Anyone who's ever tried to create something beautiful or important must at times withdraw from everyday life to get the work done, whether that means getting up an hour early every day to write or going on a solo retreat. But how far would you go in pursuit of your art? Whatever your answer, today's guest is about to blow your mind and inspire you to go further than you ever thought possible.
Deanne Whalen is an award-winning Canadian filmmaker, photographer, author, and public speaker. In her documentary films and their accompanying books, she specializes in telling intimate stories from extreme locations. For her first film, This Land, she snowmobiled across the high Arctic. Then she embedded herself in the climbing community on Mount Everest for 40 days at base camp. For her latest film, 500 Days in the Wild, Deanne spent six years traversing the entire 24,000 kilometers of Canada's land and water trails from sea to sea to sea.
In this episode, you'll learn:
- All about her incredible adventure—how she navigated, charged her emergency devices, survived several moments of life-threatening danger (bears! storms!), and more.
- The wisdom traditions that indigenous communities generously shared with her along the way.
- How mindfully reconnecting with nature made her feel safer and more connected to other human beings, as well.
- How the journey affected her relationships—and eventually led to finding love on the trail.
- Her process of adapting 800 hours of footage into a documentary that has gotten distribution with Paramount Plus in Canada and a full Canadian theatrical release, including how she financed everything.
For more, check out:
500daysinthewild.com
maggielangrick.com
wonderwell.press
And follow:
instagram.com/500daysinthewild
instagram.com/diannewhelanphotos
instagram.com/maggielangrick
instagram.com/wonderwellpress
instagram.com/selfishgiftpodcast
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