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As we prepare for The Breath & The Clay creative arts gathering, I’m going to be highlighting several of the speakers and performers who’ll be joining us at the event.  For today’s episode I reached into the archives and pulled a segment of my conversation with BC24 headliners, Elephant Heart.  Elephant Heart is the Los Angeles-based electronic duo Jason and Victoria Evigan.  Elephant Heart’s music Is Rooted in their shared passion for international travels, world beats and global cultures Elephant Heart creates genre-bending music that pulls multicultural influences from far and wide. This segment of Season 7’s conversation carries a meaningful contribution to our current season’s theme of community and culture.  In this clip, Victoria and Jason share about the healing power of music and its ability to bring people together, the beauty of cultural diversity as well as a candid look into Victoria’s own process of moving past fear into the fullness of her creative expression.  

Relationships form the heartbeat of community life. The way we interact, the way we understand one another and hold space for the differences between us determines the quality and depth of our societies. Our guest today is relationship expert and author Christa Hardin. Christa is host of the popular Enneagram and Marriage podcast. She has been working with and researching marriage for two decades, providing hope for couples who are struggling to find their light, love, and mission together in any season of relationship. In this conversation, Christa unpacks some of the ways she has helped couples foster a deeper understanding of one another through utilizing the Enneagram and her years of research and practice. She shares about our social instinct and how we can move toward finding common ground with those who may see life a bit differently than ourselves. Christa offers ways to cultivate health in our most intimate relationships and how these same dynamics can translate to a larger, cultural level.

Kaleb Moten is a singer, songwriter, composer, music producer, and musician, dedicated to revealing beauty and meaning, and liberating other artists to do the same. Kaleb has released four studio albums to date and is currently producing two more. In addition to his solo work, Kaleb also works as a music producer, with credits for artists such as Victory Boyd and Abbie Gamboa. In this episode, Kaleb shares one of the foundational encounters that shaped him as an experimental, musician, as well as his journey of developing a vocabulary to encapsulate some of the deeper experiences of his music and life. In keeping with this season’s theme of community and culture, Kaleb shares about the impact of leaning into particular expressions of art not only as an individual but what happens when an entire movement of people collectively express the same heart. Kaleb will be joining us along with Victory Boyd at The Breath and the Clay creative arts event, March 22-24, 2024.

This cultural moment may be one of history’s most interesting times to find home among a community of likeminded people with whom we identify. On the one hand we are more connected than we ever have been (thank you internet) and yet at the same time, people feel more disconnected than ever before. Isolation and loneliness have become an epidemic. So much so, in May of 2023, the surgeon general put out a statement calling isolation and loneliness a public health crisis.  In this introductory episode, podcast host Stephen Roach sets the stage for this season’s conversations and discusses how the artist can respond to the need for community and become an agent of healing for our culture.

Community is a vital component to our mental, emotional and spiritual health as well as a formative influence on our creative work. Throughout history, artists have gathered together with other artists for mutual support, inspiration and the sharing of ideas. Despite the overarching digital landscape of our present day, the need for gathering together is no less important. In fact, it could be argued that it is all the more important so we do not lose touch with what it means to be human, to look another person in the eyes and share our stories around a common table. Community creates an ecosystem of trusted voices who can appreciate and critique our work, contribute to our artistic growth and create a sense of belonging. And it is within the womb of creative community where seeds of culture begin to germinate. Creative community contributes to and challenges the larger cultural values, upholds traditions or gives a platform to needed voices of change. Establishing creative/spiritual community facilitates shared experiences and creates a safe place to explore new concepts in art and deeper explorations of theology. The artist’s role in shaping culture cannot be overstated. Percy Shelley wrote that “poets are the unacknowledged legislators of the world.” Therefore as artists of faith or those responsible for leading faith communities, if we care about where our culture is headed, we need to take seriously our responsibility to nurture the artist’s voice in our midst. Starting Tuesday January 30th, we’ll begin a short series of conversations on how creativity, community and culture give shape to the life of the artist. We'll be featuring many of the voices who will be performing or presenting with us at The Breath and the Clay gathering. Be sure to subscribe to the podcast to follow along and if you want to take a deeper dive into these topics, you can sign up at Patreon.com/makersandmystics and participate in our regular online community discussions.

