On the 70th episode of the What is a Good Life? podcast, I am delighted to introduce our guest, Holly Penalver. Holly is the founder of Indigo Volunteers, a remarkable charity that has made a significant impact on the lives of tens of thousands of refugees. By placing thousands of volunteers with grassroots partners, Indigo provides essential aid, healthcare, education, skills workshops, and vital services to refugees along the European migratory route. Having spent years in the field, working hands-on in places like Greece, Serbia, and Bosnia, she now works for the disaster relief charity ShelterBox as their Volunteer Development Manager.In this conversation, Holly takes us on her journey of supporting and building community, inspired by the support she felt at home, to setting up Indigo Volunteers. She talks about the significance of both being willing to accept and give help, the importance of forgiving ourselves, letting go of right and wrong, the realisation that multiple things can be true at the same time, and how we are not as important as we think. Which can all help release us to do more good in the world.Throughout this conversation, it's clear that Holly is someone who takes action when she notices something missing that could support the community. Whether it's within our communities or even in our own personal lives where we observe a lack of necessary action, there is much inspiration to draw from her energy and the perspectives shared in this episode.Subscribe for weekly episodes, every Tuesday, and check out my YouTube channel (link below) for clips and shorts.For further content and information check out the following:- Indigo Volunteers: https://www.indigovolunteers.org/- For the 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 to book a free consultation (30 minutes) for one-on-one coaching programs, executive team coaching programs to build trust and connection amongst executive teams or silent retreats for executive teams.Running Order:02:55 Podcast begins03:55 What is going wrong with our communities07:50 The importance of accepting help12:25 Connection of upbringing and self-worth18:10 The significance of forgiving ourselves21:58 We are not as important as we think25:38 Letting go of black and white thinking30:01 Realising we all hold different perceptions33:45 Being aware of what others need39:45 The joy of feeling connected with community43:25 Inspiration for establishing a charity47:10 Empathy and desire to help others51:45 Balancing family and helping others54:55 What is a good life for Holly? 

On the 69th episode of the What is a Good Life? podcast, I am delighted to introduce our guest, Dave Gray. Dave is the author of Gamestorming, Liminal Thinking: Create the Change You Want by Changing the Way You Think, and The Connected Company. He is also an artist, an entrepreneur, and a possibilitarian. After selling his company, XPlane, in 2022, Dave established The School of the Possible, an experimental learning community through which he helps people create work that is meaningful and matters to them.In this episode, Dave shares with us his journey of finding purpose and meaning in his life, from the sense of belonging he felt at art school, to identifying and honouring his true nature, and noticing moments in life where he felt he was in the right place, at the right time, with the right people. He emphasises the importance of relationships and community in identifying our own uniqueness and the energy he experiences when in creative communities. Dave also underscores the significance of possibility and supporting others with their creativity.This episode will give you much to consider regarding finding more purpose, meaning, and cultivating greater awareness around your own true nature. While Dave's breadth of experience, creativity, and curiosity, are wonderful examples of what is possible when we fully engage with our true nature.Subscribe for weekly episodes, every Tuesday, and check out my YouTube channel (link below) for clips and shorts.For further content and information check out the following:- Dave's website: https://xplaner.com/- Dave's Newsletter: https://schoolofthepossible.substack.com/- For the 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 to book a free consultation (30 minutes) for one-on-one coaching programs, executive team coaching programs to build trust and connection amongst executive teams or silent retreats for executive teams.Running Order:02:25 Podcast begins03:55 Finding meaning in life07:15 Identifying and honouring our true nature13:09 The significance of creativity 17:56 Exploring meaning in the journey20:49 Purpose and our true nature23:55 Possibility, producing and possibility27:15 Community and energy32:00 Using our relationships to identify our uniqueness34:55 The significance of relationships40:25 Beauty in everything44:25 The role of meaning52:25 What is a good life for Dave?

Amy Elizabeth Fox, CEO of Mobius Executive Leadership, discusses embracing vulnerability for genuine connections, mystical elements in personal growth, the beauty of art and creativity, modern leadership approaches, and the importance of keeping an open heart to foster resilience in challenging times.

