Dead Serious #25 (MP3-11.98 MB- 34.52min)
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This weeks episode sees the continuation of my interview with Des Paroz from Surface Interval (and The Personal Productivity Show). Des talks about dolphins and we discuss the concept of ‘entrainment’, how experiences with free dolphins can have an impact on endorphin production in humans and meditation practices and how they can relate to dolphins.

We discuss the things that make Des’s life meaningful, his passion for diving and how he sees himself as an ambassador for the marine environment. How does Des connect diving with martial arts? How does he find balance and manage stress? What have been the life changing experiences that have had the most impact on Des?

Des discussed the fragility of life and how death can even impose itself on the most experiences of divers. Des talks about living a life of adventure and shares with us his ‘pearls of wisdom’…………but you’ll have to tune in to learn what these are!

I also continue our discussion about the anxiety attached to the transition from childhood to adulthood and how you can learn to navigate this with a ‘minimum of fuss’.

Music this week is proved by the Dynamo Rhythm Aces and the show (as always) is recorded on Skylook.

Well this week saw the continuation of the agony and esctacy of finishing school for Aussie kids…………….University offers.

Tens of thousands of Victorian kids were waiting at the Newsagent on Tuesday morning to open the newspaper and scroll through the eight pages of printed names to see if their’s appeared…………….if their name was there….hurdle 1 passed.

The next obstacle involved identifying the number listed behind their name to see if it was the course that they had listed as their first preference (out of a possible 12) or wether they would have to be satisfied with their third, eight or last preference (which may not be a Uni course but their ’safety net’ technical course, listed on their preference list as a ‘last option’).

Then the jubilation……………..if they were offered a place………………if it was their first preference………YIPPEE.
If they were selected for their third place…………….relief wrapped in a little disappointment.
If they were offered a preference way down their list………..relief wrapped in lots of disappointment.

If their name didn’t appear at all……………….devastation coloured by the ray of hope that they may be offered a place in SOMETHING in the second round of offers, for which they would have to wait an agonising three more weeks.

The second round of emotions then kick in……….as they wait for the Postman to deliver their official letter of offer. FEAR if their name appeared in the paper, that maybe the paper was wrong and they hadn’t received an offer at all. A ray of hope, if their name wasn’t in the paper, that the paper had made a mistake and the Postman would deliver a letter that offered them a place.

The Postman delivers the letter………………RELIEF…………….THE PAPER WAS RIGHT……….I’M IN!!!!!!!!
OR ………….devastation……………….the paper was right………….I didnt get an offer…………..WHAT DO I DO NOW?????

We put our kids thru hell via this whole process………………the stress of exams, the fear and anxiety attached to awaiting their exam results and their ENTER score (the number they are allocated as the result of adding up all of their results, standardising them and then evaluating them against the mean average of other results)…….receiving the ENTER score and then feeling either validated for all of their hard work OR destroyed, because despite sacrificing everything, their score doesn’t reflect the amount of time and effort they put into their last two years at school.

Then we make them wait for more than a month to see if the University course and career they are desperate to do will be offered to them OR wether they will have to ‘make do’ with a course and subsequent career that they will ‘put up with’ OR worst case scenario, they don’t get an offer and have to ‘go back to scratch’ and work out ‘what the hell’ they are going to do with the rest of their life.

So maybe we need to rethink how we approach this whole process. Maybe we should be giving the kids more opportunity to develop coping skills for the stress and rollercoaster of emotions the last two years of school involves? Maybe we should be emphasising more that a good ENTER score, a University degree and the ‘dreamed of’ career are not the measurement of your worth as a person. I know we pay ‘lip service’ to this concept, but what are we actively doing to assist our kids in moving from childhood to adulthood?

I really think this is something we need to be exploring in depth, in order to make this transition a little less stressful and a whole lot more affirming for them………………..Food for thought!

Post script: ENTER score day was HELL in our house…………tears, disappointment and self esteem destroyed.
Tuesday was a wonderful day in our house………………..our daughter got an offer for her first preference…………..a degree in Architecture at university. We danced, laughed, hugged and jumped around the loungeroom…………………..lots of other families weren’t as lucky………. and for them, I feel really sad…………. But remember life is about cycles and rhythms, when things seem really bad, remind yourself………..it can only get better!

(MP3-15 MB- 43.58min)
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My guests this week are Wayne Turmel from The Cranky Middle Manager Show and Des Peroz from Surface Interval both on The Podcast Network.

As with all of the shows I’ve done with other hosts, this show is full of surprises and insights about a range of life experiences that Wayne and Des generously share with us.

Find out how a standup comedian morphs into a manager. Find out the secrets of Wayne’s childhood, growing up in an environment of spiritual awareness and parapsychological interest. Find out why “because Daddy says so” doesn’t work.

