Carrie & Parker have continued to engage as individuals and together through The Growing Edge Podcast and other in-person and online events. We’ll be posting on this page our upcoming events as well as links to past events that are still viewable online.
On March 20—from 12:00 to 2:00 PM Central—I’m offering an online retreat titled Divided No More: Rejoining Our Inner & Outer Lives, hosted by the Center for Courage & Renewal. COST? You set the fee. The suggested donation is $30.00, but pay whatever you’re comfortable with, and know that free is fine. All are welcome! More info and registration available HERE.
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Since early 2020, I’ve been working with meditation teacher Sharon Salzberg for the Wellbeing Project. Their mission is to support activists around the world as they labor on the front lines of love, truth, and justice. This year, they are running a nine-month series on the relation of inner work to social change. Every month, Sharon and I host one or two guests with expertise on the important questions involved. The series is taking an August break, but we’ll be back in the Fall with the following episodes.
• On February 8, from 10-11:30 AM Central, my friend Sharon Salzberg and I will speak with David Simas, CEO of the Obama Foundation, about “Nurturing Wellbeing for Leadership.” It will be on Zoom via the Wellbeing Project, and I’m sure you’ll find David as engaging as I do. Register HERE.
For those who like to listen to podcasts while they drive, wash the dishes, or stare out the window, here are a few I’ve done in recent weeks—along with an upcoming Feb. 8 event. All are FREE.
• The Good Life Podcast (“We’re on a quest to help you live a more meaningful, connected and vital life”) where I talk with founder Jonathan Fields, a superb conversation partner, is now online. Listen HERE.
• “Gateways to Awakening” is on the Hakawati network, which creates and delivers audio content that caters to Arabic speakers worldwide. I was delighted to speak with Yasmeen Turayhi about the pursuit of vocation and finding purpose in life. Listen HERE.
• Nat Damon is author of “Time to Teach, Time to Reach.” For 20 years, he's advocated for the power of relational teaching and learning. It was a delight to talk with Nat on the first episode of the new season of his popular podcast, “Reach, Teach, Talk.” Listen HERE.
• Patricia Karpas is Meditation Studio’s Co-Founder and host of the Untangle Podcast. I had a great time talking with this gifted and spirited leader. Listen HERE.
I was lucky to have a long-time friendship with Henri Nouwen, a writer who has touched millions with his insights into what it means to live a spiritual life. If you are one of those people, you might enjoy the latest offering from the Henri Nouwen Society—a webcast called “My Dinner with Henri,” offered on March 24 to commemorate the 25th anniversary of his death.
I shared in that event, telling stories about my many “dinners with Henri.” It was a joy to take that stroll down memory lane. You can watch the webinar HERE (my portion begins at about 29:30).
My friends at the Henri Nouwen Society asked me to share this note: “As a special thank you to Parker, we offer Growing Edge subscribers complimentary access to the video presentation from the “My Dinner with Henri” event on March 24. We invite you to visit our site HERE and subscribe to our daily free meditations. For those interested in our June 4-5 conference, Henri Nouwen & the Art of Living, information and registration are HERE."
The brilliant Maria Popova—the Bulgarian-born curator of the widely-read “Brain Pickings” site—has a passion for democracy that inspires me. HERE she devotes one of her amazing interpretive essays to my book on the subject, expanding my own understanding in the process.
My friends at the Global Oneness Project have recently published curricula for elementary, middle, and high school students to study and develop the five “habits of the heart” essential to citizenship that I explore in the book. You can download the material HERE.
It’s essential that we teach young people that democracy does not mean you can do anything you want, no matter its impact on others. Democracy means mutual care and accountability, because what happens to one of us happens to all of us. Put simply, it means loving your neighbor as yourself.
As a Chicago guy, I’ve always been proud of the comedic improv genius that has come from Chicago’s famed Second City—Bill Murray, Tina Fey, Dan Aykroyd, Gilda Radner, and many others. So I was delighted to be a guest on the Second City Podcast. They invite their guests to explore what it means to live “an improv life,” a life inspired by “Yes, and...” rather than “Yes, but...” Since I’ve never lived from a script, I was glad to to do it! You can listen HERE.
