The Revelation Project - Episodes Tagged with “Love”

Episode 192: Oren Jay Sofer - Your Heart Was Made for This: Contemplative Practices to Meet a World In Crisis with Courage, Integrity, and Love

Monica Rodgers | Revelation Media LLC — Wed, 13 Dec 2023 00:00:00 -0500

Perhaps upon first glance, when the terror of the world is breathing down our necks, we refuse to see how capable we are of meeting it. Perhaps we think, our hearts were not made to contend with the immensity of what’s happening- the chaos the sensory input, the imminent threat of climate change, or the video footage of the atrocities happening around the world in Israel and beyond.

And yet, we are equipped with an incredible potential for compassion and resilience - to grow and learn from challenge, and to biologically, neurologically, and spiritually, adapt and change to meet the times we are living in.

My Guest, Oren Jay Sofer, believes that every one of us can transform and grow, even in the midst of the heartbreak.

In his new book Your Heart Was Made for This: Contemplative Practices for Meeting a World in Crisis with Courage, Integrity, and Love , Oren reveals how we can tap into our full capacity for peace and goodness by cultivating a practice day by day with tiny steps and many other revelations for living in this time of extreme chaos and change.

"I like to think of the human organism as an instrument," he says. "And this whole journey I invite readers on is about how well you know how to play your instrument. Can you hit the notes of compassion and joy and generosity and gratitude and energy and integrity?” In this episode he walks us through where to start exploring the amazing capacities that we have as human beings- not as a blueprint but to develop the resources inside so that we can each play the role we're uniquely called to play.

Key points discussed in this episode include:

The importance of keeping our hearts open during painful and uncertain times
The inspiration behind Oren's latest book, Your Heart Was Made for This
An exploration of contemplative practice and its role in reflecting upon meaning and purpose in life
Various forms that contemplative practice can take for diverse individuals
The healing power of letting go, and the practice of renunciation
The interconnection between inner personal transformation and larger societal changes
The critical role of forgiveness in finding inner peace and restoration

Oren Jay Sofer teaches meditation and communication internationally. He holds a degree in comparative religion from Columbia University and is a Certified Trainer of Nonviolent Communication. He's also the author of several books, including the best-seller Say What You Mean: A Mindful Approach to Nonviolent Communication and his latest book, Your Heart Was Made for This: Contemplative Practices to Meet a World In Crisis with Courage, Integrity, and Love. A husband and a father, Oren lives in the San Francisco Bay Area, where he enjoys cooking, spending time in nature, and home woodworking projects.

Special Guest: Oren Jay Sofer.

Episode 175: Michaela Carlin - The Psychedelics Of Motherhood & Earth Medicine For The Ages

Monica Rodgers | Revelation Media LLC — Wed, 26 Jul 2023 00:00:00 -0400

The word Psychedelic means -soul reveal.

When her teenaged daughter began showing signs of depression, Michaela Carlin began to research alternative therapies which led her down an unconventional rabbit hole to discover the power and potential of psychedelics.

While she did not treat her daughter, she did see an opportunity to use earth medicines for herself. So began a mothers soul-revealing journey to her own inner medicine to deconstruct the inner barriers, beliefs and behaviors that were keeping her from her own potential.

In this episode, we explore the role of earth medicines in our lives, our journey as women and mothers and the illusions and gender roles that perpetuate harm on ourselves and those we love and how earth medicine can help us to see the bigger picture while helping us to heal.

This conversation takes a deep dive into societal conditioning, breaking free from conformity, and the evolving generations that are challenging societal norms. We also talk about the power of earth medicines and the role they play in healing and reconnecting us to ourselves and the natural network of life on Earth.

With personal anecdotes, shared experiences, and insightful reflections, this episode will leave you feeling empowered and inspired and maybe even curious about the use of earth medicine in your own life.

Psychedelics as a therapeutic alternative for depression and personal growth
The lack of conversation around youth struggles with depression and mental illness
The impact of psychedelics on motherhood and personal transformation
Surrender, growth, and authenticity in motherhood and psychedelics
The significance of earth medicines, ceremony, and indigenous knowledge
Different types of psychedelics and their unique qualities
Integration, embodiment, and guidance through psychedelic experiences
Breaking free from conditioning and societal norms
Embracing discomfort, challenging what no longer serves us, and living a psychedelic life
Psychedelic generations and their role in transforming the status quo

Michaela Carlin is the host of The Psychedelic Mom Podcast. She holds space for psychedelic (soul revealing) conversations, ceremonies and transformational retreats, as well as mentoring others on how to live a psychedelic life.

Special Guest: Michaela Carlin.

Episode 99: Ron Cecil & Daniel Penner Cline - Cutting for Sign

Monica Rodgers | Revelation Media LLC — Wed, 03 Nov 2021 16:15:00 -0400

Cutting For Sign is a tracking term that is a metaphor for becoming aware of, finding, and following the way of one's happiness, balance, calling, or more our more whole and authentic self.

Ron and Daniel have quickly become two of my favorite people. I truly love to be with men who are remaking what it means to be a man in the world and who are exploring ways of being and relating outside the status quo.

