

The Rich Roll Podcast
Rich Roll
A master-class in personal and professional development, ultra-athlete, wellness evangelist and bestselling author Rich Roll delves deep with the world's brightest and most thought provoking thought leaders to educate, inspire and empower you to unleash your best, most authentic self. More at: https://richroll.com
Episodes
Mentioned books

Nov 17, 2014 • 2h 32min
How One Man Overcame Alcoholism, Lost 150 Pounds & Conquered Badwater, The World’s Toughest Footrace
I’m obsessed with the idea that we can all do and be better. That's what this show is about — a loud and clear call to action. A graceful nudge to help anyone and everyone not just understand, but actually believe that we are all capable of so much more than we often allow ourselves to accept.Enter David Clark.It’s fun to interview the celebrated. But quite honestly there is just something far more personally gratifying about sharing the story of an anonymous, everyman hero. What truly moves and inspires me are tales of regular people with regular problems who courageously meet severe challenges head on; do something unexpected and astounding that strains the boundaries of what we imagine possible; and come out the other side transformed with life lessons that can benefit us all.Much like my conversation with Josh LaJaunie ( RRP #63 is a must listen if you haven’t already and in my top-5 most downloaded shows), this interview will move you. It will touch you. It will erase whatever obstacles and excuses you rely on that perpetuate bad habits, keep you stuck and reinforce denial. My sincere hope is that David's story will help you really get that no matter what your circumstances or environment, that you always hold the power to implement personal change that can profoundly alter the trajectory of your life — beyond your wildest imagination even.I was first introduced to David by my friend Mishka Shubaly ( another RRP fave with a shocking 5 appearances on the show ). I didn’t know anything about him, but when Mishka says he's worth investigating, I investigate.I winced at photos of a guy pushing 320 pounds, prematurely aged, red-faced and bloated, cocktail in hand. I know an alcoholic when I see one, and this image of David cut a little too close to home. A guy who looked like hell, red lining towards death without a care while wrecking havoc, destruction and woe in the lives of loved ones and anyone and who happened to cross his path.Then I saw a picture of a fit and slim 165 pound athlete crossing the finish line at insane ultra-marathons like the Leadville 100 and Badwater – a 135 mile run across Death Valley in 130-degree July heat — widely considered to be the world’s two toughest footraces.The 320+ pound guy, who looked like some kind of menacing Archie Bunker-esque uncle you’re scared to talk to bore almost no resemblance to that runner achieving things that would impress even the most accomplished marathoners. To say that I was amazed by the astounding extent to which he had seemingly transformed his life would be an understatement. My first thought was, can this be real?But when I looked closely, it was undeniable. It was indeed the same guy.I needed to know more. I needed to know how he did it. So I reached out to David and he sent me his self-published memoir, Out There: A Story of Ultra Recovery*.

