Katy Morikawa: Recent Episodes
Katy Morikawa
For Love of Appalachia, identified by The Nature Conservancy as one of the three most important regions in the world for for tackling climate change and conserving biodiversity.
What is the value of an intact ecosystem? Why should somebody who is struggling to make ends meet in their land management change what they're doing? When will they reap the rewards and in what ways? Or what do they risk losing if they don't begin to pivot to more ecologically sound practices? This is the second post from my Appalachian Biodiversity series. Read or listen to the first post for greater context Episode 36 Appalachian Biodiversity.
READ POST https://www.katymorikawa.com/benefits-of-healthy-ecosystems/
LINKS:
The Nature of Nature by Enric Sala
Many sources: EPA, U.S. Forest Service, Sala, Martin and Watson, Malhi, et. al, etc. including as noted throughout the post https://www.katymorikawa.com/benefits-of-healthy-ecosystems/
This episode is based on a presentation I made to Sustain Floyd on Appalachian Biodiversity. It was my pitch for them to take on conservation and ecology issues here in Floyd, Virginia. I'm still recovering from the research required to make it. As I work to break it into manageable sized posts, I realize why I have not had the time or energy to post anything since August: The presentation contains at least five posts worth of content! So, this is only one portion of the full presentation. It covers Appalachian biodiversity as a whole and offers a broad overview of the ecological stakes. More episodes in the series coming soon.
READ POST >> https://www.katymorikawa.com/appalachian-biodiversity/
LINKS:
See the full slideshow presentation embedded in the blog post or online https://docs.google.com/presentation/d/e/2PACX-1vQCKHhqDKLbRyLXFGYjxkbtiKLesCp49uXQgRtyE6vRIxEjl0Huzd3fvlI6cPPCfDnr5pbHIhz1Xe_-/pub?start=true&loop=false&delayms=5000.
TNC’s Priority Landscapes: Conserving the Appalachians: Hope in a changing climate https://www.nature.org/en-us/about-us/where-we-work/priority-landscapes/appalachians/
TNC's Resilient Lands Mapping Tool https://maps.tnc.org/resilientland/ (Use password shown in the password box eg. Indigenous Land Password)
Doug Tallamy's Homegrown National Park https://homegrownnationalpark.org/
Benefits of Healthy Ecosystems https://www.katymorikawa.com/benefits-of-healthy-ecosystems/
Another pest/ally surprised me this month and has drawn me further into the life webs: bats! Cut to the chase: I'm building a bat house this winter. Or buying one and putting it up. Fingers crossed. We need to get a small population of bats out of our eaves. Michael is planning to seal up the crack they're getting into after they vacate for the winter. I'm going to find and apply deterrent fragrant oils. And I'm going to set up a better bat house--because bat populations are declining, and we have them, and they are keeping down the mosquitos that should have been eating me alive with all the rain we had the past month in our moist woods! This one has heavier consequences than the carpenter bees. I need to get this right, because...having a bat infestation is no joke! But they were also magical, during our encounter and I want to try. Along the way, I discovered a new bit of magic about some of the trees in our forests: sweet birches.
READ POST/TRANSCRIPT: https://www.katymorikawa.com/out-hunting-in-the-evening-light---with-bats/ LINKS: Sweet birch, Betula lenta on wildflower.org https://www.wildflower.org/plants/result.php?id_plant=BELE Betula lenta at Native Plant Finder https://www.nwf.org/NativePlantFinder/Plants/398 Merlin Tuttle's "Selecting a Quality Bat House" https://www.merlintuttle.org/selecting-a-quality-bat-house/ 8 Scents that Bats Hate https://pestpointers.com/scents-that-bats-hate-and-how-to-use-them How to Build a Bat House (YouTube video) https://youtu.be/WPlkXifGJ9M Shop bat houses at BatBnB https://www.batbnb.com/shop Bat hanging guide https://www.batbnb.com/hanging-guide Bat house FAQ https://www.batbnb.com/faq Big brown bat. In Wikipedia, The Free Encyclopedia. Retrieved 00:33, August 30, 2022, from https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Big_brown_bat&oldid=1101798043
Extinctions and endangered species are on my mind this week. Who have we lost? And what are we poised to lose? The monarch butterfly flutters top of mind, but so too the Franklin tree, the wood bison, and a small spotted cat I believe once used to hunt the forested mountains of Appalachia: the ocelot.
READ POST/TRANSCRIPT: https://www.katymorikawa.com/remember-the-ocelot/
REFERENCES Earth.org. (2022, January 4). 7 Most Critically Endangered Species in North America. Retrieved August 18, 2022 https://earth.org/endangered-species-in-north-america/.
Ocelot. In Wikipedia, The Free Encyclopedia. Retrieved 14:44, August 19, 2022, from https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Ocelot&oldid=1101969778
Wood Bison Restoration at Alaska Wildlife Conservation Center https://www.alaskawildlife.org/wood-bison-restoration/
Bison Bellows 52-week series by The National Park Service Biological Resources Division in Fort Collins, Colorado https://www.nps.gov/subjects/bison/bison-bellows.htm
National Park Service. (2017, November 6). Bison Bellows: Back Home on the Range. Retrieved August 19, 2022 from The National Park Service website https://www.nps.gov/articles/bison-bellows-1-7-16.htm
Franklin Tree, Franklinia alatamaha https://arboretum.harvard.edu/plant-bios/franklin-tree/
Last year, the Siberian American shaman, Jade Grigori, gave me a key shamanic teaching: that when you seek to heal yourself, you must heal the Earth, because we are the Earth. This short essay revisits some of that original conversation from May 2021, and shares some insights from my own issues with physical pain and its surprising responsiveness to my campaigns to cut down the Asian bittersweet vines strangling our woods.
READ POST/TRANSCRIPT: https://www.katymorikawa.com/when-you-heal-the-earth-you-heal-yourself
Jade Grigori, Curator of the Sacred https://jadegrigori.com/
Supporting native pollinators can be so much more than planting monarda and milkweed! It can be more than trying to create a wildflower meadow. It can be targeted at your own favorite species or cast a very wide net. This is a collection of high quality trees, shrubs, and flowers for supporting native pollinators in Virginia and Appalachia, for creating a unique garden, or just beautifying the roadside along your property (because most of them won't need any watering or care).