Each year as part of our annual creative arts gathering, The Breath and The Clay hosts an interactive art gallery for artists of all backgrounds and mediums. We believe that your art contains the ability to change lives, inspire generations and foster deep, spiritual encounters. Visit: thebreathandtheclay.com to submit your works for consideration for this year’s event.   -Entry Deadline:  Friday, February 16, 2024 by 11:59 PM.  -Notification of Juror Results:  Monday, February 26, no later than 7 p.m. -Exhibition dates (Conference Dates):  March 22-24, 2024 -Entry Fee: $25 (Entry fee includes submission of 3 pieces) Submit Your Work All media are eligible, including but not limited to: painting, printmaking, photography, ceramics, drawing, fiber, installation, and sculpture. Video and sound work will require the artist to send/bring their own equipment for display. Work that includes sound will be displayed at a volume appropriate for the gallery, as decided by The Breath and The Clay staff. There are no size restrictions for this exhibition. This exhibition will be held physically and will also be represented as an online gallery at www.thebreathandtheclay.com

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.

One of the core markers of a person’s identity are the beliefs they hold to be true. A person’s faith becomes a fixed point from which they view and understand the world. But what happens when those beliefs are shaken? Or what happens when a person is confronted with a difficult truth that collides with or even contradicts their view of the world? Our guest today is storyteller and best-selling author of Returning to Eden: A Field Guide for the Spiritual Journey, Heather Hamilton. In this episode, Heather shares what it was like to undergo a nervous breakdown and a subsequent mystical experience that re-ordered her understanding of the universe.

Ours is a fast-paced digital world where technology has become such a personalized part of our daily lives, it’s hard to imagine who we are without it. Social media, augmented reality, and AI-driven personalization each contribute to the formation of a digital identity which impacts the way we connect with others and how we present ourselves online. We’ve grown accustomed to how our smartphones and smartwatches intertwine physical and digital experiences. We’ve become accustomed to the ways technology influences the way we perceive ourselves and others but what happens when these technologies progress toward a seeming agency of their own? Or what about when our likeness is replicable in a virtual rendering or when the creative works we make are easily emulated by AI? For many artists, these capabilities bring up real concerns about intellectual property and the ethics of what constitutes our identity. Joining us for this discussion today is someone whose creative work intersects the worlds of art, technology and the future in ways that offer a positive look into the influence of emerging technologies on the artist’s life. Sam Rad is a lifelong student of humanity, storyteller, performer, and musician. She was trained in anthropology, theatre, and movement/embodiment at New York University, British American Drama Academy at Oxford University, and Lee Strasberg Institute in NYC. She started her career as a theater director -- before founding 4 technology companies. Today, Sam Rad is considered a futurist, one who looks into emerging technologies and helps us understand the coming impacts these tools will have on our lives. She is a published author and highly sought after motivational speaker who merges spirit and science through consciousness, connection, and creativity.

How we show up in the world often takes on a wide variety of expressions. Our public and private lives reflect the many roles we play in society and the varying facets of personality traits we form to cope with different situations. From parent to co-worker, artist or spiritual practitioner, from a social media persona to a dinner guest with friends, even bygone roles remaining with us from childhood, our sense of identity moves through a myriad of shapes and forms. But what happens when these different aspects of our lives no longer communicate? Or when we are expected to abide by a former version of ourselves that no longer reflects our current view of the world? Joining me for this conversation is licensed mental health therapist, Jay Stringer. Jay’s academic background includes a master’s degree in counseling psychology from the renowned Seattle School of Theology and Psychology. As well as he has received specialized training under Dr. Dan Allender while serving as a Senior Fellow at the Allender Center. As we approach our final episodes on this seasons theme of art and identity, I think you’ll find Jay’s perspective to be both rewarding and challenging. Patrons of the podcast can enjoy an additional interview segment with Jay at Patreon.com/makersamdmystics

This Artist’s roundtable discussion was recorded live at Loom creative arts event in Spruce Pines, NC. The conversation centers on the importance of building creative community, the embodiment of the creative process and what it means to be an artist of faith amidst a culture in crisis. Joining us for this discussion is long time friend of the podcast, author/illustrator Vesper Stamper, photographer and founder of JHS pedals Josh Scott, conversation host Corey Frey and myself, Stephen Roach. As we prepare for The Breath and Clay 2024 I wanted to share this live discussion to highlight some of the vital community discussions we will be hosting in the days to come.

This year I’ve had the opportunity to participate in several creative arts gatherings including Loom, Hope Words writer’s conference and here recently, the Guild in Raleigh NC. The talk I gave at the Guild is a call to take a look at the mindsets we are cultivating in our lives and a reminder that what we feed is what will grow.  Are we feeding a mindset of abundance or one of scarcity? Is our inner framework one of hope or one of negative anticipation? I wanted to share this live talk with you as an encouragement to consider how the mindsets we keep determine the quality of art we make and the lives we live. - Stephen