Home: Our Inner and Outer Sanctuary with Valerie Andrews

MP3 Download

This conversation explores the complex dimensions of home, including its physical, psychological, and emotional aspects. We carry a sense of place and identity with us wherever we go. The years of sheltering in place gave us time to assess our circumstances when it came to our home. Was it a safe place with nurturing roommates? Was it a pleasant place that offered inspiration and beauty? Or was it cluttered, unsafe, or upsetting? She enlightens us with the human need to find a home in nature saying "Once you find a home in nature, you are never lost.” We are made of the same matter of earth; breathing the breath of forests, our tears and blood the salty ocean. This deep dialogue includes how home is a laboratory for understanding ourselves. Andrews also shares insights on those caretaking family members and other loved ones wanting to age in place including those who choose to die at home. (hosted by Justine Willis Toms)

Bio

Valerie Andrews is a writer, editor, and seminar leader specializing in Jungian psychology and the inner life of home. She’s a graduate of the Guild for Spiritual Guidance and the editor of the digital magazine Reinventing Home: Culture, Creativity, Character. She’s also a contributor to many journals and magazines and was the host of the PBS documentary featuring Thomas Moore, author of Care of the Soul.

Valerie Andrews is the author and editor of these books:

• A Passion for This Earth (Harper Collins 1994)
• Sanctuary: The Inner Life of Home (Editor) (Chiron Publications 2024)

To learn more about the work of Valerie Andrews go to www.valerieandrews.org.

Topics explored in this dialogue include:

•  What are the many aspects of home to consider: physical, emotional, and psychological
• How Andrews coped with the challenges of moving 32 times
• What is the ACE (Adverse Childhood Experience) study done by Kaiser Permanente tracking the health of children growing up in an unstable home environment
•  Why having access to the natural world in childhood is an important base that serves us for the rest of our lives
• Why once you find your place in nature you will never be lost
• What does Grassland Woman tell us about how we are of the earth that Mary Reynolds Thompson writes about
• What is the importance of connecting with our dreams
• What are some trustworthy insights regarding living in uncertain times
• What is the importance of the plus-one proton that breaks through the quantum field into a creative space
• What is the caution of giving up our imagination to marketers and social media
• What happened on July 19, 2024, when CrowdStrike caused massive disruptions of air flights, websites, and the internet
• Why we can’t live in isolation
• What insights does Andrews share regarding aging at home and caretaking one another
• How we might give away the “stuff” that stacks up in our homes, garages, and storage units 

Host: Justine Willis Toms    Interview Date: 7/19/2024  Program Number: 3824

Music Playlist

From Album: The Mystic Harp
Artist: Derek Bell

Opening Essay: Track 02 New Dawn (featuring Alasdair Fraser)
Music Break 1: Track 05 Playboy of the Western World
Music Break 2: Track 04 Dublin Town
Music Break 3: Track 16 Homeward Bound