READ POST/TRANSCRIPT: https://www.katymorikawa.com/native-pollinator-trees-shrubs-and-flowers-for-virginia-and-appalachia/
LINKS (all links can be found in blog post):
Xerces Society Pollinator Conservation Resource Center (North America)
NRCS Pollinator Conservation Resources https://plants.usda.gov/assets/docs/NRCS_Pollinator_PLANTS_Nov2021.pdf
36 Deer Foods Every Hunter Should Know https://www.fieldandstream.com/story/hunting/deer-foods-every-hunter-should-know/
Asters and goldenrod resources https://edgeofthewoodsnursery.com/asters-and-goldenrods and more info https://www.pressrepublican.com/opinion/cornell-ag-connection-asters-and-goldenrod-late-season-native-perennials/article_5b81d072-2603-5a51-814d-c8baaf608f4d.html and on goldenrod https://amcdv.org/goldenrod.html
Robin Wall Kimmerer https://commons.bluemountaincenter.org/goldenrod-and-asters-my-life-with-plants/
Inamine, H., Ellner, S., Springer, J., Agrawal, A. (2016). Linking the continental migratory cycle of the monarch butterfly to understand its population decline. Oikos. Retrieved July 31, 2022 from https://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/full/10.1111/oik.03196
Appalachian flowers with pictures: https://amcdv.org/octember.html
Permaculture Orchard https://www.permacultureorchard.com/
YouTube Channel for Stefan Sobkowiak (Permaculture Orchard) https://www.youtube.com/c/StefanSobkowiak
Passionflower how-to article: https://www.tyrantfarms.com/find-id-harvest-grow-eat-passion-fruit-maypop-passiflora-incarnata/
The journey to create more wild beauty on our property and help conserve Appalachia is full of twists and turns: learning the Latin names, absorbing the The Nature Conservancy's evaluation of Appalachia, “alongside the Amazon Rainforest and the Kenyan grasslands as one of the most globally important landscapes for tackling climate change and conserving biodiversity,” remembering the abundant landscape enjoyed by First Nations peoples, working with the NRCS to try to understand the ecology on our property, the Natural Communities Classification of Ecological Groups and Community Types, The Nature Conservancy's resilient landscapes mapping tool, removing invasives (including Asian bittersweet, stiltgrass, and fescue grass), the monarch butterfly's addition to the Endangered Species List, planting to support the monarch and other native pollinators, and the dedication to keep looking out at the long view while I dig in the soil at my feet.
READ POST/TRANSCRIPT: https://www.katymorikawa.com/straining-to-see-the-appalachian-forest-for-the-trees/
See my Pollinator Plants for Virginia and Appalachia https://www.katymorikawa.com/native-pollinator-trees-shrubs-and-flowers-for-virginia-and-appalachia
LINKS (See post for for all links):
The Nature Conservancy: “Priority Landscapes: Conserving the Appalachians.” https://www.nature.org/en-us/about-us/where-we-work/priority-landscapes/appalachians/.
Virginia Native Plant Society’s list of Native Plant Nurseries: https://vnps.org/native-plant-nursery-list/.
The Natural Communities of Virginia Classification of Ecological Groups and Community Types https://www.dcr.virginia.gov/natural-heritage/natural-communities/.
TNC's “Natural Highways and Neighborhoods: Conserving a Network of Climate-Resilient Lands.” https://www.nature.org/en-us/what-we-do/our-priorities/protect-water-and-land/land-and-water-stories/climate-resilient-network/.
TNC's Resilient Lands Mapping Tool: https://maps.tnc.org/resilientland/.
Virginia Department of Forestry Certified Prescribed Burn Manager Program: https://dof.virginia.gov/wildland-prescribed-fire/prescribed-burning/certified-burn-managers-program/
Quality native seeds: ErnstSeed.com, Roundstoneseed.com, PrairieMoon.com.
Xerces Society. (2018). Monarch Butterfly Nectar Plant Lists for Conservation Plantings https://xerces.org/sites/default/files/publications/18-003_02_Monarch-Nectar-Plant-Lists-FS_web%20-%20Jessa%20Kay%20Cruz.pdf.
If you care about flowers for the pollinators, supporting ecological biodiversity, clean water and air, healthy soil, low-maintenance landscaping, or climate change, native plants are you allies! This is a bit of background, a look at invasives, and some how-to's.
READ BLOG POST/TRANSCRIPT: https://www.katymorikawa.com/why-native-plants-matter
LINKS:
Wild Plant Culture podcast (Episode 1): Leslie Sauer on Ecological Restoration https://open.spotify.com/episode/4VBZVbFYZZF04zKR0M7bCt
Plant NOVA Natives https://www.plantnovanatives.org/
Plant Virginia Natives https://www.plantvirginianatives.org/
The American Chestnut Foundation https://acf.org/
"In defense of stiltgrass" by Nomad Seed Project https://www.nomadseed.com/2019/03/in-defense-of-stiltgrass/
Wood Thrush Natives https://woodthrushnatives.com/
TOOTHPASTE LOWDOWN: https://gimmethegoodstuff.org/safe-product-guides/toothpaste/
Burt's Bees has a fluoride, sodium lauryl sulfate, and TSP-free toothpaste https://www.burtsbees.com/product/charcoal-%2B-whitening-zen-peppermint-toothpaste-fluoride-free/192539000481.html as well as a recycling program where they will go so far as to send you a free shipping label to ship the tube back to them!! https://www.burtsbees.com/content/oral-care-recycling/oralcare-recycling.html
As I dove head first into love with the wild world, I’ve become aware of a longing. Where this longing comes from I am not sure, although surely it has a sturdy shelter in my own heart. It is fed by the magical interactions you encounter when you slow down and listen deeply to the wild world with an open mind. I find myself longing to create a more diverse native ecosystem on this piece of property where we built our house, to coax more wild beauty from this place--and to do it without landscaping, without agri-forestry, without a fence (at least, without a permanent fence).