Nov 10, 2014 • 1h 58min
On Why Good Food Should Be an Everyday Right for Everybody
You could say this show has been on a bit of a plant-based tear lately, and this week it continues with with my friend Bryant Terry – eco-chef, cookbook author, educator and most interesting to me, a renown social justice activist focused on promoting and healthy, just, affordable and sustainable food systems for all people – particularly the underprivileged living in underserved urban communities. His goal? To foster awareness, promote change and create opportunities for people living in urban food deserts — places where fresh, healthy, sustainable food is difficult or impossible to obtain.Why? Because good food should be an everyday right — not a privilege.Bryant’s got a slew of really beautiful cookbooks that fuse his Memphis family roots and the traditions of true southern African American cooking with art, music, literature a modern plant-based perspective. His most recent offering, Afro Vegan* was named one of the “Best Cookbooks of 2014″ by Amazon.com and his critically acclaimed Vegan Soul Kitchen* was named one of the best vegetarian/vegan cookbooks of the last 25 years by Cooking Light Magazine.Bryant’s work has been featured in The New York Times, Food and Wine, Gourmet, Sunset, Oprah Magazine and Essence and he has appeared on The Martha Stewart Show, Emeril, All Things COnsidered, Morning Edition, The Splendid Table, and The Tavis Smiley Show. In addition, Bryant has deleivered keynote addresses at countless events and on college campuses including Brown, Columbia, NYU, Smith, Stanford and Yale.In addition, TheRoot.com included him on its list of “100 most influential African Americans,” and Ebony magazine listed him on its annual “Power 100” list.Still not impressed? On top of everything else, Bryant is also the 2014 Artist in Residence at San Francisco’s Grace Cathedral, where he is curating interesting gatherings with an eye towards promoting deeper community roots.I could go on – Bryant's accolades are many – but you get the idea. This guy is so much more than a chef and cookbook author. Behind the affable disposition and congenial smile, Bryant is a true progressive; a boundary pushing, paradigm breaking community-minded advocate passionately devoted to promoting better access to healthful, affordable foods for urban African American and minority communities and tackling the industrialized food system that has made it far too easy for these economically challenged communities to shirk healthy habits in favor of cheap meat and the convenience of fast food.Bryant delivers the goods on multiple levels and this is an awesome conversation. A dialog that starts with food as the common thread that unites us all and veers into food politics, the economic aspects of food choice, food as a platform to create better communities and food as a vehicle for social justice.I sincerely hope this week's offering. Let me know what you think in the comments section below.Peace + Plants,Rich

Nov 3, 2014 • 2h 11min
Lisa Lange’s Vision For a Better World & Why It’s Cool To Be Compassionate
Confession time.I’m the first to admit that my initial reasons for adopting a plant-based lifestyle were selfish. I was overweight. I felt lousy. I looked lousy. I had a health scare. Basically, I just wanted to look and feel better. I wanted to enjoy my kids at their energy level. I wasn’t ready to succumb to middle age defeat.So I took the leap. A leap without much expectation I might add.Then the miracle. I dropped 50 pounds. My vitality returned. That long-gone youthful glow restored. I didn't just get my life back, I got an entirely new one. Today I am living the life beyond my wildest dreams.I could have never predicted the journey that would follow this simple decision. It has been long, at times hard, but ultimately extraordinary in every way imaginable. It's not an understatement that everything in my life has changed for the better. And for that I am extremely grateful.There is one thing I know with certainty. If you want a great life, give more than you receive. This is primary reason behind my decision to start this podcast — to share with you the people, information, tools and inspiration that have been so incredibly transformative in my life.But let's be honest. I didn't get into this plant-based lifestyle because I wanted to save the animals. Frankly, my concern for the health of the planet could be characterized as passive lip service at best. I was the furthest thing from a food activist. And when it came to environmental, ethical and political issues like GMO’s, the deleterious effects of factory farming, slaughterhouse conditions, carbon emissions, the deforestation of the rainforests, species extinction, the mistreatment of circus animals, the pollution and overfishing of our oceans and the moral implications of harvesting animals for food, the truth is that I didn't really give it much thought.That was then. But this is now.In the eight years since I began this journey, I have changed. I have grown. Ever so slowly, my eyes have started to open to a myriad of uncomfortable realities relating to how our world functions. Unpleasant and unnecessary realities that I can no longer in good conscience turn a blind eye to.I’ve been blessed with a platform. My book and this podcast have given me an audience. With this comes a certain responsibility that I take seriously.What is that responsibility? I can't say that I’m entirely sure. However, I do know that it entails a commitment to the truth. A commitment to shed light on and help raise awareness around issues that affect not just me, but all of us. Things that are not right. Things that need to change.The truth isn’t always comfortable. It's generally not convenient. And often not popular because it challenges us to think differently and in many cases modify behaviors we might not want to modify.To me, the truth also presents a growth opportunity. An opportunity to be bold. To do and be better. I know can do better. And if this podcast isn’t about that, then it's just wasted air.Our fast-paced, hyper-industrialized world lives in a comfortable haze of convenience priority. We go about our day happily and for the most part unconsciously disconnected from the process undertaken to bring consumer products into our homes. This includes the clothes we wear, the devices we use and of course the foods we enjoy.This is process I really don't want to look at. It's uncomfortable because it forces me to transcend denial and truly consider what actually goes on behind the shroud of obfuscation erected by giant conglomerates, powerful lobbying efforts and governmental forces that have a strong vested interest in maintaining the disconnect that cloaks the public from certain unpalatable realities.Dismantling the disconnect isn't fun.

