This is a brief contemplation of a reminder I received today about riding Life's waves. 

Music Courtesy of Pixabay

ANNA: LOVE & LOSS

Written by Nancy Moss, based on her play Anna: Love in the Cold War
Poems Translated by Judith Hemschemeyer
Performed by Dawn Davis

Music & Sound Effects Courtesy of Pixabay

Set in 1945 Leningrad, this short play depicts one night in the life of the great Russian poet, Anna Akhmatova, and her meeting with Isaiah Berlin, an Oxford Don.

About the Playwright:

Nancy Moss’s play Deception won Portland Civic Theatre Guild’s 2014 playwriting contest, had a staged reading as part of Portland’s 2016 Fertile Ground festival and was a 2017 Oregon Book Award finalist. Her ten-minute play The Pilot, about a drone pilot, was part of Oregon Contemporary Theatre’s 2013 April festival in Eugene, Oregon. New York’s Nylon Fusion Theatre produced her ten-minute play Conviction in 2017.

Her play Will the Real Charlie Chan Stand Up? – about the Honolulu police detective who inspired the fictional Charlie Chan - had a successful run at Honolulu’s Kumu Kahua theatre in 2012, after winning Kumu Kahua’s Hawaii prize. The Actors Group in Honolulu produced her play Anna: Love in the Cold War, about the Russian poet Akhmatova, in 2002 and 2012; it had a showcase in Abingdon Theatre in New York City in 2011.

Her play Hostage Wife, about the Iraq War, won Abingdon Theatre’s Wolk Award in 2005 and had a staged reading at Abingdon Theatre in 2006 and a 2007 production at Kumu Kahua Theatre in Honolulu. Her musical Infinite Jest had a 1998 production in Honolulu and a 2002 showcase in New York City. Nancy’s website nancymossplaywright.com details her works and productions.

After three months of weekly solocasts, it's time to reassess my energetic commitments and determine how I want to move forward with my creative endeavors. In this brief episode, I explain why I'm taking a bit of a hiatus. Thank you to those of you who listen to and support this podcast; it's so appreciated!

Today's episode is a reading presented without an introduction and with a score.

The Thunder, Perfect Mind is an ancient Gnostic text that was unearthed in Egypt in 1945 and is one of over 50 texts known as the Nag Hammadi Library. It is a stunning piece of Greek poetry invoking the Divine Feminine.

Author Unknown. Translation by George W. MacRae. For written text and historical background, visit The Gnostic Society Library.

Music Credit: "Distant Thunder" by NaturesEye on Pixabay

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Instagram: @cheatoutpodcast
Email: cheatoutpodcast@gmail.com 

Today's episode is a creative update on my series, Cheat Out. I also draw upon inspiration from Constellation Incubator, a new foray into modeling the future of independent filmmaking.

Referenced in this episode:

#52filmsbywomen: What I Learned from a Year of Films by Women

Constellation Incubator

Connect with me:

IG: @cheatoutpodcast
Email: cheatoutpodcast@gmail.com

The recent and unexpected death of Kundalini yoga teacher Guru Jagat hit me hard. This week, I reflect on the tough questions and dilemmas surrounding the spiritual path, including a defection from Evangelical Christianity, recognizing cultism, toxic abuse in the Kundalini community, student/teacher relationships from the dual perspective of artist/seeker, and striking a balance between intuition and rationality.

Referenced in this episode:

If Grace is True: Why God Will Save Every Person by Phillip Gulley & James Mulholland

Complex Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder (C-PTSD)

End Music Credit:

"Waves" by Michael Kobrin from Pixabay

Connect with me:

IG: @cheatoutpodcast
Email: cheatoutpodcast@gmail.com 

During periods of chaos, perspective is everything. Today I'm exploring the notion that we can use time as a flexible tool to support ourselves in the past, present and future. I share a fun story of synchronicity to illustrate this concept and contemplate the shifts that can happen in the space of a year.

Referenced in this episode:

Shadow Work thru Tarot Readings: A Mini-Course by Jen Wilding

FutureMe: Write a Letter to Your Future Self

Connect with me:

IG: @cheatoutpodcast
Email: cheatoutpodcast@gmail.com

For the month of July, I've made a daily commitment to the practice of No Complaining, No Controlling.  Spoiler Alert: I have also failed at this practice almost daily. 

In this episode, I explore the nuances of complaint and control, how they show up in my life and how this practice has heightened my awareness of the fear that's behind these habits in myself and other people. I invite you to experiment with this practice yourself and see what happens.

Connect with me:

IG: @cheatoutpodcast
Email: cheatoutpodcast@gmail.com