Piece of Mind: Recent Episodes
Daniel H Smith
An unfiltered and unapologetic exploration of topics relevant to the wonders and complexities of life, derived from the mind of a curious and over-analyzing undergrad. Topics include: A mathematical sequence that may or may not be the key to unifying literally everything in the universe -- The neurons in the brain that are the foundation of your ability to speak, empathize, and interact with the world -- Why Legos are the best thing ever -- The (not so) existential threat of climate change -- Why "chill" is the worst ever adjective to describe a person -- Dreams are like, craaazy man.
I am out of tune,
and yet still I make music.
Some thoughts and feels about heliocentrism, my friend who found love, our ailing world, and how my dad led me deeper into my heart.
"Everything is okay."
So I was takin a walk the otha day, and I stumble upon a plastic baggy fulla styrofoamy. STYROFOAMY! Someone's gotta do something about this.
So there I was at the dentist thinking to myself... what the heck are ya'll doin in there?
How come we got all these cavities? Cavities in the teeth, cavities in the culture, cavities in civic discourse. Tooth rot emotional rot ecological rot, the whole shabooey!
Listen along as I connect my cavity fillings with the broader erosion of our food systems, degradation of our personal divinity, and the breakdown of those bridges that connect us to each other, and to the stupefying beauty and nourishment of the lands with live in.
"The gravity of our collective depravity pokes holes in our hearts, call that cahdio cavity"
-- Toni R. Toni.
I'M ANGRY. TOO ANGRY TO HOLD IT ALL IN.
I'M ANGRY AT YOU. AT MYSELF. AT EVERYTHING. EVERYONE.
Please enjoy my pissed-off-poetryabout...
- culture
- religion
- myself
- family
- drugs
- MEN
- children
- LOVE
Have you ever dreaded winter and longed for summer! Same!
But what else is going on as our outfits and food specials change with the seasons? How might we expand our awareness and perspective on the nuances and alterations in the landscapes we inhabit, both physical and non-physical? Both external and internal?
Join me in broadening the scope of our seasonal appraisals. Join your body in the yearly challenge of surviving Life's most trying time of year. Is this winter going to be a land of wonder or waste?
Admittedly, I was late to the Adele train. But "I Drink Wine" off of her most recent album 30 has been one of my most listened to songs since it dropped. It's profound, nostalgic, introspective, simple, and melodic. It's a wonderful musical tune with so many important thoughts from one of the world's most renown musical stars. Adele reflects on herself, and the powers that be that have shaped and continue to shape her life thus far. It's relatability speaks for itself, and in this episode I talk about what it means to me, how I interpret some messages, and why I think you should add it to your playlist!!!!! Go listen. Seriously.
The entirety of our lives could be boiled down to a story. A story is something that everybody needs, and a great story is something that everybody recognizes. How do the stories we tell impact the world we create for ourselves? What power do we have as individuals to change the world? Is there an objective reality that informs all stories, or do stories determine objective reality?! Well lets frickin talk about it!
The first year of the Piece of Mind Podcast is through. This year I'll be back with bigger ideas, better topics, higher frequency, and intensified sarcasm!
Thank you to everyone who has listened, supported, offered kind words, and called me a stupid nerd! It's all I can hope for when sharing my thoughts and voice.
Discussions this year will certainly steer towards environmental philosophies, sciences, research projects, and speculations. I aim to do more interviewing, both professionally and casually.
Topics to look forward to include....
- Stories & Reality: who determines who?
- Fitness, Play and the toxicity of "fitness culture"
- Wu Wei Philosophy
- Digitized Romance
- What is Food? Energy, luxury, disease, or power?
- Generational Divides
- Music Rants & Analyses
- Octopuses: miracles of creation
- The Illusion of Civilization
- The Death of Wonder!!!
