Explore every episode of the podcast What is a Good Life?
| Title | Pub. Date | Duration | |
|---|---|---|---|
| What is a Good Life? #98 - Embracing Ambiguity with Nora Bateson | 26 Nov 2024 | 01:06:50 | |
Nora Bateson, is an award-winning filmmaker, research designer, writer, educator, international lecturer, as well as President of the International Bateson Institute based in Sweden. She is the creator of the Warm Data theory and practices. Nora’s work brings the fields of biology, cognition, art, anthropology, psychology, and information technology together into a study of the patterns in ecology of living systems. She wrote, directed and produced the award-winning documentary, An Ecology of Mind, a portrait of her father Gregory Bateson. Her first book, Small Arcs of Larger Circles, is a revolutionary personal approach to the study of systems and complexity. In her latest second book Combining, Nora invites us into an ecology of communication where nothing stands alone, and every action sets off a chain of incalculable consequences. She challenges conventional fixes for our problems, highlighting the need to tackle issues at multiple levels, understand interdependence, and embrace ambiguity. She was the recipient of the Neil Postman Award for Career Achievement in Public Intellectual Activity in 2019. In this engaging conversation, we delve into the dangers of certainty and the pursuit of fixed answers, exploring how moving beyond polarities can lead to mutual learning and understanding. We discuss the weaponisation of language, the impact of divisive discourse, and how more generative and sacred communication can guide us toward deeper connection and shared presence. This conversation invites you to engage more fully with life as it is—its beauty and its horror, its creativity and its destruction. It’s a call to hold life’s complexity with openness, to embrace it, and to let it go as the flow of life continues to unfold. For further content and information check out the following: - For the What is a Good Life? podcast's YouTube page: https://www.youtube.com/@whatisagoodlife/videos 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 Teaser 13:30 Holding possibility open 17:50 Taking a stand and taking a stance 20:15 The significance of how we communicate 24:50 Belonging, certainty, and polarity 30:50 The problem of grabbing answers 37:23 Generative and sacred communication 42:35 Paying attention to moment and context 48:20 Practice of improvisation 55:30 The implications of concrete answers 01:02:58 What is a good life for Nora? Keywords: Meaning of Life Interviews | meaning of life conversations | exploring life | big life questions | meaning of life discussions | creating a meaningful life | |||
| What is a Good Life? #97 - Rekindling Our Wild Nature with Diarmuid Lyng | 19 Nov 2024 | 01:10:32 | |
On the 97th episode of What is a Good Life? podcast, I am delighted to introduce our guest, Diarmuid Lyng. Diarmuid is co-owner of Wild Irish Retreats and Nature of Man. He is a former Wexford hurling captain and a host on Newstalk's flagship sports programme 'Off the Ball'. With Wild Irish Retreats he is part of a team that is focused on the rejuvenation of the Irish language in relation to nature reconnection. With Nature of Man he runs retreats and online programmes with men that creates a space for them to do their own internal spiritual work. He also takes teams/groups of all kinds to the woods for overnight camps that focus on connection; to self, teammate and place. In this enlivening conversation, Diarmuid shares with us his unfolding path of purpose. We explore experiences of being truly listened to, of generosity of spirit, receiving love and developing self-acceptance. All throughout the conversation Diarmuid is pointing to a greater connection with the moment, people, and nature, and we note the significance of consciously leaving space for more aliveness and wildness in our lives. This whole conversation is a wonderful invitation to reconnect with ourselves, nature, and the living, breathing, pulsing experience of 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: - For the What is a Good Life? podcast's YouTube page: https://www.youtube.com/@whatisagoodlife/videos 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 Introduction 06:38 The weaving together of purpose 15:15 The power of listening on our speaking 19:45 The generosity of spirit 27:25 Welcoming everything that happens 29:45 Experiencing love and self-acceptance 33:15 Engaging with the world, aliveness, and nature 40:15 Affirmations and feedback on our path 44:08 The difference of ceremony and ritual 50:15 The power and support of the group 55:05 The work of John Moriarty 1:02:45 Engaging our wildness consciously 1:06:19 What is a good life for Diarmuid? Keywords: Meaning of Life Interviews | meaning of life conversations | exploring life | big life questions | meaning of life discussions | creating a meaningful life | |||
| What is a Good Life? #88 - Playing With The Edges Of Growth with Derek Sivers | 17 Sep 2024 | 01:22:48 | |
On the 88th episode of the What is a Good Life? podcast, I am delighted to introduce our guest, Derek Sivers. Derek is an author of philosophy and entrepreneurship, known for his surprising, quotable insights and pithy, succinct writing style. Formerly a musician, programmer, TED speaker, and circus clown, he sold his first company for $22 million and gave all the money to charity. Derek is the author of Useful Not True, How to Live, Hell Yeah or No, Your Music and People, and Anything You Want. All his books, latest projects, and musings can be found on his website: https://sive.rs/ In this insightful and engaging conversation, Derek takes us on a journey through his experiences as a musician, philosopher, circus performer, entrepreneur, and author. A journey spanning several continents that embraces, lets go of, and challenges multiple perspectives, and is underpinned by considerable explorations of growth, curiosity, joy, and play. If you feel stuck in your way of thinking, stagnant in your current life, or tired of your perspectives, not only will Derek’s life serve as an incredible inspiration, but his thoughts and ideas may guide you to places you never imagined. 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: Derek's website / books: https://sive.rs/
Contact me at mark@whatisagood.life if you'd like to further explore your own lines of self-inquiry or create experiences that lead to more connecting and genuine conversations amongst groups of people or you'd like to join my weekly silent conversation groups.
10:10 What could be the benefit of any situation 13:30 Navigating emotion and choices 17:50 Exploring the edges of growth 23:20 Leaving the old for the new 28:10 What is the growth choice? 33:10 Exploration, play, and growth 38:40 The greatest joy in life 44:10 The motivation for the writing 47:40 Not being attached to one perspective 50:40 Realising ideas into existence 53:40 Celebrating our work 59:40 The moment of release 1:02:40 Giving 100% of proceeds to others 1:07:40 Justifying our own actions 1:12:40 The multiplicity of life 1:19:55 What is a good life for Derek? Keywords: Meaning of Life Interviews | meaning of life conversations | exploring life | big life questions | meaning of life discussions | creating a meaningful life | |||
| What is a Good Life? #87 - Seeing Yourself In The Other with Dr. Niobe Way | 10 Sep 2024 | 01:05:01 | |
On the 87th episode of the What is a Good Life? podcast, I am delighted to welcome our guest, Dr. Niobe Way. Niobe is Professor of Developmental Psychology at NYU, founder of the Project for the Advancement of Our Common Humanity (PACH; pach.org), and the Principal Investigator of the Listening Project, which fosters curiosity and connection in schools across New York City. Niobe has served as President of the Society for Research on Adolescence (SRA), holds a B.A. from U.C. Berkeley, a doctorate from the Graduate School of Education at Harvard University, and was a postdoctoral fellow at the National Institute of Mental Health at Yale University. With nearly 40 years of experience researching adolescent social and emotional development, Niobe has authored or co-authored over 100 peer-reviewed articles. She is the author of Deep Secrets: Boys’ Friendships and the Crisis of Connection and her latest book, Rebels with a Cause: Reimagining Boys, Ourselves, and Our Culture. In this illuminating conversation, Niobe explores what it means to be human and how this is shaped by cultural context, the clash between our nature and culture, and the importance of listening to stories as well as examining data. She highlights the dangers of living in a culture that no longer listens and how much of what is needed for greater connection already exists within us. If your relationships lack the depth and connection you long for, or if you are struggling to cultivate greater intimacy and curiosity in your life, Niobe offers a wealth of insights, anecdotes, and even exercises for you to consider and practise to reveal your innate capacities for connection. 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: Niobe's book: https://www.brilliant-books.net/book/9780593184264 Photo credit: Daniel Root
Contact me at mark@whatisagood.life if you'd like to further explore your own lines of self-inquiry or create experiences that lead to more connecting and genuine conversations amongst groups of people or you'd like to join my weekly silent conversation groups.
06:30 Crossing the lines 11:57 What different groups can teach us about ourselves 15:10 Privileging the hard over the soft 20:55 Interpersonal curiosity 24:00 Thin and thick stories 27:00 Breaking stereotypes through stories 32:30 Living in a culture that no longer listens 40:00 Innate intelligence we have forgotten 42:30 The root of our suffering and illness 48:05 The fear of not being seen as we see ourselves 53:17 The natural skills within us to solve our problems 1:01:42 What is a good life for Niobe? Keywords: Meaning of Life Interviews | meaning of life conversations | exploring life | big life questions | meaning of life discussions | creating a meaningful life | |||
| What is a Good Life? #86 - Knowing That We Belong with Nic Askew | 03 Sep 2024 | 01:28:40 | |
On the 86th episode of the What is a Good Life? podcast, I'm delighted to introduce Nic Askew as our guest. Nic is a filmmaker who has discovered a powerful way to use the camera to deepen people's awareness. He has been described in various ways—an itinerant confessor, a disruptive influence, a monk independent of any religion, and an explorer of the inner world. Over two decades of exploring human connection, authenticity, and insight through film, Nic has uncovered a profoundly simple way for us to be together, which he calls Inner View. This method has led to the creation of the acclaimed Soul Biographies Film Series, an experience of human presence that has resonated with millions. In this enlightening conversation, Nic clearly articulates and points to a deeply felt sense of universal belonging, without the need to do, improve, or follow steps—simply by virtue of our existence and the lack of separation between us. He discusses how he uses the camera, stillness, and nothing to reveal our innate sense of belonging. With an awareness of this belonging, we can move through the world working on behalf of everyone and everything with life living itself through us. If you're struggling with feelings of unworthiness, a lack of belonging, or the belief that you need to fix or improve yourself, Nic's insights may help you see beyond these barriers to the simple truth of your inherent worth and obvious belonging. 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: Soul Biographies: https://soulbiographies.com/
Contact me at mark@whatisagood.life if you'd like to further explore your own lines of self-inquiry or create experiences that lead to more connecting and genuine conversations amongst groups of people or you'd like to join my weekly silent conversation groups.
