imagination & possibility — Episodes

Episode 66: The Everyday Sacred - A Conversation With Poet James Crews

I hope you’ll join Parker and I for this heart expanding conversation with poet, James Crews. In this conversation we talk about slowing down and becoming more awake to daily wonder, drawing strength from the divine in the smallest details, We discuss the importance of joy and beauty, the inspiration found in the natural world, change and impermanence, and the process of grief and healing. We also talk about the welcoming and interactive nature of his books and anthologies.

For more about James and his luminous poetry, books, anthologies, retreats, courses and his “Poetry is Life” Substack offering visit www.jamescrews.netrews.net or Substack: James Crews - Poetry Is Life

To Purchase “The Sacred Everyday: Poems of Peace & Stillness” visit Bookshop.org

Here is a bit more about James and his works —James Crews is the editor of several bestselling anthologies, including The Path to Kindness: Poems of Connection and Joy and How to Love the World: Poems of Gratitude and Hope, which has over 100,000 copies in print. He has been featured in The Washington Post, The Boston Globe, The New York Times Magazine, and on NPR’s Morning Edition. James is the author of four prize-winning books of poetry and essays—The Book of What Stays, Telling My Father, Bluebird, and Every Waking Moment—Kindness Will Save the World: Stories of Compassion and Connection.

His last collection “Turning Toward Grief”is a beautiful book about the process of loss, grief and healing. His newest book, “Everyday Sacred: Poems of Peace and Stillness” will be released October 27th. He has a beautiful Substack offering called “Poetry is Life” James also speaks and leads workshops on kindness, mindfulness, and writing for self-compassion. He lives with his husband on forty rocky acres in the woods of Southern Vermont.

Podcast Episode 64: A Conversation With Poet Rosemerry Wahtola Trommer

I hope you’ll join us for this heart opening conversation with poet, storyteller and wise woman, Rosemerry Wahtola Trommer. Rosemerry is a poet, teacher, speaker and writing facilitator who co-hosts “Emerging Form,” a podcast on the creative process. Her daily audio series, The Poetic Path, can be found on an app called Ritual. Her poems have appeared on A Prairie Home Companion, the PBS News Hour, O Magazine, Washington Post’s Book Club, and the Carnegie Hall stage. Her recent collections are All the Honey and The Unfolding. In 2024, she became poet laureate for Evermore, helping others explore grief and love through poetry. Since 2006, she’s written a poem a day, sharing them on her blog, A Hundred Falling Veils. Her three-word mantra: I’m still learning. In one word: Adjust. She earned her MA in English Language & Linguistics at UW-Madison.

You can find more about Rosemerry Wahtola Trommer, her many projects and works at her website - www.wordwoman.com, Her poem a day blog -One Hundred Falling Veils and books for purchase at Bookshop.org , Amazon & IndieBound.org

Podcast Episode 61: Revisiting The Power of Story & Song With Songwriter, Activist John McCutcheon

On our August The Growing Edge Podcast we revisit their conversation with musician, master songwriter, storyteller, multi-instrumentalist, author, activist, seven-time grammy nominee, John McCutcheon. In this episode we explore the power of story, song and what it means to speak with compassion, clarity and a sense of humor in these challenging times You can hear John’s most recent album "A Field of Stars" on Spotify, Itunes or by checking out his website www.folkmusic.com
Parker and I loved this interview and we're so happy to revisit our conversation with John McCutcheon.

Podcast Episode 60: A Conversation With Unitarian Universalist Pastor & Activist Susan Frederick-Gray

Please join us for a conversation with Unitarian Universalist Pastor & Activist Rev. Susan Frederick-Gray as we explore three powerful ways to stay engaged and grounded in challenging times. Rev. Susan was the ninth president of the Unitarian Universalist Association and the first woman to serve in that position. During her presidency, Frederick-Gray helped launch a program called UU the Vote in 2020. The program had over 500 churches and over 4,500 volunteers reach two million voters during the 2020 election. She was elected after serving congregations in Arizona, Ohio, and Tennessee. In Arizona she was one of the faith leaders in a place many consider ground zero in the fight for immigrant justice, she joined a federal class action lawsuit to stop Maricopa County Sheriff Joseph Arpaio from raiding businesses in order to charge undocumented workers with felony identity theft. She was among thirty-one UUs arrested in front of the White House during the three-day “Days of Action” organized by an interfaith group to stop mass deportations of immigrants. Rev. Susan Frederick-Gray has been a trail-blazer, a voice for inclusivity, diversity, justice grounded in the kind of love that changes the world! We hope you enjoy and are inspired as much as we were by this powerful interview AND join the conversation right here on Substack.

Podcast Archives

Hope is holding a creative tension between what is and what could and should be, each day doing something to narrow the distance between the two. —Parker J. Palmer