WA Real

This week’s conversation with Roslyn Snyder is all about patterns – the patterns that underpin the human experience and patterns of nature. Roslyn takes time to talk through Realm Theory that sets the framework of understanding for patterns she’s noticed across her life, vast studies and 20+ years as a practising Clinical Psychologist. Throughout the conversation, she gives plenty of examples to provide the context for deeper understanding of how it all comes together. It’s rare to find someone who works at this meta level of connection and who can see such deep patterns; patterns that have been understood and shared for hundreds and thousands of years previously in indigenous cultures. Indeed, Roslyn talks about how she’s not only captured the pattern mathematically but has also sang and danced the patterns. This is a very deep conversation but right now I personally believe that this is a level of thinking and sensemaking that is missing from the overall conversation that directs where we’re going in th

How has COVID impacted our connection with one another? This is the focus of this weeks conversation with Emma Gibbens who, based on her previous work as a political campaigner, now holds space for deeper searching conversations on a range of topics. In this exploratory conversation we got into the need for boundaries; how social media has impacted the relationship between community, the market and government; we question the underlying structure of many assumptions that we connect upon; and we also consider how connection will differ, particularly for countries like the US and UK, as we come out of COVID. Emma is obviously a bright and passionate lady, which produced a hugely thought provoking conversation.

The focus of this week's conversation is about how organisations, whether private or governmental, stretch forwards into what is possible rather than snapping back to the ‘old normal’ in this post COVID world. I explore this with Andy Lamb, an experienced organisational disruption consultant who specialised in unlocking creativity within businesses. What makes this conversation super interesting is its fractal nature in that Andy started by noticing small changes that he needed to make himself on a personal level, and then spotted the patterns that emerged applying them to larger organisations in his work. We also dived how to remain open to learning, complexity, ecosystems, and much, much more. While on the surface this might seem like a very heavy topic, Andy is a super articulate guy and he's tonnes of fun to talk to, which makes this a very approachable conversation that will lightly provoke quite deep thought.

What is the opposite of complexity? That is the starting question from which I explored complexity in this wonderful conversation with the wise owl and elder that is Rod Griffiths. Just what is complexity? Can it be defined or is it felt? In exploring complexity, we went through many areas in this conversation ranging from beauty in design, existentialism, aesthetics, the role of our nervous system, as well as how we actively move away from complexity and why we protect ourselves from it. We live in a highly complex world, something COVID has painfully revealed to us. We also talked about surrendering to complexity and just being in it, as opposed to restlessly needing to do something. This is a fantastically gentle yet deep conversation that has so much to offer as we continue to face an uncertain, complex, ever changing and ambiguous world.

Dating is broken - that is the real-life observation that returning guest Dr. Kate Raynes-Goldie is fixing with Lovego, a very clever combination of play and Lego that is designed to help those in the dating scene find a deeper and more meaningful relationship quicker and in a way that is more transparent to the deeper aspects of ourselves. In this fun and playful discussion, Kate shares her real-life journey that brought together the mix of play, Lego and dating together. We also broadened out the conversation to focus on the general state of human connection and the barriers to that. NOTE: Kate is currently launching Lovego and she offering all ‘Badass Professional’ Lady WA Real Listeners the opportunity to work with her personally to journey further into their dating with Lovego; all you have to do is email her at: Kate@lovegomethod.com Whether you're currently dating or generally in need of greater quality human connection, there’s plenty in this discussion for you. For more info go to: lovegomethod.

This week, I had a fantastic conversation with a young gentleman called Joseph Andrin about death; not just death in terms of the end of life, but death in terms of the end of ideas, or stories or narratives that we might tell ourselves.In this conversation, we talked about letting go, the process of letting go, about actually sitting and being with death and how death can question our identity as a source of its greatest growth.Joseph is a fantastic person to talk to; he's very thoughtful and considered. He is very transparent with his emerging thought process as he shares it.Also, there is an extra 10 minutes after the end of the conversation about the stories of death that we told ourselves probably before the period of rational enlightenment and how those mythical stories now play into our rational scientific view of the world.

When was the last time that you actively went out to meet a stranger? To expand your perspective, to truly listen to and engage with other people?Meet Alex Waters, who set himself the challenge of having 100 coffees with 100 strangers throughout the year in 2020.Alex shares his journey throughout the challenge and talks about how it brought a new sense of humility to him, how he learned to receive feedback, how he really zoned in on his own listening and the importance of human connection, as well as just undertaking a challenge for no other reason that you feel called to.Alex gets raw and candid about his journey, which makes it a fantastic, fun and engaging conversation.Hopefully, it might just inspire you to go out and meet strangers and expand your own network and perspective.