Hear Wayne’s interesting take on ritual, truth, WICCA, God, leadership and his passions (including podcasting).

This is the story of a “good, enlightened, bleeding-heart liberal”, his midlife crisis and the book that resulted from this experience.

My interview with Des Paroz, from Surface Interval, has a bit of a different ‘vibe’. Des talks about the scary things that hang out under the water. Hear Des’ views on technology, macro photography, ‘pushing the limits”, surreal experiences and what happens when you enter the “technical realm”.

Des says, “Divers are noisy, gassy type people” and yet they have “magical under water experiences”………………how does this work????

Hear Des talk about the ‘light’ that exists in the depths of the ocean, SHARKS and facing his fears: fears of the unknown, fears of the deep and personal fears.

You will also get the beginning of our discussion about ‘entrainment’ and dolphins, but will have to tune in next week for the continuation of this discussion.

Music this week is provided by the Dynamo Rhythm Aces, a fantastic U.K outfit who interpret contemporary music in an interesting way.

This show as always is recorded on Skylook.

AND REMEMBER: The Podcast Network is wanting to expand to 100 shows by mid year………….so if you have the ‘guts’ to put your opinions, thoughts, passions and experiences into a show and put it our there on the www for any ‘Tom, Dick or Harry’ to ‘have a go at you’ ………….get in touch with Cameron via the website and ‘come join the gang’! Change can only happen if we share what we have learned!

Well, I try to be hip and groovy and up with all the lingo and what happens??????
My ‘grammer phobia” takes over (after having it belted into me by the nuns in my youth) and hip and groovy turns into daggy and ‘try hard’.

So, now that I have been educated by my gamer auricle……………..”N00b” means that (to quote him), “You’re shit at gaming or computers” or you can (I’m told) apply it to a whole range of other life skills, for example:
- you can be n00b at washing
- you can be n00b at kissing
- you can be n00b at being ‘hip and groovy’ etc. etc.
You can have ‘n00b’ taste in clothes, ‘noob’ hair or ‘n00b’ ideas…………………

I learned something else too……………..

“I pwn n00bs with my uber micro”………….if you know what that means you’ll know it’s accurate……………..if you don’t know what it means “neh, neh, neh”

And in my newly acquired “leet speak”……………

i|= Y0/_/ (4/\/ |234|) 7|-|I5 7|-|3/\/ Y0/_/ 4|23 1337……..and Michael (Gaming Show) YOU DONT COUNT!!!!!

Sometimes I am simply ‘blown away’ by the lengths some people will go to in order to take something away from someone else. I find it really disheartening when these people prey on the compassion and kindness of others for their own selfish gain.

Wow, I hear you say……………..that doesn’t sound like a comment Molly would make!

Well you’re right, normally I’m a very trusting soul who will do all I can to help someone out if they are in trouble, need support or assistance, but sometimes my faith in human nature is shaken………………and this has happened today……….TWICE.!

I wont give you the details of the correspondence I received as I dont want to give the instigators any acknowledgement, however both were emails asking me to assist disadvantaged people who were refugees from countries where I know people are living in fear and poverty. So far, so good………….however they then went on to request personal financial details in order to transfer large amounts of money to me in return for retreiving said funds from their country of origin.

Luckily my intuition is pretty accurate and when I contacted the relevant authorities here, they said to delete them straight away and not to respond in any way as the instigators use that information to track your personal details.

I know these are very common types of scams and people receive them all the time, but the frustration attached for me made me decide it was worth a comment, and particularly for those of you who are yet to be the recipient of these types of things, to make you aware.

Why am I telling you guys this? For two reasons…………..I don’t want any of you to get caught by these people and “sucked in” by their scam and secondly I think we ALL need to put some energy into ensuring we respect each other and always act honestly and ethically so that this world will evolve into a place where vulnerable people are nurtured, not neglected because compassionate people have lost their trust in legitimate ‘cries for help’.

Well, the holidays are over…………..for many of us anyway.

A good time to think about what it is you want to achieve for this year.

I must admit, lots has happened in my house over the past week…………some things happy, some sad.

It was the anniversary of my Dad’s death on January 6th (he died two years ago) and though I miss him in a physical sense, I’m lucky that I’m aware of him being around in other ways, so I still feel like I have an ongoing relationship with him. I feel him around when I need comfort or when something funny happens that I know he’d enjoy! Still, on January 6th I think about him more than usual……………and I miss him.

The next day, “out of the blue”, a kitten arrived at our house………….a little black and white female about 6 weeks old, who had been lost and was stuck up a tree being harrassed by two big dogs. She was frightened and thin, so when we couldn’t find her owner, we adopted her. We fed her, played with her, made her a bed and called her “Binks”. She climbs over my lap and tries to type on the computer, she runs around the house like a ‘whirlwind’ and then falls asleep on the nearest seated member of the family she can find. I’d forgotten how small and fragile little kittens are……………and how very affectionate!

