This Is Your Strange and Beautiful Life

By: Erica J. Schmidt
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  • Summary

  • Welcome to This Is Your Strange and Beautiful Life! In this podcast, writer Erica J. Schmidt talks to people who may—or may not—have had the chance to transform their lives into spectacular TED talks. Cherished guests include Erica’s beloved grandmother, talented fringe performers, and more fascinating folks from across generations and communities. Discover new takes on creativity, morning routines, art, mental health, eating disorder recovery, perfectionism, and healing, plus a loving advice column segment in almost every episode. Oh, and sometimes there are tiny singsongs!

    About the host: Erica J. Schmidt is a writer, translator, storyteller, and recovering gifted child living in Montréal. She is currently querying a novel about that time she fell in love with her eleventh therapist. To learn more, check out Erica’s generously personal essays at ericajschmidt.com/blog

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Art Hygiene & Healthy Living Psychology
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Episodes
  • Stories from L’arche with Jimmy and Isabelle

    Stories from L’arche with Jimmy and Isabelle
    Nov 21 2024
    Today we have a special episode with my dear pals Jimmy and Isabelle. I met Jimmy and Isabelle at L’Arche, a worldwide network of communities for people with intellectual disabilities. When I was 19, I moved to L’Arche in search of a transformed heart. For two years, I lived and worked with Jimmy, Isabelle, and three other people with wildly different intellectual disabilities.There’s so much I could share about my time at L’Arche, but for today, I’m handing the mic to Jimmy and Isabelle.JimmyJimmy is rocking his early sixties. He has had a whole bunch of different jobs, including working at a daycare and a curtain factory. Jimmy has a passion for Ancient Egypt, bowling, swimming, drawing and colouring, Hulk superheroes, and the Power Rangers. He has a special notebook in his fanny pack which he uses to write secret messages to the Power Rangers. Jimmy has Down Syndrome and an excellent sense of humour. After 20 years at his L’Arche home the SKiff, he is always looking out for his friends and housemates. Whenever anyone walks through the door, no matter how long it’s been, Jimmy greets them with, “I missed you.”IsabelleIsabelle and I are the same age (39 or just about). When we’re together, people always ask if we’re sisters. Isabelle completed her studies at the Montreal School for the Blind, where she was blessed with exceptional teachers like Barbara, Missy, and Juliet. In her youth, Isabelle and I would go swimming, and she’d bravely trust me to push her alongside the river—Isabelle in her wheelchair, me on rollerblades. Everyone survived. Isabelle has complex cerebral palsy, which means she mostly speaks with her eyes, not words, and doesn’t move very much. Her deepest loves include music, prayers, poetry, family, friends, and community.What you’ll hear today is a just a small glimpse into the worlds of Jimmy and Isabelle. This was originally going to be part of a much larger project. And there’s still time for this. But for now, Jimmy and Isabelle, welcome to This Is Your Strange and Beautiful Life.Episode Notes and ResourcesThis recording was created and published with Jimmy and Isabelle’s explicit consent.In 2020, the L’Arche founder Jean Vanier was discovered to have sexually abused several of his mentees. Thankfully, there are no reports of JV abusing L’Arche’s core members, the people with intellectual disabilities. However, the truth is terrible and disappointing. L’Arche has fully acknowledged and apologized for Jean Vanier’s abuse, condemning his actions “without reservation.” To learn more about the horrible revelations, you can read this article. L’Arche has also published a summary of its report on Father Thomas and Jean Vanier.If you’d like to learn more about my years at L’Arche, I wrote an essay called This Is It. Click here to read This Is It by Erica J. Schmidt.To learn more about L’Arche, visit L’Arche International and/or L’Arche Canada.Jimmy and Isabelle live at L’Arche Montréal.If you’re looking for somewhere to donate extra funds, all of these places are wonderful causes.To get in touch with Erica, you can find her on Instagram or her website at ericajschmidt.com. You can also make her day by sending her a listener question to any of these places.And if you enjoyed this episode, you will love: Making It Fun with Mary Owen,Discovering Autism with Maha Abdelhak Cavalcanti, and Taking the Pressure Off with Erica J. Schmidt.Thank you so much for listening! Stay tuned for more episodes extra soon. Don’t forget to followThis Is Your Strange and Beautiful Life on your favourite podcast platform. And if you enjoyed the episode, I would be immensely grateful if you could share it with a friend and/or leave a kind and enthusiastic rating and review.
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    22 mins
  • Art, Death, and Spiritual Care With Jennifer Hamilton

