Descriptive Inquiry

Welcome to the 75th episode of The Positive Fantastic podcast. I’m Mori Natura, and I’m really grateful that you have all been taking this journey with me for the past four years and four seasons of uplifting interviews with farmers, musicians, poets, ecologists, and other creatives. When I set out to make a podcast, I had absolutely no idea what I was doing except that I was clear that there was a big desire in me to be part of a movement for good news. I have really loved being able to bring you stories of folks who are part of the change we want to see in the world. I definitely feel called to do more interviews so that I can keep telling these fabulous stories of innovation, conservation, and creation in the future… but my life has changed a lot in the past four years. And, at present, I find myself needing more time to write so that I can express my own creativity. I have four books and several short stories in various stages of development, all of them wanting my fullest attention to progress forward.  As a hope punk podcaster, my intention was to bring you good news about good people doing good things as a radical act of rebellion in a time when the news often leaves us uninspired and traumatized. Instead of trying to be objective, I dove solidly into what feels good to me, subjectively, and I have done my best to share some of those gems with all of you. Now, as a hope punk author, I hope to do the same with my books.  I want to thank all of the listeners who took the time to hear what was shared here. Perhaps you’ll pick up a book of mine in the future and see what love mischief we can get up to together in print form. And maybe someday, after my burning desire to write has been satiated a bit, I will revisit this podcast. For now, I am clear that I am taking at least a year's sabbatical to pursue literary tangents exclusively in my free time. Being a single mom working full time with many responsibilities in my community simply does not leave enough time for me to do all the things that I want to do. As it is, I scaled back from releasing episodes on the new and full moon to just the Earth's holy days after a couple of years. And now, a pause for integration suits me very nicely.  Still, the punk thing to do would be to stay open. Maybe an errant podcast episode will come through here and there. I did have a handful of possible interviews that never quite materialized but all seemed very juicy. So, there’s always the chance that something surprising may occur in the next year and years to come. If this is the end though, thank you from the bottom of my heart for tuning in, turning on, and daring to hope.  A special shout out to all the musicians who helped make it possible for each episode to have a theme song, to all the folks who lovingly welcomed me into their homes for in-person interviews, to everyone who has been tuning in, and lastly to me, for daring to do something I didn’t know how to do but wanted to play with anyway. 

Laurie Bella is a human being who never ceases to impress me with her readiness to engage beauty in spontaneous ritual, with deep presence, and informed by immense gratitude. She founded Colibri Journeys to help support people in having truly meaningful cultural exchanges. In February 2025, I am going to be joining Laurie Bella's next Colibri Journeys in Peru! She is opening the call to one and all, and because I love to play in community, I am sharing about this epic adventure to summon you all by personal invitation to consider coming along as well! Tune in to hear about her travels, her next trip, and her intentions for leading trips.

There's an amazing program that has been designed to teach you about California's unique ecosystems. Offered statewide, and held regionally, these classes combine the interdisciplinary studies from hydrology, botany, geology, and more to learn about a particular ecosystem. Dive in with Jen Riddell and Hannah Bird as we discuss the California Naturalist Program & why everyone is welcome to become a Naturalist!

Greta de la Montagne is a Holistic Health Practitioner and Herbalist living in Humboldt County, California. She has created MASHH (Medicine for ALL Seeking Health & Healing) as a pop-up mobile clinic to bring herbs to people during festivals, after emergencies, and for activist support. In this episode Greta (Grizz) shares her recipe for Fire Cyder, describes what herbs are essential to a first aid toolkit, and articulates her journey as a herbally savvy first responder.

Author Rachel Kaplan wrote "Urban Homesteading Heirloom Skills for Sustainable Living" with K. Ruby Blume to help people living in cities to dive into the world of growing, foraging, and finding access through networking to good, local food, medicine, and natural beauty. I sat down with Rachel in Sonoma County over a bowl of freshly picked blackberries to discuss her journey as a permaculture teacher and homesteading advocate. She also gave me some insights for my personal shift from living in the country to living in town, and what to think about as I embark on a new relationship with the earth in a small, intimate space.

Miguel Elliot, also known for his natural building "accoblishments" as Sir Cobalot, joins the podcast to discuss the wonderful capacities of cob. He explains how cob is not just a tool for natural construction with durable craftsmanship that is easy on the budget, but also a tool for social justice in support of unsheltered persons. Over the years Miguel has developed some amazing innovations through his company, "Living Earth Structures," which he is making open source so that the word can spread and everyone can have access to his exceptionally functional cob hacks. Miguel has a strong social media presence to help spread the news about an innovative modern twist he has developed on the art and practice of cob building. Tune in to learn about Miguel's process, and to get some giggles about the special cob-centric vocabulary he has created too.

Stephane Barile joined me to discuss the "Descriptive Inquiry" process, which is a non-evaluative approach to working with learners. As an educator of many years, Stephane has found the work with the Institute of Descriptive Inquiry to be incredibly helpful to her and her teaching career. For more information about the Institute and resources to learn the process yourself, you can visit: https://sites.google.com/idiprocess.org/idi/about-us

Featured musical guest for Season 4 of the podcast, Jessi Lea shares about the evolution of her musical journey and artistry.

The Mendo Lake Food Hub is a network that connects farmers and the goods they produce with grateful consumers who want to partake in fresh, local, and nutritious food.

Artist and art collector Gaetan Caron, founder of “The Lost Art Salon,” joined me to discuss his journey in becoming an artist and realizing his dreams. We discussed his gallery in San Francisco, California, as well as his studio in the wilderness of Northern California. Listen in while we share about what it means to embody one's life as an artist. You may even hear the occasional chicken serenade in the background from the free range flock of hens that also live at Gaetan's place.