Oblivious Witness

As a fellow Gen-Xer, I feel like I get where Michael Clements is coming from. And there are so many parallels in our stories! A big difference between us, though, is that many years ago, Michael made a conscious decision to draw a line in the sand, promising himself that his creativity would always come before practicality and profit. I never had the courage to draw that line, and I have so much respect for the fact that he did!In a world in which tech billionaires are trying to use artificial intelligence to subsume human creativity, I’m so drawn to people who insist on a creative life, who prefer analogue over digital, who make and think and write and read and perform and gather and connect. I think we need those people now more than ever, and Michael Clements is up there with the best of them.To see some of Michael’s wonderful and incredibly varied work, visit his website here.And I’d love to hear your stories tooIf anything in this episode inspires you to see the world a little differently or to expand your own horizons in any way, I’d love to hear from you. Please drop a note in the comments or send me a message about a story you’d like to share. Every heart-squeeze and comment makes it more likely that someone else might happen upon a conversation that could just widen their world.MUSIC: Defining Life, by Bill ConnPHOTOGRAPHY: Michelle NeelingWritten and produced by Michelle Neeling Get full access to Oblivious Witness at michelleneeling.substack.com/subscribe

Alicia Cheung is a yoga teacher trainer and mindfulness practitioner, whose work takes her all over the world. After we met to have this beautiful conversation and to spend some time hanging out together with friends, she posted something on Instagram about the experience. What she wrote was so beautiful and so true to who she is, so I’m going to share those words here by way of introduction: “I consider myself blessed and extremely lucky to have the life that I’ve designed.It’s built on simplicity, adventure, ethics, optimal health and well being.Collectively, that feels sacred. Spiritual.”Tending to spirit in all the ways that light me up, beaming from the inside out is truly a life worth living.And then when you meet inspiring humans and dive right into fruitful conversation, it’s surely the serendipitous icing on the cake…deeply meaningful….conscious….authentic….connective….alive and awake.”You can find out more about Alicia’s life, work and philosophy on her two Instagram accounts. Follow https://www.instagram.com/samdhana_mindful_living/ and https://www.instagram.com/the_metta_muse/And I’d love to hear your stories tooIf anything in this episode inspires you to see the world a little differently or to expand your own horizons in any way, I’d love to hear from you. Please drop a note in the comments or send me a message about a story you’d like to share. Every heart-squeeze and comment makes it more likely that someone else might happen upon a conversation that could just widen their world.MUSIC: Defining Life, by Bill ConnPHOTOGRAPHY: Michelle NeelingWritten and produced by Michelle NeelingOblivious Witness is a reader-supported publication. To receive new posts and support my work, consider becoming a free or paid subscriber. Get full access to Oblivious Witness at michelleneeling.substack.com/subscribe

In 2023, British-Nigerian poet, playwright and performer Inua Ellams was awarded an MBE for services to the arts. At first he didn’t want it. Given what he’d learned about the history of colonialism in Nigeria, accepting such an award felt like a betrayal.After consulting with some of his closest friends, however, Inua decided to accept the MBE so that he could be a signatory for other immigrants who needed someone to vouch for them. He also said to himself, “You’re always gonna create art that’s political, so you’re always gonna be viewed as a target by the establishment. You need to try and buttress yourself as much as possible, and an MBE might help.”Inua’s various invitations to Buckingham Palace in the years since his career as a poet, playwright and performer took off, have struck him as rather surreal, especially given that his journey to British citizenship took an incredible 26 years. With his family having been forced to flee Nigeria as a result of circumstances created by British colonisation, Inua says that such proximity to the heart of Empire is always an out-of-body experience. In this conversation, Inua tells us of his happy childhood in Nigeria, of his early years as a schoolboy in London, of the immigration debacle that forced his family to live in Dublin for three years, and of the sparkling literary career that began when he couldn’t afford to buy the art supplies he needed to fulfil his dream of becoming a visual artist.I hope you’ll enjoy this conversation with Inua Ellams as much as I did. For more about his incredible work and advocacy, go to his website or follow him on Instagram. And I’d love to hear your stories tooIf anything in this episode inspires you to see the world a little differently or to expand your own horizons in any way, I’d love to hear from you. Please drop a note in the comments or send me a message about a story you’d like to share. Every heart-squeeze and comment makes it more likely that someone else might happen upon a conversation that could just widen their world.MUSIC: Defining Life, by Bill ConnPHOTOGRAPHY: Michelle NeelingWritten and produced by Michelle NeelingOblivious Witness is a reader-supported publication. To receive new posts and support my work, consider becoming a free or paid subscriber. Get full access to Oblivious Witness at michelleneeling.substack.com/subscribe