    Art, Death, and Spiritual Care With Jennifer Hamilton
    Nov 4 2024
    “The privilege of just having the capacity to physically do the art or the music, that’s a huge gift. Because I meet people all the time who have a lot of responsibilities and a lot of setbacks, because I’m in the public health system. So, I get to see people that really are struggling and suffering. And I don’t think all of our suffering is equal. I think there are some people who have to suffer a lot. And it’s not really fair. It doesn’t make any sense. There’s nothing that those people are doing that is making it as though they deserve to suffer. They’re just being human here, and they have whatever setbacks they’re being dealt. And so, I’m lucky that up until now, I haven’t had huge physical setbacks, or if I’ve had financial setbacks, I’ve had safety nets, and I’ve actually been gifted a lot of things in my life in terms of the ability to have time to make art.”—Jennifer HamiltonJennifer Hamilton is a prolific and ignited visual artist, musician, theology scholar, and spiritual caregiver. Her paintings take you on a colourful, embodied, and mystical journey through ritualized inspiration and sacred geometry. Jennifer is deeply connected to the spiritual seekers and artists who came before her. She derives great inspiration from ancient texts and practices, and her special muse Hilma af Klint. In addition to a Bachelor of Fine Arts, Jennifer has her diploma in fashion design and a Bachelor of Theology.Jennifer could have been a bunch of things when she grew up, and that’s kind of what happened. But these days, she is working as a spiritual caregiver in Montreal hospitals. Her current projects seek to explore this world of spiritual care through painting and ritualized reflection.Jennifer is also a generous fan of This Is Your Strange and Beautiful Life and I think this episode was a dream come true for both of us.Jennifer Hamilton on This Is Your Strange and Beautiful Life00:00 Intro song and bio2:34 Quick and very fun break! Don’t forget to follow This Is Your Strange and Beautiful Life on the platforms. Bonus points for five-star reviews. And please also follow Erica and Jen on Instagram and across the interwebs.Jenn on Instagram: @vitalongaJen’s website: jenniferhamilton.comErica on Instagram: @erica.j.schmidtErica’s website: ericajschmidt.com4:00 Interview starts! Question one is about growing up in a small town. Does this cause special person syndrome, as per Erica’s theory? Jen shares about her creative origins, her aspirational art teacher Mona Istrati-Mulhern (worththeirsalt.ca), and Jen’s light responsibilities as a gifted child in Goderich, Ontario. PS, Jen’s Catholic school was called, St. Anne's Clinton | Renewing The Promise - Joyful Disciples (huronperthcatholic.ca), and it’s the reason she’s so great at French!14:23 Sacred Texts and Art Practices: Jen talks about the rituals and step-by-step “recipes” that guide her art projects.17:34 Jen describes, Alters of the directions, her most complex “recipe,” where she followed a version of Lectio Divina or “divine reading” a systematic process of reading and responding to spiritual texts. Hit up the full show notes on Erica’s website for some stunning images of Jen’s work.37:49 Even though they are not wildly rich, Erica and Jen discuss their hot, single, zero-child, educated white women privilege. A lot of people overestimate Jen’s privilege since she is quite talented at buying designer clothes at the Salvation Army. Also, she is much more gracious than most when it comes to acknowledging her luck and good fortune. But we talk about the health, time, materials, and money that help us dive into elaborate projects. And how the opportunities simply aren’t equal, and there just isn’t any reasonable reason for this.45:08 Listener question from Good Friends Don’t Make Good Roommates. Our listener’s friend Sara is hard-up and wants to crash at her pad for “a couple of months.” GFDMGR is concerned this will put a massive strain on their friendship, especially since Sara loves to party and GFDMGR needs her alone time. Sara says she’s being a bad friend for saying no. Is she a jerk? What should she do? Jennifer Hamilton and Erica can’t fix it—but this one is kind of a no-brainer.53:14 Morning, creative, and cleaning routines, plus, if Jennifer Hamilton could distill and transform her life into a spectacular TED talk, what would the title and topic be?1:05 Half bad ukulele segment: In the Pines. Sing and play along with this tab! If it sounds weird, try your Capo on one! But most importantly, remember, The same old train that brought me here, will soon take us all away.Gosh that was fun, fun, fun! Infinite thanks to Jennifer Hamilton!Links and Recommended EpisodesOne more reminder to follow Jennifer Hamilton on Instagram @vitalongaand check out her website at jenniferhamilton.comErica is on Facebook or Instagram, and her website is at ericajschmidt.com. You can ...
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    1 hr and 11 mins
  • Singing For Bliss With Kathy Kennedy

