Written, Spoken with Dave Ursillo

Paul Jarvis has been working on the Internet for 20 years, starting out as a web designer and helping shape brands and projects for titans of industry, sports icons, and global brands. 

But 10 years ago when he and his wife decided to leave city living — and the fast, busy lifestyle that came with it — behind, Paul reconnected with his true goals as a business owner: staying small, and not getting sucked into the trap of thinking th...

Farnoosh Brock grew up in Iran during the Iranian Revolution, immigrated with her family to the United States as a child, and became an electrical engineer and rising leader at a Fortune 100 company. But her self-described boredom -- and a challenge from her husband to attend a blogging conference in 2010 -- spun her life into an entirely new direction. 

Today, Farnoosh is a consultant, executive coach, author, speaker and trainer w...

In this interview, you'll learn Coby's definition of yoga, which defies notions of stretchy pants, sweaty workout rooms, and downward-facing dogs. Instead, Coby introduces us to a personal philosophy for engaging with and living your life in stronger integrity to your own sense of inner wisdom. 

Coby and I discuss her yoga teaching career, how a life-changing injury redefined her understanding of yoga in her 20s, and much mo...

In this interview, you'll hear how Amy's background as a YouTube influencer with over 24 million views has inspired her to help people ditch social media "scroll envy" to instead begin to discover the lives that they want, beginning with every morning.

Amy and I discuss her story, how her mission has evolved over 10 years, and much more:

In this interview, you'll hear about Coss's journey as a former cocaine dealing kingpin in Manhattan's Lower East Side who, while incarcerated, received a proverbial death sentence when doctors told him that he had only 5 years to live if he didn't lose weight. 

Today, Coss hustles prison-style bootcamps, employs only formerly incarcerated personal trainers, and has served up fitness and wellness classes to more than...

In our interview, you'll learn how Marcello's journey began as a backpacking writer without a plan before eventually becoming a multi-award-winning author who works on the front lines of major and overlooked conflict zones throughout the world to affect social change.

Marcello and I discuss the author's relationship to writing in-depth, including what it means to "make change" in a world divided by walls, and muc...

Jennifer Louden kicks off Season 2 of 'Written, Spoken' by reading an excerpt from her new book, 'Why Bother: Discover the Desire for What’s Next', and then joins Dave Ursillo for an interview about her book and creative journey.

You'll hear how Jen's new book was born of an 11-year journey of not publishing a thing, what it felt like for her book coach to tell her that her memoir wasn't working, and what...

10 years ago, I quit my job. Today, I understand that I left my first career behind for beginnings, not endings.

Episode 10 of 'Written, Spoken' concludes Season 1 of the podcast with an honest reflection on endings and beginnings, including how some external or career goals become fixations when the real work required is subtle, vulnerable inner work, instead.

Thanks for listening to 'Written, Spoken'! Please remem...

A story from 7th grade reminded me that the nature of all language is fluid -- despite what some people suggest when they complain about "political correctness."

Episode 9 of 'Written, Spoken' hits back at the mythology that implies a governing body of intellectuals deems what words are, and are not, acceptable to describe groups of people. Why language will never stop moving and evolving, and why that's a good ...

It would be dangerously misleading to assume that "learning from what you're avoiding the most" is as simple as making a long list of things that we've been avoiding, and stopping avoiding those things. It's not the case.

Episode 8 of 'Written, Spoken' downloads a four-step process for understanding if what you're avoiding really deserves deeper examination, questioning, analysis, or confronting.

Tha...

According to the Comprehensive Dictionary of Psychoanalysis, the phrase "writer's block" was first invented by a psychoanalyst named Edmund Bergler in 1947. Today, a quick Internet search on “writer’s block” yields more than 31 million results.

Episode 7 of 'Written, Spoken' reveals the story behind the story of "writer's block", and why writers everywhere ought to stop telling this story.

Thanks for...

I learned a secret language on the streets of Paris during my recent travels there. Thankfully for my poor language-learning skills, this language only had one "word".

Episode 6 of 'Written, Spoken' illuminates a subtle language that would be so easy to overlook if you weren't paying close enough attention. But what a language like this says is far more than initial appearances.

Thanks for listening to 'Writ...

Months after the sight of the Boston Skyline sent me into a near panic attack, something changed. What, precisely, was it that did? Plus, have you ever made a difficult decision you know in your heart was right, but still regretted for months and months?

Episode 5 of 'Written, Spoken' continues where Episode 1 left off and shares thoughts on overcoming heartbreak by surrendering to it, and much more.

Please rate our show an...

Why is it so much easier to avoid than it is to confront what, deep down, we know is good for us? Behavioral scientists and ancient philosophers have struggled to answer why. Here's my best attempt.

Episode 4 of 'Written, Spoken' shares a true story about avoiding a letter that was in my possession for upward of 10 years, until now...

Please rate our show and leave a brief review on Apple Podcasts or wherever you subscr...

How do you recover when your innocent, natural, creative impulse to "make something" goes sideways? What do you do next when you get overwhelmed by your options? When you feel uncertain about where to begin? Do you give up before you even start?

Episode 3 of 'Written, Spoken' discusses what to do after your newfound creative impulse "betrays" you.

After my failed first attempt at amateur home baking (inspire...

What do you do when change catches you off-guard? Where do you put your energy? How do you figure out what to do next? How do you… simply survive? What do you do to heal? How do you keep going?

In Episode 2 of 'Written, Spoken' with Dave Ursillo, Dave explores how to survive the "other half" of the creative equation, destruction, which rears its ugly head whenever change enters your life. Whether you're going th...

Sometimes, you see change coming and it catches you by surprise, anyway. What do you do next?

Episode 1 of 'Written, Spoken' tells a personal story of transition born of heartbreak, uncertainty, and life changes familiar to all of us. Plus, what to remember and how to respond when the destructive side of change comes knocking.

Subscribe to 'Written, Spoken' wherever you get your podcasts to make sure you don't m...

Written, Spoken is a podcast in which the written word comes to life as the spoken word through the voices of the writers who wrote them. Created and hosted by writer, author, and teacher of creative self-expression Dave Ursillo (DaveUrsillo.com, UnavoidableWriting.com).

In Season 1 of Written, Spoken, you'll hear 10 personal narrative essays and human interest stories as they leap off the page and into your earbuds for the ver...