On the 67th episode of the What is a Good Life? podcast, I am delighted to introduce our guest, David Haskell. David is a writer and a biologist. His latest book, Sounds Wild and Broken, is a finalist for the 2023 Pulitzer Prize in Nonfiction. His previous books, The Forest Unseen and The Songs of Trees are acclaimed for their integration of science, poetry, and rich attention to the living world. Among their honours include the National Academies’ Best Book Award, John Burroughs Medal, finalist for the Pulitzer Prize, and many more. He is a Guggenheim Fellow and Professor at the University of the South in Sewanee, Tennessee.In this captivating episode, David shares his journey of celebrating all living life, experiencing life as much through his senses as possible, while becoming aware of the connections between himself and whatever he is engaging with, and the multiplicity of connections that exist behind that. Throughout this conversation, he impresses the importance of experiencing real life beyond the screens we often stare at for much of the day, and seeing life as it truly is, whether pleasant or not. He also suggests the importance of stepping out of ourselves to become more in tune with how we perceive and connect with other life forms.This episode will give you much to contemplate regarding how, where, and with what we spend our time, how we sense life, the importance of not always putting humans at the centre of the universe, and the humility and changes that can occur within us when making that shift.Subscribe for weekly episodes, every Tuesday, and check out my YouTube channel (link below) for clips and shorts.For further content and information check out the following:- David's latest book: Sounds Wild and Broken- David's Website: https://dghaskell.com/- For the 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 to book a free consultation (30 minutes) for one-on-one coaching programs, leadership coaching programs to build trust and connection amongst executive teams or silent retreats for executive teams.Running Order:02:45 Podcast begins03:05 Celebrating all living life07:40 Echoes and connections with the past and creativity11:45 Being in touch with the real world not our screens18:05 Anxiety levels increasing with the youth20:20 Coming back to our senses and curiosity of connection24:35 Ambiguity of simultaneous beauty and brokenness29:35 The rewiring of us as we engage with nature33:06 Resistance to the open ended nature of change38:35 Developing empathy with our environment & other beings42:35 Interconnection not individuality50:15 Realising once more how essential relationships are55:30 What is a good life for David?

Thomas Moore, author of Care of the Soul, shares his journey from priest to psychotherapist and best-selling author. He discusses following inner guidance, navigating unexpected paths in academia, and exploring the influence of images in relationships. The podcast also delves into balancing humor and seriousness in writing and the role of emptiness in modern communication and society.

George and Linda Pransky discuss profound realizations over willpower in changing behaviors. Topics include gratitude, patience, and faith leading to transformative changes. They explore reactions to life, embracing patience, mental health, personal resilience, recognizing perspectives, and embracing authenticity.

On the 64th episode of the What is a Good Life? podcast, I am delighted to introduce our guest, Johnnie Moore. Johnnie is the Founder of Unhurried, a movement to support deeper conversations and connections in work and life, the author of the book Unhurried At Work, a visiting tutor at the Saïd Business School at Oxford University, and a guest columnist for Fast Company magazine. In this insightful conversation, we explore our desire to hold onto stories and perspectives that no longer serve us over engaging with the unknown. Johnnie shares a number of experiences and processes that help him see and seek more possibilities. We discuss shifting from overthinking to experimenting and playing more often, and finally, we explore realisations around awareness of emotions and healthier and more connecting expressions of them. This episode will give you plenty to contemplate regarding experimenting and playing more often, and the wonderful shifts that can occur if we open up to what else is possible in this life. I've spoken with Johnnie several times before, and he consistently leaves me with new perspectives to consider or inspires fresh realisations, and I suspect he’ll do the same for you.Subscribe for weekly episodes, every Tuesday, and check out my YouTube channel (link below) for clips and shorts.For further content and information check out the following:- For the 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/- Johnnie's book: Unhurried- Johnnie's Website: https://www.johnniemoore.com/- Johnnie's LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/johnnie-moore-2323/ Contact me at mark@whatisagood.life to book a free consultation (30 minutes) for one-on-one coaching programs or click here to read about a leadership coaching program to build trust and connection amongst executive teams.Running Order:02:47 What else is possible here? Our minds and reality07:47 Our attachments to stories or perspectives10:47 Clinging to unpleasant certainties rather than exploring unknowns16:07 Making sense of this life21:17 Creating new possibilities 25:47 Our reluctance to experiment and our overthinking31:47 We know a lot less about each other than we think38:17 Realisations of understanding and of emotions44:17 Becoming more present with and expressing emotions49:17 Experiencing loneliness and enjoyment of solitude55:47 What is a good life for Johnnie?

On the 63rd episode of the What is a Good Life? podcast, I am delighted to introduce our guest, Adah Parris. Adah is a futurist, artist, keynote speaker, and a visionary in the fields of technology, ecology, innovation, and art. She chairs Mental Health First Aid England and is a Fellow at The Royal Society of the Arts. She is recognised as a TED Talks Global Emerging Innovator and celebrated by Forbes Brazil as one of the top futurists in the world. In this episode, Adah shares with us her journey to being herself, how curiosity and not following convention influence her life, the lessons she has learned about honesty and transparency in relationships, and meeting the human in each other before anything else. She notes the significance of seeing life as a series of experiments and shares what contributes to being both a good ancestor and being in kinship with the world around us. If you find yourself stuck in life and are unsure of what to do next, or feel your present ways of relating to others are causing you difficulty, Adah’s perspectives will give you so much to contemplate across a wide breadth of themes and topics that may help you see the world a little differently.Subscribe for weekly episodes, every Tuesday, and check out my YouTube channel (link below) for clips and shorts.For further content and information check out the following:- Adah's leadership program: https://www.weareseeds.xyz/- Adah's Website: https://www.adahparris.art/- For the 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 to book a free consultation (30 minutes) for one-on-one coaching programs or click here to read about a leadership coaching program to build trust and connection amongst executive teams.Running Order:03:00 What type of ancestor do you want to be?08:00 How values and curiosity shape Adah’s life12:30 The journey to Adah being herself18:40 Seeing life as a series of experiments25:15 Letting go of how life should be30:30 Lessons from authentic relating36:15 The value and importance of difference42:25 The importance of presence 49:30 Technology, busyness, and relating54:48 Distorting Time1:02:10 Being a good ancestor and kinship1:07:52 Summary and what is a good life for Adah?