So the world turns……………….some saddness, some joy and nothing ever constant, except for change.

Dead Serious #023 (MP3-15.8 MB- 46.07min)
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This weeks episode is the continuation of the 21st episode celebration and includes interviews with two of my TPN colleagues, Scott Sherman and Richard Giles.

Get to know the men behind the shows…………what they think and feel. The life experiences that have formed their personalities.

Find out what S&M has to do with grief. The joys of podcasting. Investing hopes and dreams in a child only to have that child taken away. The fine line between pleasure and pain. Getting excited about technology. RSS and aggrigators. Making technology accessible to ‘newbies’. Generation Y. “Festering in your own sorrow”. Being ’sacked’ and ‘dumped’ by your girlfriend on the same day………………..and living to tell the tale. Learning by ‘playing’. “Getting a trill from new applications”. “Lightbulb” moments.

Oh and find out what Flickr is (and no, it’s not a horse)…………..

A stimulating, surprising and illuminating program that will show you a whole different side to both Scott and Richard……………with a special message from Michael (the Gaming Show) and music by Siobhan.

Recorded on Skylook.

Remember…………your feedback and comments are what keep us tapping away on our computers each week to bring you our shows……………….so don’t forget to click on the “comments” section and leave me a message!

Well it’s a new year. Christmas is over for yet another year. People are in the midst of holidays or grumpy because they have no holidays……………….life goes on.

I hope you all had a happy festive season and that the new year holds great things for you. But if you’re feeling sad. If life isn’t working out how you hoped it would. If you’ve lost your job or your family relationships are not as you’d hope or you can’t find the partner you desperately want or you’re broke or someone you love has died or any one of the things that can go wrong, has gone wrong……………….

I hope you will find that the 2006 Dead Serious programs can offer you some inspiration, some comfort, some motivation and some support.

I aim to provide you with a wide range of information on living, loving, experiencing and exploring the things in life that matter…………..and have teed up a number of amazing people to appear on the program in the coming months.

I look forward to sharing time with you all in 2006 and again encourage you to let me know of any topics you would like me to cover, any people you would like me to ‘chase up’ for interviews OR any up and coming bands who you think might like to contribute music to the show.

So, strap yourselves in and get ready for a great ride in 2006.

Just wanting to wish you all a merry Christmas season.

For those of you who struggle at this time of the year for one reason or another…………I hope that you can find some time to be gentle with yourself and can give yourself permission to feel sad if you need to.

Christmas can put enormous pressure on people to spend both money and time on things they don’t particularly value……………maybe it’s time to be more selective about how we spend our time and money?

Maybe we should spend more time nurturing ourselves and relating to the people we love…….rather than socialising with people who don’t ‘get’ us?

Maybe we could spend money more wisely so we don’t face a huge credit card bill in the New Year?

Maybe we can remember what is important to us and focus on those things rather than worrying about the brand of jeans we buy?

Just a thought!

Dead Serious #022 (MP3-17.1 MB- 49.514min)
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This week’s episode explores the enigma of Christmas and ‘the holidays’.

My guest this week is J. Shep Jeffries, a psychologist who specialises in grief and loss and end of life issues.

Shep has a private practice and is assistant professor of psychiatry and behavioural sciences at Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine and teaches pastoral counselling at Loyola College in Maryland, U.S. He trained with the ‘trailblazer’ of contemporary grief and loss theory, Dr Elizabeth Kubler-Ross and has experienced loss first hand when his eight year old son died.

Shep talks about the difficulties people face the first Christmas after a significant loss. Do you have a tree? Do you celebrate? Do you need to compromise?

Shep talks about celebrating when you still feel sad. “Don’t do nothing” he says.

How long does grief take? How long till things return to normal? Are they ever normal again? WHAT IS NORMAL?????

HOW DO PEOPLE MANAGE THEIR GRIEF?

We talk about ‘allowing’ yourself to experience your grief. Being sensitive to yourself and others. How we can experience continued connections with people who have died. How we can carry on the legacy of significant people in our lives. How we can ‘reclaim’ our lives after a significant loss.

How Christmas can highlight the grief we feel over people who are still alive, but aren’t available to us any more, maybe due to illness (dementia, coma etc), estrangement or geographical distance.

The importance or remembering is discussed as is crises that split families apart and how ‘blended’ families divide their time during the holiday season.

We talk about ’seasonal effective disorder’ and how Christmas can equal “disaster’……..what to do when you ‘hate the holidays’, how to ‘externalise’ and when denial is useful……………how to find resources and empower yourself by using ritual.

All in all a very informative and motivating program!

Music is provided by Dave Keifer and recorded on Skylook.

I hope those of you who are dreading Christmas will find this program a comfort and that the Christmas’s to come get easier……………