What Language Does Freedom Require?

A vision can be true and still be held in a way that wears us out.Salem Afangideh joins Ain for a conversation about what comes after the idea arrives—when inspiration gives way to the slower work of discernment, capacity and creating a life that can actually sustain what we have been called to build.Salem brings the wisdom of someone who has followed Spirit across countries, careers and many versions of herself, then had to reckon with the difference between meaningful work and self-abandonment.There is shea butter, Lionel Messi, packaged transcendence and a full 24-hour commitment to wallowing. Beneath it all is a question for anyone carrying something larger than they currently know how to hold: What if the vision is still right, but the way you are building it is asking to change? TranscriptIn this episode:What it means to co-create a life rather than build one aloneHow discernment becomes a lifelong spiritual practiceThe relationship between vision, capacity and burnoutWhy process may matter more than epiphanyWhat nature teaches us that certainty cannotThe relationship between deep self-knowledge and collective contributionWhat it means to cultivate an inner life strong enough to hear your own knowingHow our individual practices shape the futures we are capable of creatingSacred Shoutout LinksSalem: Celebrating the success of Mon's Birthday party + Lovers By ShanAin: IntimacyGuest BioSalem Afangideh is a Nigerian immigrant, former human rights lawyer, and social impact strategist whose work sits at the intersection of gender, cultural anthropology, and collective well-being. Shaped by her roots in Calabar, Nigeria, and experiences in Montgomery, Alabama, and Oakland, California, she brings a global perspective to her work. After seven years on the frontlines as a human rights lawyer, she founded Afangideh Global to help visionary leaders build thriving organizations without burning out. As a writer and cultural worker, she explores the lived experiences of women and marginalized communities through auto-ethnography and personal reflection, including in her Substack Coming of Age Is Not Soft Work. Salem holds a B.S. in Business Administration and a Juris Doctorate, and is a passionate advocate for transformative leadership, Pan-Africanism, and social change. Connect with Salem LinkedInInstagramSubstackNew Seneca Village is a restorative residency experience that invites leaders and healers to access expansive resources (time, space, access to nature, restorative practices, intentional community and higher consciousness) for the sake of nourishing and sustaining their collective visioning for a just future.We Outside is hosted and produced by Ain Bailey and produced and edited by Podglomerate.Follow We Outside wherever you listen and leave a review to help more people discover these conversations. Join us on Instagram or LinkedIn to share what sparked something for you, what questions you are carrying and what you want to hear more—or less—of.

What does it reveal about our society when the experiences that sustain life are treated as time away from it?Taylor Mary and Nafasi Ferrell meet in this conversation from two different places in the cycle of care. One is becoming a mother and learning herself again. The other is accompanying her mother through advanced cancer while rebuilding a family home lost to fire.Together with Ain, they enter the tender territory between who we were and who we are becoming, where familiar spiritual practices no longer fit and help rarely arrives in the form we expected.This conversation recognizes transition as initiation. There is grief, laughter, oxtails and a lot of grace. There is also a clear knowing: care is life, and the transitional self deserves our tenderness while becoming.In this episode:Why caregiving may be one of humanity's deepest leadership practicesWhat our seasons of transition are asking us to becomeHow our spiritual practices evolve as our lives evolveThe difference between knowing, believing and living our faithHow everyday moments become sacred when life itself becomes the practiceSacred Shoutout LinksTaylor Mary : Son, Ahmad Augustus AyodeleNafasi:  Husband, Sergio Tamayo GarciaAin: HummingbirdsGuest BiosTaylor Mary Webber-Fields is a dark-skinned Black woman, mother and Divine Feminist with over 12 years of experience in advocacy and organizing. She is an integrative wellness practitioner, circle keeper, and master facilitator, and the visionary behind True Heart Consulting, LLC. Through her work, she creates intentional spaces where justice-minded leaders reconnect with their divinity, align with their true hearts, and serve without self-sacrifice. Rooted in her own journey through burnout, she equips individuals with the tools to navigate oppressive systems while manifesting the desires of their True Heart.Connect with Taylor Marytrueheartconsulting.com@trueheart_sacredwellnessNafasi Ferrell is the founder of Narratives Unbound LLC and a trauma-informed financial coach who helps individuals and organizations transform their relationship with money. Her work explores how human history, systemic inequities, and lived experience shape financial decision-making, resilience, and long-term well-being. Through workshops, coaching, and wealth redistribution circles, Nafasi supports people in redefining success, healing financial trauma, and building sustainable wealth that honors their values and communities. She is passionate about helping others recognize their resilience, reclaim agency in their financial lives, and reimagine what thriving can look like across generations. As she continues to support her family in rebuilding after the loss of their 50 year family home in the Eaton fires in Altadena, CA, she is focusing on the importance of financial wellness and the power of wealth redistribution that is our foundation in times of uncertainty. Connect with Nafasihttps://www.narrativesunbound.net/LinkedInWe Outside is hosted and produced by Ain Bailey and produced and edited by Podglomerate.Follow We Outside wherever you listen and leave a review to help more people discover these conversations. Join us on Instagram or LinkedIn to share what sparked something for you, what questions you are carrying and what you want to hear more—or less—of.New Seneca Village is Creating the restorative conditions within which future focused leadership and strategy are engaged, nourished and sustained.

