Mary Beth Phillips, Interview #115

Name: Mary Beth Phillips

Where you live: Walnut Creek, CA (and in my car)

What is your vocation or avocation: Therapist by training, Executive Director by profession, passionate about families and children, quality child care and disability rights.  I also create gardens.

Your two favorite books: The last one I’ve read.

Your two favorite songs: Any song one of my very talented songwriting children has written. Listen to the one on our website for a taste of something my daughter wrote and sings.

Why are you interested in spirituality:  I think Spirituality is a necessary part of being human.  I think we a wired to seek the Divine.

Your favorite quote: “Alone we can do so little; together we can do so much.”  Helen Keller and “Never doubt that a small group of thoughtful, committed citizens can change the world. Indeed, it is the only thing that ever has.” Margaret Mead

Your favorite websites:  TheMiracleChase.com

Your Hero: my daughter, Elizabeth for her determination and spirit

A spiritual lesson you hope to learn:  Everyone has a job. When you know that you have been called to do your job, say yes and do it but don’t try to control it. That’s how the world gets to be better.

A place in the world of spiritual connection: Where family gathers.

Joan Luise Hill, Interview #114

Name: Joan Luise Hill

Where You Live: Pebble Beach, CA and Nantucket, MA

What you do as a vocation or avocation? Community Volunteer in Education and Health care, fund raiser for causes where there is a positive return on investment in brain power, social welfare and the greater good.

Your two favorite books: The Sparrow for its troubling and thoughtful account of searching beyond our comfort level and the innate danger and reward in the journey.  A Day with Pete the Seagull written by my parents in the 1950s - a story of the beach, of friendship, and of simple pleasures with funds donated to the Jimmy Fund cancer research for children.

Your two favorite songs:  Zombie Zoo (Tom Petty),  
The 1812 Overture (Tchaikovsky)

Why you are interested in spirituality? I think at a certain age (over 40), at a certain time (facing cancer), and in certain circumstances ie the death of a parent or sickness of a child, we all begin to go outside of ourselves searching for something greater than we are...I think all of those things conspired to jumpstart my spiritual journey.

Your favorite quote: "If you want your dreams to come true, you mustn't oversleep." Eleanor Roosevelt

"The meaning of life is to find your gift, the purpose of life is to give it away."  Joy Gulliver

Your favorite web sites: www.themiraclechase.com (I do have a sense of humor...)

Your hero? The unique part of each of us that dares to do that which we are unsure of...Marie Curie in the lab, Alexis Carrel for his belief in miracles; Franz Werfel writing of Lourdes;  everyday volunteers who give of themselves in extraordinary ways

A spiritual lesson you hope to learn? Never to return to complacency; instead to keep searching though sometimes it seems difficult to keep it fresh and alive

A place in the world where you feel spiritually "connected?" Maryisma, hard not to be lulled into a spiritual connection given the history and the feeling of peacefulness; the cemeteries of Normandy where so many lie in sacrifice for the good of mankind; in the air when flying, seeing the distinct differences in the earth's landscape and marveling at the majesty of the oceans, mountains and fields.

Katie Mahon, Interview #113

Name: Katie Mahon

Where you live: New York, New York (after being a Bay Area, California “native” for 45 years, I moved to Manhattan in 2009)


What do you do as a vocation or avocation:  I am passionate about access to educational opportunities for children across the socio-economic spectrum and continue to be involved in a high school in California; I love to walk in Central Park and enjoy the changing seasons there, and to play tennis when weather permits.

Your two favorite books: Angle of Repose by Wallace Stegner, Wild Swans by Jung Chang, and Empire Falls by Richard Russo


Your two favorite songs: “Let it Be” (the Beatles), West Side Story sound track, pretty much all Christmas music

Why are you interested in spirituality?  I am interested in spirituality because I have felt the Presence of something beyond the four corners of what we call reality and I believe this feeling is as worthy of pursuit as anything.

Your favorite quote:  “Miracles seem to me to rest not so much upon faces or voices or healing power coming suddenly near us from afar off, but upon our perceptions being made finer, so that for a moment our eyes see and our ears can hear what there is about us always.” Willa Cather (Death Comes For the Archbishop)

Your favorite websites: 

CNN.com, 

www.themiraclechase.com


Your hero: Mother Teresa

A spiritual lesson you hope to learn:  The humility to connect myself again to a place where I can park my soul, in spite of the flaws of organized religion.

A place in the world where you feel spiritually "connected?"

I have had more moments of connection at those times when a sudden awareness of some depth within nature, a sunset that takes your breath away, a silence in a peaceful garden, that I can feel spiritually connected just about anywhere, though these moments are not automatic and don’t come nearly often enough.