Oct 27, 2014 • 2h 15min
Badwater – What It’s Like to Run 135 Miles Across The Desert
This show is about chasing dreams. Making stuff happen. Helping others. And sharing the journey.We can all use a little education. Some solid information. And a dose of experience-based inspiration to guide our own path towards self-betterment. My goal is to help you see and understand that we are generally our own self-limiter. That we are all capable of being better and doing more, irrespective of circumstances. That we all have a more authentic self lying dormant within yearning to be more self-expressed.We owe it to ourselves to fertilize that seed. Why?Because life is short.Trite? yes. Cheesy? definitely. But nonetheless oh so true. Right now I'm up in Palo Alto at Stanford University for my 25th Reunion. 25 years since I graduated from college. How is that possible? Translation: I am old.Old is a mindset. Another lame idiom I choose to believe. Honestly, I feel like I am about 28. But this weekend made me acutely aware of the fleeting and transitory nature of our lives.It seems like yesterday I was in school with all these amazing people with whom I spent the last few days reconnecting and reminiscing. People that have ventured forth to do extraordinary things like found billion dollar startups; create non-profits that have helped millions; and launch movements that have forever altered how we think and live.This not hyperbole. This is Stanford — a place; an institution; and a mindset that fosters the ethos that truly anything is possible. That you should challenge authority. That you must question the status quo. It's a culture that empowers the philosophy that not only can you change the world, but that it’s in fact your responsibility.This weekend I was surrounded by people who have done and are doing just that. I am tremendously grateful for the experience. And it left me inspired to do and be better.25 years, man. Life is short. There is no time for idleness. There is no time to equivocate.Speaking of eradicating limitations, today marks the return of my ultrarunning buddy Josh Spector – if you are a long-time listener you will recall our conversation from last year, recounting our respective experiences crewing for Dean Karnazes and Ray Sanchez at the Badwater 135 ( RRP 40 ).Widely accepted as the “World's Toughest Foot Race”, Badwater is a 135 mile running race across Death Valley — the hottest place on Earth — where temperatures average 120+ in July and can reach as high as 130 with pavements temps typically in the 170-180 degree range. Starting at Badwater Basin, the lowest point in North America at 282 feet below sea level, approximately 100 invitation-only runners from across the globe begin a jaunt that takes them across bleak and scorching desert terrain as well as three formidable mountain passes, including the culminating 13-mile ascent up the portals of Mt. Whitney — the highest peak in the lower 48 — to finish at 8,300 feet.This past summer, and for the first time, Josh stepped up his game and ran the legendary — but recently revised — race himself.This week's show is a rare peek behind the curtain at exactly what it takes to prepare for, endure and complete one of the most difficult running challenges on the planet – a race that requires...