07:19 Stillness, awareness, and a realisation of belonging 13:40 The power of silence and subtracting 18:07 The challenge of our cultural way of being 20:40 The realisation of our connectedness 26:20 Become aware of what we are capable of 30:50 Stillness and silence tending to our trauma 33:20 Life living itself through you - nothing to do 41:40 An awareness of the dissolving of time and space 46:40 The Girl in the Entrance Hall 51:10 Working on behalf of everyone and everything 58:20 Realising why everyone hurt 1:04:45 It is much more simple than we imagine 1:11:15 An absence of time in our encounters 1:16:20 Could I be doing something else? 1:21:23 What is a good life for Nic? Keywords: Meaning of Life Interviews | meaning of life conversations | exploring life | big life questions | meaning of life discussions | creating a meaningful life | |||
| What is a Good Life? #85 - Becoming Connected Citizens with Jon Alexander | 27 Aug 2024 | 00:58:53 | |
On the 85th episode of the What is a Good Life? podcast, I am delighted to introduce our guest, Jon Alexander. Jon is the author of CITIZENS: Why the Key to Fixing Everything is All of Us, a book that seeks to reframe the current moment as one of immense civic opportunity rather than merely a time of crisis and collapse. In 2014, Jon co-founded the New Citizenship Project, a strategy and innovation consultancy that aims to shift the dominant societal narrative from Consumer to Citizen. He is a Fellow of the Young Foundation, a founding member of the OECD's Innovative Citizen Participation Network, a Strategic Advisor to DemocracyNext, and a member of the Leadership Council of the Democracy and Culture Foundation. Additionally, Jon has represented Great Britain in both rowing and triathlon. In this inspiring conversation, Jon shares his journey of building greater trust in himself and others, which has shaped his ideas about evolving from a Consumer story to a Citizen story. In this new narrative, we expand our self-interest, connection, and sense of belonging, embracing the uncertainty we collectively face. We discuss the importance of stories over data, becoming who we want to be, reflection, and the immense satisfaction of being part of something bigger than ourselves. If you feel somewhat stuck and perhaps overwhelmed by the mounting crises, and if you are looking to reengage with a sense of agency and empowerment, this episode, along with Jon’s journey, will give you much to contemplate, as well as inspiration for action. 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: Jon's book & website: https://www.jonalexander.net/
Contact me at mark@whatisagood.life if you'd like to further explore your own lines of self-inquiry or create experiences that lead to more connecting and genuine conversations amongst groups of people. 00:00 Introduction 05:35 What would you do if you believed in yourself & others 09:15 Self interest and expanded self-interest 13:05 Human and community and connection 16:45 Stories and connection over data 21:55 Collectively becoming who we want to be 25:55 Pretending we have answers and solutions 30:40 Safe uncertainty 34:35 A need for belonging, community, and contribution 38:20 Trusting others 43:55 Time to reflect and portals 50:55 Not something to give up but to gain 55:55 What is a good life for Jon? Keywords: Meaning of Life Interviews | meaning of life conversations | exploring life | big life questions | meaning of life discussions | creating a meaningful life | |||
| What is a Good Life? #84 - Engaging The Heart's Wisdom with Wakanyi Hoffman | 20 Aug 2024 | 01:01:35 | |
On the 84th episode of the What is a Good Life? podcast, I am delighted to introduce our guest, Wakanyi Hoffman. Wakanyi is an artist of life who paints the shades of each day as a storyteller, author, keynote speaker specialising in Ubuntu philosophy, scholar of indigenous knowledge, and narrative weaver of wisdom in AI. Wakanyi is an Indigenous Knowledge Curator for ServiceSpace AI, a Research Fellow at The New Institute in Hamburg, and the author of Sala, Mountain Warrior. She sits on several boards, including the Kenya Education Fund, and her mission is to help co-create a world founded on continuous, naturally occurring, systemic intellectual and emotional progress that is in harmony with all other forms of emerging intelligence. In this enlivening episode, Wakanyi considers what it would take to reconnect with ancient wisdom while living in a modern world. She shares Ubuntu values of survival, solidarity, respect, compassion, and dignity—dignity for human life and all of life. She explores the hospicing of the systems we presently live in and what has inhibited us from engaging with the wisdom of the heart. We also discuss resisting the urge to interfere with a natural process and the relief and joy of not being in control. If you are struggling to integrate more wisdom into your life, if you feel you are holding on too tightly to the way things are, even when you realise they are no longer serving you, this episode will give you plenty of space, fresh air, and optimism to consider our next evolutions as people and as a society. 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: Wakanyi's LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/wakanyi-hoffman-77a9671a4/ Wakanyi's website: https://www.wakanyihoffman.com/ - For the podcast's YouTube page: https://www.youtube.com/@whatisagoodlife/videos Contact me at mark@whatisagood.life if you'd like to further explore your own lines of self-inquiry or create experiences that lead to more connecting and genuine conversations amongst groups of people. 00:00 Introduction 07:30 Merging Wisdom with Modernity 11:00 The illusion of mutual exclusivity of experiences 17:42 Honouring our material and immaterial experiences 22:45 Ubuntu values 33:00 Creating spaces to allow our values to emerge 37:45 Growing out of old cocoons 42:50 Lessons from the do-nothing farmer 47:05 Lessons from observing a child’s development 51:20 The humility and awe of the human experience 57:44 What is a good life for Wakanyi? Keywords: Meaning of Life Interviews | meaning of life conversations | exploring life | big life questions | meaning of life discussions | creating a meaningful life | |||
| What is a Good Life? #83 - Realising You Are Loved with Tom Morgan | 13 Aug 2024 | 01:03:44 | |
On the 83rd episode of the What is a Good Life? podcast, I am delighted to introduce our guest, Tom Morgan. Tom has spent the last 20 years in markets, on both the buy and sell sides. He has worked at several investment banks on Wall Street and his most recent role was with the wealth manager Sapient Capital. He describes himself as a "curiosity sherpa"; he spends his life seeking out the most interesting ideas and thinkers for curious people. He has just co-founded The Leading Edge, a network for curious people focused on their personal evolution, and he is also the writer of The Leading Edge newsletter. He graduated from Oxford University with an MA in Philosophy, Politics, and Economics. In this enlightening conversation, Tom muses on whether we realise that the universe loves us. He shares his experiences of struggling with mental and spiritual health, highlights the significance of experiencing flow in a meaningful way, discusses the importance of being honest with ourselves and the world around us, and explores the relationship between disclosing truth and the synchronicity we experience. Tom shares many insightful anecdotes and experiences throughout this conversation, making this episode ideal for anyone feeling stuck in life, considering career transitions, facing challenges with their well-being, or struggling to see the signs that the world or universe may be offering. 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: The Leading Edge Website: https://www.theleading-edge.org/
Contact me at mark@whatisagood.life if you'd like to further explore your own lines of self-inquiry or create experiences that lead to more connecting and genuine conversations amongst groups of people. 00:00 Introduction 06:10 To what degree are we free? 08:25 Flowing in a meaningful way & synchronicity 12:40 The importance of discernment 16:40 Experiencing highly contrasting states & sensitivity 23:05 The power of truth in experiencing reality 28:54 The failing of our language and love 30:50 Sharing with the intention of helping others 34:10 Sharing our inner world 37:40 Flow, earnings, and the value of containers 46:20 Navigating career transition 50:10 Not feeling anything 54:30 Insights from suffering 58:20 What level of suffering is necessary? 1:01:10 What is a good life for Tom? Keywords: Meaning of Life Interviews | meaning of life conversations | exploring life | big life questions | meaning of life discussions | creating a meaningful life | |||
| What is a Good Life? #82 - Exploring True Health with Parneet Pal | 06 Aug 2024 | 01:00:10 | |
On the 82nd episode of the What is a Good Life? podcast, I am delighted to introduce our guest, Parneet Pal, MBBS, MS. Parneet is a Harvard- and Columbia-trained physician-educator who teaches skills and communicates ideas that advance personal, workplace, and planetary health. She is the founder of Systematically Well Advisory Inc., where she applies her expertise to enhance health and performance and their impact on business leadership. Her goal is to make you fall in love with your biology so that it works for you, your work, and the planet. She works with business teams and global organisations to address workplace stress, burnout, loneliness, and sustainability. Parneet speaks at global conferences such as Web Summit and TED Countdown and guest lectures at several universities, including Harvard, Stanford, and Columbia. She has been a TEDMED scholar, a Harvard Business Review contributor, and has been featured on the cover of Mindful magazine. In this enlightening conversation, Parneet shares her explorations around what true health is, moving away from siloed approaches to well-being to consider social, economic, ecological, and environmental factors. She shares remarkable insights from what our biology suggests a good life is, as well as major realisations she has made in her own life in relation to nature, community, mindfulness, and compassion.
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: Parneet's Website: https://www.parneetpal.com/ Parneet's LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/parneetpal/ IG: @pal.parneet X: @parneet_pal
Contact me at mark@whatisagood.life if you'd like to further explore your own lines of self-inquiry or create experiences that lead to more connecting and genuine conversations amongst groups of people. 00:01 Introduction 05:37 What makes the cells in my body sing 09:57 The connection between health and sustainability 16:47 The impact of meaning and connection on our health 24:02 Recognising the body as part of nature 29:28 Stepping away from clinical practice 34:07 The importance of embodying compassion 40:57 Appreciating the significance of community 49:12 Breathing in the world and the miracle of life 54:07 What is a good life for Parneet? Keywords: Meaning of Life Interviews | meaning of life conversations | exploring life | big life questions | meaning of life discussions | creating a meaningful life | |||
| What is a Good Life? #81 - A Journey To The Heart with Patrick McAndrew | 30 Jul 2024 | 01:07:38 | |
On the 81st episode of the What is a Good Life? podcast, I am delighted to introduce our guest, Patrick McAndrew. Patrick, a global thought leader on productivity and performance, empowers professionals to escape the "Productivity Paradox" - the illusion that being busy equals progress. As the founder of HARA, an inner circle for exceptional entrepreneurs and leaders, Patrick equips individuals with practical tools to reclaim focus, boost productivity, and achieve extraordinary results in a world of constant distractions. He provides teams with tools to tame distractions, prioritise what matters most, and develop resilience. In this beautiful conversation, Patrick takes us on his exploration of various cognitive and biological functions to what is now a journey to the heart, moving from fragmentation and mechanistic approaches to life towards greater alignment, embodiment, and a sense of being. He shares beautiful anecdotes and wisdom observed from his mother in her final months and his experience of caring for her, as well as the realisations he has made from his own closely examined life. He touches on various modalities he has explored to live a more connected life, as well as tools and perspectives he shares with his clients to allow greater acceptance and connection to flourish in their own lives.
