Welcome!

April 20, 2021 ​ Welcome Friends!! We have created this entity to expand on an ongoing conversation. Importantly, a conversation must have MULTIPLE SIDES. We are relying on YOU. You'll find in this podcast, we ask a question and then several more. You'll hear us call on experts and friends as teachers. After that, it's your turn! The truth is not static, it is "in the ongoing conversation". Parker Palmer said that, and it makes the most sense of just about anything I've been told regarding truth. ​ And I'll tell you right out of the gate something that bugs me! (So we can dispense quickly with small talk.) I hate it when people say this: It's Not Personal. I've noticed that people mostly say this to excuse offensive behavior. Sometimes I will be short with someone or say more than I should. But if that's a problem, well, it's your fault for taking it so personally. Well...I'm...a...person! We also glorify making it personal, personalizing it, adding a personal touch (when it sells well). So what I would like to say about this is just that we ARE people. And only people have these questions about truth. So let's be people--vulnerable and feeling and imperfect and curious. And let's acknowledge that the person on the other side of the conversation is people too and, as such, deserves our highest respect. ​ There is a sanskrit word that is used (maybe over-used) in a lot of western yoga. Without exploiting that ancient language from which we derive an insurmountable mountain of yogic knowledge, I'm sharing this word here because it applies. The word NAMASTE is a greeting. It means, "I bow to you". When we speak beautiful language like this, it teaches us about beauty. One might say, "namaste" is the precise opposite of "nothing personal". In a single word, it acknowledges and reveres the personhood of the being to whom you say it. ​ And I think that is a good starting point. Namaste. ​ Mara Hesed