Debra has lived an incredibly full and inspiring life with no plan of stopping anytime soon. From moving to Europe, dropping out of school, marrying an Italian prince and hitchhiking across Africa all by the time she was sixteen, Debra has always embraced the unknown and said “yes” to all of what life has thrown at her. We speak about her love of integrating art and architecture, and the beauty of bringing something of ourselves to new experiences as opposed to requiring an experience to give something to us. We touch on the importance of embracing our individual uniqueness, the beauty of being a citizen within a community, and why elderhood is underrated.
I’m always amazed at what many people of her generation did when they were young (with zero internet and almost zero back-up plans). I particularly enjoyed her intent to use Art as a practical activity.
I also love the “do it now” mentality. You cannot imagine the long term results yet but you feel a good vibe and so you do it anyway. I think that we all need a good dose of this in our everyday life. Routine, conformism and predictability are just awful for our “inner development “.
That being said, I completely understand the younger generations who have a strong desire to “do the right thing” from the beginning.
When I was 10, the only sword of Damocles over my head was a global nuclear war. And it disappeared with the Fall of the Berlin Wall. In my 20’s, everything was cool (except for people in the Middle East I guess).
Back in the present, I cannot even imagine ALL the world-ending preoccupations that you can find in a young brain…
People who "stay put" aren't necessarily following the rules. I think we need to think carefully about the ways in which travelling and being on the road kinda gets glorified as being the ultimate way of exploring the limits of possibility and saying "yes" to life. There can also something very explorative and inquiring about *not* backpacking round Bali/doing van life/nomadic country-hopping etc - I think this gets lost sometimes, or seems to be painted as dull or conformist.
For example, I'm curiously interested in what happens when you try to build community with a random bunch of neighbours, or when you explore what kind of job situations are to be had in your city, or navigate the diverse ways of structuring an "ordinary" life. Working with what is there in front of you, rather than being on the hunt for the new, the exciting, the adventurous.
Sometimes I think these domestic pleasures (and challenges) can be even more rewarding than upping sticks and "going travelling", and I'd love for more people to be able to appreciate that.
She's very cool, and Tao is awesome too. Hey did you ever have Hunter Maats on your show? He's sort of gone low key his mixed mental arts podcast was great Brain Cullen was a little too OTT for me at times but hunter has some gems in his way of thinking which would be great to share.
What a lovely and inspiring lady !
I’m always amazed at what many people of her generation did when they were young (with zero internet and almost zero back-up plans). I particularly enjoyed her intent to use Art as a practical activity.
I also love the “do it now” mentality. You cannot imagine the long term results yet but you feel a good vibe and so you do it anyway. I think that we all need a good dose of this in our everyday life. Routine, conformism and predictability are just awful for our “inner development “.
That being said, I completely understand the younger generations who have a strong desire to “do the right thing” from the beginning.
When I was 10, the only sword of Damocles over my head was a global nuclear war. And it disappeared with the Fall of the Berlin Wall. In my 20’s, everything was cool (except for people in the Middle East I guess).
Back in the present, I cannot even imagine ALL the world-ending preoccupations that you can find in a young brain…
People who "stay put" aren't necessarily following the rules. I think we need to think carefully about the ways in which travelling and being on the road kinda gets glorified as being the ultimate way of exploring the limits of possibility and saying "yes" to life. There can also something very explorative and inquiring about *not* backpacking round Bali/doing van life/nomadic country-hopping etc - I think this gets lost sometimes, or seems to be painted as dull or conformist.
For example, I'm curiously interested in what happens when you try to build community with a random bunch of neighbours, or when you explore what kind of job situations are to be had in your city, or navigate the diverse ways of structuring an "ordinary" life. Working with what is there in front of you, rather than being on the hunt for the new, the exciting, the adventurous.
Sometimes I think these domestic pleasures (and challenges) can be even more rewarding than upping sticks and "going travelling", and I'd love for more people to be able to appreciate that.
She's very cool, and Tao is awesome too. Hey did you ever have Hunter Maats on your show? He's sort of gone low key his mixed mental arts podcast was great Brain Cullen was a little too OTT for me at times but hunter has some gems in his way of thinking which would be great to share.