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: Patrick's LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/patrickmcandrewonline/ Patrick's website: https://www.patrickmcandrew.co Patrick's newsletter: https://patrickmcandrew.substack.com
Contact me at mark@whatisagood.life if you'd like to further explore your own lines of self-inquiry or create experiences that lead to more connecting and genuine conversations amongst groups of people. 00:00 Introduction 06:50 Moving from mental inquiries to the heart 12:55 Lessons from his mother 18:50 Not seeking approval & letting go of constructs 26:50 Connection is much closer than we think 28:30 Contact and awareness of impulses and cravings 33:20 Finding clarity and guidance in life 38:00 The significance of resting within yourself 42:30 Letting go of our judgements and identifying needs 52:40 A reconnection to wild and wisdom 1:02:05 What is a good life for Patrick? Keywords: Meaning of Life Interviews | meaning of life conversations | exploring life | big life questions | meaning of life discussions | creating a meaningful life | |||
| What is a Good Life? #80 - Finding & Following Your Path with Jonny Thomson | 23 Jul 2024 | 00:57:28 | |
On the 80th episode of the What is a Good Life? podcast, I am delighted to introduce our guest, Jonny Thomson. Jonny was a teacher for over a decade before he turned to writing full-time. He is a columnist at Big Think, where he writes primarily about philosophy, theology, and psychology, and is the author of three books. His first book, Mini Philosophy, is an award-winning international bestseller and has been translated into more than 20 languages. Jonny also runs the popular social media account Philosophy Minis, with a quarter of a million followers, where he explains philosophical ideas in short, accessible digests. He lives in a village in North Oxfordshire with his wife and two sons. In this engaging conversation, Jonny shares his thoughts on contemplating death and how it can guide us in living a good life. We discuss the importance of finding meaning beyond our own lives and moments of feeling part of something bigger. We also explore the potential impact of AI and what it reveals about being human. While Jonny reflects on his shift towards a Daoist perspective and how this has influenced both his path and sense of purpose. Throughout the conversation, Jonny highlights essential components of contemplation and ways of engaging with life that can bring greater purpose, contentment, and meaning. If you feel that your life needs a change or that it feels somewhat stifled, this episode will provide much to consider. 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: Jonny's first book, Mini Philosophy Jonny's Website: https://miniphilosophy.com/
Contact me at mark@whatisagood.life if you'd like to further explore your own lines of self-inquiry or create experiences that lead to more connecting and genuine conversations amongst groups of people.
06:20 The shift in magnetic poles from having kids 12:25 Something beyond your own life 20:00 The future of humanity and AI 26:25 Human frailty and connection in art 32:40 Our proclivity for convenience 35:20 A Daoist perspective to finding your path 45:20 Hearing a voice and inner guide 51:19 What is a good life for Jonny? Keywords: Meaning of Life Interviews | meaning of life conversations | exploring life | big life questions | meaning of life discussions | creating a meaningful life | |||
| What is a Good Life? #79 - Seeking Truth & Reality with Jen Cohen | 16 Jul 2024 | 00:58:38 | |
On the 79th episode of the What is a Good Life? podcast, I am delighted to introduce our guest, Jen Cohen. Jen is a Co-Founder and Director of Seven Stones Leadership, a leadership journeys company, and the Director of Coaching Education for Mobius Executive Leadership, a global boutique consulting firm serving Fortune 500 companies. She is the co-author, with Gina LaRoche, of The 7 Laws of Enough, and the author of the chapter “From Surviving to Thriving” in the book Being Human at Work, edited by Richard Strozzi Heckler. Her coaching and training are distinguished by her studies in several communication technologies, along with quantum physics, ontology, neuroscience, psychology, trauma—both individual and collective—somatics, and systems thinking. Jen is a Master Certified Somatic Coach with the Strozzi Institute and holds a master’s degree in Applied Psychology with an emphasis on systems theory. In this captivating conversation, Jen shares with us her lifelong questioning of what is truth and what is reality. She speaks of her journey from experiencing trauma in her childhood, to continually seeking a sense of truth, and the emergence of her path and experiences with bodywork and healing. We explore the process of transmutation and extracting wisdom from our experiences, the sense of something bigger being at play that is moving us, the process of how purpose synchronistically arises, and living a life that ultimately brings her closer and closer into contact with reality. Whatever you may be going through in life, this conversation will provide you with considerable inspiration as to what can become of our lives if we do not look away from reality but walk towards it. While Jen shares her considerable wisdom and insights from her own examined life of inquiry, giving us all much to contemplate. 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: Seven Stones Leadership website: https://www.sevenstonesleadership.com/ Jen's book: https://www.amazon.com/Laws-Enough-Cultivating-Sustainable-Abundance/dp/1941529909
Contact me at mark@whatisagood.life if you'd like to further explore your own lines of self-inquiry or create experiences that lead to more connecting and genuine conversations amongst groups of people. 00:00 Introduction 10:30 We are in relationship with everything 13:30 Extracting wisdom from experiences 19:35 Finding truth and reality through the body 27:45 The wisdom of the body 30:45 Trauma of the past becoming present and future 33:45 The desire to seek truth through trauma 36:15 The feeling that something bigger is happening 39:15 Exploring how purpose arises 46:15 Finding the path as a healer 53:35 What is a good life for Jen? Keywords: Meaning of Life Interviews | meaning of life conversations | exploring life | big life questions | meaning of life discussions | creating a meaningful life | |||
| What is a Good Life? #96 - The Call Of Creativity with John Oliver | 12 Nov 2024 | 01:18:27 | |
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.world
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 Introduction 07:50 Sense making through dialectics 12:10 Revelations through creativity 19:05 Positive disintegration 24:55 New paths and intergenerational influence 29:10 Sense of self and connection to collective 33:40 Navigating the dissonance between transitions 39:20 Realisation through suffering or awareness? 48:20 Integrating the whole 53:20 Silence and being enough 58:20 The arts as a spiritual practice 1:04:05 The Soul and the Spirit 1:10:35 Sexuality as a spiritual practice 1:14:00 What is a good life for John? Keywords: Meaning of Life Interviews | meaning of life conversations | exploring life | big life questions | meaning of life discussions | creating a meaningful life | |||
| What is a Good Life? #78 - Resting Into Being with Simon van der Els | 09 Jul 2024 | 01:04:05 | |
On the 78th episode of the What is a Good Life? podcast, I am delighted to introduce our guest, Simon van der Els, PhD. Simon is a student of the invisible realm. He holds a PhD in the empirical tradition of molecular microbiology and also explores the subjective realm of shamanism as a way of rediscovering the interiority of the living cosmos. He enjoys time in nature, dance, and other sensory embodied experiences. Dialogue is one of the practices in which he can encounter a flow state, and it is one of his favourite activities. In this glorious conversation, Simon shares his explorations of a greater sense of being in life. He highlights the importance of connection—to ourselves, each other, and the biosphere—in terms of feeling a deeper sense of being and belonging that goes beyond temporary moments of flow or peak experiences. We touch on the grief that is necessary to navigate in order to feel the depths of love and joy that are freely available to us, and that much of the way is more about remembering and resting than turning life into checklists for being and productivity. If you are struggling to feel a greater sense of being or alignment in life, or if your explorations into being have yielded more processes and things to do in order to be, this conversation will point to fundamental aspects of being that could greatly shift your present perspectives and experience of life.
For further content and information check out the following: Simon's LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/simon-van-der-els-phd-66434b231/ - For the podcast's YouTube page: https://www.youtube.com/@whatisagoodlife/videos Contact me at mark@whatisagood.life if you'd like to further explore your own lines of self-inquiry or create experiences that lead to more connecting and genuine conversations amongst groups of people. 00:00 Introduction 08:07 Peak experiences and broadening our aperture 14:32 Remembering a way of being and connection 19:17 The grief and love through coming home 24:02 The sense of loneliness in the world 27:22 We need to remember, feel, and sense 33:31 The shift from compulsive thought to sensory experience 39:27 The role of grief and presencing 43:07 It is all about connection 46:27 The experience and challenges of a new sense of being 50:07 The journey of becoming and joy 54:37 Letting go of the checklists in life 59:15 What is a good life for Simon? Keywords: Meaning of Life Interviews | meaning of life conversations | exploring life | big life questions | meaning of life discussions | creating a meaningful life | |||
| What is a Good Life? #77 - Living Out Your Soul Image with Tom Hirons | 02 Jul 2024 | 01:07:19 | |
On the 77th episode of the What is a Good Life? podcast, I am delighted to introduce our guest, Tom Hirons. Tom is a poet and storyteller based in Devon, UK. He is the director of Feral Angels Press and editor of Clarion poetry magazine. He teaches poetry writing, both online and in person, and runs poetry-focused wilderness fasts. Tom’s piece, Sometimes a Wild God, is a subcultural poetry classic. He has never won a poetry prize or been published in a poetry magazine, yet still makes his living from poetry. He says, "I have heard all the terrible news and I have looked into the inferno of the future, but I am still in love with this life." Tom’s latest collection, The Queen of Heaven, is out this week. In this glorious conversation, Tom shares his journey of becoming a poet and realising how he can best apply his abilities in the world. We discuss tracking life and threads from other worlds. We muse on balancing our ascending into spirit and descending into soul, while acknowledging the beauty that can be lost if we try too hard. He also notes the significance of wilderness fasting in terms of initiation into adulthood and in knowing and living out his nature and soul image. If you have a gnawing feeling or aching sense that there is so much more to this life than what you are presently aware of or accepting of, this conversation will point to and suggest where to explore, what there is to discover, and what life can feel like from there.