Oct 20, 2014 • 1h 47min
On Letting Go Of Perfectionism & Why We Should “Lean In” To Positive Change
I say it all the time. Change is not an overnight miracle, people. I know there's nothing like the neatly packaged narrative of the overnight success story, but honestly that’s just well, not that honest.The truth is that long-lasting, sustainable personal growth is never instantaneous. It’s messy. Non-linear. Two steps backwards for every step in the right direction. It’s forged out of self-experimentation, research, discomfort, failure, courage, and all too often a lot of stumbling around in the dark.The point? It’s not a clean line. We don’t have to hold on to this perfectionist ideal. In fact, it’s this ideal that generally hold us back. Paralyzes us. Or leads to self-defeatism when we fall short of idealized goals.When I began the process of repairing my health, I made a million mistakes. Slipped up countless times. And when I committed to getting fit, Ultraman didn't even qualify as a fantasy because I had never heard of it. I just wanted to be able to run a mile. Goals and success came later. I was able to get off the dime because I just started. Implicit in this was the permission I gave myself to fail.Let go of perfection. Whether the change you seek is related to diet, fitness, career, finances, education or some specific skill set, the important thing is to allow yourself to just begin, and begin messy. You don’t have to know where anything is leading. You don’t have to change evertything overnight. And the steps you take don’t have to be plotted, overthought or even pretty. But you do have to start.Or as today’s guest suggests, Lean In…My friend Kathy Freston is a 4-time New York Times bestselling author of The Lean, Veganist, Quantum Wellness and Quantum Wellness Cleanse. She has appeared frequently on national television, including The Oprah Winfrey Show, Ellen, The Dr. Oz Show, The View, Good Morning America, Charlie Rose, The Martha Stewart Show, and Extra. Her work has been featured notably in Vanity Fair, Harper’s Bazaar, Self, W, and Fitness. In addition, she is a regular contributor to her pal Ariana Huffington's publication, Huffington Post.Back in 2011, it was Kathy’s appearance on Oprah that inspired the great Ms. Winfrey herself – and her entire staff of 378 — to go entirely vegan for 21 days.

Oct 13, 2014 • 2h 24min
On Why “Pain Don’t Hurt” and What It Takes to Overcome Extraordinary Obstacles
Life throws all of us obstacles. Everyone meets barriers. Nobody is immune from setbacks. It’s how we confront and navigate past the curve balls life throws that moulds character and ultimately defines who we really are.Do you crumble or rise to the challenge? Do you shrink down and become the victim? Or do you stand tall and walk through adversity like a warrior?And what do you do if everything just goes to shit?You are hard pressed to find a man who has met so much adversity with such a grounded sense of purpose and honest willingness to share about it as Mark Miller.Meet Fightshark. Just make sure you check your grousing at the door.Born with both Type-1 Diabetes and a congenital heart defect (CHD), Mark was reared by the back hand of an alcoholic abusive father. A World War II vet and notable professional athlete who played in the very fist NBA game ever, “Moose” Miller was a domineering force of nature who experienced the world as a dark, unfair and often violent place – and made sure he prepared his son accordingly.To escape the emotional and physical violence that greeted him at home, Mark immersed himself in the world of sports at a very young age. Thrown into a boxing gym at age 6, he quickly adapted, eventually mastering every sport imaginable by the time he finished high school. During his free time he worked in the Pittsburgh Steelers locker room (from age six through high school), grabbing towels, taking grief and learning about sport and life from the hand of legends like Lynn Swann, Mel Blount, Jack Ham and Mean Joe Greene while also working on his pitching with guys like Barry Bonds. All champions that in some sense served surrogate dad duty for this evolving teen.By the time he was 18, Mark was poised to go professional as a major league pitcher. But Mark had other plans – he wanted to become a professional kickboxer.By 2007, Mark was a rising star in this emerging sport until a routine physical uncovered a serious cardiac condition that required open-heart surgery to replace his aortic valve.The crisis helped to temporarily reunite his fractured family. But everybody thought Mark's fighting days were over. Once again, Mark had other plans — the surgery just made him more determined than ever to return to the kickboxing ring. Astounded by the rapid rate at which Mark's heart healed, his doctors gave him the green light to resume training. Everything in Mark's life seemed to be getting back on track.But 2008 had little respect for Mark's plans.Over the course of that year, Mark lost both his parents and his drug addict brother to an overdose. A confluence of events that led Mark to lose himself in drugs and alcohol, culminating in a boozy accident that hurled his already fractured and fragile body through a car windshield and onto hard unforgiving Austin, Texas pavement.Eventually, Mark found the wherewithal to get and stay sober. Renewed, he set his sights once again on his kickboxing comeback. Despite being labeled damaged goods, in 2011 Mark returned to the ring in Moscow and shocked the fight world when he took out one of the world’s best with a knockout in just 8 seconds.To this day, Fightshark is the first and only combat sport athlete to return to competition after undergoing open heart surgery.Fast forward to 2013. Just prior to his fight debut in storied Madison Square Garden, Mark contracted pneumonia, which set in motion a devastating domino effect of health cataclysms that have left him with chronic kidney failure, blindness in one eye, and the need for not one but three organ transplants: heart, pancreas and kidney.Mark is currently fighting for his life. Literally.