READ POST/TRANSCRIPT: https://www.katymorikawa.com/to-coax-more-wild-beauty-from-this-place/
REFERENCES 1. Montaigne, F. (2020, January). “The Fertile Shore.” Smithsonian Magazine. January 2020. Retrieved June 21, 2022 from https://www.smithsonianmag.com/science-nature/how-humans-came-to-americas-180973739/ 2. Agastache foeniculum. In Wikipedia, The Free Encyclopedia. Retrieved 12:45, June 24, 2022, from https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Agastache_foeniculum&oldid=1094321340 3. Restoration ecology. In Wikipedia, The Free Encyclopedia. Retrieved 12:53, June 26, 2022, from https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Restoration_ecology&oldid=1087785347 4. Oldenburg, D. (1997, June 16). “Consummate Consumer.” The Washington Post. Retrieved June 26, 2022 from https://www.washingtonpost.com/archive/lifestyle/1997/06/16/consummate-consumer/1388258c-5642-470b-bc91-5d8151dfacf3/
LINKS Stefan Sobkowiak on Building Your Permaculture Property, Episode 19 (the megafauna and giant beaver segment starts at 55:10) https://open.spotify.com/episode/6iBVR29NqNH6kwefE7Lp1A
Stefan Sobkowiak's YouTube Channel https://www.youtube.com/c/StefanSobkowiak
Backstory Episode #0133: Untrammelled: Americans and the Wilderness (the Forest "Primeval" segment is first) https://www.backstoryradio.org/shows/untrammeled3/#segment-the-forest-primeval
USDA’s NRCS https://www.nrcs.usda.gov/wps/portal/nrcs/site/national/home/
The Natural Communities of Virginia Classification of Ecological Groups and Community Types https://www.dcr.virginia.gov/natural-heritage/natural-communities/
The Ohio PawPaw Festival https://www.ohiopawpawfest.com/
Primal Life Tooth Powder https://www.amazon.com/dp/B00NWVWHY6
Now Xyli-White Toothpaste https://www.amazon.com/NOW-Solutions-XyliWhite-Refreshmint-Toothpaste/dp/B000MGWIE8
I took a tour of Spikenard Honeybee Sanctuary this weekend, and so that is part of the magical mystery tour. But deeper still, there is a living landscape opening up beneath my feet as I step, as I am called, (even enchanted!) back outside into the living world, remembering things like native ecologies, principles of permaculture and biodynamic farming, imaginal dances with nature, and even the longer geologic spans of life's evolution on this planet. I believe we are headed back to the Garden, a new Eden, bringing our tools and technology along the way. But more on that in the time to come as I experiment with the ideas unfolding around me -- I can't wait to discover what there is to discover!
READ POST/TRANSCRIPT: https://www.katymorikawa.com/the-magical-mystery-tour/
TOURING SPIKENARD FARM HONEYBEE SANCTUARY
If you missed the tour, don’t feel envious! They open their doors to the public for free tours throughout the growing season, usually on the last Friday of the month. This is the upcoming schedule:
- June 24, 2022 – 11:00 am to 6:00 pm.
- July 29, 2022 – 11:00 am to 6:00 pm.
- August 26, 2022 – 11:00 am to 6:00 pm.
- September 16, 2022 – 11:00 am to 6:00 pm.
- October 7, 2022 – 11:00 am to 6:00 pm.
LINKS: Spikenard Farm Honeybee Sanctuary https://spikenardfarm.org/
Stefan Sobkowiak's video on How Wasps Saved My Orchard https://youtu.be/g6G9UFgHkCs
Sustain Floyd https://sustainfloyd.org/
OTHER BREADCRUMBS:
- https://www.permaculturedesignmagazine.com/virginia
- https://eco-institute.org/
- https://www.permaculturewomen.com/
- https://miracle.farm/
- https://www.youtube.com/c/StefanSobkowiak
- https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hymenoptera
This is a deeper dive into carpenter bee ecology, supplemented by first-hand observations and my own speculations. We look at native flowering cycles in the Virginia Blue Ridge Mountains, remember the American chestnut, and consider the resources for climate change offered by such a widely adaptable generalist pollinator as the carpenter bee. More deeply, we acknowledge the transformative power in relating with a bee-ing for its own sake.
READ POST/TRANSCRIPT: https://www.katymorikawa.com/borer-bees-iii-carpenter-bee-as-native-pollinator/
REERENCES/LINKS:
Podcast with entomologist: https://open.spotify.com/episode/7ytRKlFyXS6EcoDSJV6uy7
American chestnut. In Wikipedia, The Free Encyclopedia. Retrieved 18:42, May 30, 2022, from https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=American_chestnut&oldid=1088371741
The Lord of the Forest: the American Chestnut. Retrieved from Our State https://www.ourstate.com/american-chestnut/
Photo of Loggers in a Great Smoky Mountains forest (standing among giant American chestnut trees) https://www.katymorikawa.com/wp-content/uploads/2022/05/Loggers-in-a-Great-Smoky-Mountain-chestnut-tree-forest.jpg
Moissett, B. (March 4, 2013). Pollinators of the American Chestnut. Retrieved May 30, 2022 from Pollinators http://pollinators.blogspot.com/2013/03/pollinators-of-american-chestnut.html
Robinia pseudoacacia. In Wikipedia, The Free Encyclopedia. Retrieved 02:42, May 30, 2022, from https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Robinia_pseudoacacia&oldid=1089479918
Natural Range of the American Chestnut Tree. Retrieved May 30, 2022 from The American Chestnut Foundation https://acf.org/the-american-chestnut/native-range-map/.
Natural distribution map for Robinia pseudoacacia, black locust. By Elbert L. Little, Jr., Public domain, via Wikimedia Commons: https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/0/04/Robinia_pseudoacacia_distribution_map.png
Monofloral honey. In Wikipedia, The Free Encyclopedia. Retrieved 02:42, May 30, 2022, from https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Monofloral_honey&oldid=1062933894
At the end of Consider the Borer Bee (Episode 24), now a few weekends ago, Michael and I built some cute bee houses for my friend and for our own house, inspired by the veritable plethora of DIY YouTube videos and Amazon products for housing solitary bees. The idea behind these houses is that you can deter borer bees from your wood siding by providing ready-made housing which they prefer over the far greater effort involved in drilling their own. This is the story of our saga to charm our carpenter bees into the bee house. Spoiler alert: We succeeded, and experienced a multitude of tiny joys along the way.