Hi Everyone, I'm excited to announce I'm creating a new online gathering space called "A Gathering of Spirits" on the Substack platform. I'm creating this space for folks who are moved by music, poetry and art, who are living in process, who are worried about the brokenness of the world and wondering how to live humbly, courageously and compassionately in such beautiful and messy times. This will be a place where we can consider how in divided times we still connect as human beings and ponder something luminous in our daily lives.
What Will It Look Like?
1. It’s easy -You don’t have to create an account if you don’t want to.
2. It’s free - You don’t have to pay to follow this page.
3. It's still me :-) - For those of you who have followed my Facebook Speed of Soul postings it will look and feel familiar - but more personal, no unwanted ads and more fun ways to engage. I'll be posting reflections, new music, poetry, videos, sheet music about art, life, the spirit ....and of course pictures of my dogs!
4. Email - For subscribers I'll be sending a regular email right to you!
5. Special Supporter Content Section I will eventually have a special supporter content section for those who would like to support my work with a annual supporter concert.
I hope you'll check out the page at https://carrienewcomer.substack.com I hope you'll check out “A Gathering of Spirits" HERE.
For Carrie’s Full {ublic Concert & Workshop Tour Schedule Click Here
Folk Singer Carrie Newcomer Offers Words And Music For Mending The ‘Great Unraveling’
On new album “Until Now,” folk singer Carrie Newcomer addresses big questions for society’s work in progress. The album’s first single, “A Long Way Up,” refers to the pandemic as “the great unraveling.” In conversation, Indiana native Newcomer describes the comeback as “in process.”
The album’s title originates in a line found in the tune “I Will Sing a New Song”: “I’ve never done this before, at least until now.”
“We’ve all been navigating something that we never had to do before,” Newcomer says. “We’re trying to be better people than we thought we’d ever need to be.”
To read the article click the link below
Carrie had a wonderful conversation about music, poetry and spirituality with Anita Lustrea.
You can listen where ever you get your podcast or click through to her podcast website
Lots of appreciation and gratitude to Dr. David Dault’s insightful questions and explorations of the spirit on his Things Not Seen Podcast.
Things Not Seen Podcast welcomes back to the show Carrie Newcomer. She is discussing her recent book of poetry and new album, both of which are titled Until Now. In our conversations, Newcomer talks about her creative process, and about what life has been like as a touring musician in a pandemic. - Dr. David Dault
By DAVID CRUMM
Editor of ReadTheSpirit magazine
What does a folksinger do without folks?
Our last ReadTheSpirit cover story featuring Carrie Newcomer was published on March 9, 2019, one year before the COVID pandemic in the United States led to social-distancing nationwide. This week, I had a chance to ask Carrie about the toll of the pandemic on her career as a performer. For many years, her life has been defined by tireless touring across North America and occasionally around the world.
So, my first question was: “What does a folksinger do without folks?”
“As happened to all of us, the regular patterns of my life completely altered. My last in-person tour happened in early March of 2020,” Carrie said in our interview. “Finally, just two weeks ago, I went out on my first in-person tour since that time. That’s a very long time to be home. Within a month of the COVID lockdown, I was spending more time at home than I had for 25 years! So the patterns of my life and the rituals of my work completely altered at the drop of a hat—like a sudden: Now, it all ends.”
While some of Carrie’s life-long habits ended for a time—new creative realms opened.
To read the rest of the article click below
Watch this space for collaborative events, or subscribe to our newsletter for first announcements.
"The evening was relaxed and restorative, full of laughter, reflection, poetry and song… Rather than simply enjoying an entertaining performance, the audience was invited to enter into the conversation… At one point everyone spent a few minutes speaking and listening to a partner, making personal connections to the themes and wrestling with the questions posed…"
"Your words and music made me feel more hopeful about myself and the world."