I was recently invited on to the experts podcast, which is hosted by Lana Hill and Nick Hayes, a former guest.We talked about podcasting, and the art of podcasting. And so I thought it would make for a great little episode, as it provides a fantastic behind the scenes look of what goes into creating WA Real.Also in this, I think there's a lot of pointers in there for just how to have a more deeper and engaging conversation. It's a lot of fun, and I thought it would make for a great episode with a different viewpoint.

This week we go further into our inquiry and exploration into philosophy with local WA philosophical lecturer, Meera Finnigan.Meera sets the scene of what philosophy and philosophical inquiry is all about, before sharing some of the big questions that she herself is wrestling with currently.She takes you on a fantastic tour, through the origins of philosophy and introduces some of the great thinkers that have come before us. She also introduces you to the three main areas that of metaphysics, epistemology, and ethics, or in other words, questions relating to our reality, our knowledge, and our sense of right and wrong.This is a fun and engaging conversation where we exchange many views.What you will soon begin to realise is just how some of those bigger questions that many of the great thinkers that have come before us have wrestled with, still apply to today, and our current situation.

Where does psychology and philosophy begin in our human journey?What is good? What is evil? How should I live my life?Richard Grannon returns to discuss the importance of continuing to wrestle with important questions just like these to develop your own moral philosophy.Previously, we spoke about co-dependency, people pleasing, and the impact of trauma. In this conversation, we go further into why a lack of moral philosophy will leave you in a weakened and a unboundaried state that can be so easily preyed upon by the outside world.This is about our thinking, our decision making, and how we implement boundaries to live a more healthy life.Considering your moral philosophy is not as difficult as you think, but it's possibly more important than you may ever consider; there's a strong suggestion that this may sit at the heart of some of our rising mental health issues.As always, speaking to Richard was a true privilege and honour; he is incredibly articulate and has an amazing sense of humour. This conversation p

What would an upgrade to our current democracy actually look like? And how would democracy 2.0 actually work?That's exactly what I discussed with Daithi Gleeson, member of the Flux Party – political party and movement that is drawing on technology to put forward an upgrade to our democratic system.  In this discussion, Daithi gives us a history of our democracy through today with key suggestions of how we can upgrade to make it work for us better in the present day.Daithi and I about went into the current state of our individual and collective capability to be effective citizens in Democracy 2.0Daithi is superbly articulate which makes this a very accessible conversation. It is also fascinating because all too often political discussions focus on the differences between parties and policies rather than on the actual nature of the underlying system and its ability to serve us the citizens and meet the complexity of the current day.  

This week I had a fascinating conversation about all that we can learn from being in nature with Claire Vanderplank.Claire, through her company, Weapons of Mass Creation provides a vision quest service here in Western Australia.During this conversation, we really dived into what exactly is a vision quest and in particular the role of nature and all that we can learn from nature in relation to transition within our own systems and community.This is a super conversation with a lady who has spent a lot of time solo by herself out in nature; and you can really tell that there's a lot of depth of character that she's drawing on throughout the podcast.

This week I had a great conversation about science, the natural beauty and purity of science and scientific investigation with Wallace Thornhill, Vice President of the Thunderbolts Project.Wallace shares his paradigm changing Electrical Universe theory.What makes this so interesting is that Wallace, and others, have conducted their research and exploration separate from the university infrastructure.As well as expanding your understanding of the fabric of the universe, hopefully from this conversation you will be inspired to rethink your own relationship with science and consider your own scientific exploration and experimentation to further your own horizons rather than abrogating to University Scientists.

This week I welcomed back Nick Hayes, Managing Director of Media Stable, to discuss his observations across the media landscape and media consumption over the last six to nine months during this changeable period.Nick explains is that, as he predicted in the last podcast, that there's been a real move back to traditional forms of media, in particular radio.  We really had a great discussion about becoming more discerning in our media consumption and sense making, particularly recognising the leanings, particularly the political orientation, of the sources that you're listening to. We also talked about the pitfalls of going to social media as a source of news and also the concept of consuming too much information.Nick is really articulate and has a great sense of humour. He brings a very grounded and grown up perspective to the topic of news and media in general.