READ THE POST/TRANSCRIPT: https://www.katymorikawa.com/borer-bees-ii-the-carpenter-bee-house-saga
Let’s face it, most of us, most of the time, assume insects are simply too tiny and primitive to interact with in any meaningful way except to objectify as pest, mindless bug, or at best, ecological agent (e.g., pollinator, predator, or even food). After working with bees and wasps, I’m convinced there is so much more to them, and I have updates on my carpenter bee saga to share in the next few posts. But here, I want to look at age-old attitudes toward insects and their surprising lack of representation even among indigenous wisdom traditions where you would expect to find them.
READ POST/TRANSCRIPT: https://www.katymorikawa.com/the-least-of-these-our-insect-teachers/
REFERENCES:
- Capinera, J. L. Insects in Art and Religion: The American Southwest. American Entomologist, Volume 39, Issue 4, Winter 1993, Pages 221–230, https://doi.org/10.1093/ae/39.4.221
- Si, A., & Turpin, M. (2015). The Importance of Insects in Australian Aboriginal Society: A Dictionary Survey. Ethnobiology Letters, 6(1), 175–182. http://www.jstor.org/stable/26423615
- Native American Insects of Myth and Legend. Retrieved May 24, 2022 from Native Languages of the Americas website http://www.native-languages.org/legends-insect.htm
- Canyon de Chelly & Kokyangwuti: Spider Woman. Retrieved May 28, 2022 from Okar Research blog http://balkhandshambhala.blogspot.com/2013/04/canyon-de-chelly-kokyangwuti.html
Borer bees can be the bane of homeowners with wood siding and other exterior wood. Accordingly, a multi-million dollar industry has arisen around killing and deterring them. But I discovered this month there is much more at stake, as I tried to get a group of borer bees to move using the method I shared in my last post, "Talking to the Bees." The stakes, I came to see, have to do with our relationship with native species. This shocking insight led me to discover the relatively smaller but well-established industry of adorable bee houses which reflect a growing realization about the importance of native pollinators.
READ POST/TRANSCRIPT: https://www.katymorikawa.com/consider-the-borer-bee/
LINKS: Our bee houses: https://www.katymorikawa.com/wp-content/uploads/2022/05/IMG_9565.jpeg
“Bee Basics: An Introduction to Our Native Bees,” by Beatriz Moisset, Ph.D. and Stephen Buchmann, Ph.D. with USDA Forest Service https://efotg.sc.egov.usda.gov/references/public/SC/Bee_Basics_North_American_Bee_ID.pdf
REFERENCES 1. Carpenter bee. In Wikipedia, The Free Encyclopedia. Retrieved 19:57, May 16, 2022, from https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Carpenter_bee&oldid=1083160770 2. Eastern carpenter bee. In Wikipedia, The Free Encyclopedia. Retrieved 21:42, May 16, 2022, from https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Eastern_carpenter_bee&oldid=1069100416 3. Penn State Extension. (March 8, 2021). “The Eastern Carpenter Bee: Beneficial Pollinator or Unwelcome Houseguest?” Retrieved May 16, 2022 from Penn State Extension https://extension.psu.edu/the-eastern-carpenter-bee-beneficial-pollinator-or-unwelcome-houseguest 4. U.S. Geological Survey. “How many species of native bees are in the United States?” Retrieved May 16, 2022 from USGS https://www.usgs.gov/faqs/how-many-species-native-bees-are-united-states
Quite by accident, I discovered that I can relocate the nests of bees, wasps, and hornets through mental communication alone. I'm sharing the backstory and the method for any who would like to try it. It offers an effective and miraculous way to approach so-called dangerous pests, as well as a doorway into a richer relationship with the non-human natural world.
READ POST/TRANSCRIPT: https://www.katymorikawa.com/talking-to-the-bees/
LINKS: Spikenard Honeybee Sanctuary https://spikenardfarm.org/
Spikenard's e-lecture "Formic Acid: The Gift of Stinging Insects" https://spikenardfarm.org/product/formic-acid-3-part/
“Do I Have A Honeybee Hive?” by Syracuse Honey. This article is a bit alarmist about wasps and hornets, but gives you a representative attitude from a traditional honeybee removal service provider. https://syracusehoney.com/faq
This is a how-to for working with anxiety. It looks at anxiety as essentially a kind of indecision, and offers ways to identify the components of that indecision and for breaking the impasse.
READ POST/TRANSCRIPT: https://www.katymorikawa.com/how-to-unlock-and-defuse-your-anxiety
In the midst of a mini-breakdown, I pulled on a strategy used in war and business alike: turning a breakdown into an opportunity. I decided to explore the anxiety that was flaring up during my little breakdown, discovered a whole new way to understand it, and defused it in minutes! The How-To on that follows in the next post, Episode 22 on the podcast.
READ POST/TRANSCRIPT: https://www.katymorikawa.com/turning-a-breakdown-into-an-opportunity
This is an excerpt from Oathbringer by Brandon Sanderson. It's the kind of passage that's just filled with gems of insight: a parable inside of a novel. You could dismiss them as just that, but if you really need them, they're the kinds of words that can save and change your life. Spoiler alert: This reveals some plot points that remain largely a mystery through the first 3 books of The Stormlight Archive.
READ POST/TRANSCRIPT: https://www.katymorikawa.com/words-of-wisdom-from-nohadon/
Reference: Sanderson, Brandon. Oathbringer, Book 3 of The Stormlight Archive.
Focusing on what is right in front of you is a strategy for all times and seasons. We'll look at both pragmatic perspectives and master teachings around this strategy. Then we'll explore ways to apply it to your everyday life that don't require intensive mindfulness disciplines to unlock the miracle of the present.
READ POST/TRANSCRIPT: https://www.katymorikawa.com/focus-on-what-is-right-in-front-of-you
Passage quoted from Green, G. (2011). Love Without End: Jesus Speaks. Fideli Publishing and Spiritis Publishing. Smashwords ebook edition, p. 73-74.
One of my favorite resources for managing anxiety, depression, frustration, or boredom is to tap the reservoir of joy that seems to dwell beneath the shallower currents of my daily cares. This is a wonderful resource that I want to share here, a resource for wild and uncertain times like these, as well as for times of peace. In this post I will share some background principles and then steps for accessing your own reservoir of joy.
READ POST/TRANSCRIPT: https://www.katymorikawa.com/tapping-the-reservoir-of-joy
INSPIRATION:
Daniélou, Alain. (1991). The myths and gods of India: The classic work on Hindu polytheism. Rochester, Vermont: Inner Traditions.
