition, she hosts several podcasts, including Love & Philosophy and Desirable Unknown. In this captivating conversation, Andrea shares her journey with the question, "What is mind?" We discuss the importance of developing our ability to hold paradox, handle the intensity of our emotions, and navigate the challenges, joys, and fears that love can sometimes bring. We explore how our presence and attention can facilitate change within ourselves and others, and the profound impact of sharing meaningful moments together.This whole conversation is deeply insightful, offering much to learn from Andrea’s curiosity, wisdom, and reflections. Which may help you to embrace the experience of being human more fully.Subscribe for weekly episodes, every Tuesday, and check out my YouTube channel (link below) for full interviews and clips.For further content and information check out the following:Andrea's Website: https://www.andreahiott.net/ Andrea's Podcast: https://www.youtube.com/@waymaking23/featured - For the What is a Good Life? podcast's YouTube page: https://www.youtube.com/@whatisagoodlife/videos- My newsletter: https://www.whatisagood.life/- My LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/mark-mccartney-14b0161b4/Contact me at mark@whatisagood.life if you'd like to explore your own lines of self-inquiry through 1-on-1 coaching, take part in my weekly free silent conversations, discuss experiences I create to stimulate greater trust, communication, and connection, amongst your leadership teams, or you simply want to get in touch.00:00 Introduction02:50 What is mind?07:16 What can we handle?11:41 Portals to be present15:11 More to this than we understand19:21 The joy and curiosity of deep feelings23:21 What is mind and what is mine? Holding paradox27:51 We are always in process32:21 Being present and the changes it allows33:41 Acknowledging our own possibility for change41:46 Time, mind, and memory46:31 The resonance of meaning through time50:41 The paradox of our separate and shared lives56:18 What is a good life for Andrea?