Hi Friend,

While in the midst of a multi-day ceremony for Indigenous Peoples' day, I received an entirely unexpected email: Nina Simons’ assistant was asking if Nina could be on my podcast.  I immediately said yes.  And I chuckled to myself. Oh, the divine one sure does have a sense of humor. 

Just a few months earlier, my partner and I had been to Bioneers in California. Several friends of ours were speaking. Given the caliber of people on the stage, I found myself wondering how the organizers would ever ever notice me. After all, I’m not a big name. I don’t have a big following. I still haven’t written my book. Or all sorts of other things that would be darn useful for getting the messages I’m carrying out there.

Full admission: I got into a bit of a funk. What am I doing wrong in this whole entrepreneurial journey?

And then we hung out with our friends, which led to an impromptu ritual with dandelion tea in the parking lot outside of the palace of fine arts in San Francisco, with Caroline Casey, who has since invited us to be on her Visionary Activist radio show … twice. (I'm now a total fan of hers!)   

The funk dissipated in the ritual. 

We left that Bioneers in high spirits, laughing at the absurdity of it all.  Here we are, few people know us, and we get to co-create these magical moments with such amazing people…

I’d say that is the kind of moment that Bioneers cultivates.  their slogan: Revolution from the Heart of Nature- has brought together thought leaders, visionaries, scientists, technologists, indigenous leaders, and many others to their annual gatherings. 

Nina Simons is one of the co-founders.  She has worked with everyone from Nobel peace prize winners to street-level activists, convening women globally and close to her home, bringing people to her stage and connecting ideas, resources, and perspectives for decades.

I’m still not sure how her assistant found my podcast. There’s a mystery in this work that causal explanations don’t really explain.  It does seem to be some kind of multi/dimensional temporal thing: spirals and curvatures and intersections.

I am delighted to bring to you our conversation.  I feel I was able to touch some of her particular genius, and I think she was able to sense some of my own magic. Together, we were able to bring to the surface something closer towards wisdom. Which is part of what this podcast is about: not us as individuals, but the play and revelations that can emerge between us. Thinking together those stories and questions that are almost too big to try to hold alone.