Book of Delights

Poet and essayist Ross Gay talks about finding moments of wonder in everyday life. Wandering, finger painting, laundromats, bike riding, gardening, listening to beautiful music, recognizing the care that is offered to us. In this episode of Constant Wonder, we discover Ross Gay's philosophy of delight.

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What is Your Trajectory?

Life can be really difficult for A LOT of different reasons. But it’s especially difficult when you’re trying to be perfect! Join Gerrit Dirkmaat as he shares some experiences from Joseph Smith’s life that can help remind us all how important it is to focus on the progress we’re making, instead of how “perfect” we may or may not be.

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How to Identify Trauma in Your Black and White Thinking

It is natural for the brain to think in black and white. There is good and there is bad. On the surface it makes situations seem easy to navigate but when our thinking and reality don’t line up, it can create a trauma response within our nervous systems.    Coach Cami Birdo is on the podcast today talking about how to identify trauma induced by black and white thinking and where we see it in our religion, parenting, and dealings within society. The good news is that healing can take place and black and white thinking can be replaced with an abundance of curiosity which ultimately leads to more love for ourselves and others.   

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Who Owns Our Cultural Heritage? — Museums, Repatriation, and Appropriation

Who should decide how the stories and artifacts of a cultural heritage are shared with the world? For a long time, the assumption has been that as long as culture’s stories are told, it doesn’t matter who’s telling them. But who would you trust to tell your story? Museums of human civilization and culture are at the center of this conversation. Some are returning antiquities taken by colonial force. Others are consulting with indigenous communities to reframe the stories exhibits tell. But what’s lost when museum’s make the question “Who owns this cultural artifact?” their primary focus? In this episode of the podcast, we visit the famed Pitt Rivers Museum in Oxford to understand how 19th century ideas of white European superiority are perpetuated in modern museums. We speak with a prominent skeptic of repatriation who believes it undermines the power of museums to help us understand history and our place in it. We also hear a story of spiritual healing prompted by the return of Native American items by a small museum in Massachusetts. And then we make the issue modern and personal with a conversation about what cultural appropriation looks like in daily life and how we can appreciate, rather than appropriate.

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