What if the language we use each day is quietly determining the futures we can imagine?Hiba Haroon joins Ain for a conversation about the words, rhythms and habits that shape our relationship with time, Spirit and ourselves. Hiba brings the perspective of a writer, artist and healer who understands that language does more than describe our lives. It teaches us how to inhabit them.The conversation begins with the stamina many of us developed to survive and opens into a softer question: What capacities will actually carry us into freedom?Time becomes timing. Homework becomes home play. God becomes a verb. There are cats, death and some truly strange dance moves.This episode invites us to loosen our grip on force and listen for another way forward—one grounded in surrender, play and the possibility that what the day needs from us matters more than how much we complete.In this episode:What surrender makes possible How language shapes our relationships with spirit, time and one anotherWhy our movements need words that can hold the futures they seek to createHow softness, ease and play expand our capacity for transformationWhat claiming uncertainty and not knowing can teach us that performative expertise cannotHow intention, repeated practice and surrender work together to change how we liveWhy freedom requires us to reconsider the words, binaries and assumptions through which we understand realitySacred Shoutout LinksHiba : Her cat Bobo (and all of her cats)Ain: Their dogs, Bijoux and SegaHiba's Bio: I am a daughter, sister, friend, writer, artist, and healer. I believe in the interconnectedness and wholeness of all beings and non-beings and our capacities to create, grow, nurture, release and heal. I am the founder of (un)jaan (www.unjaan.com), where I weave diverse healing modalities to guide individuals communities through deep processes of unlearning, repair, and reclamation to heal the wounds of colonialism and cultures of supremacy. This fall, I will begin my Ph.D studies in Somatic Psychology.Connect with Hiba : [email protected] Seneca Village is a restorative residency experience that invites leaders and healers to access expansive resources (time, space, access to nature, restorative practices, intentional community and higher consciousness) for the sake of nourishing and sustaining their collective visioning for a just future.We Outside is hosted and produced by Ain Bailey and produced and edited by Podglomerate.Follow We Outside wherever you listen and leave a review to help more people discover these conversations. Join us on Instagram or LinkedIn to share what sparked something for you, what questions you are carrying and what you want to hear more—or less—of.

We Outside Season Two Is Coming SoonThis season, we are asking:What do we need to cultivate within ourselves and between one another to become capable of inhabiting the future we say we want?Through intimate, freewheeling conversations, we explore how Spirit shapes the way we lead, care, discern, relate to power and move through uncertainty. Together, we consider what becomes possible when Spirit is no longer held at the edges of our lives, but invited into how we understand ourselves, one another and the worlds we are creating.Listen to the Season Two trailer now. New episodes arrive every Wednesday wherever you listen to podcasts.Follow We Outside and New Seneca Village on Instagram and LinkedIn, and tell us what sparked something for you. What questions are you carrying about Spirit and the unseen dimensions of leadership?Come outside with us.

In this conversation, We Outside host, Ain, welcomes back season one guests, Ellina Yin, Elissa Sloan Perry, Vanessa Hatakeyama and Tina Lopes to explore the themes of spirituality, personal growth and the interconnectedness of nature and time. They share their individual perspectives on how spirit manifests in their lives and the importance of being in tune with natural rhythms. They relate to the metamorphosis of butterflies to illustrate transformation and the cyclical nature of life, while a reflection on intergenerational wisdom highlights the importance of nurturing future generations. The conversation concludes with the importance of community in spiritual exploration.In this episode, we explore:How time influences our spiritual practices and understanding.Nature plays a crucial role in our spiritual connections.Transformation as a natural part of life, much like the butterfly's metamorphosis.Intergenerational wisdom is vital for nurturing future generations.Listening to our bodies and spirits is key to personal growth.New Seneca Village is a restorative residency experience that invites leaders and healers to access expansive resources for the sake of nourishing and sustaining their collective visioning for a just future.We Outside is hosted and produced by Ain Bailey and produced and edited by Aisha Jordan.Get in touch with We Outside at [email protected].

