S12 Finale: Detachment and Desire with Stephen Roach

This season. On the podcast, we have featured quite an array of perspectives on this topic of art and identity. We've talked about how family and heritage informs our sense of self. We've discussed how our belief systems, our childhood memories, even the places we live, each contribute to our identity. We talked about how our bodies, our ethnicity, our relationships to others, our vocations, and of course, how the creative works we make each become identity markers for how we show up in the world. We even discussed the role of emerging technology and how social media shapes the way we think of ourselves and of others.

In this season finale episode, podcast host, Stephen Roach shares how desire informs our sense of self and how the practice of detachment can help us navigate the journey from a false self to embracing our true identity as the beloved of God.

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S11 E14: Sacred Strides with Justin McRoberts

The pace of our modern culture doesn’t always accommodate the need for balance between work and rest. We praise the hustle and scorn the burnout the hustle produces and yet we rarely make room for reflection and rejuvenation.

Author and creative coach Justin McRoberts tackles this issue head on in his new book sacred strides: the journey to belovedness in work and rest.

In our conversation, Justin discusses the importance, specifically for working artists to develop a rhythm between work and rest and how to cultivate healthy patterns of practicing meaningful rest.

If you’re a patron of the podcast you can hear an additional clip from this conversation on what the hustle tells us about the things we build and how that impacts our relationship to our art.

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S10 E13: Learning To Be with Juanita Rasmus

Juanita Campbell Rasmus is a speaker, writer, spiritual director, and contemplative teacher. She is the co-pastor of St. John’s United Methodist Church in downtown Houston which she founded with her husband, Rudy in 1992.

In this episode, Juanita shares with me how a major depressive episode became the catalyst for personal renewal. Following our season ten theme of restoration for the heart of the artist, Juanita’s story and her accompanying book Learning To Be: Finding Your Center After The Bottom Falls Out offers a glimpse of hope for the artist to find renewal no matter how dark the night.

Patrons of the podcast can enjoy an additional interview segment with Juanita on the key spiritual practices that helped her return to her center and discover new ways of being.

S9 E16: Restoring The Heart of The Artist (Season Finale)

In this season finale episode, Stephen Roach shares on how the past two years have impacted artists personally, socially and creatively. Drawing from his own journey of faith and art, Stephen tells how spiritual practice, community and imagination have played a significant role in re-integrating fragmented parts of himself into a deeper, lasting wholeness.

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S9 E14: The Emotionally Healthy Artist with Pete Scazzero

Pete Scazzero’s book Emotionally Healthy Spirituality has had a tremendous influence on our modern understanding of how emotional health intersects with contemplative spirituality.

In this episode, our friend Luke Humbrecht talks with Pete about how the artist can live a more healthy emotional and spiritual life.

S7 E09: Art As Healing Live At The Farmhouse

This episode is our second release from the Makers and Mystics LIVE series. This conversation comes to you from Charlottesville, VA and highlights excerpts from our discussion on Art As Healing. You’ll hear from a diverse panel of voices including Farm House community founder, Lauren Stonestreet, Philosopher, Bernard Hankins, Pastor and songwriter, Brendan Jamieson, Neuroscientist and Jazz musician, Nadine Michel and Doctor of Osteopathy, Dr. David MacDonald.

In light of recent events, I felt this conversation on Art As Healing was timely and offers creative insights on navigating through difficult times and how art contributes to Healing for individuals and to society.

I’ve said often that the artist is an architect of hope and a voice of reconciliation for a divided world. I think you’ll find the perspectives in this conversation to be helpful in finding our way forward and understanding the vital role of art as an agent of healing.

*If you’re a patron of the podcast you have access to the full conversation which includes a spoken word performance by poet Latasha Strother and Nadine Michel’s story of traveling to Haiti, the country her parents immigrated from.

S7 E08: Sacred Pathways with Gary Thomas

When it comes to spiritual formation, our individual temperament plays a large role in how we connect to God, one another and the world around us. There is not a one size fits all for how we approach the spiritual life. In fact, the same systems that bring us clarity and definition can also leave us frustrated or feeling confined to search for God in a manner contrary to our natural temperament.

Best-selling author and speaker, Gary Thomas insists that it’s better to discover the path God designed you to take–a path marked by growth and fulfillment, based on your unique temperament. In this conversation, Gary and I discuss his nine Sacred Pathways, where he strips away the frustration of a one-size-fits-all spirituality and guides you toward a style of relating to God that frees you to be you.

For the artist or the creative, understanding our unique make up and how we most easily connect with God enables us to live and create from a deeper authenticity. Instead of fostering a compulsion to imitate or conform to an exterior, homogenized form of faith, discovering the beauty of God’s unique path for our lives opens the way for greater possibility in our creative work.