J. R. R. Tolkein's The Lord of the Rings.
Joe Dispenza's Becoming Supernatural and Breaking the Habit of Being Yourself.
"The Body Compass," a coaching tool shared with me by Larkin Goff. Listen on Spotify or find it wherever you get your podcasts: https://open.spotify.com/episode/1VjH6ZUOEDaWjqmKrHNq9h
With the world gazing down the barrel of World War III and fresh on the heels of the craziest two years since WWII, I want to share a perspective that's helped me so much to keep my sanity and optimism in these troubling times. This is the deliberate choice to look somewhere else, and ways to build a magic bubble to both improve well-being and contribute something beautiful and hopeful, even if it's small, to a troubled world.
READ POST/TRANSCRIPT: https://www.katymorikawa.com/the-magic-bubble/
LINKS: Subscribe to The New York Times for $1/week for one year by using my link: nytimes.com/share/hbbAAfa (I don't think I get anything from this, but if you want to support high quality journalism, and you don't see The Times as problematic).
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Jewel on Joe Rogan (go to 46:30 to listen to her insights about dilation and contraction) https://open.spotify.com/episode/2TRBNGScfO2K3RWRIYJedJ
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Andrew Huberman on Armchair Expert (go to 1:20:07) https://open.spotify.com/episode/6ARrJfjusp7Xm4ApY9QX1s
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Jewel's Inspiring Children Foundation https://inspiringchildren.org/
This is an esoteric topic that remains oddly inscrutable to me: the sacred heart. What is it? This is Love Without End's beautiful explanation, minus the thorns and flames, plus a bit on the mind, soul, infinity, and more practices for strengthening the heart as a way to heal and fulfill your life.
READ POST/TRANSCRIPT https://www.katymorikawa.com/what-is-the-sacred-heart/
Buy Love Without End at https://www.lovewithoutend.com/ or Amazon.com.
REFERENCES
Green, G. (2011). Love Without End: Jesus Speaks. Fideli Publishing and Spiritis Publishing. Smashwords ebook edition, Chapter 2.
Sacred Heart. In Wikipedia, The Free Encyclopedia. Retrieved 00:47, March 12, 2022, from https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Sacred_Heart&oldid=1073250794
With this post, we come to the end of my series on cancer. The topic here, the deeply immoral decisions that expose us to powerful cancer-causing agents, reaches far beyond just cancer itself. We're going to explore the troubling realm of DU weapons before we take a look at ways to pivot from a natural response of depression or reactionary activism to strengthening the heart as a muscle, as a defense against depression, anxiety, overwhelm, and hopelessness.
READ POST/TRANSCRIPT https://www.katymorikawa.com/cancer-is-a-symptom-iii-dastardly-and-immoral-deeds/
LINKS
- Brian Klaas on Armchair Expert https://open.spotify.com/episode/0XjgQhTupCLQ99CfnD3J6c
- Arms manufacturer CEO https://www.katymorikawa.com/wp-content/uploads/2022/03/Eileen-Drake-CEO-Aerojet-Rocketdyne.jpg and her company description https://www.rocket.com/who-we-are/about
- “Mark Zuckerberg founder of Facebook shaking hands with a fellow Reptilian” on Wikimedia Commons https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Medvedev_and_Zuckerberg_October_2012-1.jpeg
- Firecontrolmen inspect linked belts of Mark 149 Mod 2 20mm DU ammunition on Wikimedia Commons https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/b/bf/Mark_149_Mod_2_20mm_ammunition.jpg
- Aljazeera "Iraq: War’s legacy of cancer" https://www.aljazeera.com/features/2013/3/15/iraq-wars-legacy-of-cancer
- The Intercept "Iraqi children born near U. S. military base show elevated rates of 'serious congenital deformities,' study shows" https://theintercept.com/2019/11/25/iraq-children-birth-defects-military/
- "The VICE File: Dick Cheney Declassified." (February 22, 2019). https://nsarchive.gwu.edu/briefing-book/foia/2019-02-22/vice-file-dick-cheney-declassified
- Wikipedia on Intensive pig farming https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Intensive_pig_farming, Intensive animal farming https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Intensive_animal_farming and Feedlots https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Feedlot
- Cancer Is A Symptom II https://www.katymorikawa.com/cancer-is-a-symptom-ii-with-roots-in-the-heart/
- Jacqueline Novogratz on Armchair Expert https://open.spotify.com/episode/0bRj1ZprN0bEscePmD3nfG
- Acumen https://acumen.org/
- Level https://www.levelgoals.com/
- The Path of Moral Leadership https://acumenacademy.org/course/the-path-of-moral-leadership/
[Edited 3/21/2022] Cancer is a symptom of our dissociation from the wisdom of the heart. This is an invitation to come back to a deeper radiance that can shelter us from harm. It will require that you confront some painful truths about the ways we all, usually unconsciously, participate in worldviews that sacrifice wonder and love for the sake of profits, assets, and convenience. Nowhere do we see this more clearly than in the relationship with our food animals, like the endangered Atlantic bluefin tuna, source of the delicacies of maguro sushi and sashimi. [This episode has been updated with a key segment to clarify the argument]
READ POST/TRANSCRIPT: https://www.katymorikawa.com/cancer-is-a-symptom-ii-with-roots-in-the-heart/
LINKS:
"How Global Regulators Are Selling Out the World’s Largest Tuna" by Jennifer Telesca from Yale Environment 360 https://e360.yale.edu/features/how-global-regulators-are-selling-out-the-worlds-largest-tuna
Wikipedia article on "Intensive pig farming" https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Intensive_pig_farming
Michael Pollan's This Is Your Mind on Plants https://www.amazon.com/This-Your-Mind-Plants/dp/B08RF1K2LD/
REFERENCES
- The American Cancer Society. "What Is Cancer?" retrieved February 22, 2022 from https://www.cancer.org/treatment/understanding-your-diagnosis/what-is-cancer.html
- Yeomans, T. (July 13, 2013). "Does Being Too Clean Cause Allergies?" retrieved February 26, 2022 from https://www.allergystandards.com/news_events/hygiene-hypothesis/
- "Toro, Chutoro, and Maguro: Tuna and Its Many Names." https://matcha-jp.com/en/2646
- Atlantic bluefin tuna. In Wikipedia, The Free Encyclopedia. Retrieved 03:00, February 19, 2022, from https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Atlantic_bluefin_tuna&oldid=1072369951
- Telesca, J. (November 7, 2019). "Cultivating care for one of the ocean’s most majestic creatures." University of Minnesota Press Blog retrieved February 22, 2022 https://uminnpressblog.com/2019/11/07/cultivating-care-for-one-of-the-oceans-most-majestic-creatures/
- Atlantic bluefin tuna. In Wikipedia.
