Poema Podcast

Poema S5 023 | Jessica Kantrowitz Loves Writing & The Enneagram

My beloved friend Jessica Kantrowitz joins me on the podcast for the first time. Jessica is a prolific writer, and her first book 'The Long Night' just went to pre-order! Today we talk about her book and the creative process behind the it, and about depression and mental health, before moving into another topic Jessica - the enneagram.
Jessica unpacks with great insight what the enneagram is, what it means, and how we can understand it better. We explore our own 'numbers' and see just how accurate the enneagram can be, what it can tell us about ourselves, and how it can help us in work and relationships. 
This was such a fun podcast to record, and I know you're gonna really enjoy it. And if you want more insight to the enneagram, it's definitely worth a listen!
(Pre-Order Jessica’s book now, right here)

Poema S5 022 | Christine Sine on Creativity & The Gift of Wonder

Author Christine Sine joins me today, to talk about the divine nature of creativity. We discuss how to find joy in creativity, how the divine intended creativity to be fun, to be an adventure - and how we can explore this in all aspects of life, as well as our art. 
Christine shares how her creativity has deepened her spiritual journey and helped her to see a side to the divine which has a sense of fun, mischief, adventure and pure joy - creating for its own sake, for the joy of creating. She also explores how the creative process can be therapeutic, and improve our mental and emotional health. Christine argues as we explore this side of the divine we find it more in ourselves, and this helps our own creativity and connection to the divine, ourselves, and the divine creation we are part of. 
Christine has so much wisdom, on creativity, the divine journey and so much more. Her book 'The Gift of Wonder' is available now wherever books are sold.

Poema S5 021 | Shawn Smucker on Light From Distant Stars

I'm delighted to welcome back author Shawn Smucker to the podcast today. Shawn has written and published several books, and his latest novel 'Light from Distant Stars' has just been released. 
Today we discuss the novel, the message of the book and the creative process of writing a novel. We also explore the challenges and the experience of writing a novel, as opposed to a non-fiction book, how our creativity and stories we tell there often reflect parts of our own journey, and how the process of writing and creating can change us. 
Shawn always speaks with such incredible wisdom and experience on writing and the creative process, and there's lessons here for all of us involved in the act of creating art.
'Lights From Distant Stars' is available now wherever books are sold.

Poema S5 020 | Brandan Robertson & The Gospel of Inclusion

I'm delighted to welcome back my beloved friend Brandan Robertson this week. Brandan is a pastor, author and advocate for LGBTQ inclusion in culture and spiritual communities, and today we talk about his most recent book,  'The Gospel Of Inclusion'. 
We discuss his examination and interpretation of Biblical passages often used to condemn homosexuality, and how these have been misunderstood and taken out of context - and what their original meaning probably was. We also explore how we can build more inclusive spiritual communities, what true inclusion really means, and why it's at the heart of the message of Jesus. 
Brandan has so much wisdom and insight, and is doing such great work. His book, 'The Gospel Of Inclusion' is available now!

Poema S5 019 | Felicity Morse, Life Coach

My friend Felicity Morse returns to the show today. She's an author, life coach and former journalist. Today she shares a bit of her own story, and how she found freedom and a healthier life more in tune with who she really was.
She talks about some of the common issues she encounters in life coaching and how we can overcome them - issues of fear, shame, identity, relationships and vocation, and shares some experiences, practices and lessons she's learned about how we can engage with these issues in a healthy way, and have better mental and emotional health. 
Felicity has great insight, wisdom and compassion, and is such fun to talk to, I know you're gonna love this episode. 

Poema S5 018 | Sarah Heath & The Authenticity Challenge

Today my friend Sarah Heath returns to the show, in an episode recorded live in her home. In this episode we talk about what it means to live a truly authentic life, and how that impacts our relationships with ourselves, with others, and with God.
Sarah shares some lessons and challenges she's explored which have helped her connect better with her trueset self, and live a life more true to who she is. These included giving up social media for a full week (or more), looking at yourself in the mirror and loving who you are, practicing mindfulness and reminding yourself of those who love you, who you know you can trust and will be there when you need them.
Sarah shares how these challenges impacted he and what he life looks like having explored these challenges. And finds she is living a more honest life, more herself than ever before. And she believes these challenges can do the same for all of us.
*****
You can explore more of these in Sarah's latest book - 'The Authenticity Challenge: 21 Days To A More Content Life', available wherever books are sold.

Poema S5 017 | Alia Joy on Glorious Weakness

Author Alia Joy joins me on the podcast today, to share her powerful story. It's a story of grief, loss, illness, mental health and weakness - but also a story of love, joy and transformation.
It's a story of how things don't always work out how we want, they don't always end well, and life isn't always easy - but of how these experiences and stories don't take us away from the divine, but actually draw us closer. 
Alia shares her story with great courage and honesty, and it's truly inspirational. It's a story of glorious weakness. 

Poema S5 016 | Maria Francesca French on Spiritual Community, Fundamentalism & Transcendence

Today I'm joined by Maria Francesca French, teacher of things Christian and post Christian and faith futurist. Maria is director of Hatchery LA and runs the No More Circles project. 
In this episode we explore how what spiritual community looks like needs to change and evolve in the 21st century, the problems with the very concept of belief, as well as the issue of fundamentalism in both conservative and progressive Christianity. We discuss how we can find healthy spiritual community and how we need to not just change the how of belief, but ditch the idea of belief itself, and adopt what Maria calls a 'transcendent' approach. 
Maria has so much wisdom, insight, knowledge and personal experience of these topics, and hers is a voice worth paying attention to. Take a listen!

Poema S5 015 | Marc Alan Schelske on The Wisdom of Your Heart

Today I'm joined by author and pastor Marc Alan Schelske, to discuss the purpose and and power of our emotions. 
We discuss how emotions are a God given gift, a source of wisdom and guidance - not something to be avoided. We explore examples of Jesus demonstrating emotions, both positive and negative, and what they can teach us about leaning into our emotions.
We also explore what recent research into our how brains work tells us about our emotions, and their purpose and meaning.
And finally we examine how we can pay more attention to our emotions, our behaviour and our bodies to understand what's really going in inside of us, and take practical action. 
 

Poema S5 014 | Becky Castle Miller on Jesus' Emotional Health

Becky Castle Miller returns to the show today, and we discuss, in essence, the basic humanity of Jesus. We explore the journey of Jesus through the lens of his own emotional and mental health. 
Becky and I explore several stories of Jesus where he experiences grief, loss, trauma, doubt and fear. The loss of Lazarus, the loss of his earthly father, the social stigma he likely faced growing up, even from members of his own family - and how this impacted Jesus. We look at the human side of familiar stories, and find that as we do, it completely switches them on their head and brings them alive.
As Becky and I explore discuss the human Jesus, we find that it's his essential humanity which makes him divine.