Oct 6, 2014 • 2h 13min
Tim Van Orden Runs Beyond The Kale — Why Personal Growth Begins With Self-Acceptance
If you are a consistent listener to this show, then you know very well that my goal is to elucidate the experience, insights and knowledge of my guests as a tool to aid you on your progress towards greater self-actualization.Food is a super important aspect of this process. I believe it’s the best place to begin the process of transforming your life. But it’s also easy to get overly caught up in the dogmatic aspects of diet and nutrition. Unnecessarily boxed in by labels. Overly focused on details and minutiae. This presents a treacherous social, political and internal minefield that can result in truncating long-term growth potential. Because when we obsess on our plate at the exclusion of objectively redressing the many other very important areas of our lives that warrant focus and attention, our overall development towards full actualization is arrested.I didn't clean up my diet so I could get stuck pontificating on the various types of dark leafy greens until all my friends fled for the hills. I cleaned up my diet so I could raise my energy levels, shift my consciousness and direct my newfound lease on life towards continual growth and expansion. A search for greater meaning, purpose and answers that will hopefully occupy me for the remainder of my days here on Earth.Optimal nutrition based on plant-based foods is a great step in the direction of optimal wellness.. But that is all that it is — a step. Hardly the be-all-end-all. Because wellness encompasses so much more than food. Far from the end of inquiry, think of quality nutrition more as a right of initiation that will repair your physical body, raise your vibration, elevate your consciousness and take you on a wild and unexpected journey towards healing, a sense of purpose, greater authenticity and actualization that will be unpredictable and challenging but ultimately astounding.This is a process Julie and I call going beyond the kale. And it's the primary theme of this week's offering.Enter Tim Van Orden.If you have been with me on this podcast journey since it's inception, then you will recall my conversation with Tim back in the early days – RRP Episode 15 to be exact. Over the course of that conversation we delved into Tim's personal story, particularly his trajectory from relatively aimless and unhealthy junk food vegetarian to the raw food fueled running champion he is today. An exploration of food, athleticism, consciousness and holistic minimalism that transformed this non-athlete into a 10-time US Masters Trail Running National Champion.You may also recall the horrible Skype audio. At that time I was still trying to find my voice and had yet to master the technology (I still haven't, which is one of many reasons why I resist interviewing guests by Skype). Moreover, I had yet to actually meet Tim in person. Fast forward 92 episodes and now we’re friends — conversing in person and picking up where Episode 15 left off.This week it's less about diet and more about the bigger picture. Specifically, this conversation focuses on the psychology and emotional landscape that informs and drives self-perception, habits (both healthy and unhealthy) and decision making. This is a very frank, honest, open and soul bearing exchange about ego, vulnerability, authenticity, and attachment. It's about self-image as a predictor of mood, action and outcome. It's about the stories we tell ourselves about ourselves that inform how we see ourselves in the world. It's about the self-acceptance required to confront and ultimately overcome the dreaded and unhealthy aspects of ourselves we keep hidden that handicap growth.Enjoy!Rich

Sep 29, 2014 • 2h 20min
Millennials & Why It’s Cool To Be Conscious and Actively Involved
The subject of “Millennials” generally conjures up adjectives like lazy or entitled. No work ethic. Spoiled brats, the lot of them. TIME Magazine went so far as to call millennials the “Me Me Me Generation”.This has not been my experience with the teens and twenty-somethings among us. In fact, I can honestly say that I find myself relating to many millennials better than I relate to my own generation. Maybe that just makes me juvenile. But that's a perspective lazier that the millennial stereotype itself.Admittedly, my exposure to this cross-section of our society is somewhat self-selecting. But it's worth noting that over the last several years I've had the good fortune of meeting dozens of incredibly dynamic, conscious and entrepreneurial young people. Kids highly engaged in things my generation didn’t give a crap about like permaculture, social issues, sustainability, conservation and mindfulness. Students with doctorates and business degrees who could be on Wall Street instead