On Belonging

Longing to Be: cultivating kin in a fractured world — with carla joy and Jamie-Leigh

Two moss loving friends talk about being moms who make art with community as a way to cultivate connections in a world that aims to divide us. carla and Jamie-Leigh also dive into feeling-thinking together about what each discovered in themselves while making On Belonging— ending with an invitation to you, the listener, to reflect on what it means to belong.  Support our Work [https://www.buymeacoffee.com/groundedfutures]

The Earth is a Closed Circuit — with Patrick Pouponneau

Patrick Pouponneau joins Jamie-Leigh in conversation to explore ideas around place-based belonging within diasporic identity, carrying our ancestors with us as a tool for healing, and how being Black in really White places can hinder the process. A conversation which ultimately inspired Patrick to write a powerful poem to further explore his own connection to belonging, which is also featured in this audio story. Support our Work [https://www.buymeacoffee.com/groundedfutures]

Psychopomp — with rowan ewanyshyn

In this story, rowan ewanyshyn reads a timeline bending narration that blurs the lines of life and death to bring us closer to ancestors known and unknown. Painting vivid scenes of memories, visions, and dreams, we explore rowan’s own turbulent path towards healing ancestral pain woven with threads of softening masculinity, embracing grief, and ultimately finding belonging amidst the uncertain.  Support our Work [https://www.buymeacoffee.com/groundedfutures]

Weirding Belonging: dispatches from the periphery — Elia J. Ayoub

Elia, who grew up in Lebanon, takes us on a profound journey across lands, cultures, and into liminality— both the in-between and the periphery— where he feels belonging has the potential to be more generative. Through the lens of radical histories and cultural studies, Elia discusses a myriad of topics and ideas, such as: languages, autism, social constructs, whiteness, diaspora connections, some current passions, and more. Throughout this impassioned narration, Elia encourages us to be with the many unknowns as we embrace the impermanence of everything— including the dominant and violent structures we are up against— creating better futures together. Support our Work [https://www.buymeacoffee.com/groundedfutures]

Ancestors of Place — with Dani Burlison

Ancestors of Place is Dani’s beautiful and ghostly pilgrimage across lands and water, weaving together an intricate tapestry of what it means to explore ancestry and belonging amidst fractured histories, colonialisms, patriarchy, and capitalism — while searching for a deeper sense of home.