Join us for a vibrant conversation about the interconnectedness of all beings, curiosity as a catalytic force for transformation and the counter-intuitive truth about abundance.Lystra Germaine Sam joins host Ain Bailey for a stimulating conversation about self‑liberation and collective freedom. They trace the deep ties between nature, spirit, community, and personal growth, naming curiosity as a catalytic force for transformation. Lystra and Ain examine how a culture of urgency undermines well‑being and how curiosity, gratitude, rest, and reflection can counteract that harm. The episode celebrates the journey of transformation and the interconnectedness of all beings.In this episode:Self as natureReflection as a crucial practice for understanding our life’s journey.Holding the complexities of leadership with love.The rigor and reciprocity that abundance requiresThe transformative power of trying and failing and trying againUrgency as a killer of joySacred Shoutout Links:Lystra: Trauma of Money courseTrauma of Money: Compassionate Pathways to Disempowering Financial Trauma and Shame, by Chantel ChapmanAin: I Am That, by Sri Nisargadatta MaharajLucille Clifton poem “won’t you celebrate with me” Lystra Germaine Sam Bio: Lystra is a sister, an orphan, an Aunty Supreme and a dedicated practicing "good ancestor".  A cultural futurist, travel architect and global experience designer who works and lives at the intersection of justice, healing, equity, decolonization, and belonging. The founder of Qmooniti Travel & Lifestyle - an award winning B Corp Certified travel company https://www.qmooniti.com/, and Sisters Leading Sisters, a community leadership container rooted in the Afrikan philosophy of UBUNTU: "I am because we are". My next chapter is devoted to legacy work - what can I leave behind that is truly meaningful?Connect with Lystra @sistersleadingsisters and @qmooniti and LinkedIn New Seneca Village is a restorative residency experience that invites leaders and healers to access expansive resources (time, space, access to nature, restorative practices, intentional community and higher consciousness) for the sake of nourishing and sustaining their collective visioning for a just future.We Outside is hosted and produced by Ain Bailey and produced and edited by Aisha Jordan.Get in touch: [email protected].

In this engaging conversation, philanthropic powerhouse and guest Aldita Amaru Gallardo and host Ain explore the ongoing journey of becoming, as well as the roles of activism and spirit in philanthropy. They reflect on the wisdom and resilience of trans communities and honor the legacy of trans leader Miss Major Griffin‑Gracy while unearthing how we can hold reverence for ourselves on our own paths of self‑discovery and belonging. The discussion also delves into the intersection of love and activism, philanthropy’s role in supporting transformative change and the importance of finding joy in small moments amid deep societal challenges.In this episode:Trans movements as a blueprint for resilience and innovation.Becoming, belonging and boundaries as intentional practiceHow philanthropy can support transformational - not just incremental - change.Finding joy in small thingsSacred Shoutout Links:Aldita: Cesar Chavez Park - Berkeley, CA Ain: Cosmic Dawn: The Untold Story of the James Webb Space Telescope Aldita Amaru Bio: Aldita Amaru Gallardo (she/her/ella) is a philanthropic consultant, donor organizer, and founding director of the Action for Transformation Fund, a rapid response fund resourcing trans-led organizing, healing, and power-building efforts in the United States. She is a disabled, Indigiqueer trans woman from Lima, Perú, and has called Oakland, California, on unceded Ohlone Land, home for over a decade. She is committed to resourcing generative movements working toward collective liberation and transforming philanthropy, and society writ large, so that no one is left behind. Learn more about Aldita Amaru Gallardo: @ladycaucau https://www.instagram.com/ladycaucau/?hl=en New Seneca Village is a restorative residency experience that invites leaders and healers to access expansive resources (time, space, access to nature, restorative practices, intentional community and higher consciousness) for the sake of nourishing and sustaining their collective visioning for a just future.We Outside is hosted and produced by Ain Bailey and produced and edited by Aisha Jordan.Get in touch with We Outside at [email protected].