For further content and information check out the following: Check out Tom's books here: https://feralangels.com His newsletter here: https://newsletter.tomhirons.com/bear-speaks-to-the-stars Facebook: https://facebook.com/hironstom Instagram: https://instagram.com/bearspeakstothestars - For the podcast's YouTube page: https://www.youtube.com/@whatisagoodlife/videos Contact me at mark@whatisagood.life if you'd like to further explore your own lines of self-inquiry or create experiences that lead to more connecting and genuine conversations amongst groups of people. 04:00 Becoming a poet and who he is 07:00 How to develop for greater benefit to others 10:45 Transcendent experiences when connecting to art 15:15 Tracking life and the threads from other worlds 21:15 The significance of Wilderness fasting and initiation into adulthood 27:00 The balancing of soul and spirit of ascending and descending 31:20 Marking our steps into adulthood 35:00 Cultivating a paying attention to and tracking of life 39:45 Allowing space for the non-sacred in creativity 44:50 The beauty that can be lost if we are trying too hard 50:28 Life force, wildness, and the daemon 56:48 The war against the devourer and claiming our birthright 1:01:30 What is a good life for Tom? Keywords: Meaning of Life Interviews | meaning of life conversations | exploring life | big life questions | meaning of life discussions | creating a meaningful life | |||
| What is a Good Life? #76 - Listening To Your Vocation with Parker J. Palmer | 25 Jun 2024 | 01:08:13 | |
On the 76th episode of the What is a Good Life? podcast, I am delighted to introduce our guest, Parker J. Palmer. Parker is a writer, speaker, and activist who focuses on issues in education, community, leadership, spirituality, and social change. He is the founder and Senior Partner Emeritus of the Center for Courage & Renewal. He holds a PhD in sociology from the University of California at Berkeley, fourteen honorary doctorates, two Distinguished Achievement Awards from the National Educational Press Association, and an Award of Excellence from the Associated Church Press. He is the author of ten books—including several award-winning titles—that have sold over two million copies and been translated into twelve languages. Among them is Let Your Life Speak, which is comfortably the best book I’ve read about vocation and purpose. In this glorious conversation, Parker shares his journey of conversing with and listening to life, revealing more of his natural self in the process, his gifts and limitations, choosing the less conventional path, and ultimately guiding him to a life of vocation. He shares his experiences of depression, the significance of coming down to the ground, prioritising being real over being noble, and the need for silence and settling our minds for listening to life and for clarity.
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: Center for Courage & Renewal: https://couragerenewal.org/ Parker's books: https://couragerenewal.org/resource-types/book/
Contact me at mark@whatisagood.life if you'd like to further explore your own lines of self-inquiry or create experiences that lead to more connecting and genuine conversations amongst groups of people. 02:45 Interview beings 09:15 Acknowledging who you are at different times 12:15 The refuge of writing 15:45 The conversation with life can change daily 19:29 The role of silence and listening in a good life 23:45 The significance of getting real over being noble 32:55 Living in a quaker community and radical equality 38:15 Following his vocation and living a good life 44:35 Helping each other down to the ground 47:45 Getting real with ourselves 53:45 Using our limitations as a guide 1:00:45 Experiences of depression 1:05:15 What is a good life for Parker? Keywords: Meaning of Life Interviews | meaning of life conversations | exploring life | big life questions | meaning of life discussions | creating a meaningful life | |||
| What is a Good Life? #75 - Knowing Your Worth with Michael Bungay Stanier | 18 Jun 2024 | 00:54:37 | |
On the 75th episode of the What is a Good Life? podcast, I am delighted to introduce our guest, Michael Bungay Stanier. Michael is best known for his book The Coaching Habit, which has sold over a million copies. His most recent book, How to Work with (Almost) Anyone, shows how to create psychological safety by building the Best Possible Relationship with key people at work. He founded Box of Crayons, a learning and development company that has trained hundreds of thousands of managers to be more coach-like. He was a Rhodes Scholar at Oxford University and recently won the coaching award from Thinkers50. In this insightful conversation, Michael shares the origin and meaning of his big goal of infecting a billion people with the possibility virus and the significance of feeling deeply defeated by ever greater things. He notes the importance of sharing the spotlight with others, maintaining humility while knowing what we are good at, and amplifying that. Throughout this conversation, he highlights the inherent value and worth of us all as human beings and his desire to embolden people by making them more aware of this truth.
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: Michael's LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/michaelbungaystanier/ Michael's website: https://www.mbs.works/
Contact me at mark@whatisagood.life if you'd like to further explore your own lines of self-inquiry or create experiences that lead to more connecting and genuine conversations amongst groups of people. Running Order: 03:02 Wrestling with angels 08:41 Infecting a billion people with the possibility virus 12:07 Allowing others to take the spot light 15:42 Humility in success and our strengths 18:45 You’re awesome and you’re doing great 23:17 An awareness of the bigger picture and paradox 31:22 Engaging with emotions and men’s work 34:37 Having a healthy relationship with failure 38:07 Reflections on authenticity and amplifying your difference 47:37 The gift of feeling worthy 51:37 What is a good life for Michael?
| |||
| What is a Good Life? #74 - Holding The Light & The Shadow with Dee Mulrooney | 11 Jun 2024 | 01:00:48 | |
On the 74th episode of the What is a Good Life? podcast, I am delighted to introduce our guest, Dee Mulrooney. Dee is a multi-disciplinary Irish artist. Inhabiting a female body, mythical imagination and story as medicine are the main preoccupations of her work. Exile, class, displacement, social history, longing, and belonging are some of the themes explored by Dee through painting, drawing, film, storytelling, and performance. Her art is fiercely authentic, and she leaves no stone of her own personal healing journey unturned. Dee works with the alchemical aspect of transmutation in her art, using this process to deal with difficult topics including abuse, death, and loss. In this glorious conversation, Dee shares with us her journey towards greater purpose, self-acceptance, and more wholeness in her being. A path that included joining and leaving a cult, moving her family from Dublin to Berlin, giving birth to herself once more through her experience of menopause, accepting her own nature, and the process of transmuting her pain and torment into art and expression. Throughout this conversation, she never looks away from the pain humans create nor lets go of hope or appreciation for life. Dee is someone who I see as fiercely engaged with both the great joys and depths of sorrow in life. If you are too attached to the light, perhaps this conversation invites you more into the shadow, and vice versa, ultimately giving you a sense of a greater wholeness that is possible within us.
For further content and information check out the following: Dee's Website: https://deirdre-mulrooney.com/ Socials, FB, Insta, TikTok: @deemulrooney
Contact me at mark@whatisagood.life if you'd like to further explore your own lines of self-inquiry or create experiences that lead to more connecting and genuine conversations amongst groups of people. Running Order: 03:30 It’s about purpose 07:50 The realisation of being in a cult 10:00 The sense of seeking and God 13:30 Giving birth to myself 17:45 The changes with empathy and compassion 22:00 Exploring shadow 28:10 Our ability to transmute 32:30 The denial of the feminine archetype 41:30 The power of art to transmute torment 48:00 Making art for herself and sharing it 50:20 Coming into acceptance of her anxious nature 56:50 What is a good life for Dee?
| |||
| What is a Good Life? #73 - Embracing The Flow Of Life with Sunil Malhotra | 04 Jun 2024 | 01:05:48 | |
On the 73rd episode of the What is a Good Life? podcast, I am delighted to introduce our guest, Sunil Malhotra. Sunil weaves together Vedic wisdom with the innovations of tomorrow. To unravel the mysteries of the human experience, he stands at the intersection of spirituality, technology, and design. Sunil's latest book, YOGAi: Interplays of Yoga and Artificial Intelligence, demystifies both 'technologies' in a bid to connect them in the context of the exponential times we are witnessing. He is also the founder of Ideafarms, a Design-in-Tech advisory and consulting firm. In this illuminating conversation, Sunil shares his experience of letting go of questions and answers in his life, and feeling and experiencing a much wider sense of life, a letting go of control and consequently a flow to it has emerged he had not previously known existed. He explains how through his latest book he forged profound connections with some of the most esteemed minds in spirituality and science, including luminaries such as Dr. Karan Singh, Ervin Laszlo, and Satish Kumar. While we also discuss the capacity to look at life with fresh eyes, think for ourselves, and recognise how everything around us is communicating with us.
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: Sunil's company website: http://www.ideafarms.com - For the podcast's YouTube page: https://www.youtube.com/@whatisagoodlife/videos 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: 09:55 Looking at life with fresh eyes 14:45 We don’t often think for ourselves 19:10 Realising that everything is communicating with us 24:50 The desire to explore Yoga more fully 30:20 The relationship between science and yoga 35:30 The difference between knowledge and knowing 42:20 Forging bonds with esteemed minds 48:10 The loosening of thinking and a growing awareness 58:20 The intention behind the book 1:02:50 What is a good life for Sunil? Keywords: Meaning of Life Interviews | meaning of life conversations | exploring life | big life questions | meaning of life discussions | creating a meaningful life | |||
| What is a Good Life? #72 - Feeling True To Who I Am with Reuben Christian | 28 May 2024 | 00:57:49 | |
On the 72nd episode of the What is a Good Life? podcast, I am delighted to introduce our guest, Reuben Christian. Reuben is an award-winning edutainer: a cocktail of event host, motivational speaker, facilitator, TV presenter and comedian. He's the founder and facilitator of Dream Rehab: a live show and curriculum that harnesses the power of community to help people achieve their personal goals. He co-hosts the award winning (GQ & Esquire) What Is This Behaviour podcast, and his work is all about inspiring new possibilities by creating uplifting spaces for people to connect, collaborate, and grow. In this beautiful episode, Reuben shares his journey of feeling true to himself. Whether it’s paying attention to what brings fun to his life, embracing responsibility, exploring and excavating through therapy, or following what makes him feel alive and aligned in his work, Reuben highlights several important areas for us to consider in feeling true to ourselves. We also explore our experiences with engaging more with our emotions and feeling more of life. If your life has lost a sense of feeling, engagement with emotion, fun and experimentation, or a sense that it truly is your life, this conversation will provide many themes and areas to explore further. While Reuben’s openness and willingness to explore and experiment will offer much inspiration on your own path. 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: Dream Rehab Website: https://www.dreamrehab.co.uk/ - For the podcast's YouTube page: https://www.youtube.com/@whatisagoodlife/videos 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: Keywords: Meaning of Life Interviews | meaning of life conversations | exploring life | big life questions | meaning of life discussions | creating a meaningful life | |||
| What is a Good Life? #71 - Holding The Tensions Of Life with Mariana Louis | 21 May 2024 | 01:11:35 | |
On the 71st episode of the What is a Good Life? podcast, I am delighted to introduce our guest, Mariana Louis M.A. Mariana is a professional tarot counsellor, scholar, and creator of Persephone's Sister, a platform for psycho-spiritual education and guidance. Following her academic study of analytical psychology and Western Intellectual Traditions, Mariana integrated her scholarship into her developing expertise in the tarot and formulated an approach she calls Archetypal Tarot. She teaches this approach, which marries Jungian concepts with the symbolic depth of the tarot, in a host of courses for tarot students of all levels. This glorious conversation touches on many vital themes that contribute to a good life: Mariana’s journey of individuation, the interplay between the sacred and the mundane, the tensions of the human experience between zooming in and out, the balance of masculine and feminine energies within us, and the dynamics of order and chaos, growth and structure. Mariana also shares the significant influence that the Tarot and Carl Jung have had on her sense of experiencing more wholeness in her life. If you are seeking more movement in your life, if you feel stuck and are lacking the faith or trust to take a necessary next step, this conversation will provide you with much to contemplate, insight, and inspiration for taking that next step along your own authentic path and embracing uncertainty.