On the 62nd episode of the What is a Good Life? podcast, I am delighted to introduce our guest, Julia Duthie. Julia is a partner at PEPCO LLP, the bestselling author of The House on Dogbone St, and the former CEO of both the Academy of Contemporary Music and The True School of Music.Simply put, I find Julia’s life story incredibly inspiring. She left home and school at the age of 16 after a troubling and challenging childhood, as we discuss in this episode.She takes us on her journey from working in vegetable market stalls for food in her teens and living in highly neglected conditions to being a managing director of an IT firm in her mid-twenties.From her experiences and realisations in therapy to opening up about her past, letting go of shame, and the death of her father sparking her own desire to connect more fully with who she really is, prompting her to accept her sexuality at the age of 50, connect with her creativity, and write a best-selling book.While she is also completely frank about what presently troubles her and where she suspects she has more to explore in terms of her childhood.This episode will offer plenty of inspiration regarding how Julia has lived such a vibrant life in the face of difficult beginnings. Her willingness to explore and be herself more fully, as well as the meaning and sense of belonging she is discovering along the way, will give you much to contemplate.Subscribe for weekly episodes, every Tuesday, and check out my YouTube channel (link below) for clips and shorts.Contact me at mark@whatisagood.life to book a free consultation (30 minutes) for one-on-one coaching around your own self-inquiry or to hear about executive team coaching experiences I am offering to build trust, communication, and connection amongst leadership teams.Running Order:03:00 What is a the real you?07:15 Mortality and authenticity11:15 Reflections on sexuality and honesty16:30 The effects of being yourself21:30 The feeling of belonging and creativity26:20 The motivation for sharing her story33:45 The path from market stalls to managing director38:30 The shadow side and struggle of life46:50 What happens after healing?50:30 External successes to meaning and belonging55:00 What is a good life for Julia?For further content and information check out the following:- For the 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/- Julia's book: on Amazon - Julia's substack: https://juliaduthie.substack.com/- Julia's LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/julia-duthie-607b4254/

On the 61st episode of the What is a Good Life? podcast, I am delighted to introduce our guest, Duncan Moss. Duncan is a Clinical Psychologist, and Honorary Research Fellow at Plymouth University, whose approach draws from long-standing psychological perspectives and also from the methods of meditation and the traditions of contemplation and awareness. He has been a student in the Tibetan Tradition for many years.Simply put, this was the exact type of conversation I was hoping to capture when starting this podcast project. Duncan has a wonderful mix of wisdom, experience, and humility to explore what is here now for him while sharing valuable insights from his own research and personal inquiries.This entire conversation is a beautiful exploration of the disturbances we can feel in life, accepting their inevitable appearances, befriending what is here right now, and a nod to the correlation between slowing down and experiencing kindness towards ourselves.We discuss Duncan’s present explorations into the work of Eckhart Tolle and our resistance to suffering, letting go, and surrendering. We also explore themes like our ‘monkey minds,’ suffering as a teacher, and the timelessness of the present moment.If you are presently suffering from any discontent in your life, this episode will be highly illuminating and soothing to listen along to. It won’t magically fix whatever you are perceiving, but perhaps it will give you space to observe and accept it and befriend whatever experience you are presently going through.Subscribe for weekly episodes, every Tuesday, and check out my YouTube channel (link below) for clips and shorts.Contact me at mark@whatisagood.life to book a free consultation (30 minutes) for one-on-one coaching around your own self-inquiry or to hear about executive team coaching experiences I am offering to build trust, communication, and connection amongst leadership teams.Running Order:02:49 Why am I suffering right now?07:19 The resistance to letting go of suffering11:19 What does surrendering entail?16:19 The helpfulness of uncomfortable teachings20:54 The surprising effect of rest after trying so hard24:54 Befriending ourselves and grandmotherly energy29:04 Suffering is our greatest teacher35:04 Compassion for ourselves is always there38:49 A stepping into timelessness45:04 Contemplating mortality and absurdity of life52:09 What is a good life for Duncan?For further content and information check out the following:- For the 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/