All the Blessings,
<3 Daniel
Dreams are a human phenomenon that have been exalted by cultures for thousands of years, except for right now! We think we've got life all figured out! Surprise, we don't. Pt. 1 set up a foundation of thought about our conscious selves to approach dreams with. In this episode, I outline theories on dreaming and share my thoughts. Specifically, dreams as the source of creativity and dreams as a window to the shadow self. The "shadow self" is not actually scary but rather describes traits/emotions/thoughts that lie dormant within us day to day, but shine and explore themselves while we dream. Dreams are both fun and essential in the quest to fully understand ourselves and our relation to the universe!!
Referenced Article Citation:
Repede EJ. Participatory Dreaming: A Conceptual Exploration From a Unitary Appreciative Inquiry Perspective. Nursing Science Quarterly. 2009;22(4):360-368. doi:10.1177/0894318409344752
Dreams are a human phenomenon that have been exalted by cultures for thousands of years, except for right now! We think we've got life all figured out! Surprise, we don't. In this episode I explore dreams in relation to consciousness, and try to highlight the magnitude of the simple act of falling asleep, and embarking on wild nonsensical journeys each and every night. Pt. 1 sets up a foundation of thought about our conscious selves to approach dreams with. Pt. 2 will discuss theories about "the shadow self" and the traits/emotions/thoughts that lie dormant within us day to day, but shine and explore themselves while we dream. Dreams are both fun and essential in the quest to fully understand ourselves and our relation to the universe.
Do YOU control the thoughts, feelings, and world-views that make you who you are? Do YOU conjure thoughts on your own accord or are they placed there? If they're placed there, what's placing them? Why do you use the words you use, and do you use those words properly? In this episode I share my thoughts on how the language we happen to speak after birth plays a ginormous role in shaping the rest of our lives, namely by shaping our thoughts and internal perceptions.
You ever hear that every snowflake is a unique shape? Well like, everyones voice and handwriting is different, and that's crazy. Here's me ranting about it!
I'm back!!! Hopefully regularly!!! Today's episode is an exploration of how seeing the world as "big" or "small" in an objectively hyper connected and "big" world can affect your experience of it. There are billions of people, and even more avenues which one could pursue. Are there too many choices? Too many opportunities? Too many sources of worry? Is a globalized and technological world conducive to discovering what you truly desire and wish to pursue? Is Adele a literal goddess?? All this and more!!
Oleka: The awareness the most days are not memorable.
In this episode I discuss this concept and some suggestions on how to make mundane routine and daily life something to look forward to and remember!
Some ideas for this episode were inspire by the following video
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zHL9GP_B30E
The recent strengthening of the Russia China alliance coupled with high tensions over territory battles involving Ukraine and Taiwan respectively, gives cause for concern about the future of global stability. Two major world powers are formally allied against the West. What does this mean to individual citizens of these countries? Is some form of warfare bound to take place? Ultimately, what good are these nations fighting for, if any at all?
In todays episode I discuss a human trait that I believe is necessary to our prosperity, success, and contentment: curiosity. Our fascinating ability to wonder about ourselves and about the world is something we are born with, but slowly lose and suppress as we grow older. If you want to live a life of fulfillment and success, pursuing the things that spark your fire of interest is absolutely essential. While there are many distractions and inhibiting factors to being curious, we are endowed with the same capacity to wonder. The only difference is whether we choose to pursue that drive or not.
New episodes for Piece of Mind will now air every Sunday, with bonus material being occasionally uploaded during mid-week.
Special thanks to Ayush Chhabra for providing an amazing musical accompaniment!
This week I take a break from focused topics to give you a random barrage of the wonderful things life has to offer. There are too many things that we take for granted day to day, and in this episode I highlight some of the simple things that bring me great joy and satisfaction, and I hope to lead you to consider some things in your life that do the same!
Todays episode is a discussion about why we spend so much time, effort, money, and emotion on sport/recreational/performance activities! Things that have no evolutionary or survival benefit seem so fundamental to human societies, and they likely will be forever. Why is that??
Welcome to Piece of Mind! In this intro I discuss my significant experiences over the past year that have led to this podcast. I also briefly outline how the episodes will be structured, and what I hope to shape this into!