For further content and information check out the following: Mariana's Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/persephonessister/ - For the podcast's YouTube page: https://www.youtube.com/@whatisagoodlife/videos 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: Keywords: Meaning of Life Interviews | meaning of life conversations | exploring life | big life questions | meaning of life discussions | creating a meaningful life | |||
| What is a Good Life? #70 - Building & Supporting Community with Holly Penalver | 14 May 2024 | 00:58:06 | |
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.
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 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: 07:50 The importance of accepting help 12:25 Connection of upbringing and self-worth 18:10 The significance of forgiving ourselves 21:58 We are not as important as we think 25:38 Letting go of black and white thinking 30:01 Realising we all hold different perceptions 33:45 Being aware of what others need 39:45 The joy of feeling connected with community 43:25 Inspiration for establishing a charity 47:10 Empathy and desire to help others 51:45 Balancing family and helping others 54:55 What is a good life for Holly? Keywords: Meaning of Life Interviews | meaning of life conversations | exploring life | big life questions | meaning of life discussions | creating a meaningful life | |||
| What is a Good Life? #69 - A Life Of Purpose & Possibility with Dave Gray | 07 May 2024 | 00:55:31 | |
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 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: 07:15 Identifying and honouring our true nature 13:09 The significance of creativity 17:56 Exploring meaning in the journey 20:49 Purpose and our true nature 23:55 Possibility, producing and possibility 27:15 Community and energy 32:00 Using our relationships to identify our uniqueness 34:55 The significance of relationships 40:25 Beauty in everything 44:25 The role of meaning 52:25 What is a good life for Dave? Keywords: Meaning of Life Interviews | meaning of life conversations | exploring life | big life questions | meaning of life discussions | creating a meaningful life | |||
| What is a Good Life? #95 - Fully Embodying Your Life with Madelaine Ley | 05 Nov 2024 | 01:01:50 | |
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/
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 Introduction 08:10 Breakthroughs from motherhood and meltdowns 13:50 The significance of breakdowns and ruptures 16:35 Listening to energies that visit our bodies 22:08 The value of an awareness of death 27:05 The importance of embracing grief 32:20 Agenda free presence 37:55 The influence of a spiritual mentor 42:12 What is beyond measurement 45:07 The experience of silence 49:20 The feeling of bravery from childbirth 56:50 What is a good life for Madelaine? Keywords: Meaning of Life Interviews | meaning of life conversations | exploring life | big life questions | meaning of life discussions | creating a meaningful life | |||
| What is a Good Life? #68 - Keeping Your Heart Open with Amy Elizabeth Fox | 30 Apr 2024 | 00:58:57 | |
On the 68th episode of the What is a Good Life? podcast, I am delighted to introduce our guest, Amy Elizabeth Fox. Amy is one of the founders and CEO of Mobius Executive Leadership, a global transformational leadership firm. She has served as a leadership and culture change advisor to Fortune 500 companies. Amy is considered an expert in healing individual, family, and collective trauma and has been a pioneer in introducing trauma-informed development and psycho-spiritual principles into leadership programs. She is also on the faculty of the African Leadership Institute's Desmond Tutu Fellows program at Oxford. In this glorious conversation, Amy shares with us her journey towards a life of inquiry, contemplation, healing, and a more mystical engagement with life. She talks of the deeper unity that exists between us all beyond the fractures on the surface, ways we can connect more deeply with ourselves and each other, and ultimately ways to keep our hearts open to all the suffering and beauty that exists in the world. If you are not satisfied with the level of connection and intimacy in your life, this episode will give you so much to contemplate and reconsider regarding the societal norms we follow when relating to each other. Amy is a well of wisdom and this whole episode serves as an invitation to opening our hearts to the world and those around us.
For further content and information check out the following: - Amy's company: www.mobiusleadership.com - Thomas Hübl's Website: www.thomashuebl.com - For the podcast's YouTube page: https://www.youtube.com/@whatisagoodlife/videos 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: 03:15 How does one keep one’s heart open? 06:45 The unity of life and lack of intimacy 09:25 The problems with formality and routinised communication 12:30 The invitation to intimacy 17:11 The yearning and various sources of intimacy 23:15 The art of subtlety, intimacy, and collaboration 26:45 Silence and pause in feeling what is said 31:45 We don’t need to problem solve each other’s pain 35:45 The mystical and contemplative path 40:19 Moving from frozen assumptions to emergence 45:10 Bringing Mental Health to the workplace 50:10 How do we keep our hearts open in times like these? 55:45 What is a good life for Amy?
| |||
| What is a Good Life? #67 - Celebrating All Living Life with David Haskell | 23 Apr 2024 | 00:59:30 | |
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
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: 07:40 Echoes and connections with the past and creativity 11:45 Being in touch with the real world not our screens 18:05 Anxiety levels increasing with the youth 20:20 Coming back to our senses and curiosity of connection 24:35 Ambiguity of simultaneous beauty and brokenness 29:35 The rewiring of us as we engage with nature 33:06 Resistance to the open ended nature of change 38:35 Developing empathy with our environment & other beings 42:35 Interconnection not individuality 50:15 Realising once more how essential relationships are 55:30 What is a good life for David?
| |||
| What is a Good Life? #66 - A Life Led With Soul with Thomas Moore | 16 Apr 2024 | 01:04:25 | |
On the 66th episode of the What is a Good Life? podcast, I am delighted to introduce our guest, Thomas Moore. Thomas is the author of the #1 New York Times Best Seller, Care of the Soul. Since then, he has written thirty books on matters of soul and spirit. His most recent book is The Eloquence of Silence. He lectures in many parts of the world and is also a psychotherapist influenced mainly by C. G. Jung and James Hillman, his close friend for four decades. He has won many awards, including an honorary doctorate from Lesley University and the 2003 Humanitarian Award from Einstein Medical School. In this episode, Thomas shares his journey from spending 13 years studying to be a priest, to being a lecturer and professor before becoming a psychotherapist and a prolific and bestselling author. At each moment he made a significant life change, he felt fully led by his daemon (an inner, guiding spirit or urge) to help him make considerable decisions with unwavering conviction. Throughout this conversation, Thomas shares many important insights and anecdotes for living a more connected and aligned life with our inner wisdom and soul. There is so much to glean from this episode regarding how we live our lives, how we make significant decisions, embrace pivotal moments, and perhaps it suggests a life philosophy that could steer you away from trying to figure out every conceivable scenario before committing to your next major change. 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: - Thomas' latest book: The Eloquence of Silence
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: 09:50 A feeling of certainty beyond our logic 14:52 Practicing engagement with our daemon 19:57 Seeing life more poetically 25:42 Thomas’ friendship with Hillman 28:39 Leaving life as a lecturer 32:02 Starting life as a therapist and writer 35:05 Experiencing the success of Care of the Soul 38:57 The influence of Samuel Beckett and silence 43:47 The role of image in a life of soul 48:47 Humour and not holding it all too tightly 53:02 The lack of emptiness in our society 58:13 What is a good life for Thomas? Keywords: Meaning of Life Interviews | meaning of life conversations | exploring life | big life questions | meaning of life discussions | creating a meaningful life | |||
| What is a Good Life? #65 - How People Actually Change with George & Linda Pransky | 09 Apr 2024 | 00:54:43 | |
On the 65th episode of the What is a Good Life? podcast, I am delighted to introduce our guests, George and Linda Pransky. In 1976, George and Linda stumbled upon a new way of helping people that was radically different from the traditional counselling methods they had been using in their work. The new principles they were learning had a huge impact on their personal lives, their relationship, and the way they worked with their clients. Through teaching these principles to their clients, they became pioneers in a new field of psychology, both serving as Partners of Pransky & Associates and on the executive committee of the Three Principles Global Community. Dr. George Pransky is also the author of The Relationship Handbook, Life is a Metaphor, and The Secret to Mental Health, as well as over fifty audio recordings. In this episode, George and Linda share their understandings around how people really change, through realisations rather than intellect and willpower. We discuss the importance of gratitude, patience, quiet, accountability, and faith in further realisations occurring. While we also explore how our thinking is often broken and how they both have moved from reacting to life to living life. This whole conversation is incredibly enlightening. George and Linda have so much wisdom to share, and in highlighting where our problems reside and sharing several anecdotes and insights, the whole conversation serves as an invitation to be drawn into your life rather than simply reacting to it.
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/ - George's latest book: The Secret to Mental Health
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: 07:04 How we experience realisations 10:30 The problem with our desire for change 13:34 The role of faith - allowing answers to come 19:30 Not seeking answers and slowing down 24:47 Patience with our reactions 31:00 Reacting to life, not living life 35:39 The problem is our thinking around our problems 40:34 Accountability for our thinking and experience 44:24 Throwing away right and wrong 46:15 What is a good life for George and Linda?
| |||
| What is a Good Life? #64 - Making Sense Of This Life with Johnnie Moore | 02 Apr 2024 | 00:59:25 | |
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.
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: 07:47 Our attachments to stories or perspectives 10:47 Clinging to unpleasant certainties rather than exploring unknowns 16:07 Making sense of this life 21:17 Creating new possibilities 25:47 Our reluctance to experiment and our overthinking 31:47 We know a lot less about each other than we think 38:17 Realisations of understanding and of emotions 44:17 Becoming more present with and expressing emotions 49:17 Experiencing loneliness and enjoyment of solitude 55:47 What is a good life for Johnnie? Keywords: Meaning of Life Interviews | meaning of life conversations | exploring life | big life questions | meaning of life discussions | creating a meaningful life | |||
| What is a Good Life? #63 - Being A Good Ancestor with Adah Parris | 26 Mar 2024 | 01:12:39 | |
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.