The woman behind southeast Asia’s most prestigious literary eventWhen tragedy strikes in the world, whether it be through tyrannical governments, natural disasters or the acts of malevolent individuals, many of us shut down, thinking ourselves incapable of creating positive change. Today’s Oblivious Witness guest is a sparkling example of the opposite of that reaction. When the Bali bombings happened in 2002, Janet de Neefe, an Australian who had by then made Bali her home, responded by creating a human rights festival disguised as a writers festival. The Ubud Writers and Readers Festival is now in its 23rd year, and next month it will provide a stage for a host of extraordinary writers and thinkers, including UN Special Rapporteur on Palestine, Francesca Albanese, multiple award-winning Indian author Kiran Desai, and Indonesian journalist and film-maker Dandhy Laksono. In today’s conversation, Janet tells us about her first visit to Bali as a teenager, about a later trip to the island that changed the course of her life, about navigating cultural differences, about how it is travelling the world on a green passport instead of a blue one, and about running a literary festival that gives the world’s great thinkers a platform upon which to discuss the most pressing issues of our times.And I’d love to hear your stories tooIf anything in this episode inspires you to see the world a little differently or to expand your own horizons in any way, I’d love to hear from you. Please drop a note in the comments or send me a message about a story you’d like to share. Every heart-squeeze and comment makes it more likely that someone else might happen upon a conversation that could just widen their world.MUSIC: Defining Life, by Bill ConnWritten and produced by Michelle NeelingOblivious Witness is a reader-supported publication. To receive new posts and support my work, consider becoming a free or paid subscriber. Get full access to Oblivious Witness at michelleneeling.substack.com/subscribe

The Man and the MusicianStepping into the presence of Sandu, international tabla player, is a beautiful experience. Sandu is immediately warm, kind and generous, and you can’t help but feel that you’re in the company of someone who cares about who you are. Sandu’s interest in the instrument with which he now travels the world began when he was just six years old. His parents, who were extraordinarily artistic, progressive and open-minded, encouraged his passion, which led to him touring with the tabla from a very young age. But there’s an unusual aspect to Sandu’s musical education. During our conversation, Sandu explained that his teachers’ first priority was always to emphasise the importance of kindness. They taught him that being a musician is a job, and like any other job, it’s possible to do it well or to do it badly. And the only way to do this particular job well is to be kind, compassionate and empathetic. It’s from that starting point that you can feel your way into the music, collaborate with other artists, and sense the needs of your audience. Having now lived that ideal for over 32 years, Sandu has gained international recognition and collaborated with renowned artists including Hans Zimmer and Bahramji. His work not only builds bridges between musical styles but also fosters deeper connections between people.For more about Sandu’s beautiful life, music and philosophy, check out his website at https://sandutabla.art, or follow him on Instagram at https://www.instagram.com/sandu.tabla/And I’d love to hear your stories tooIf anything in this episode inspires you to see the world a little differently or to expand your own horizons in any way, I’d love to hear from you. Please drop a note in the comments or send me a message about a story you’d like to share. Every heart-squeeze and comment makes it more likely that someone else might happen upon a conversation that could just widen their world.MUSIC: Defining Life, by Bill ConnPHOTOGRAPHY: Michelle NeelingWritten and produced by Michelle NeelingOblivious Witness is a reader-supported publication. To receive new posts and support my work, consider becoming a free or paid subscriber. Get full access to Oblivious Witness at michelleneeling.substack.com/subscribe

“I needed to understand where I was from before I could begin to understand where I was going.”When Colin Archibald moved from London to Perth twenty years ago, he started to reflect on all the many journeys that had led to him having the chance to do that. Through his research, he learned more about how his ancestors were taken from Africa and forced to cross the seas to Jamaica. He reflected on how strong they must have been to survive that journey, and recognised that he was standing on the shoulders of giants. He thought about how his parents, so many years later, had crossed back over the oceans, this time to the UK, to help rebuild the nation after the second World War. And when he himself decided to move from the UK to Perth, his eyes were opened to the lessons he could learn from the experiences of his forebears.Colin is now a storyteller, facilitator, and community consultant exploring identity, culture, healing, and lived experience. He writes essays, poetry, and reflections that sit between the personal and the political, centred on voice, belonging, and purposeful living. Please enjoy this conversation about the resilience required to cross continents and learn lessons from both your ancestors and from the ghosts of your former selves. And I’d love to hear your stories tooIf anything in this episode inspires you to see the world a little differently or to expand your own horizons in any way, I’d love to hear from you. Please drop a note in the comments or send me a message about a story you’d like to share. Every heart-squeeze and comment makes it more likely that someone else might happen upon a conversation that could just widen their world.MUSIC: Defining Life, by Bill ConnPHOTOGRAPHY: Michelle NeelingWritten and produced by Michelle NeelingOblivious Witness is a reader-supported publication. To receive new posts and support my work, consider becoming a free or paid subscriber. Get full access to Oblivious Witness at michelleneeling.substack.com/subscribe