Judith Fein, Interview #112

 Name: Judith Fein
 
Where you live: Santa Fe, New Mexico
 
What you do as a vocation or avocation? I am a travel journalist, which means I travel around the world and then write and speak about the places I have been. Actually, I focus on the people and the cultures I encounter around the world. I think that learning from and connecting to others is good for the soul and good for world peace. 
 
Your two favorite books:  I am very picky about what I read.  I want to learn, expand my universe, challenge ideas I have. I read non-fiction, and my two favorite books are almost always the last two I have read. 
 
Your two favorite songs:  Again, I don't have two favorites that come to mind. I like world music. Opera. Reggae. Classic rock. I learned from indigenous people that it is not good to count. So I try not to count--how many of this or that I have, which are my two or ten favorite songs or books or people. I like anything that makes me feel connected, alive, happy, thoughtful, moved. 
 
Why you are interested in spirituality?  I am not sure that I am "interested" in spirituality. It is part of my life. I am attracted to things that stir my soul, and try to interact with people in a way that lightens their load, makes them laugh, responds to the core of who they are, or stirs their souls. 
     I am the travel editor of Spirituality and Health magazine and the San Diego Jewish Journal. Sometimes, my husband Paul and I take people to destinations we love. We want them to see the sites, to be sure, but we want them to have a deep, moving, transformative experience. We take them to different spiritual and religious ceremonies. 
     But, beyond all of this, if you ask me what "spiritual "means,  I would, quite honestly, have to answer this: "Spiritual is how you behave with other humans on a minute by minute basis. Do they feel better for having met you? Or do they feel criticized and diminished? You can follow important spiritual practices, but, ultimately, it's not just about your own connection to Source. It is about how you are with humans, in our human world. "
 
Your favorite quote: Whoops. Here we go again. I don't have favorites. 
 
Your favorite web sites: Double whoops. I like so many people, places, sites, songs, quotes, books, that it is hard to choose. 
 
Your hero? There are so many---Nelson Mandela, The Dalai Lama, Aung San Suu Kyi, Bishop Tutu, John Lewis.......they all rise above divisiveness and teach brotherhood and connection. They also fight for what they believe in--the common good, and against racism, despotism and other isms. 
 
A spiritual lesson you hope to learn?  I am always learning how NOT to get embroiled,  reactive, but, rather, how to take a deep breath and try to see the whole picture. I try to be respectful, even if I am angry. I try not to be led by my emotions. I practice a lot.......
 
A place in the world where you feel spiritually "connected?"  When I am comfortable, relaxed and l00 per cent in my own skin. When I am not in the past or the future, but fully present to what is going on around me. Then I am most certainly connected. 
 
My website is: http://www.GlobalAdventure.us

I am also the editor of http://www.YourLifeisaTrip.com. I have many articles on the site. I would especially like to share with readers my Pledge of Peace: http://www.yourlifeisatrip.com/home/pledge-of-peace.html

Tracy Lee Nash, Interview #111

Name: Tracy Lee Nash


Where you live: Menifee, California


What you do as a vocation or avocation? I am an Energy Health Practitioner


Your two favorite books:  The Spontaneous Healing of Belief and 

Small Miracles-Extraordinary Coincidences from Everyday Life



Your two favorite songs: Mary's Song (By Tony Sadante) and Penny Whistle Song (By Hans Zimmer)


Why you are interested in spirituality? It reminds me that I am both connected to and a child of God, and encourages authentic living through honoring that deep organic connection to something much bigger than just myself

   

Your favorite quote:

 "If not by faith how shall you live

  If not by love how shall you give
  If not by strength how shall you grow

  If not by God how shall you go?"

Your favorite web sites:

 www.withinthelight.com  
www.astrologyzone.com 
www.tonic.com 
www.drweil.com 

Your hero? Jesus

A spiritual lesson you hope to learn? True release from all things unproductive

A place in the world where you feel spiritually "connected?" Egypt

David Sokal, Interview #110

Name:  David Sokal     
 
Where you live:  Seattle, Washington, USA 
 
What you do as a vocation or avocation?  Sell Palestinian Olive Oil (see www.peaceoil.net)
 
Your two favorite books: One of the most important books I read in my youth was Last of the Just about the holocaust.   
 
Your two favorite songs:  I still know all the lyrics to Neil Young's "After the Goldrush" by heart, so I guess I must like that one a lot. 
 
