Poema Podcast

Poema S7 030 | Maria French on the Pandemic, Church, Certainty & The New Normal

Today my beloved friend Maria French joins me for a discussion on the post-pandemic world and it it will impact culture, our day to day lives and the church. 
We dive deep into the concept of the 'new normal', and discuss the myth that our lives will ever 'go back to normal' and how people and even institutions may try, unsuccessfully, to act like the pandemic never happened. We also talk about how people may try to find a new form of certainty, to try and avoid dealing with the collective trauma we've experienced.
Finally, we discuss  what the post-pandemic world will look like for the church, and how it will need to adapt and change, to stay both accessible and relevant as the world moves forward.

Poema S7 029 | Grief Stories: J Elizabeth Hanson

Today I'm joined on the podcast by J Elizabeth Hanson. She shares with us the story of losing her son to suicide several years ago and how this impacted both her and her family.
J Elizabeth talks about how her experience of processing and carrying grief, and how this led her to do work alongside others grieving.
She talks about the work she does in giving people processing loss practices and rituals which allow them to process grief in a healthier way, alongside the vital work of professional therapy, and how often creativity can play a part in the healing process. 
 

Poema S7 028 | Lisa Delay on The Wild Land Within

Today, podcaster and author Lisa Delay joins me to talk about navigating 'The Wild Land Within' - doing the internal work of healing and spiritual transformation. 
She shares with us the power of spiritual & liturgical practice to navigate our inner world, and, alongside therapy, to help us explore and process what we're carrying inside. Lisa gives examples of healthy spiritual practices which, alongside support from mental health professionals, can allow us to confront, manage or process our grief and pain, which can lead us to deeper encounters with the divine and aid our spiritual formation. 
Lisa also reminds us of the importance of naming and confronting our internal terrain, our grief and trauma, and doing the work of healing and transformation. 
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Lisa's book 'The Wild Land Within', where she explores these issues more, is available now at all online booksellers. 

Poema S7 027 | Sarah Robinson on Loving Jesus but Wanting to Die

Today, author Sarah Robinson joins me to talk about depression, mental illness and faith, as she discusses in her new book "I Love Jesus and I Want To Die".
Sarah tells her own powerful story of growing up with depression in the context of traditional evangelical Christianity, and the challenges she faced in naming and getting support as she faced these challenges. 
Sarah talks about bad experiences with 'Christian counselling', and the importance of finding a good therapist and building a healthy support network. She also discusses practices those of us struggling with any kind of mental illness can use to help us as we live with our condition. 
And finally, Sarah and I explore how we can have healthy expressions of faith whilst also living with mental illness, and how and why the church needs to become a safe space for mental illness. 

Poema S7 026 | Abby Norman on the Power of Lament

Today Abby Norman returns to the podcast to talk about the importance and transformative, healing power of lament - as she discusses in her new book "You Can Talk to God Like That". 
We talk about the importance of naming our pain, feeling our pain, and giving voice to the grief and trauma we carry. We explore how naming our pain and lamenting it, actually robs it of its power, and opens up the pathway to healing. 
We also talk about how lament and naming our pain, allows us to find deeper connection to ourselves, to each other, and to the divine. 
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'You Can Talk To God Like That' releases May 18th in all formats in the US & on Kindle / Audiobook in the UK, and in paperback in the UK on July 20th.

Poema S7 025 | Jenna DeWitt on Taylor Swift, Identity & The Enneagram

In the second in our short 'Taylor Swift' themed podcast series, my friend Jenna DeWitt joins me to discuss Taylor Swift's story and music in the context of identity and the Enneagram. 
We go through Taylor's career and see how her music reflected her own personal journey into discovering and owning her own power and voice, and what we notice about her personality type - Enneagram 3 w 4 - through this journey. 
Jenna shares her own personal experience growing up with Taylor's music, being a similar age and personality type, and how it connected to her own growth and empowerment. I also share how Taylor's music has connected with me on my journey, as a 4w5. 
This episode again touches on how music can connect with us so personally at different stages of our journeys, and how we find our own stories through the art and stories given to us by master storytellers like Taylor. 

Poema S7 024 | Heather Thompson Day on Taylor Swift & The Art of Storytelling

This week we're doing a short series of Taylor Swift-linked podcasts. In today's episode, we examine Taylor's journey as a storyteller, as told through her music. 
Heather and I explore the art of storytelling, and how Taylor has perfected and practiced this through her musical career.
We also discuss the power of sharing our stories in our art and why good stories are so compelling, and where our own stories have connected with Taylor's work. 
This episode is a great insight into the power of story, what makes great art, and how we can find ourselves through sharing and hearing stories. 

Poema S7 023 | Jay Bakker on Faith, Doubt & Transformation

Today my guest is the inspiring author and speaker Jay Bakker. In this episode, recorded in July 2020, he shares his own powerful story of personal and spiritual transformation.
He shares more about the trauma, grief, and losses he's experienced and how they impacted his life, theology and faith, as well as the mental health challenges he's faced. 
We explore how the things Jay experienced changed his perspective on spirituality, Christianity and the church. We also discuss the potential impact of the pandemic, as we experience a collective grief and trauma.
It's a powerful and inspiring story, and well worth a listen.

Poema S7 022 | Our Grief Stories: Amanda Held Opelt

In this episode I'm honoured to be joined by Amanda Held Opelt, to share her stories of grief. 
Amanda shares her experiences of grief, from losing a beloved grandmother, miscarriage, and the death of her sister Rachel Held Evans.
She tenderly and honestly shares the impact grief has had on her life and faith, the questions it raised, how it's shaped her own journey - and we talk about how we as a culture, and individuals, need to develop healthier rituals to name and process our grief. 
(This episode was shared with Amanda's consent). 

Poema S7 021 | Our Grief Stories: J. A. Browne

Today a new on-off series 'Our Grief Stories' begins with author J. A. Browne telling the story of the loss of her mother in 2015, and then her dad in 2019, how she experienced grief, her reaction, and the lessons she learned. 
She tells us how she learned how we experience life differently through the lens of loss, and how the loss of a parent is a very particular, and very painful type of grief. She tells us the physical, emotional and bodily trauma responses.
In talking about this I resonated and shared a bit of my own journey, as we found shared experiences and reactions to the loss of a parent, how life changes, how it influences our life choices, and how we have both discovered healthy ways to process and manage our grief.