- Telesca, J. (June 16, 2020). "How Global Regulators Are Selling Out the World’s Largest Tuna." Yale Environment 360 website retrieved February 22, 2022 https://e360.yale.edu/features/how-global-regulators-are-selling-out-the-worlds-largest-tuna
- "Bluefin Tuna." World Wildlife Fund website https://www.worldwildlife.org/species/bluefin-tuna.
- "Dolphins gain unprecedented protection in India." Deutche Welle website retrieved February 22, 2022 https://www.dw.com/en/dolphins-gain-unprecedented-protection-in-india/a-16834519
I believe the epidemic of cancer is a symptom of a psychic or sensory deadness that fails to register toxins in our environment. We don't dodge or avoid them when we should, and our societies continue to tolerate toxins in our industries. Retraining our senses is a powerful first step to eliminating the widespread incidence of cancer.
The American Cancer Society says this about cancer: "Cancer cells develop because of multiple changes in their genes. These changes can have many possible causes. Lifestyle habits, genes you get from your parents, and being exposed to cancer-causing agents in the environment can all play a role. Many times, there is no obvious cause." - from "What Is Cancer?" at cancer.org.
READ POST/TRANSCRIPT: https://www.katymorikawa.com/cancer-is-a-symptom/
Photo of logging in the Canadian boreal forest: https://environmentalpaper.org/wp-content/uploads/2021/04/BorealClearcutsNRDCRiverJordan-980x455.png Read more in this NRDC article https://www.nrdc.org/experts/jennifer-skene/canadian-logging-industrys-spin-cycle about the terrible approach Canada is taking, and remember that the U.S. is their major market.
Articles on Baby Home Safety
- https://www.webmd.com/parenting/baby/features/give-your-baby-best-start
Articles on Everyday Carcinogens
- Everyday substances: https://www.webmd.com/cancer/know-common-carcinogens
- Interactions of mixtures of low-dose chemicals: https://www.bcpp.org/resource/mixtures-interactions/
- Exposures to avoid for breast cancer: https://www.bcpp.org/our-work/exposures-to-avoid/
- Hormone disruption as a factor: https://www.bcpp.org/resource/hormone-disruption-and-breast-development/
- Toxic carpets: https://inspiredliving.com/airpurification/a~toxic-carpets2.htm
References
- Benzene, Wikipedia https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Benzene&oldid=1067770232
- Benzene, WHO https://www.who.int/ipcs/features/benzene.pdf
- Formaldehyde, NIH https://www.cancer.gov/about-cancer/causes-prevention/risk/substances/formaldehyde
- Benzene, NIH https://www.cancer.gov/about-cancer/causes-prevention/risk/substances/benzene
This is part skywatching guide for the 2022 Venus-Moon morning sky alignments, and a deeper dive into the mythic and astrological meanings associated with the Venus Morning Gates.
POST/TRANSCRIPT & DETAILED SKYWATCHING GUIDES https://www.katymorikawa.com/the-2022-venus-morning-gates/
LINKS & RESOURCES
Find the exact date of Mercury’s highest elevation at your location by clicking the wrench icon after the city name in the description which begins, “As seen from (location)…” HERE https://in-the-sky.org/news.php?id=20220216_11_100 Same for Venus HERE https://in-the-sky.org/news.php?id=20220320_11_100
Stellarium Web online tool for visualizing the sky at any time and day of the year https://stellarium-web.org/
In-the-Sky.org free skywatching guides. Night Sky feed https://in-the-sky.org/search.php?ordernews=asc&feed=thesky
See all the dates in the Venus Cycle for 2022-2023 https://www.katymorikawa.com/wp-content/uploads/2022/02/2022-2024-Venus-Cycle.pdf
Shamanic Astrology https://shamanicastrology.com/
Free Astrology Charts https://www.astro.com/
Katy's PayPal.Me https://www.paypal.com/paypalme/katymorikawa
When terrible needs arise, it's natural to look for saviors. But there is another way: to respond with great generosity. This is the Jupiter Principle, and I'm going to illustrate this by telling a story about how I decided to take action about climate crisis, and how the willingness to be the solution has opened up all new possibilities. This is not meant to preach or pressure activism, but to offer a pivot for when you're feeling overwhelmed by dire needs.
READ BLOG POST/TRANSCRIPT: https://www.katymorikawa.com/leaning-in-with-great-generosity-the-jupiter-principle/
LINKS
- Sustain Floyd https://sustainfloyd.org/
- Household Recycling Problems (Google Slides) https://docs.google.com/presentation/d/e/2PACX-1vRADcfWavsADPN9himFqpXTsW8jiAfBUTtdeW-b45ehwsIrOEV7ekxfTsL9TjvKKQOAKH2E7XdTFzmI/pub
- Download PDF slides https://www.katymorikawa.com/wp-content/uploads/2022/01/Household-Recycling-Problems.pdf
- Household Recycling Problems for Industrial Designers (blog post) https://www.katymorikawa.com/household-recycling-problems-for-industrial-designers/
NETZERO COMPANY FEATURED PRODUCTS
- Stainless Steel Bento Boxes (3 box set) https://www.netzerocompany.com/collections/prep-cook-store-food/products/munchie-box-stack-3-sizes-of-stainless-steel-lunch-box-set
- Stainless Steel Bento Box (Small) https://www.netzerocompany.com/collections/prep-cook-store-food/products/small-stainless-steel-bento-box
- Stainless Steel Bento Box (Medium) https://www.netzerocompany.com/collections/prep-cook-store-food/products/medium-stainless-steel-bento-box
- Stainless Steel Bento Box (Large) https://www.netzerocompany.com/collections/prep-cook-store-food/products/large-stainless-steel-bento-box
- Insulated Bag for their Bento Boxes https://www.netzerocompany.com/collections/prep-cook-store-food/products/insulated-lunch-bag
This is a master teaching (not mine - you'll see!) about the adamantine particles, the smallest irreducible particles of matter, which quantum physics calls the Higgs boson. It is a cornerstone of cosmology and will form the basis of much of my map-making work.