Why you are interested in spirituality?  I'm not really. I find the term is over-used and abused. What I'm interested in is life and death. I do belong to a Jewish Renewal Congregation which many might label as "spiritual". My wife and a good friend of mine refer to my congregation (Eitz Or -- Tree of Light) as being too "woo woo" for them. I can certainly understand their sentiment, but I've been involved for so many years that it has become my home, "woo woo" or not. We also have a wonderful rabbi, unique and warm membership, and we sing and pray from the heart. See www.eitzor.org 
 
Your favorite quote:  "Must be de ja vu all over again." (Yogi Berra - NY Yankees) I also like, "I don't a believe in a Sanity Clause" (Chico Marx in the Marx Brothers film, Horse Feathers). 
 
Your favorite web sites:  I use Google Checkout and Ad Words a lot. Part of my effort to sell Palestinian Olive Oil. 
 
Your hero? Frank Robinson, Baltimore Orioles in the 60s. Also, I've always admired Abraham Lincoln since reading about him as a kid. I think Obama is doing a pretty good job. I guess I'm not much into heros. There are literally millions of people living and dead that I can find admirable qualities in. 
 
A spiritual lesson you hope to learn?  To accept death. 
 
A place in the world where you feel spiritually "connected?"  See Congregation Eitz Or above. 

Salomeh Dastyari, Interview #109

Name: Salomeh Dastyari

Where you live: Sydney, Australia

What you do as a vocation or avocation?
Founder of Salomeh Co. (Transforming leadership presence and performance for sustainable outcomes).

A curious learner and lover of life, my work consist of two main avenues:
A) Helping individuals explore, experience and expand through coaching, mentoring, consulting and facilitating, I work globally with senior executives, emerging and existing leaders & leadership teams in organisations and communities (ie. corporations, education, government, non-profit, health) across a variety of industries. Specialities are organisational culture, leadership and communication development which includes areas of authentic leadership, visioning and strategy, high stakes and powerful communication, conscious business, crucial conversations, peak performance and embodiment.

B) Improvised movement education and tapping into the deep source of bodily wisdom through creative art expression, movement and dance.

Passionate about the concept, process & experience of authentic shift and change, both aspects of my working life share the common thread of harnessing human potential through ‘unlocking body and somatic wisdom’; leading to our highest authentic expression, compassion and flow. In addition I am actively involved and sit on the board of a couple of non-profit organisations.

My inspiration & personal transformation body of work includes meditation, yoga, improvised movement education and embodied creativity, shamanic wisdom, chakra dance & education, mindfulness based psychotherapy, spiritual intelligence, neuro-leadership, intuitive healing & Presence based coaching

Your two favorite books:

I have many. They include:

Presence; Human purpose and the field of the future (P.Senge, c. Otto Scharmer, J. Jaworski, B.Flower

Sacred Contracts (Caroline Myss) + Anything by Eckhard Tolle and more of Caroline Myss


Your two favorite songs:

As a mover, I love both music and silence. Couple of my favourites are:

"Spirit Wind" by Bill Miller & "Shaman’s vision journey" by David and Steve Gordon

"The richest man in Babylon," by Thievery corporation

Instruments that instantly connect me to multiple dimensions include the Japanese Shakuhachi flute and indigenous drums.

Why you are interested in spirituality?
In this incredible time of the great turning, based on my own on-going personal journey and learning from so many incredible souls on this path, I believe that it is both our personal and moral obligation to reflect deeply on how we are contributing and WHO we are being with ourselves, each other and our world, whilst experiencing the re-birthing of our ways of doing.

Through embodying our spirituality no matter where we live (from a remote village to a sacred town to a bustling city), this is our time to activate ‘soulutions’ that are self-sustaining and reflect our highest potential, whilst we embrace various roles with fellow human beings such as partner, mother, father, daughter, son, sister, brother, friend and colleague.

Highlights include: Shadow integration, celebrating success stories, taping into heart wisdom, being vulnerable, connecting with nature and sacred rituals, regular practice and last but not least managing the art of living and balancing the parallel experience of earth practicality/reality and spirituality. The last one is continuously fun, challenging and top of the mind!

Your favorite quote:

One of them is:

“We are spritual beings having a human experience.” Teilhard de Chardin

Your favorite web sites: anything creative, out of the box, simple and to the point that works for the betterment of humanity and raising consciousness.

Your hero? Anyone breaking through pain and experiencing shift.

A spiritual lesson you hope to learn? Patience with the unfolding details/‘HOW’ of the manifestation.

A place in the world where you feel spiritually "connected?"
Byrong Bay & Uluru Australia, Sedona USA, Pacific west coast of USA, Big Island Hawaii.

My work websites:
http://www.salomehco.com/ (coming soon)

http://www.bethechange.org.au/