toiling away on organic farms, working for non-profits, or starting their own — choosing career paths based not on security and salary but on impact. People leveraging the power of social media to challenge societal norms, disrupt outdated modalities, create self-styled careers that didn't previously exist and launch their own grassroots movements.The common thread is the singular goal — to make the world a better place for all of us.Jackson Foster is one of these guys — the best kind of millennial. A guy whose life presented him with every open door possible, it would have been easy for Jackson to simply step into a safe and secure (an illusion I know, but you get my point) high paying business career.But Jackson has other plans.In high school, while most of Jackson’s teen peers were playing video games, partying and generally just acting like, well teenagers, Jackson spent a year in the Colorado wilderness. After being accepted into the prestigious Rhode Island School of Design, he decided instead to defer so he could travel – a year spent bicycling across the US, hiking the John Muir Trail, mountaineering in Laos and even working at an orangutan orphanage in Borneo.These experiences left him thinking about one thing: food.Jackson noticed how food greatly affected the livelihood of different communities around the world, which motivated a desire to immerse himself in diet and lifestyle study. This exploration left him with no choice but to walk his talk; a wholesale transition from a beer drinking, weed smoking, junk food vegetarian teenager reborn as a whole food plant-based activist and educator.Jackson transferred from RISD to Colorado College as an Environmental Policy major and went to work. Outside his college coursework he found the time to: become a Certified Yoga Instructor; obtain a Certification In Plant-based Nutrition through the T. Colin Campbell Center for Nutrition Studies ; start the website Plantriotic ; found and chair a vegan student group at Colorado College; write for Vegan Health and Fitness Magazine ; spend his summers working with environmental groups like 350.org ; help with student recruitment for the recent...

Sep 22, 2014 • 1h 52min
From Chubby Kid to Celebrated Athlete & Host of Dancing With The Stars
Some people are artists. Others are athletes. It's the rare individual who can excel at both.As I kid, I was interested in sport and things creative. But for some reason, I came to the conclusion that you just can't do it all. I had to pick and never the ‘twain shall meet. Call it a left brain, right brain thing.Most of us lean in one direction. We're either logical and calculated by nature, or we're whimsical dreamers. We settle on a side and call it a day. But what if we really could excel at both?My Australian mate Daniel MacPherson is great example of someone who seamlessly traverses back and forth between seemingly unrelated worlds, tightrope walking both hemispheres of the mysterious cranium with facile grace and ease. Not only is he a tremendously talented and gifted athlete – a guy who has competed at the highest levels in triathlon, he is also a quite gifted artist – as an actor, television host and media personality. Not to mention an exceptionally successful and celebrated one at that.It's by no means a stretch to call Dan the Ryan Secrest of Australia — and I mean that in the most complimentary, non-perjorative sense. Brimming with good looks, endless charm, intelligence, athletic prowess and creativity to boot, quite simply put it's hard to imagine there is anything Dan can't do, and do well.Dan has qualified for and raced the Ironman World Championships, the Half Ironman 70.3 World Championships, and began his triathlon career at the storied Cronulla Triathlon Club in the suburbs of Sydney, training amidst the sport's greatest athletes – world champions like Craig Alexander & Chris McCormack (my guest on RRP episode 24 ). This is the same club that produced triathlon legends Greg Welch and Michellie Jones – the biggest names in the more formative years of triathlon.As a youth, Dan was intent on becoming the best triathlete he could be. Then something totally out of the blue happened. At the conclusion of a local race, he was “discovered.”The rest is history.Best known for his role on Australia’s long running series Neighbours, Dan starred in City Homicide , the British police drama The Bill and was the host of Australia’s X-Factor. He is the currently co-host of Australia's wildly popular Dancing with the Stars and is starring in a soon to be released independent sci-fi drama called Infini.But despite Dan's blinding good looks and impeccable fitness, what is amazing is that it wasn't always this way. You might be surprised to learn that Dan was actually a chubby and somewhat insecure young bloke.

