"What if we begin at the beginning? If begin with "maybe nothing I've ever been told is true," then the possibility is that we can start to deconstruct some of the ladder of belief that we've been attached to, We can start freeing ourselves up to explore other places and opportunities and ideas and creativity we can slowly start to return, at least in our mind, to that child, we once were, that has that open curiosity and imagination and wonder about this world.

"And if we've learned anything, we have learned that there is no warrior coming to save us. That real life is not like the movies. There is no one person that is assigned to save the world and let the rest of us just go on living our life. It's here, it's now, change is upon us."

We're not here to rest. We're here to grow wiser, we're here to ask ourselves the hard questions. We're here to look at our dark sides and our shadow sides, and our blind spots. Those are the keys to developing even greater wisdom, and then sharing that with others—not through our words necessarily, but through our very being, through our very presence. This is wisdom. This is the journey and it is motivated from the soul.

wake up Waking up is not just about us. It's not just about an individual. Waking up might be a an individual journey, but the result of our waking in our own lives is a gift to the collective society and it guides the energy for where society moves next. If you would like to actively participate in the direction that society moves, then we must wake up, we must be mindful for that will encourage more people to wake up more people to be mindful in their lives, which will encourage better, more mindful choices for all of society." .40 - It's time to maybe start thinking about maybe how we can take advantage of this period of time in a way that we haven't quite yet. 2:00 - Why Now is the Best Time to Wake Up - Introduction "We are here as souls in order to wake up. It's interesting to think that we are asleep. I know that that sounds weird. Of course, we're awake. Of course, we're moving through our days. Of course, we know our name and we know the date but there's a difference between simply going through our lives on autopilot and kind of just one foot in front of the other "the next right thing" as I call it, and actively choosing each moment of each day as a fresh new experience. 4:00 - Not fitting in "And yet most of us start to settle into what society has decided what is culturally accepted. And the more we do that, the more we're just going to fit in to the crowd, the less likely we will be living our true soul path. Because I promise you this—somebody who is living their lives aligned with their souls. Someone who is awake and conscious and mindful, isn't going to fit in. They're going to stand out in some quirky ways. They're going to have something about them, that maybe you just can't put your finger on, but they just don't necessarily do what you expect or say, what, what you what you might want them to." 6:16 - Authentic Life "It's so unusual to encounter somebody who is willing to be authentic to to express how they really feel without sort of, well now I'm at work and this is the persona I wear. And now I'm with my family and this is the persona I wear. These personas are what I call "skin:s are exhausting. They fatigue every single system of our body. And most importantly, I suppose they they hide our souls, they cover up our souls, they muffle our souls. So if we're waking up, part of that process means to be living authentically, to be true to our emotions and how we're feeling, to speak truth, to be an embodiment of our truth, and to not let social norms and expectations always trump that." 8:04 - Waking up Looks Like... "So this is what waking up looks like. It's about authentic presentation of ourselves, authentic acceptance of our emotions, a kind of wholeness in our being a connection of body, mind and soul that all comes together to to be in this life that expresses and experiences each moment as original as fresh and ripe for opportunity. This is really hard to do in normal life because life is moving so fast. And it's just one thing after the next after the next meeting, upon meeting after conference call, and then the rush hour drive home and then, you know, making dinner getting the kids ready. It's just this merry go round of busyness." 9:00 - First Reason Why - We are all slowing down "And so this is the first reason that right now is the best time to wake up to move on this path of saying, I'm alive. And I have emotions and I have thoughts and they might not always point in the same direction as everybody else is facing. It's a good time, because when things slow down, we can observe more closely. It's really hard—if you picture a merry go round—to spot the faces that are going around and around. But as it starts to slow down, you can start to recognize some of the different faces.

"My mindfulness is largely a practice of curiosity. It's a practice of wonderment and wondering about this process of being human about the interconnectedness between all of us, and how certain people come into our lives and why they do and how this or that person triggers us. Isn't that interesting?"

"Discomfort allows us to move inward, to reflect, to consider to contemplate, so that we can change and we can adjust and grow through that discomfort."

Part of a journey to wholeness, part of a journey to awakening power, is to expand our emotional experience so that we become fuller, more whole human beings. That's what my work is all about. That's what this podcast is all about. And I dare to say that that is what this time is asking us to do.

I'm so glad to be able to do this podcast right now. It means so much to be able to chew through some of these difficult things that are going around in our head as we all deal with the effects of the Coronavirus. If you are an artist or creative or a visionary or a leader in any capacity right now, I think today's episode will be especially valuable for you. Andrea and I talked about how important it is to stay connected to our creativity and our curiosity and our hope for a new world as we continue to stay present compassionate and empathetic during this period of time. And if you know somebody who's creative and is in this space of making art for the world, and perhaps especially if they're struggling with that right now, definitely share this episode with them. 1:00: Introduction to Andrea's Podcast: Our Story Speaks 4:00: Value of our work - Importance of continuing your art, podcasts, book, and other creative pursuits during Coronavirus creativity 9:12: "It is not the time for any of us to stop moving in the direction of growth, progress, passions and purpose." 10:55: Collective Consciousness - how it affects all of us 12:50: New Normals - Our resilient souls "Life doesn't happen to you, it happens for you," Byron Katie 14:00: How to show up for/in discomfort 14:54: Spiritual Opportunity 15:00: Mother Earth 15:45: Ayurvedic approach/philosophy 17:30: The Lifestyle we've been "sold" 19:00: How to be in discomfort - Yin Yoga 20:20: Modeling for children 21:00: Our interconnectedness/reaching out to each other 25:10: Empathy/Compassion Tonglen Meditation Practice 29:00: Women's roles in leading with love and courage  - power, empowerment, thoughtfulness, creativity 31:30: A new world - staying in a place of curiosity 32:00: What are these feelings and where are they coming from? 33:15: Courage and Fear in our circles 34:40: Time for wholeness 35:10: Clarissa Pinkola Estes message on coronavirus 36:15: Tips to stay in the space of hopefulness and curiosity 42:00 Importance of writing down these stories Andrea is the creator and host of Our Story Speaks, a podcast platform for women to share the ideas, experiences and stories that connect us all.  Andrea has a background in social work, a passion around women's issues and a belief that meaningful connection with other women is the way we heal our traumas and create great things.  Andrea lives in Oregon with her two small sons. Here are my links/contact information: Our Story Speaks Podcast: https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/our-story-speaks/id1478819794?uo=4 FB & IG -@ourstoryspeaks [email protected] ourstoryspeaks.com (coming soon!)

Think of this period of time as a form of revelation, as a form of truth now coming to the surface because it can't be hidden under business. It can't be hidden under power. And we can't hide. Our true selves are going to come to the surface.

It's really important to go write right now. It' doesn't matter what shape it takes in the end. You have a thought, write it down, save it for yourself. And you can come back to it later. And maybe the only point of that thought was that it comforted you right now. And maybe it's something more, and it's not your business right now. Your job is just to be present with what is.