Join us for a conversation about Vanessa’s journey in hula and her dedication to creating a nurturing work environment that calls in the future.In this conversation, Villager Vanessa Hatakeyama joins host Ain Bailey to share her insights on the role of spirit through movement and deep connection to community. Vanessa discusses her journey in hula, the cultural roots that inform her practice, and her dedication to creating a nurturing work environment in the nonprofit sector. The conversation highlights the role of physical movement in grounding oneself, and the significance of love and compassion in leadership.In this episode, we explore:Cultural art of hula and how it informs the ways spirit moves through oneselfSpirit and intentionality in communityTransforming nonprofit cultureEvolving the role of leadership to create the world we want to see “how can I create that fertile ground at work so that my people can flourish?...that it can really be a place that nurtures people and that helps that reality that I do want to live in.”Sacred Shoutout Links:Vanessa: Whale Rider MovieAin: Mary Oliver’s poem “Wild Geese”Vanessa Bio: Bay Area born and raised, Vanessa Hatakeyama is the Executive Director of the Japanese American Museum of San Jose (JAMsj). A San Jose Japantown resident for over a decade, Vanessa is deeply rooted in the local community and has fostered collaborations with artists and arts organizations to showcase and celebrate the vibrant creativity, abundant diversity, and rich cultures that thrive in the historic Japantown neighborhood. As committed to her work and community endeavors as she is, they all come second to her beautiful blended and extended family and her passion for the Hawaiian art of Hula. When she has free time she is an avid listener of podcasts, reader of books, writer of poetry and prose, and enjoys throwing inconsistently shaped mugs, bowls and plates on the pottery wheel.Connect with Vanessa: [email protected] out the Hālau Nā Wai Ola: Website & YoutubeWebsite: https://www.halaunawaiola.com/Youtube: https://www.youtube.com/@halaunawaiola/aboutNew Seneca Village is a restorative residency experience that invites leaders and healers to access expansive resources for the sake of nourishing and sustaining their collective visioning for a just future.We Outside is hosted and produced by Ain Bailey and produced and edited by Aisha Jordan.Get in touch with We Outside at [email protected].

Guest Kirsten Scobie joins host Ain to explore spirit, connection, and the role of ego in how we relate to others. They surface moments of intimacy—both in personal relationships and professional life—and unpack how societal systems can complicate true connection. Kirsten traces her own journey with ego, showing how it can protect yet also limit us, and they highlight humility, vulnerability, grounding practices and gratitude as tools for deeper connection. The conversation closes with reflections on building a future rooted in service and belonging.In this episode:Ego can protect us, but it also limit our connections.Commitment to connection and being in service as spiritual practicesHow systems and societal constructs can inhibit genuine connection.Humility and vulnerability as a counterbalance to egoSacred Shoutout Links:Kirsten: Dried Calendula (with sea salt flakes and Borage)Work Your Light Oracle DeckAin: Pillars of Creation Dragon Oracle DeckKirsten Bio: Kirsten Scobie is the founder of Persimmon Consulting Company, where she partners with donors, foundations, and institutions to design philanthropic strategies rooted in trust, humility, and justice. With over two decades of experience, Kirsten brings a rare blend of strategic rigor, emotional intelligence, and deep listening to help clients move resources in ways that truly build power in under-resourced communities. For more information, please see www.persimmonco.comNew Seneca Village is a restorative residency experience that invites leaders and healers to access expansive resources (time, space, access to nature, restorative practices, intentional community and higher consciousness) for the sake of nourishing and sustaining their collective visioning for a just future.We Outside is hosted and produced by Ain Bailey and produced and edited by Aisha Jordan.Get in touch with We Outside at [email protected].

Join us as we explore the intersections of spirit, community and civic engagement. As well as awakening to the practice of honoring ancestors for the immeasurable gifts they pass down.In this episode, social-practice artist Ellina Yin and host Ain explore the intersections of spirit, community and civic engagement. They examine spirit as both an inner life and part of an external ecosystem, as well as the practice of awakening to and honoring ancestors for the immeasurable gifts they pass down. Ellina shares her civic‑service commitment and the power of collective action beyond the ballot box, while the conversation also touches on the role of storytelling in reframing our shared narratives. We explore:How intergenerational gifts inform personal direction and growthThe power of storytelling to liberate and decolonize minds.Civic responsibility beyond voting.Sacred Shoutout LinksEllina: Plants in San Jose Lunar CalendarAin: Dancer Will West in Jungle - Keep Me Satisfied music video + Choreographer Shay LatukolanGuest Bio: Ellina is a Cambodian American multidisciplinary social practice artist, filmmaker, journalist, and entrepreneur. They work at the intersection of art, technology, and lawmaking to create and explore new forms of civic participation. Through podcasting, in depth oral history research, and multiple artistic mediums Ellina threads together art and technology to democratize the process of lawmaking and re-imagine the way we practice democracy at a local level. Website: www.ellinayin.com. Socials: @ellinayin, City of San José Civics Master Class, Podcasts: Only in San Jose , Only in Santa Clara County, Other Perspective(s). Civic Nonprofit: Dreaming Collaborative and Data Center Work: Taps Run DryNew Seneca Village is a restorative residency experience that invites leaders and healers to access expansive resources (time, space, access to nature, restorative practices, intentional community and higher consciousness) for the sake of nourishing and sustaining their collective visioning for a just future.We Outside is hosted and produced by Ain Bailey and produced and edited by Aisha Jordan.Get in touch with We Outside at [email protected].