From Sparks to Light - Inspiring Stories for Challenging Times

“Hi, My name is Matt and I’m a teacher. Today I’m going to tell you a story about a sticky note.” Perhaps, like me, you’re one of the more than 345K followers who tune in to Instagram or Tik Tok to hear one of Mr. Eich’s wildly popular stories about his students. Matt Eicheldinger is an author and sixth grade language arts teacher who has amassed a treasure trove of stories, lessons that  help him, and us, learn what it means to be fully human. Stories are, as he quotes author Jason Reynolds, baked-in empathy machines. “I happen to have a really good memory from my childhood,” he says of his new found superpower. “I remember lots of embarrassing moments… and so [one day] I told my class, if I tell you an embarrassing story, will you do what I ask?”  Needless to say they said yes. He placed a jar in his classroom and filled it with stories from his own life, sharing them with his students. It was that first collection of stories from his own life that formed the basis for his first book, Matt Sprouts and the Curse of Ten Broken Toes.  But over the years of teaching, his collection of stories grew to include anecdotes from his time with his students. His new book, Sticky Notes, captures them in narrative form. Matt Eicheldinger, or Mr. Eich, as he is known to his students, is a teacher, storyteller and author of three books, Matt Sprouts and the Curse of Ten Broken Toes, Matt Sprouts and the Day Nora Ate the Sun and Sticky Notes, Memorable Lessons from Ordinary Moments. He lives in Minnesota with his wife and two children, and tries to create new adventures with them whenever possible. When he's not writing, you can find him telling students stories in his classroom, or trail running along the Minnesota River Bottoms. As you listen to this episode, consider: * We all have favorite stories from our childhood. What is one that opened your eyes and heart to a new way of understanding?  * In his story “Phillip”, Matt talks about the power of the pause. Where can you find places in your own life to pause and open yourself up to something surprising? * “Stories are baked-in empathy machines,” says Jason Reynolds, the author and former Ambassador for Young People’s Literature. How can we use the power of story to create a more compassionate world? To learn more about Robert Maggio, the composer of "Where Love is Love," our theme music, please check out his website [https://www.robertmaggio.com/]. To learn more about Suzanne, visit her website [https://www.suzannemaggio.com/]. To learn more about the inspiration for this podcast, please check out Suzanne's memoir, Estrellas - Moments of Illumination Along El Camino de Santiago [https://adelaidebooks.org/products/estrellas-moments-of-illumination-along-el-camino-de-santiago?_pos=1&_sid=7e72e99f5&_ss=r] Follow Suzanne on Social Media * Instagram @suzannemaggio_author * Facebook @ Suzanne Maggio author * Threads @suzannemaggio_author

This is part 8 of a special series focusing on the community of Honoring Our Experience, and their work with long-term survivors of the HIV/AIDS virus. “I was a reluctant activist,” says Vince Crisostomo of the humble beginnings of his advocacy for LGBTQ communities. He’d done his share of sitting by the bedsides of friends and community members as they succumbed to the deadly virus, but it would be a few more years until he would step into a role he has now occupied for more than 30 years. An invitation to return to his native Guam on World AIDS Day changed all that. They were looking for a gay Chamorro who was HIV positive to speak. “Oh my God that’s me,” he thought, but he dismissed it outright. Surely there was someone else, he mused to a friend. But it was his time. A time to lean into the moment.  He didn’t want to regret the chances he didn’t take.  Now, more than three decades later, he has committed his life to the healing power of community. Vince Crisostomo is a gay Chamorro (Pacific Islander) long-term HIV/AIDS survivor  He is passionate about bringing health care to all and social justice equity to people of every sexual identity, HIV status, gender, race and age.  Vince is currently SFAF’s Director of Aging Services and is seated on the SF Human Rights Commission’s LGBTQI+ Advisory Committee and California State Equity on Aging Committee. As you listen to this episode, consider: * Where are the opportunities to step forward, even reluctantly, to make a difference? * What kind of world do we want to “age in to?” What is one thing we can do to work towards that vision? * Vince talks about making optimistic choices?  What is one optimistic choice you can make today?  Learn more about Honoring Our Experience here [https://www.saratogasprings.com/retreats/HonoringOurExperience.html]. To learn more about Robert Maggio, the composer of "Where Love is Love," our theme music, please check out his website [https://www.robertmaggio.com/]. To learn more about Suzanne, visit her website [https://www.suzannemaggio.com/]. To learn more about the inspiration for this podcast, please check out Suzanne's memoir, Estrellas - Moments of Illumination Along El Camino de Santiago [https://adelaidebooks.org/products/estrellas-moments-of-illumination-along-el-camino-de-santiago?_pos=1&_sid=7e72e99f5&_ss=r] Follow Suzanne on Social Media * Instagram @suzannemaggio_author * Facebook @ Suzanne Maggio author * Threads @suzannemaggio_author