Sep 15, 2014 • 2h 29min
“Of Mice and Me” — The Journey From Being Loved To Giving Love
Safe to say I am mildly obsessed with Ganesh, the famous Hindu elephant boy god.Even if you don't know anything about this odd creature or what he represents, you likely know who I'm talking about. The iconic youngster’s unmistakeable visage is ubiquitous these days — adorning yoga studios, hanging around people’s homes, emblazoned on t-shirts and even splayed across brick wall street art in hipster neighborhoods across America.But how does this have anything to do with this week’s guest?Patience. I’ll bring it around. I always do.The thumbnail fable of Ganesh goes something like this: young boy warrior fiercely devoted to his beloved mother Parvati meets his match in Parvati's abusive husband Shiva. Defending Parvati from Shiva's angry rage late one night while Parvati bathed, Shiva up and just decapitates the young boy. Cut his head straight off!Inconsolable and furious, Parvati is determined to bring her boy back to life. Towards this end, she strikes a deal with Shiva that (inexplicably) involves replacing Ganesh's missing head with that of a young elephant (again, don't ask me how this works, it just does). Rejoice! It works. Not only does Ganesh return to life, he ascends the covetous deity pecking order, becoming one of the most worshipped of ancient Hindu devas.Ganesh the remover of obstacles. Ganesh the patron of arts. Ganesh the deity of intellect and wisdom. Ganesh the Lord of success.The elephant head represents the displacement of individual ego with Universal ego – the idea that before we leave this life we must no longer identify with the limited individual self, but rather with the large universal Self. In this way, our spiritual life is renewed, maturing into one that can truly benefit Creation.Associated with mental agility, Ganesh’s single broken tusk represents the “pen” he creates to transcribe epic poetry — the vast learnings he has experienced. What I'm saying is that Ganesh was a writer.Ganesh was also a god of astounding appetites. And – most importantly for today's discourse — a god that befriended a tiny mouse, often depicted under his foot as his ever present companion. The mouse is commonly interpreted as a symbol for those seeking to overcome powerful low vibrating desires and become less selfish — the quest to find greater meaning and purpose in life.Here’s where things get weird. The life arc of todays guest Mishka Shubaly (in his fifth appearance on the podcast – more co-host than guest at this point) bears more than passing similarity to our little Hindu friend.Sorry Mishka, but I would go so far as to call you guys doppelgängers. Metaphorically at least.Like Ganesh, Mishka is a man devoted to the arts and greater self-wisdom. A man devoted to his mother and scarred by a troubled relationship with his father. A man who has made his mark on the world by transcribing his broken past and attraction to destructive appetites as a primer for greater self-knowledge with a fearlessness that evokes Ganesh’s broken tusk. A man now ascending to become foremost among literary talents.Mishka's words serve up someone toiling with identity, his place in the world, and the conflict that breathes between ego and Universal Self. A man grappling with his own obstacles on a path towards maturing into one who can truly benefit Creation. An appealing yet reluctant determination for greater self-wisdom I think we can all — on some level — relate to our own personal challenges and life experiences.And yet quite ironically, Mishka is also man who just just weeks ago knew little to nothing about this Ganesh character. This despite the huge elephant tattoo covering the better part of his left arm.Enjoy!Rich