READ BLOG POST/TRANSCRIPT https://www.katymorikawa.com/the-adamantine-particles-building-blocks-of-reality/
LINKS
- Love Without End: Jesus Speaks on Amazon https://www.amazon.com/Love-Without-End-Jesus-Speaks/dp/0966662318
- The Fundamental Trinity graphic https://www.katymorikawa.com/wp-content/uploads/2022/02/The-Trinity-according-to-Love-Without-End-Jesus-Speaks.png
- [Video] The Higgs boson https://videos.cern.ch/video/CERN-VIDEO-2021-011-001
- [Video] Neil deGrasse Tyson explains the Higgs boson https://youtu.be/aZLvHM_mt6Y
- The Lamb and the Lion, Glenda Green's story https://www.lovewithoutend.com/Miracle_Story_Lamb_Lion.htm
- OrderWho Gives A Crap Premium 100% Bamboo Toilet Paper at us.whogivesacrap.org. This was part of my 2021 Holiday Eco Sampler Gift Pack. See the full collection here: https://www.katymorikawa.com/the-2021-eco-sampler-pack/
In this post, I answer the question I've been getting ever since I relaunched this website: what is the imaginal? It is a good question and an important inquiry. I'm actually surprisingly happy with where I arrived in my understanding by taking on the topic. This, by the way, is part of the revelatory nature of the imaginal process, and one of the reasons I love doing this so much. Here then is that understanding as I've come to it: I see the imaginal process as a creative access to higher orders of reality, orders of reality which, in an infinitely expanding universe, must continue to expand out in ever widening spheres. These higher orders of reality can be thought of from a theoretical scientific perspective as higher dimensions or unknown areas of understanding about the physical universe. They can be seen from an esoteric, a shamanic, or artistic perspective, or any area which is unknown and theoretically unknowable at the present time. And so the imaginal is a stance and an art (and for me a discipline, since I’m wired up that way) which is not bound to a particular location or type of question, just as the artist is not bound to a particular medium or subject matter. Perhaps there is a place called the imaginal realm, where all imaginal works can be found–a great confluence of intersecting realities, creative works, and artists, like a massive art studio. If so it would be a truly stupendous, wild and magical, dangerous and haunting and brilliant place indeed, as Tolkein described the realm of faerie: “The Land of Fairy Story is wide and deep and high […] its seas are shoreless and its stars uncounted, its beauty an enchantment and its peril ever-present; both joy and sorrow are poignant as a sword.”[8] For now, I am focusing on the imaginal as a method which holds potentials for revelation, and thus lends itself to grappling with mysteries. I look forward to these revelations in the coming months and years.
READ POST/TRANSCRIPT https://www.katymorikawa.com/what-is-the-imaginal-and-how-does-it-differ-from-visionary-processes/
Astrology chart for Moon conjunct Venus on January 30, 2022 (1st Morning Gate of Venus) https://alittlemorefree.com/wp-content/uploads/2021/12/Venus-2022-AM-1.png
Becca Tarnas' book Journey to the Imaginal Realm: A Reader’s Guide to J. R. R. Tolkein’s The Lord of the Rings.
Find the rest of my references at the blog post linked to above.
This is a skywatching guide for observing Venus in the morning sky in early 2022, as well as a reflection on Venus' mythological history and archetypal astrological associations.
LINKS
Read the blog post/transcript https://www.katymorikawa.com/reflections-on-venus-the-morning-star/
Andrew Huberman on Armchair Expert (go to 1:20:07 for the segment on low angle sunlight's health benefits) https://open.spotify.com/episode/6ARrJfjusp7Xm4ApY9QX1s
Dates in the 2022-2023 Venus Cycle (more coming on how to work with these in a future episode) https://alittlemorefree.com/wp-content/uploads/2021/12/2022-2024-Venus-Cycle.pdf
The Starshine Astrological Planner at alittlemorefree.com https://alittlemorefree.com/starshine/
Venus in culture. In Wikipedia, The Free Encyclopedia. Retrieved 16:32, January 26, 2022, from https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Venus_in_culture&oldid=1066845266
Planets in astrology. In Wikipedia, The Free Encyclopedia. Retrieved 16:33, January 26, 2022, from https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Planets_in_astrology&oldid=1066344802
Shamanic Astrology https://shamanicastrology.com/
Map of Venus in 2022 https://in-the-sky.org/findercharts/05venus_2022_1.png
In-the-Sky.org charts for finding Venus (downloadable or interactive) https://in-the-sky.org/findercharts2.php?id=P2
For the Imaginal Journey step-by-step tutorial, listen to Episode 6 or visit https://www.katymorikawa.com/an-imaginal-journey-with-nature-in-7-easy-steps/
This week I've been asked to be part of a presentation by Sustain Floyd to an Industrial Design class at Virginia Tech, shepherded by Martha Sullivan, the Department Chair and an Assistant Professor of Practice in the Industrial Design program. It was such an honor and exciting for me, because as you may know, I believe in good design!
Sustain Floyd is sponsoring a sustainability design contest, and I was asked to present problems for the students to think about from a householder point of view: everyday recycling challenges. I had so many!
I thought I'd share the presentation with you. I'm sure most of y'all aren't industrial designers, but anyone involved in product creation, non-digital marketing materials, and even everyday folks just trying to do a good job recycling might get some food for thought from this. (Also, I didn't have time because of this presentation to write a brand new post).
SLIDES: https://www.katymorikawa.com/wp-content/uploads/2022/01/Household-Recycling-Problems.pdf
LINKS Seaspiracy, Netflix documentary https://www.netflix.com/title/81014008
Breaking Boundaries, Netflix documentary based on the work of Johan Rockström, founder of the Stockholm Resilience Centre https://www.netflix.com/title/81014008
The Nine Boundaries from the Stockholm Resilience Centre https://www.stockholmresilience.org/research/planetary-boundaries/the-nine-planetary-boundaries.html
Preserve Recycled Plastic Manufacturing pioneers https://www.preserve.eco/
Plastic by the Numbers from Eartheasy Guides & Articles https://learn.eartheasy.com/articles/plastics-by-the-numbers/
Check out my 2021 Eco Sampler Gift Pack which features a collection of daily household items that are both affordable, effective, and make a big dent in issues like carbon footprint and environmental costs: https://www.katymorikawa.com/the-2021-eco-sampler-pack/
This is an easy step-by-step process for creating a richer relationship with the natural world as well as with the imaginal. It offers a doorway for healing the disconnect between human and nature, self and other, inner and outer, and the mind, body, and spirit.