    Singing For Bliss With Kathy Kennedy
    Oct 16 2024
    This Is Your Strange and Beautiful Life welcomes marvellous community builder, multi-disciplinary sound artist, and relative social butterfly Kathy Kennedy. I met Kathy at one of the 17 Christmas parties she was invited to in 2022. Before that I knew her from when she directed the extraordinary women’s choir Choeur Maha. A conversation and a half with Kathy and I soon discovered that Kathy is as iconic as her far-reaching projects. Her magic awaits, right here on your favourite podcast platform! We even have a few hot takes from Kathy’s spectacular recordings. Listen all the way through, and check out the time stamps below to savour the highlights! (Full shownotes here.)Kathy Kennedy’s Episode00:00 Rousing and arousing intro song and bio 3:07 Quick and very fun break! Don’t forget to follow This Is Your Strange and Beautiful Life and leave a five-star review. Also, please track down Erica and Kathy on Instagram and across the interwebs. 4:22 Interview starts. Question One: How did Kathy get started on her journey to creating this very unique art that requires a certain amount of equipment, a lot of skill? Turns out, Kathy moved from the Gaspé to Montréal as a tween. The assault of noise pollution and hormones left a drastic impact. 7:20 On Kathy’s lifelong fascination: the difference between listening and hearing. 8:05 The definition of acoustic ecology: the study of living beings and their sonic environment. This field was initially ununcovered by R. Murray Schafer who happens to be a Canadian. Go, R. Murray Schafer! His obituary on the cbc.ca was a pretty good read!8:55 Noise pollution and industry in nature, particularly in the ocean is affecting our animal friends. Whales are having a hard time mating! So are the humans. And they’ve discovered that birds are chirping at a higher decibel. 9:30 To cope with the grating sonar landscape, Kathy turned to art and sound (plus a touch of drugs and rock ‘n roll). Thank 11:10 The importance of bringing people together to sing. Kathy believes that singing is our birthright and not just for Celine and American idols. Kind of like Lynne Adams says that if you have a body, you are a dancer, Kathy insists that if you have a voice, then you are a singer! She says, “Singing is a gift.” Be that happy person who’s singing along to the radio in the supermarket. 17:30 Voice coaching and the healing power of helping people find, accept, and embrace their true voice. “I’m trying to focus on the concept of your voice healing you and making you feel good as opposed to wanting to sound any particular way.” 23:03 Fun excerpt from Kathy’s lovingly and painstakingly mixed recordings.23:53 How does Kathy get invited to so many parties? Kathy shares the interesting conundrum of being an introverted workaholic artist whose projects overlap with all kinds of wonderful people. Hear about Kathy’s vision of the good enough café, a non-pretentious opportunity for people to eat and commune in a not amazing but good enough place for her peeps to hang out and luxuriate in each other’s company like it’s the eighties in Montréal.31:01 Another soothing and invigorating excerpt of Kathy’s splendid recording!31:34 Like Daniel Allen Cox, Kathy Kennedy is yet another house fire twin! Kathy shares how her apartment fire was nothing short of a miracle that led her into a state of bliss (and possibly a touch of mania). 44:17 Listener Question from Hurt Inner Child: A daughter looks to her mother for support after a job interview. Guess how that went? Kathy and Erica can’t fix it, but they have thoughts about when to call your parents for best results. 56:28 Our last little bit from Kathy’s exquisite sound art.56:40 Morning routines, creative routines, cleaning routines, and Kathy’s spectacular TED talk: Kathy’s rituals in plant care, the struggle to transcend technology and fumble into a flow state, how to navigate neighbours and loud hobbies, procrasticleaning, rage cleaning, and more. Stay tuned for Kathy’s imminent book!Half-bad ukulele segment: If You Could Read My Mind by Gordon Lightfoot. Thank you to Lisa at Ukulele Fools for this delightful tutorial. Sing along loud and proud and if you’re playing along, we have the capo on 1!Thank you, Kathy Kennedy! What a blast!Links, Resources, and Recommended EpisodesFollow Kathy Kennedy on Instagram @kathykennedy.ca or on Facebook. Her glorious website is kathykennedy.ca.Follow Erica on Facebook or Instagram or check out her website at ericajschmidt.com. You can also make her day by sending her a listener question to any of these places.Recommended Episodes: 5 Rhythms With Lynne Adams, Hot Dates Frenching With Lou Laurence, and Moments of Joy With Al Lafrance.Listener Question from Hurt Inner ChildDear Erica and Kathy, My relationship with my mother has always been complicated. Most recently, I had a job interview I felt really confident about. I called her right after telling her how I had a ...
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    1 hr and 18 mins

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