I’m so excited to bring you a conversation with an extraordinary young woman who has dedicated her life to helping the world. I first met Melati Wijsen at the launch of her book, “Change Starts Now – 100 Lessons from a fulltime changemaker”. Soon after, I was lucky enough to see Melati speak to and inspire hundreds of students during a school visit, an activity which she says is central to the fulfilment of her purpose. A few weeks later, Melati spoke at the Ubud Writers and Readers Festival about the power of youth to shape a more sustainable future.Melati began her changemaker journey when she was twelve years old, when she and her sister created an organisation called Bye Bye Plastic Bags. Melati has since inspired audiences all over the world, with appearances on important stages including the General Assembly of the United Nations in New York, National Geographic’s Sustainability Week in Bangkok, and the Ziggo Dome in Amsterdam, where she opened for President Barack Obama. Melati’s three TED Talks have been viewed over two million times.When she was 18 years old, Melati founded Youthtopia, a free learning platform where young changemakers can come together and share the ways in which they’ve had an impact on a changing world. In this tumultuous time, I feel that it’s more important than ever to listen to the voices of young people whose vision, determination, optimism and sheer strength of character will be the building blocks of a more positive future. Melati’s is one of the most important of those voices. Please share this episode with your friends, and especially with the young people in your life. Learn more about Melati’s incredible work at https://www.youthtopia.world/Oblivious Witness is a reader-supported publication. To receive new posts and support my work, consider becoming a free or paid subscriber. Get full access to Oblivious Witness at michelleneeling.substack.com/subscribe

Pico Iyer is the consummate Oblivious Witness guest. Having lived on three continents and spent five decades travelling the world as a writer and journalist, he has developed insights into the way we all live that can't help but inspire tolerance, compassion and kindness.Pico's five TED Talks have been viewed over eleven million times. To meet him, though, you'd never know that he'd enjoyed such wide-spread admiration and acclaim. Pico's humility and curiosity about other people is a testament both to his own character and to the lessons he's learned from amazing friends like Leonard Cohen and the Dalai Lama. There are so many jewels in this conversation with Pico Iyer, as he talks us through his extraordinary childhood, his glamorous life as a writer on world affairs for Time Magazine, and his decision to leave it all behind to go and live a simple life in Kyoto, Japan.Pico has written seventeen best-selling books, the most recent being Aflame: Learning From Silence, in which he reflects on the power of silence and what it can teach us about how to live and how to love.Pico Iyer Get full access to Oblivious Witness at michelleneeling.substack.com/subscribe

Sonia Kadek Piscayanti is the founder and director of the Singaraja Literary Festival. She also founded the Mahima Community, which promotes literacy and literature in Singaraja, Bali. In this conversation, Sonia talks with us about what it means to be a Balinese woman, and to travel all around the world, taking her Balinese spirituality with her, and knowing that the final destination is always her family. The Singaraja Literary Festival is coming up next week! Join us there if you happen to be in Bali from July 3-9. https://www.instagram.com/mahima_institute/https://www.instagram.com/komunitas_mahima/https://www.instagram.com/singarajaliteraryfest_official/ Get full access to Oblivious Witness at michelleneeling.substack.com/subscribe

The artist is presentThere’s something incredibly special about recording a conversation in a podcast guest’s own home. For this episode, I was lucky enough to sit with Australian artist and illustrator Jeremy Ley in his studio, which is attached to the beautiful home he shares with his partner and two children in Kerobokan, Bali. During our conversation, Jeremy often picked up books or artworks he’d created, or pointed to boxes of memorabilia from his mum and his late wife. It was like having a brief and beautiful glimpse into his spectacularly creative and philosophical brain, and I feel so much richer for the experience.During our long conversation (which felt, in real time, as though it took only a few minutes!), Jeremy and I covered so many topics, including: * Jeremy’s early travels with his parents * The life and death of his beloved mother* The birth of his beautiful sons and the tragic death of their mum in her early thirties* His ability to put himself in the path of golden opportunities* His work in books, aged care and a hugely successful Australian start-up* His approach to life and travel* His openness to finding love and happiness after lossDo check out Jeremy’s Instagram to see more of his work.Please enjoy this conversation with the wonderful Jeremy Ley.And I’d love to hear your stories tooIf anything in this episode inspires you to see the world a little differently or to expand your own horizons in any way, I’d love to hear from you. Please drop a note in the comments or send me a message about a story you’d like to share. Every heart-squeeze and comment makes it more likely that someone else might happen upon a conversation that might just widen their world.MUSIC: Defining Life, by Bill ConnPHOTOGRAPHY: Michelle NeelingWritten and produced by Michelle NeelingOblivious Witness is a reader-supported publication. To receive new posts and support my work, consider becoming a free or paid subscriber. Get full access to Oblivious Witness at michelleneeling.substack.com/subscribe