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: 08:00 How values and curiosity shape Adah’s life 12:30 The journey to Adah being herself 18:40 Seeing life as a series of experiments 25:15 Letting go of how life should be 30:30 Lessons from authentic relating 36:15 The value and importance of difference 42:25 The importance of presence 49:30 Technology, busyness, and relating 54:48 Distorting Time 1:02:10 Being a good ancestor and kinship 1:07:52 Summary and what is a good life for Adah?
| |||
| What is a Good Life? #62 - Feeling A Sense Of Belonging with Julia Duthie | 19 Mar 2024 | 01:00:26 | |
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?
- 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/
| |||
| What is a Good Life? #61 - Befriending What Is Here with Duncan Moss | 12 Mar 2024 | 00:55:23 | |
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 suffering 11:19 What does surrendering entail? 16:19 The helpfulness of uncomfortable teachings 20:54 The surprising effect of rest after trying so hard 24:54 Befriending ourselves and grandmotherly energy 29:04 Suffering is our greatest teacher 35:04 Compassion for ourselves is always there 38:49 A stepping into timelessness 45:04 Contemplating mortality and absurdity of life 52:09 What is a good life for Duncan?
- 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/ Keywords: Meaning of Life Interviews | meaning of life conversations | exploring life | big life questions | meaning of life discussions | creating a meaningful life | |||
| What is a Good Life? #60 - Healing Through Feeling with Matthew Zoltan | 05 Mar 2024 | 01:25:44 | |
On the 60th episode of the What is a Good Life? podcast, I am delighted to introduce our guest, Matthew Zoltan. Matthew is a former monk, an author, and co-founder of Undo App - an app that helps you rediscover what makes us human through natural meditation. In this conversation, Matthew takes us on his journey from being a monk for much of his 20s before realising his practice and methods weren’t supporting him to fully engage with the felt experience of his body. That for him, certain ideologies led to disassociations from the body and its experience. He shares with us the importance of experiencing life sensorily, how one can perceive the fully felt experience of life. We also discuss the role of our mental reactions in accentuating pain, as well as the problem with starting off from the belief that we are lacking and need to improve, suggesting that you are the perfect expression of everything you have been through. Ultimately, Matthew points to the significance of exploring our pain and resolving our hurt, describing pain as aspects of ourselves we need to give attention to. If you are having trouble with accepting yourself, embracing yourself as you presently are, or engaging with your feelings, this episode will give you a lot to consider. While Matthew may confront a lot of your beliefs, he is really highlighting the importance of connecting with our felt experience. 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 programs or to hear about corporate workshops I am offering to build trust and connection amongst executive teams. Running Order: 02:45 Life provides answers not questions
- 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/ - Matthew's Website: https://mattzoltan.com/ - Matthew's Company: https://undoapp.com/
| |||
| What is a Good Life? #59 - Following Your Own Nature with Julie Zickefoose | 27 Feb 2024 | 01:00:37 | |
On the 59th episode of the What is a Good Life? podcast, I am delighted to introduce our guest, Julie Zickefoose. Julie is a writer and artist who illustrates her own books (Saving Jemima, Baby Birds, The Bluebird Effect). She is an Advising Editor for BWD Magazine and a naturalist at home in the Appalachian foothills of Ohio, where every day she roams the 80-acre wildlife sanctuary she lives on—a wellspring for her writing and art. Her contribution to a beautiful movie I watched, In Pursuit of Silence, utterly captivated me, so I was thrilled to have the chance to talk. In this enlivening conversation, Julie shares her journey from just about making ends meet to becoming an author and illustrator living on her own sanctuary. She imparts important lessons along the way, such as gratitude for life, borne out of her observations of the hardship of nature and from the deaths of her father and her husband. We explore the emotional relationships she has cultivated with the birds she has rehabilitated, as well as the importance of relationships with animals in realising more connection in our lives. She also touches on the significance of silence, solitude, and unstructured time and space for her creative process and for following her own nature. This entire conversation was good for my soul; it is inspiring to be in the company of someone who so fully follows and embraces their own nature with such conviction. This episode will reinforce gratitude for simply existing and surviving, and open you up to possibilities for more love and connection in our lives, whether with other animals or humans, as well as what can happen if you simply trust your own nature. 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 programs or to hear about corporate workshops I am offering to build trust and connection amongst executives. Running Order: 03:40 Seeking silence and allowing serendipity
- 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/ - Julie's Website: https://www.juliezickefoose.com/ - Julie's Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/juliezickefoose/ Keywords: Meaning of Life Interviews | meaning of life conversations | exploring life | big life questions | meaning of life discussions | creating a meaningful life | |||
| What is a Good Life? #94 - Listening To The Story Of My Soul with Jennifer Murphy | 29 Oct 2024 | 00:58:41 | |
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/
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 Introduction 09:48 Taking up the path of the soul 15:00 Wisdom: Sus and Imbas 20:00 Balancing masculine and feminine energy 23:30 Exploring the masculine & unconscious 27:30 Mythology - exploring the story of the soul 30:30 Exploring dreams & other worlds 33:30 The land is alive with soul 35:30 Other worlds & connecting with land 39:10 Reconnecting to the divine 45:40 The Irish psyche & mythology 49:48 Connecting with the language and folklore 55:30 What is a good life for Jen? Keywords: Meaning of Life Interviews | meaning of life conversations | exploring life | big life questions | meaning of life discussions | creating a meaningful life | |||
| What is a Good Life? #58 - Exploring Soul with Dan Lawrence and Johann Botha | 20 Feb 2024 | 01:07:15 | |
On the 58th episode of the What is a Good Life? podcast, I am delighted to introduce our guests, Dan Lawrence and Johann Botha. Dan is a Jungian Psychoanalytic Psychotherapist and a Social Dreaming Consultant, a former derivatives trader, and a lifelong practitioner of Zen and contemplative traditions. Johann is managing director of GSA Mindworks, a company cultivating a personal, participatory and measured approach to human integrity. A former, filmmaker, storyteller with an enlivening interest in human character. I asked both of them to join me because all three of us have been exploring a sense of soul more closely recently, and I wanted to share those musings with you all to see if these types of conversations resonate with or add to your own explorations in life. In this conversation, we explore what the soul means to us, where we get glimpses or senses of soul in our lives, and how the soul can move or call us to action. We talk about the significance of the soul regarding how we engage and participate in life, our relationships with others, and our work, as well as the places and spaces around us. We also explore how experiences of dread can lead to both a feeling of soullessness and a lack of presence, and how we can cultivate space and awareness for more connection with the soul. If you feel like your existence is lacking soul, whether that is in your work, relationships, or with a sense of mystery, this episode will give you plenty to contemplate, as well as images and metaphors for re-invoking more soul in your life. 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 programs or to hear about corporate workshops I am offering around this question. Running Order: 03:30 What is Soul? 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/ - Dan's Website: https://www.theunthoughtknown.com/ - Dan's LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/dan-lawrence-1537271b/?originalSubdomain=uk - Johann's company: https://gsamindworks.com/ - Johann's LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/jlbotha/ Keywords: Meaning of Life Interviews | meaning of life conversations | exploring life | big life questions | meaning of life discussions | creating a meaningful life | |||
| What is a Good Life? #57 - Balancing Effort & Letting Go with Dr. Bettina Palazzo | 13 Feb 2024 | 00:51:50 | |
On the 57th episode of the What is a Good Life? podcast, I am delighted to introduce our guest, Dr. Bettina Palazzo. Bettina is a business ethics expert, a lecturer at the University of Geneva, and the creator of The Ethics Gym program, demonstrating how leaders can be credible ethical role models. In this conversation, we delve into the question Bettina is presently contemplating in life: how does one balance making an effort and letting go? Bettina shares the challenges this represents and also reflects on the role social media plays in making us believe we have an immediate solution for every problem in life. We explore the role of our natural selves and curiosity, noting how fear and perfectionism affect our capacity to handle uncertainty. Simultaneously, we observe the role that compassion for ourselves and others plays in our ability to handle uncertainty and develop more trust in the unfolding of life, whether this is cultivated through community groups she has created or by being attentive to the stories we tell ourselves about other people’s behaviour towards us. This episode will give you much to contemplate regarding our attempts to control and our relationship with uncertainty. Bettina also shares in such an authentic and relatable manner that her reflections provide really interesting insights and nuance into the challenges we face in our culture with letting go. 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 programs or to hear about corporate workshops I am offering around this question. Running Order: 02:45 How do we find the balance of effort and letting go? 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/ - Bettina's Website: https://bettinapalazzo.com/en/home/ - Bettina's LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/bettina-palazzo/ Keywords: Meaning of Life Interviews | meaning of life conversations | exploring life | big life questions | meaning of life discussions | creating a meaningful life | |||
| What is a Good Life? #56 - Living An Enchanted Life with Dr. Simon Western | 06 Feb 2024 | 00:48:54 | |
On the 56th episode of the What is a Good Life? podcast, I am delighted to introduce our guest, Dr. Simon Western. Simon is the author of "Leadership: a Critical Text," Founder of both the Eco-Leadership Institute and Analytic-Network Coaching, and the host of the Edgy Ideas podcast. Simon brings a vast breadth of experience with him having previous roles as a general nurse, psychiatric nurse, family therapist, and psychotherapist. In this episode, Simon shares his journey with his lifelong question, "What is a good life?" From prioritising freedom to exploring other cultures, politics, and music as a teenager, to traveling widely and wandering the deserts, and being with his melancholy, he discusses the profound influence connecting with his sadness and grief has had on his life and career. We question the influence of modernity and our need to label, measure, and put everything in boxes on the quality of our relationships, our sense of dislocation, and separation from each other and the natural world. Finally, we consider how we might re-enchant our culture once more, whether that is connecting to the soul, reengaging with mystery, or creating more awareness of our interconnections and dependencies. If you are feeling a sense of dislocation in your life or are struggling to feel a sense of aliveness and connection to the world around you, Simon’s experiences in life will give you so much to contemplate as well as inspiration to explore areas of life you may well be neglecting. 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 programs or to hear about corporate workshops I am offering around this question. Running Order: 01:25 How can I get more freedom? 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/ - Simon's Website: https://www.ecoleadershipinstitute.org/simon-western - Simon's LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/dr-simon-western-1055b86/ Keywords: Meaning of Life Interviews | meaning of life conversations | exploring life | big life questions | meaning of life discussions | creating a meaningful life | |||
| What is a Good Life? #55 - Finding Inner Stillness with Lauri Poldre | 30 Jan 2024 | 00:52:50 | |
On the 55th episode of the What is a Good Life? podcast, I am delighted to introduce our guest, Lauri Poldre. Lauri is an advisor, mentor, and artist, helping people regain clarity and inner peace through sound, meditation, and nature immersion. In 2015, he quit his job to travel for 2 years and study meditation, sound healing, and mindfulness. Since then, he has performed at events and released recordings that have been streamed over 1 million times. In this episode, Lauri shares with us his journey from suffering to seeking to experiencing inner stillness—where we can be at peace with our own unfolding, and where the answers to our many questions naturally emerge without our interference. We explore the distinction between experiencing emotions and identifying with them, the considerable importance of asking questions—particularly ones we can’t presently answer—and the great benefits of resting in stillness and what can emerge from the silence. Whether it is an awareness of what is, an alignment with our true nature, letting go of obsessions with upgrading ourselves, a connection with nature and its abundance, or its impact on our creativity and how we live our lives—there is so much to take from this episode, especially for those of us toiling with our self-development and spiritual paths, suspecting we are fundamentally missing something. The stillness and silence that Lauri points to may offer considerable help. 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 programs or to hear about corporate workshops I am offering around this question. Running Order: 02:44 How to find inner stillness
- 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/ - Lauri's Website: https://lauripoldre.com/ - Larui's Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/lauri.poldre/ Keywords: Meaning of Life Interviews | meaning of life conversations | exploring life | big life questions | meaning of life discussions | creating a meaningful life | |||
| What is a Good Life? #54 - Exploring Our Conditioning with Gab Ciminelli | 23 Jan 2024 | 01:05:42 | |
On the 54th episode of the What is a Good Life? podcast, I am delighted to introduce our guest, Gab Ciminelli. Gab is the Founder of the Silent Leadership Institute in Japan, author of Nothing Changes the World: Excerpts and Insights on the Art of Nothing, and speaker on The Art of Nothing. In this illuminating discussion, we explore our capacity not to learn from our mistakes and how we get swept away by our conditioning - be it our upbringing, education, culture, etc. We share our experiences of re-sensitising ourselves to the human beings we naturally are, through silence, space, reflection, and nature, and the experiences of suffering that prompted a departure from the status quo. We delve into navigating our wider sense of disconnection and separation, transcending our ideas of identity and our fixation on measurement and labels, to an awareness of what is, and how we could step into the unknown. This whole conversation with Gab is a breath of fresh air. His open-heartedness and willingness to explore embody much of what he is pointing towards in this conversation. If you are in need of looking at your life and world with a fresh set of eyes, this conversation will give you multiple pointers as to how you can start. 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 programs or to hear about corporate workshops I am offering around this question. Running Order: 02:57 Why don’t we change or learn from our past?