Listen in as we explore:

Healing modalities and plant medicine can help us access deeper wisdom, play, and levity.
How much does our conditioning from childhood hardwire us to feel guilt and shame?
How do our inner child and other parts within work to keep us safe, and how do we integrate them and heal as we grow?
How does religious conditioning play a role in how we experience marriage, work ethics, and masculinity?
The middle path is an exciting part of our human evolution.
Teaching men to have access to magic and mysticism is important to Ron.
Leaning into the Divine has given Daniel a whole new understanding of love and co-creation.
Bringing play into our lives brings us closer to the divine.
Listen to how Ron had a magical opportunity to experience the truth of reciprocity on a plane while he was flying over Victoria Falls in Africa.
Daniel practices witnessing and acknowledging others- even men, to normalize appreciation and to forward the healing process.
How can we create more opportunities and rituals for expansion and appreciation?
Daniel is a survivor of childhood trauma. He regulates his nervous system by taking conscious deep breaths starting with exhaling and emptying his lungs.

So, have you cut for sign in your life? Have you sensed the small clues, details, intuitions, and serendipitous moments that have revealed the path to your truer self?

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Episode 90: Alix Klingenberg - Secrets and Stars

Monica Rodgers | Revelation Media LLC — Wed, 01 Sep 2021 00:00:00 -0400

Poetry has always held a special place in my heart. I love Alix, and I’ve noticed that not only does she write gorgeous poems, she is also a beautiful and insightful speaker. Everything she says makes you want to write it down!

In this episode, we dive into what it is to be polyamorous and how Alix writes poems in collaboration with her higher self. We also talk about creativity, spiritual wholeness, sobriety, imperfection, soul-retrieval, and most importantly, accepting ourselves entirely as we are: with all of our messy contradictions and identities.

Rev. Alix Klingenberg is a photographer, spiritual director, and poet. She’s been writing essays and blogs (Highly Sensitive Extrovert) for several years, but only in the past year has begun to bring her poetry out of her journals and into the public. She self-published her first poetry collection, “Secrets and Stars,” in November of 2020. Alix also leads online creative arts courses and lives in MA with her family, 2 black cats, and a small dog named Cricket.

Polyamorous means many loves.
Alix wants us to examine our obsession with singular love and the many ways we suppress ourselves and limit ourselves.
Everything forces us to separate and divide and choose a side but wisdom stands in the middle.
Creativity is a rejection of the binary and being willing to explore and add and expand.
We all already know how to write poetry. Every single person already knows how and we don't need to do anything except write it down and stop censoring ourselves.
Poetry got a bad rap back then and now it is more mainstream and modern - many of us remember having poetry forced on us in school. Old poetry and odes and it was hard to relate to the language.
Sometimes we have to re-evaluate and reject some of the traditional models of success, and find our own definition.

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Episode 80: Kathy Karn - For the Grace of Elephants & What They Can Teach Us About LOVE

Monica Rodgers | Revelation Media LLC — Wed, 23 Jun 2021 00:00:00 -0400

I met Kathy Karn through Seth Godin's digital writing program and we “virtually” fell in love. I became fascinated with her experience with Elephants and moved by her tender and compassionate heart.

Kathy is a visual storyteller, a photographer and conservationist. After 30 plus years as a trauma therapist, she instinctively sought images that reflected resilience, beauty and wholeness, she's primarily a wildlife photographer, although international travel images and people compose half of her image archives, including the iconic animals of east Africa, particularly elephants who have profoundly impacted her work.

Fueled with spirit she's attracted to the wisdom of indigenous cultures. She loves wandering off the beaten path and her camera allows her to focus on specific gestures, connection, or implied story. When she travels to make pictures, she pushes through her natural shyness seeking more. Differences and barriers melt away and curiosity and wonder reign.

She hopes her images are a reminder that there is goodness and beauty in the world. She believes people and nature are inextricably linked. She's horrified by the degradation of the environment and the threat to our planet. Photography is a way of seeing. Which can teach and inspire people to care. When we care, we're more inclined to protect.

If her stories and images inspire readers to take steps towards making the world a better place.
She believes if we take care of nature, Nature will take care of us. When we save wild places, we save ourselves.

When she’s not traveling, she's at home with her husband in London, Ontario, Canada, or on the shores of the Georgian bay, the sixth great lake. She's grateful for family and friends. They are the wind beneath her wings. Creativity is an essential daily practice and there is much to celebrate in her life.

We all have a unique perspective to offer the world. When we don’t judge our contribution or compare it, we realize it’s relevant and important, and our own life's work can stand on its own.
The divine choreography that led Kathy to the front lines of animal wildlife and led her to effortlessly find elephants who were often challenging for others to locate and experience.
Why photography is her medium for fostering compassion and connection.
Why animals have so much to teach us about our own humanity and the interconnectedness of life.
Kathy shares how she gives herself permission to travel and pursue her passion while her husband supports her in doing this from his home base.
How investing in “funding” your soul work gives you the biggest return on investment.
Hear about “A room of One’s Own” a metaphor for traveling solo into new territories to be with your own wonder up close and personal.
How conservation and climate change is a part of Kathy’s ongoing work.
How she came to meet and love Big Tusker Tim and what elephants have taught her about grief and love and connection.
Kathy shares about the loss of her own mother and how she came into the realization of her own grief.
Why the loss of the Matriarch is such a profound event and rite of passage both for humans and elephants.
Hear about the moment of Revelation that Kathy experiences as the veil between the animal world and the human world lifts and she catches a glimpse of what it means to honor and witness these profound moments of our lives through animal medicine.

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