Wild and Precious Conversations

It’s snowing lightly and the sun’s last glow is obscured by mist. My teenager is practicing cello in a small, quaint cabin nearby while I meander in the woods and along the lakefront, stopping briefly on the dock to see if I can see any stars emerging.

I’m listening to a book by Iain McGilchrist called “The Master and His Emissary” and it’s in turns riveting and excruciatingly boring as he describes the dire straits we’re in.

Pre cel...

Welcome to another episode of Wild + Precious conversations — This week, a replay of our November 12, 2020 conversation with Lisa Richardson.

This week I had a chance to speak for the first time with Lisa Richardson, a writer based in Pemberton, British Columbia. Lisa’s writing moves me.

It would be wonderful if there were so much strategic planning around this project that I could honestly say that is why I asked her to talk about ...

Wendy here: This is kind of scary to be honest. Welcome. To another episode of wild and precious conversations.

An edited, abridged version of the podcast/video cast :) Yes, if you would like to actually look at someone very, very real, I uploaded this to YouTube.

But let’s start with that quote, that's often miss attributed to Voltaire. “I disagree wholeheartedly with what you say, but I will defend to my death, your right to say ...

Invited to have a conversation about the book “The Dawn of Everything”, Jean Russell did her level best to stay on topic. :) I did not help, mostly because her life’s work on Thrivability is so compelling.

A brief introduction of Jean: She has been passionate about co-creating a more thrivable world since 2007. <= How cool is that?!?

What I find intriguing is that she works as a social technologist and innovator.

Here, from her offic...

Welcome to a world of collaboration, consent, intimacy and deep rich relationships based on trust!

Erica Scott is a consent educator working hard to make consent culture a reality. I feel honored to share our converstaion with you. The book launch begins January 21, 2022, so I am going to make our show notes short this week, in order to get this episode out in time.

We discuss the collaboration in consent, the reason a “gatekeeper” r...

Welcome! Wow — 2022. This week I am sharing a short 20 minute episode riffing on what I have learned about effortlessness over the past few days. Specifically, incorporating Julia Gillmor’s Facebook Livestream on Resistance and Russell Brand’s YouTube video on Laziness.

Here is the script I read from for the podcast:

Hi - Wendy here - welcome to another episode of wild and precious conversations.

This week, a short interlude.

I have li...

Cultivating Humility. Huge growth potential if you can get comfortable being uncomfortable. (And I would add, let’s make the uncomfortable place as welcoming and inviting as possible.)

Joe Burgo’s website announced this course at the bottom of a blog post (as I recall). Marla Estes’ site was a humble outreach; I joined the class and am now an advocate for cultivating humility.

In fact, I chose to open 2022 with Cultivating Humility —...

Well, good morning! I recorded a new introduction to this, my second ever episode of this podcast. This morning as I was getting my coffee, I was overcome by a wave of hopelessness — things looked bleak.

The hopelessness rises when things seem certain — and that’s when I remembered that the one thing we can count on is change and uncertainty. And that gave rise to a bit of hope.

A few notes: I listented to a wonderful podcast episo...

Recovery — Stephanie Bonastia is an intuitive eating coach who thought she could never feel sane around food — that she was “broken” and unfixable…what she discovered and what she shares in our conversation and in her practice is life changing and hope full. From her website:

Life opens up to you. Creativity, passion, and purpose is a part of healing. Find what lights you up.

Our conversation covered classism, racism, shame — and pro...

Good Enough — Welcome to a Wild and Precious conversation replay where I tell a story about a “Good Enough” life and give some ideas for how you can get one of your own.

I forgot about using this photo. I needed one of me and took this with my phone as I was working. Why I look so surprised (and a little bemused, maybe?)

For this week — as my young adults return from school, my youngest is busy running from work to school to cello t...

Response — Rebecca Hunter went to Fairy Creek to help in the kitchen. While there, she saw sadistic, cruel and unnecessary violence on the part of people whose sole job is to protect and serve.

She saw this. Now what?

That’s what we’re talking about in this two-part episode of Wild and Precious Conversations.

This week we continue but focus on what we can do.

I’ve been noticing a lot of writing on staying numb. It’s nuanced. We don’t h...

Action — Rebecca Hunter went to Fairy Creek to help in the kitchen. The first morning there, RCMP raided the camp, arrested first only people of color (skipping over the young white women in the peaceful protest line) and wrecked havoc at the camp, taking pictures of their post-wrecking and lying to the public saying that the disarray was caused by the land defenders themselves, being the reason they needed to arrest them.

She saw a...

Otherness: What happens when we are bullied, isolated, left out and “othered” — let’s learn how to heal that part of us so we can move into “Togetherness”

I am so happy to have had a chance to talk with Dr. Stacee about her new book: The Healing Otherness Handbook.

Our conversation goes from speaking about how to muck around in the compost of our lives and do our small things to create more beauty — to how to free ourselves when we a...

Sustainability: Andrea and I know each other from homeschool days — we’ve seen each other at our most unsustainable and we’re still friends. Andrea runs a {gorgeous} sustainable lifestyle magazine called Trend Privé, so that is how this conversation started…

“The part that I think needs to be addressed is that it's totally okay to be overwhelmed and feel frustrated and really angry and hurt and sad that the powers that be have let u...

Organizing: We take on harm reduction, labour organizing, what happens if we succeed in dismantling capitalism, and why we need access to nature — Can we actually find labour that is not extractive but meaningful and fulfilling, and so. much. more!

So…next time you’re at Thanksgiving Dinner, why don’t you ask around and find out a little more about your cousins? Maybe you might have an activist sitting next to you?

My northern Califo...

Otherness: What happens when we are bullied, isolated, left out and “othered” — let’s learn how to heal that part of us so we can move into “Togetherness”

New month, new podcast episode! I am so happy to have had a chance to talk with Dr. Stacee about her new book: The Healing Otherness Handbook.

Our conversation goes from speaking about how to muck around in the compost of our lives and do our small things to create more beauty — to...

Flourish: To get to flourish, you start with learning how to care — for yourself, your work colleagues, your neighbour.

This episode marks our return to podcasting. Season 2 let’s call it. Beginning in February, I needed to take a break due to a family situation. If you want to learn more, I have written about it here.

Wild and Precious Conversations returns today, however, with a conversation that will fill you with tools, enthusias...

Refresh: I know I needed a refresh this week and so I am delighted to share this conversation with Reena Friedman Watts: Entrepreneur, podcaster, mom of four kids, wife, coach, community grower, storytelling junkie.

You’ll want to listen for the recurring chorus of fail better, keep doing your best, tell your story, your voice matters, shine on.

Reena’s podcast is called Better Call Daddy, and, yes, it turns out that her daddy is her...

Renwal: Our theme for the week led me to a new podcast series: “Loving the Unlovable” First up, a conversation with my sister, Tamara Brown. Her MA in Human Development is what got me to call her but it was our relationship as sisters that helped us talk about the unlovable.

What makes us lovable?

Why is that such a cringey question? My sister and I dive in, staying on the edges of her professional background as a child development ...