- 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/ - Gab's Website: https://art-of-nothing.com/ - Gab's Book: https://www.amazon.com/dp/B0CBKPZV3H?ref_=pe_3052080_276849420 - Gab's LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/gabrieleciminelli/ Keywords: Meaning of Life Interviews | meaning of life conversations | exploring life | big life questions | meaning of life discussions | creating a meaningful life | |||
| What is a Good Life? #53 - A Path To Conscious Parenting with Yvonne Smyth | 16 Jan 2024 | 01:03:54 | |
On the 53rd episode of the What is a Good Life? podcast, I am delighted to introduce our guest, Yvonne Smyth. Yvonne calls herself a Conscious Parenting Adventure Guide, and she's on a mission to change the world by bringing intention to how we love our children. She's launching a course and community in February, This Is How We Change The World, that you can access through this instagram link. In this conversation, Yvonne takes us on her journey from her own frustrations with her experiences as a parent to exploring the unconscious and developing her own model for what’s important in her life: tending to herself, embodying love, and impacting the world through conscious parenting. We touch on many important themes, from exploring the unconscious and the beliefs and stories we tell ourselves based on the behaviour of a child, to interpreting all behaviour as communication, enabling children to fulfil their own blueprint, along with the significance of giving them our time, attention, and presence. While acknowledging our humanity and flaws, we explore the process of rupture and repair within our relationships, the significance of heartfelt apologies, and the importance of empathising with children while taking accountability for our actions. Culminating in a beautiful realisation that conscious parenting is more about growing ourselves up than our children. If you are presently struggling with parenting or other close relationships, this episode will touch on a substantial number of themes that may be ripe for you to explore. Yvonne’s insights and very relatable experiences will help guide you towards the potential of better parenting and relating generally with others in your life. 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 programs or to hear about corporate workshops I am offering around this question. Running Order: 03:30 How do I tend to myself, embody love, and change the world?
- 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/ - Yvonne's Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/thisparentingadventure/ - Yvonne's LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/yvonne-smyth-009645a/ Keywords: Meaning of Life Interviews | meaning of life conversations | exploring life | big life questions | meaning of life discussions | creating a meaningful life | |||
| What is a Good Life? #52 - A Journey Toward Co-Flourishing with Martin Ebeling | 09 Jan 2024 | 00:59:34 | |
On the 52nd episode of the What is a Good Life? podcast, I am thrilled to introduce our guest, Martin Ebeling. Martin is a philosopher and the co-director of The School of Life Berlin. He is also the co-founder of the Pura Vida Festival Retreat. You can also follow his journey toward and exploration of co-flourishing on The Co-flourishing Project, where he writes under his alias Ocean. In this deeply insightful conversation, we delve into Martin’s exploration of the meaning of life and his shifting from a lone wolf to his fascination with co-flourishing. He shares how his recent insights on co-flourishing unfolded after a personal retreat in nature and silence, shedding light on valuable lessons we can draw from those experiences. We explore what has resonated with him in his research on co-flourishing, encompassing the practices he observed at the Zen monastery, Plum Village. Here, monks consistently share both their wonder in existence and their experiences with difficult emotions. Additionally, we touch on the neuroscience that suggests it takes more than one human brain to create a human mind and we reflect on the interdependent nature of our being. I found this conversation to be highly illuminating. We discuss numerous themes that can guide you toward leading a more connected life—connecting with yourself, fostering meaningful relationships with others, and cultivating a deeper connection with the world around you. 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 programs or to hear about corporate workshops I am offering around this question. Running Order: 03:35 How can we co-flourish? 07:34 We are part of an interdependent reality 12:30 The lonely wolf and ego 17:30 Finding clarity and courage in silence and nature 22:30 Viewing other humans as expression of nature and life 26:55 What does co-flourishing entail? 31:30 The importance of listening and awareness 37:45 The need to consistently share our emotions 42:45 The neuroscience of co-flourishing 49:30 Feeling an aliveness and trust 56:10 What is a good life for Martin? 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/ - Martin's / Ocean's newsletter: https://coflourishing.substack.com/ - Pura Vida Festival Retreat: https://www.puravida-festival.com/ - Martin's LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/martin-ebeling-9322222/ Keywords: Meaning of Life Interviews | meaning of life conversations | exploring life | big life questions | meaning of life discussions | creating a meaningful life | |||
| What is a Good Life? #51 - Space For The Unknown with Richard Merrick | 02 Jan 2024 | 01:03:09 | |
On the 51st episode of the What is a Good Life? podcast, I am delighted to introduce Richard Merrick as our guest. Richard is a writer, who after decades of working inside the walls of convention, writes about the journey from working for others to finding our own path outside those walls, and supports small groups as they make theirs by walking with them. In this conversation, we explore the conditions that Richard incorporates into conversation groups to heighten connection, authenticity, an engagement with the unknown, and what is. We delve into the importance of letting go of being right, not having set objectives and agendas, disengaging to reengage, and turning up as who we are. We discuss the value of engaging with the unknown for building trust, our ability to make discoveries, for making real human connection, and for the melting of the old to form the new. We also explore the role the artisan plays in ushering in the new. For this project or otherwise, Richard is one of the wisest people I’ve talked to, typified by consistently reading 3 books a week for 50 years and his continued willingness to engage with not knowing in various aspects of life. There is so much to take from this episode regarding how you engage with other people, yourself, and life itself, and it may considerably alter your perspective on how you approach your various relationships, be it at work or in your personal life.
