Beyond Ourselves

How to Connect with Someone While Remaining Connected to Yourself

I have been recently pondering the "secret sauce" of Circling: the practice that I have been so deeply involved with the past several months. As the practices have been diffusing into my life, I have noticed my ability to explore someone else's world while staying connected to myself has increased and become almost like a harmonious process. I wanted to explain how that process works and hypothesize that this process is the core project and our ultimate mode of being as a relational being. Podcast YouTube Homepage: https://www.youtube.com/@beyondourselvespod Instagram Podcast Page: https://www.instagram.com/beyondourselvespod/ LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/michaeldeklerk/ Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/michaeldeklerk11/

A Deep Dive into Authentic Relating and more with Jake Favor

Hello everybody, and welcome back to another episode of Beyond Ourselves! I was fortunate enough to connect with Jake Favor, someone I've gotten to know quite well over the past several weeks through my participation in Circling, an authentic relational modality that fosters genuine conversation. Jake has also started a group that meets weekly to embody various Socratic dialogical practices promoted by the work of Cognitive Science professor John Vervaeke. Circling has allowed me to integrate an entirely new vocabulary and orientation toward how we have conversations, and diligently practicing the methods with Jake has been profoundly transformative. We delve into what Circling is, how it has influenced us, and in a proper deep conversational fashion, it takes a life of its own. I am proud of this conversation and hope it is something you all take some value in as well. For anyone that might be interested in further exploring what Circling is and potentially getting involved with the practice, I have included a link to a demonstration video that explains the practice as well as a link to sign up for weekly drop-in Circling nights. I will also link to the YouTube channel for John Vervaeke, an extremely influential figure in my understanding of how to live a wise, integrated life.  My Socials: Podcast YouTube Homepage: https://www.youtube.com/@beyondourselvespod Instagram Podcast Page: https://www.instagram.com/beyondourselvespod/ LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/michaeldeklerk/ Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/michaeldeklerk11/ Seven Stages of Circling Webinar: https://circlinginstitute.com/thanks-webinar-7stages-recording/ Drop in Circling Sign Up: https://circlinginstitute.com/drop-in-circling-night/ John Vervaeke's YouTube Homepage: https://www.youtube.com/@johnvervaeke

The Effects of Urban Planning on Social Health with Dr. Farah Al-Nakib

Hello and welcome to another episode of Beyond Ourselves! I was fortunate enough to connect with Dr. Farah Al-Nakib, a Professor of History at Cal Poly. Her research specializes in the Arab states of the Persian Gulf, most specifically Kuwait, where she was born. Our conversation concerns her book, Kuwait Transformed: A History of Oil and Urban Life, which she published in 2016. We delve deeply into how Western urban planning, while raising the standard of living significantly for Kuwaitis, ultimately did more harm than good, what insights her book offers Kuwaiti citizens on their history and possible steps forward, how thinking critically about how we interact with our communal spaces can foster creativity and build social bonds, and much more. To whet your appetite about what is to come in the interview and to offer a meditation on the topics discussed, I included a quote from renowned psychologist Carl Rogers below. "We in the West seem to have made a fetish out of complete individual self-sufficiency, of not needing help, of being completely private except in a very few selected relationships. This way of living would have been completely impossible during most of history, but modern technology makes this goal achievable. With my private room, private car, private office, private phone, I can be practically immune from intimate contact with any other person. Both the young and the old are almost completely useless in our modern society and are made keenly aware of that uselessness. They have no place. They are private, isolated, and hopeless. (Carl Rogers, A Way of Being) My Socials: Podcast YouTube Homepage: https://www.youtube.com/@beyondourselvespod Instagram Podcast Page: https://www.instagram.com/beyondourselvespod/ LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/michaeldeklerk/ Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/michaeldeklerk11/

Reflections on the Podcast + My Journey for Making Beyond Ourselves

Hello everybody, and welcome back to another episode of Beyond Ourselves! If you are curious why there has been such a hiatus between the last episode and this one, I have been spending the last month slaving away on graduate school applications and spending the holiday season with my family. That said, this was an episode that I knew I wanted to make since the last one was released. I hope you enjoy it! Exciting announcement! My episodes now have a home on YouTube! If you think I have a face for radio but still enjoy listening to me, feel free to return to your favorite podcast platforms. If the video component enhances the quality for you, feel free to enjoy them over there! YouTube episode link: https://youtu.be/xpyicjBa-bU My Socials: Podcast YouTube Homepage: https://www.youtube.com/@beyondourselvespod Instagram Podcast Page: https://www.instagram.com/beyondourselvespod/ LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/michaeldeklerk/ Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/michaeldeklerk11/

The Key Ingredients to Building Resilient Communities with Ryan Alaniz

Hello and welcome to another episode of Beyond Ourselves! Today I had the privilege of talking to a mentor and hero of mine, Dr. Ryan Alaniz. Dr. Alaniz is a Professor of Sociology at Cal Poly as well as the author of From Strangers to Neighbors: Post-Disaster Resettlement and Community Building in Honduras, which is the subject of our conversation. The book compares two resettlement communities a mere three miles apart created after a devastating hurricane; one in which residents were civically engaged and cohesive, and the other that suffered from rampant crime and corruption. Our conversation explores the different philosophical approaches to development taken by each community, how orienting communities towards ideals of trust and collectivism is essential to healthy development, and how to apply the tenets of his book to other social issues. I thoroughly enjoyed this conversation, and I hope all of you can take something from it and apply it in your lives.  My Socials: Instagram Podcast Page: https://www.instagram.com/beyondourselvespod/ LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/michaeldeklerk/ Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/michaeldeklerk11/