Following the post, there is a deep dive on one of the products from my Eco Sampler Gift Pack this year: Earth Breeze Liquidless Laundry Detergent Sheets.
Read the post/transcript https://www.katymorikawa.com/an-imaginal-journey-with-nature-in-7-easy-steps/
Becca Tarnas' 2019 Rune Soup interview https://open.spotify.com/episode/1JrZMneLQYJAR3lNa9mYUc and dissertation The Back of Beyond: The Red Books of C. G. Jung and J. R. R. Tolkein
Chris Jordan's photo essay: Midway: Message from the Gyre (2009 – Current) http://chrisjordan.com/gallery/midway/ and link to "Albatross at Midway Atoll" https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/e/e0/Albatross_at_Midway_Atoll_Refuge_%288080507529%29.jpg
The Full Eco Sampler Gift Pack https://www.katymorikawa.com/the-2021-eco-sampler-pack/
Earth Breeze Liquidless Laundry Sheets https://www.earthbreeze.com/
This New Year's Eve at midnight, I greeted the star Sirius, having received the shamanic teachings about this moment from Jade Wah'oo Grigori. It was one of the most vivid experiences of synchronicity I've had in years.
Read the post/transcript at https://www.katymorikawa.com/sirius-gift-for-the-new-year
Watch 2021 interview with Jade Wah'oo Grigori, Curator of the Sacred at https://youtu.be/ImjXrXqchDg
Jade's website https://jadegrigori.com/
I wrote this post in March of 2021. And I never recorded audio for it, but I've decided to do that now with the launch of this new project of mine at katymorikawa.com and the new podcast. It felt like it might be helpful for listeners who are not readers to have the audio for this, what's a deeper dive into Who is Aran? And how did I start working with him?
Read post/transcript at https://www.katymorikawa.com/weekly-check-in-march-27-2021/
Read “Reflections on Harry and Meghan,” or listen on Spotify https://open.spotify.com/episode/5FUY1e1dpHLIOhlt37XBQz
One of my New Year's resolutions is to re-read The Lord of the Rings, making this the 17th time but the first time in 20+ years! I did rediscover fantasy a couple years ago, and have now sampled some of what's come out since Tolkein broke the mold in 1954. This is the Fantasy and SciFi that kept me sane during the pandemic.
These are not deep-dive reviews, but rather, informal reactions to: Brandon Sanderson’s Stormlight Archive, Robert Jordan’s (groan) Wheel of Time series, James S. A. Corey’sThe Expanse series, Uprooted by Naomi Novik, Vorkosigan Saga and the Penric the Shaman series by Lois McMaster Bujold, and Mary Stewart’s The Crystal Cave and her other Arthurian novels.
I get virtually all of my reading done by listening to audiobooks - no surprise. I use Jabra Elite Active wireless earbuds, which are great for the price point: far less expensive than Airpods or Beats and the microphone is pretty good so they're great for hands-free talking on the phone. (Not an affiliate, just an enthusiast who has spent too much time nerding out over gear and happy to pass along my finds).
Read the blog article here (transcript): https://www.katymorikawa.com/a-pandemic-reading-list-in-fantasy-and-scifi/
Aran and I sat down on New Year's Eve in a new setting to talk about this new phase we're entering--a deeper dive into the creative, into the world of soul, into the soul of the world to make love-play-create with the anima mundi--with much thanks to Becca Tarnas and her contributions on the Imaginal.
Read post/transcript: https://www.katymorikawa.com/a-new-years-vision/
Who is Aran? Listen on Spotify https://open.spotify.com/episode/1pyIwaxTlVhqqAgCDMxZ4D or read post/transcript: https://www.katymorikawa.com/tag/conversations-with-aran/
Andrew Huberman on Armchair Expert https://open.spotify.com/episode/6ARrJfjusp7Xm4ApY9QX1s
Richard Tarnas & Matthew D. Segall "Journeying within a Cosmic Journey" on Conversations in Process https://open.spotify.com/episode/25k5IyY5coCzVarku1K9cO
Becca Tarnas on Rune Soup podcast:
- "Talking Tolkein and Jung" 2016 https://open.spotify.com/episode/7FSyftYXwyjja0mf4xWwv0
- "Talking The Lord of the Rings" 2018 https://open.spotify.com/episode/1ImUAUqTmQBrUJQvnCn9mC
- "Talking Creation, Faerie, and Facing 2020" https://open.spotify.com/episode/1JrZMneLQYJAR3lNa9mYUc
Becca also has a website, beccatarnas.com, and a book out called, Journey to the Imaginal Realm: A Reader’s Guide to J. R. R. Tolkien’s The Lord of the Rings (on Amazon).
This is Katy Morikawa, formerly of the Waking Up podcast and the A Little More Free podcast. I've resurrected my website at katymorikawa.com, and the beginning outline of a project is in the works. This is a quick rundown of what I've been up to in 2021 leading up to the launch of this new phase.
Read the blog article/transcrip here: https://www.katymorikawa.com/a-new-beginning/
More about Aran here https://www.katymorikawa.com/weekly-check-in-march-27-2021/
Becca Tarnas on Rune Soup, "Talking Tolkein and Jung," (2016) https://open.spotify.com/episode/7FSyftYXwyjja0mf4xWwv0
Waking Up on Spotify https://open.spotify.com/show/1aHXqB5TDOYOCOxRprs5Z0 and Anchor https://anchor.fm/waking-up, and most other podcast outlets except for Apple.
A Little More Free E34: The Last Episode https://alittlemorefree.com/episode-34-the-last-episode/
Starshine The Astrological Planner https://alittlemorefree.com/starshine/
The Building Our Small House series on https://www.floydworkshop.com/
- Building A Small House for Less than $100,000
- Into the Thicket, Building Our Small House Part 2
- Breaking Ground, Building Our Small House Part 3