Take a deeper refection into our interior subjective human experience by considering auditory hallucinations, in particular hearing voices, with Johanna Babcock, Adjunct Professor at UWA School of Psychological Sciences, and also one of the founders of Perth Voices Clinic.Surrounded in cultural interpretation, what becomes more and more apparent in this conversation is the fact that hearing voices is not quite what you think - it's very subjective to an individual and a lot more common than one might expect.We also dive into the link with loneliness to mental health and the onus on those of us who are not lonely to open the door to those who are for the sake of a healthy society.Why would you listen to this conversation? Because it’s a fascinating exploration into holding space for the legitimacy of your interior personal experiences. It highlights how much there is to explore and just how normal ‘things we don’t necessarily feel comfortable talking about’ really are.

Take a deep dive into incredible world and healing power of Medicinal Mushrooms with Graham Upson of Touchwood Mushroom Farm.With over 45 years of mushroom growing experience, Graham is WA’s leading expert in this field. He shares some of his stories learning how to grow and think like a mushroom as well as the businesses he’s developed along the way. You will soon begin to appreciate just how complex and precise growing mushrooms is.Graham then talks about the main medicinal mushrooms that he supplies and their properties - lion’s mane, turkey tail, cordyceps, chaga, reishi, maitake and shiitake.This is a fascinating conversation; Graham is a real font of knowledge in this field.As the listener, you will soon realise that there's so much more to learn and explore when it comes to mushrooms. https://www.touchwoodmushrooms.com/

This week I had the great pleasure of welcoming back Bill Saunders, one of Perth’s leading clinical psychologist who's recently come out of retirement.Through Bill’s research for his new book, he’s really dived into the true reliability and robustness of the underlying psychiatric framework and treatment protocols that shape the mental health space.The picture that soon emerges is one that may well have lost its way scientifically becoming too complex, overly industrially influenced and separated too far from the true nature of the human journey.Bill suggests that rather than asking ‘what's wrong with a client?’  the better starting point is to ask ‘what has happened to you?’ because more often than not the source of the majority of mental health issues originated from an early traumatic event in childhood.This is a super engaging and detailed conversation with someone with over 40+ years of clinical practice and research experience.If you or a loved one has any mental health issues or is receiving treatment

Dreams - we all have them, whether wild or wacky, recurring nightmares, vividly exciting or highly sexual.But how often do you pay attention to your dream? How often do you legitimise them? How often you actually talk about them and share them?This week it was absolute pleasure to talk to Debbie Ford, dream therapy psychotherapist, about this rich source of connection to psycheDebbie explains what dreams are, their underlying dynamics and mechanics and just how beautifully subjective they are in their very essence. She gives an insight into how she works with clients and their dreams and provides some wonderful examples to really set some context of how we can begin to work with our own dreams.Fascinatingly, we also discussed on a bigger level of what she's beginning to see across her client’s and their dreams at this time in this COVID disrupted time – messages from the collective psyche.This is a truly subtle, beautiful, yet really powerful conversation with a wonderful lady who is really amazing at holding

While more of us are becoming aware of the idea of spiritual awakening, the arising question is what is the actual experience of a spiritual awakening actually like?Many may have a preconception that this is a lovely serene experience, however the truth of the matter is often something very different and scary, which is where the term ‘Spiritual Emergency has come from’.This week had the great privilege of exploring the topic of spiritual emergencies with Jules Evans, practical philosopher and co-editor of the book Breaking Open, which documents real cases of individual spiritual emergencies.In this conversation, Jules provides some of the characteristics and surrounding mechanics and dynamics of spiritual emergencies, as well as the impacts.In an uncertain and rapidly changing world that can so easily trigger a deep change within us set against a noticeable increase in an uptake of differing healing modalities, this is an important conversation to normalise and map out what exactly is happening during these

This week, I had the great pleasure of speaking to Christine Morrison, WA based musician, composer, music alchemist and sound healer.While I featured guests of a similar ilk previously on the podcast, what makes this really different is the fact that over the last four months I myself have been working with Christine to explore sound for myself. So rather than this being a theoretical discussion, it's very much starts off as an experiential discussion with Christine providing deeper context. This includes how I’ve myself now use sound to connect into my body and how that has led to a number of experiences which I could say rival certain psychedelic experiences.From that Christine talks about how her work with sound came into her life – which is something she didn't really want to start with but she shares her process of letting go  and answering the call.Christine is a super grounded lady with a deep history of working with sounds that includes indigenous links which really sets the tone for this discussion a