Contact me at mark@whatisagood.life to book a free consultation (30 minutes) for one-on-one coaching programs or to hear about corporate workshops I am offering around this question. Running Order: 02:41 Sacred spaces for us to share our perspective and experiences in groups 10:26 The formation of conversation groups in lockdown 14:31 Being performative creates boundaries between us 18:41 Conversations that leave you energised and play 22:16 Taking time to disengage to reengage 27:31 Fear of the unknown, rigidly following plans 32:58 How did Richard begin to engage with the unknown? 36:28 The freedom of being ourselves 40:46 Empty spaces and the potential of creation and connection 43:16 Not focussing on outcomes 47:42 Artisans at the centre of epochal change and disruption 52:14 The importance of accepting & acknowledging what is 58:26 What is a good life for Richard? 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/ - Richard's website: https://www.richardmerrick.co.uk/ - Richard's newsletter: https://www.newartisans.net/ Keywords: Meaning of Life Interviews | meaning of life conversations | exploring life | big life questions | meaning of life discussions | creating a meaningful life | |||
| What is a Good Life? #50 - Parenting, Meaning & Community with Claire McQuillan | 28 Dec 2023 | 01:02:26 | |
On the 50th episode of the What is a Good Life? podcast, I am delighted to introduce Claire McQuillan as our guest. Claire is currently completing a master’s thesis in architecture, where she explores the dynamics of sex work in urban settings. Additionally, she shares her life insights and experiences through a newsletter I follow, alles claire. During our conversation, Claire reveals her recent realisation that she isn’t an architect despite a decade of studying and working in the field. We delve into the intricate process of letting go of roles or labels we self-identify with, exploring both what helps and hinders us in these experiences. Claire also shares her journey as a 30-year-old single mother to her teenage son, Sebastian. We discuss the joys and strains of parenting, finding meaning and purpose, and the societal pressures that generally accompany the role of a parent. Finally, we explore the significance of local neighbourhood community. Claire and I both reside in the same Berlin neighbourhood, and we reflect on the profound impact of a fully connected local community on our lives. Whether you find yourself grappling with letting go of self-identifications, navigating the complexities of parenting amidst societal pressures, or simply curious about fostering more local community in your life, this episode offers ample food for thought. 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 programs or to hear about corporate workshops I am offering around this question. Running Order: 03:25 What is my place in the world? 05:45 The difficulty of stepping away from what we identify with 09:30 The significance of our environment in the choices we make 17:35 Being a mother, finding meaning, purpose, and priorities 26:05 The importance of communication and curiosity in our children 28:45 Reflections on experiences of being a teenage mum 34:45 Giving ourselves grace in parenting in the face of societal pressures 42:18 The importance of open communication and community 45:00 Experiences of loneliness and building community 52:07 The impact of a connected neighbourhood 58:56 What is a good life for Claire? 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/ - Claire's newsletter: https://allesklaire.substack.com/ Keywords: Meaning of Life Interviews | meaning of life conversations | exploring life | big life questions | meaning of life discussions | creating a meaningful life | |||
| What is a Good Life? #49 - Creating More Headspace with Dean Boland | 19 Dec 2023 | 00:58:43 | |
On the 49th episode of the What is a Good Life? podcast, I am delighted to introduce Dean Boland as our guest. Dean is a Co-Founder and CEO of PolkaStays, a property developer, investor, and serviced accommodation consultant. In this episode, Dean shares his experience of the toll that several of his corporate jobs were having on his well-being before stepping into something new. We discuss what kept him in the same loop of doing something he knew wasn’t good for him. We explore our desire to do what’s “normal” and the role societal expectations play in our lives. Additionally, we delve into the importance of self-reflection and therapy in creating more headspace, as well as spending more time on things that bring us more fulfillment. We both reflect on narratives we have sold ourselves, the pain that can be perpetuated when we don’t explore it ourselves, and the role of hope and the people around us in creating welcome change. I assume Dean’s experience in the corporate world will resonate with many, and while this isn’t a prescription for anyone else’s life, his journey of creating more time for reflection and inquiry, as well as the consequent changes in his life, will give you plenty 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 programs or to hear about corporate workshops I am offering for more authentic communication and connection. Running Order: 02:35 Why do we keep doing things that don’t make us happy? 07:05 What kept Dean stuck in a loop of work he didn’t like? 11:20 The importance of continuously checking in with ourselves 16:35 Creating the space to reflect 22:16 Finding a sense of fulfilment 28:20 The feeling of emptiness or a weight on our souls 33:35 Opening up to therapy 37:35 Realising what you are repressing and holding 42:35 Perpetuating pain / importance of self-work 47:35 Seeing the impact of personal change 53:45 Summary of the conversation 56:00 What is a good life for Dean?
- 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/ - Dean's website: https://www.polkastays.net/ - Dean's LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/dean-boland-polkastays/
| |||
| What is a Good Life? #93 - Building Collective Community with Kemo Camara | 22 Oct 2024 | 01:01:06 | |
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.
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.com
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 Introduction 06:20 What do people in my life say about me? 10:30 What is fundamentally important 14:50 Family, elders, and respect 19:50 Giving trust and possibilities 27:20 Building community in other countries 35:00 Realising what matters most 40:50 Paying attention to the life’s feedback 44:50 Speaking to people as humans at work 47:35 The journey to building new leaders & community 54:05 Bringing all of who we are 57:05 What is a good life for Kemo? Keywords: Meaning of Life Interviews | meaning of life conversations | exploring life | big life questions | meaning of life discussions | creating a meaningful life | |||
| What is a Good Life? #48 - Making Space For Meaning with Dr. Brennan Jacoby | 12 Dec 2023 | 01:02:32 | |
On the 48th episode of the What is a Good Life? podcast, I am delighted to introduce Dr. Brennan Jacoby as our guest. Brennan is a Philosopher and the Founder of Philosophy At Work, a collective of philosophers and business psychologists teaching professionals the skills they need to think their best. In this episode, we explore making space for meaning in our lives without forcing it. We delve into various tensions, from wanting to make the most of life to vegging out, accepting ourselves without lowering our standards, and balancing the time spent building a career with the need to invest in personal relationships. Additionally, we discuss the limitations of various philosophies when taken to their fullest interpretation, the importance of realising the subjective nature of our experiences, and the necessity of reflection to understand what we are projecting onto life. Throughout the conversation, we emphasise the profound significance of caring, noticing, and orienting towards a better life. For some reason, I found this conversation very cathartic. Brennan possesses a wonderful capacity to engage in a genuine conversation and an exploration while referencing philosophical concepts and sharing grounded, relatable personal examples. If you are anything like me, this episode will make you feel more comfortable with being human and navigating the tensions and experiences inherent in the pursuit of your own good life.
Contact me at mark@whatisagood.life to book a free consultation (30 minutes) for one-on-one coaching programs or to hear about corporate workshops I am offering around this question. Running Order: 02:22 How should I live? 05:39 Making sense of our distractions 09:13 Making space for meaning 15:06 You can’t force meaning 19:16 A good life is everything in it 23:56 Letting go of fixed states and answers 28:16 There may not be a “right” answer but it can be “better” 32:04 Living with care and noticing 39:36 Being OK with everything 46:00 Navigating our imperfection 52:01 Acceptance without lowering the bar 57:46 What is a good life for Brennan?
- 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/ - Brennan's website: https://philosophyatwork.co.uk/ - Brennan's LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/dr-brennan-jacoby-51807790/
| |||
| What is a Good Life? #47 - Exploring Loneliness & Community with Monika Jiang | 05 Dec 2023 | 01:02:33 | |
On the 47th episode of the What is a Good Life? podcast, I'm delighted to introduce Monika Jiang as our guest. Monika, a writer, curator, and community builder, currently focuses on exploring loneliness as a uniquely shared experience with the potential to bring us closer together.
We delve into the nuances of loneliness, whether it's related to feeling a lack of community or connection, being alone in our perspectives on the world, or experiencing solitude in our inner worlds.
If you are like so many who are experiencing a greater sense of loneliness, this episode explores numerous perspectives on a theme that is only growing more synonymous with modern life. While we also share many insights, anecdotes, and experiences for building both more connection and community in your life.
Contact me at mark@whatisagood.life to book a free consultation (30 minutes) for one-on-one coaching programs or to hear about corporate workshops I am offering around this question. Running Order: 02:25 How do we move from I to we? 05:15 We are contributing to our own loneliness 08:55 The quality and depth of relationships 14:00 The absurdity of general dialogue 18:25 The division and loneliness of our politics 24:15 The paradox of our interconnectedness and loneliness 31:20 What we are missing 35:30 The impact of building local community 40:55 Sometimes it’s just saying hello 47:05 Starting the conversation around loneliness 50:00 Experiences, expressions and nuances of loneliness 57:45 What is a good life for Monika?
- 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/ - Monika's website: https://www.monikajiang.org/ - Monika's Newsletter: https://sharingloneliness.substack.com/ Keywords: Meaning of Life Interviews | meaning of life conversations | exploring life | big life questions | meaning of life discussions | creating a meaningful life | |||
| What is a Good Life? #46 - Love, Attention & Creativity with Dave Zaboski | 28 Nov 2023 | 00:58:20 | |
On the 46th episode of the What is a Good Life? podcast, I'm delighted to introduce Dave Zaboski as our guest. Dave is a classically trained painter, was an animator at Disney, Sony, and Warner Bros., has showcased his fine art at galleries internationally, and has painted for the Dalai Lama. While his work includes timeless films like “Beauty and the Beast,” “The Lion King,” “Aladdin,” he has also illustrated several acclaimed children’s books. In this episode, Dave tells us why attention is our most valuable commodity and discusses the connection between love, attention, creativity, and interdependence. We also explore the role of acknowledging and processing grief and its importance in creating something new, and moving on from anger. Dave also delves into the immense power of our storytelling and touches on the collective shifts we can accomplish through our stories. He also points to the universal laws of creativity and what we can extrapolate from them regarding life.
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 programs or to hear about corporate workshops I am offering around this question. Running Order: 02:30 Love & Attention
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/ - Dave's website: https://www.laetro.com - Dave's LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/davezaboski/ Keywords: Meaning of Life Interviews | meaning of life conversations | exploring life | big life questions | meaning of life discussions | creating a meaningful life | |||
| What is a Good Life? #45 - Developing Emotional Intelligence with Teresa Quinlan | 21 Nov 2023 | 01:07:53 | |
On the 45th episode of the What is a Good Life? podcast, I'm delighted to introduce our guest, Teresa Quinlan - an Emotional Intelligence Coach and co-author of the book You Belong Here. In this episode, we dive into Teresa's lifelong exploration of the question "is that me?" We explore practical aspects like expanding our emotional vocabulary, the importance of paying attention to our emotions by observing and naming them, and discuss accountability for our actions and emotional responses. Furthermore, we tackle the significant topic of knowing and communicating our boundaries, emphasising the balance needed to prevent emotions from running wild. We also take a moment to reflect on the compassion and importance of acknowledging and accepting the changes in each other over time, instead of clinging to outdated models of ourselves and others. Teresa also shares a personal example of applying these insights to bring about a profound shift in her relationship with her mother - a story that will hold relevance for many listeners. If you're grappling with understanding and managing your emotions or find yourself continuously caught up in emotional reactions, this episode provides plenty of insights, thoughtful ideas to ponder, and practical exercises to experiment with towards crafting your own version of a good life. 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 programs or to hear about corporate workshops I am offering around this question. Running Order: 03:00 Is that me? Or something I’ve learned to be 06:20 Can we be more malleable and compassionate with ourselves 12:00 The benefits of being selfish 16:50 Cultivating self-love and self-worth 21:50 The importance of emotional vocabulary 27:03 Developing greater emotional awareness 35:23 The challenge of cultivating change 40:29 Developing autonomy and support for our emotional reactions 43:30 Profound emotional shifts with her mother 49:05 Defending our boundaries with a firmness 55:41 Inspiring or evoking change in others with our own change 59:34 Acknowledging change in others 1:04:40 Summary of the key themes discussed 1:05:50 What is a good life for Teresa? 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/ - Teresa's website: https://www.iqeqtq.com/ - Teresa's LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/teresaquinlan12/ Keywords: Meaning of Life Interviews | meaning of life conversations | exploring life | big life questions | meaning of life discussions | creating a meaningful life | |||