“There’s a longing that runs through our species. People are so hungry for belonging and recognition.” Irwin Keller was in third grade when he knew he wanted to be a rabbi, but it would be many years before he would heed his calling. Along the way he became a lawyer and gay rights advocate and a marginally famous singing drag queen for 21 years with America's Favorite Dragapella Beautyshop Quartet, the Kinsey Sicks [http://www.kinseysicks.com/]. With war raging in the middle east and a fractured world around us, we talk about the desire to find connection to something greater than ourselves, a way to lean into a sense of compassion and kindness and the courage to sit with uncertainty.  Rabbi Irwin Keller is the spiritual leader of Congregation Ner Shalom [https://www.nershalom.org/] in Sonoma County, California. The author of Shechinah at the Art Institute, a collection of memoir, essay and poetry that aims to bring the reader closer to the divine. As you listen to this interview, consider: * The last ten years or so have brought some significant challenges to many of our lives. Where do you look to find peace in times of profound distress?  * Many of us have had religious experiences that have caused us deep pain and yet, we long for sense of spiritual connection, something that touches us and gives us a connection to something bigger than ourselves.  Where do you find that in your life? What, if any, role does religion or spirituality play in that? * How might we reinvent old practices, rituals, and ceremonies to allow us to find new meaning in them, changes that might create the possibility of seeing ourselves more deeply in the practice? To learn more about Rabbi Keller, visit his website [https://www.irwinkeller.com/about-2]. You can read more from Rabbi Irwin here. [http://irwinkeller.com/] You can purchase Shechinah at the Art Institute here [https://www.amazon.com/Shechinah-Art-Institute-Irwin-Keller/dp/1421835592]. To learn more about Robert Maggio, the composer of "Where Love is Love," our theme music, please check out his website [https://www.robertmaggio.com/]. To learn more about Suzanne, visit her website [https://www.suzannemaggio.com/]. To learn more about the inspiration for this podcast, please check out Suzanne's memoir, Estrellas - Moments of Illumination Along El Camino de Santiago [https://adelaidebooks.org/products/estrellas-moments-of-illumination-along-el-camino-de-santiago?_pos=1&_sid=7e72e99f5&_ss=r] Follow Suzanne on Social Media * Instagram @suzannemaggio_author * Facebook @ Suzanne Maggio author * Threads @suzannemaggio_author

It was just a ham sandwich. Karen Olson walked that route hundreds of times. Heading home after a long day of work in New York City at pharmaceutical company Warner Lambert, she noticed a woman sitting in front of Grand Central Station who appeared to be homeless. Instead of walking past as she’d done so many times before, she ran across the street and bought the woman a sandwich and a bottle of orange juice. “Thank you,” the woman said. It was the first time she had eaten since the day before.  As she sat beside her, Karen took the woman’s hand in hers. She was struck by its warmth, even in the cold of a winter’s day. “It was in that moment that the vail was lifted,” she said. “I recognized our shared humanity.”   What happened that evening changed the course of her life. A few years later Karen founded the Interfaith Hospitality Network, now renamed Family Promise, to address the devastating effects of family homelessness. Now a national movement with more than 192 affiliates across the country, Olson’s work has inspired more than 160,000 volunteers in 42 states to make a difference in the lives of families who are struggling. Karen Olson [https://karenolsonauthor.com] is President Emerita of Family Promise and the author of a new memoir, Meant for More [https://bookshop.org/p/books/meant-for-more-following-your-heart-and-finding-your-purpose-karen-olson/21705817?ean=9798990242500] in which she shares the stories of the many people she met and worked with during her uncanny journey.  As you listen to this episode, consider: * Karen’s work reminds us that small acts can have big impact. What is one small act you can take to help someone today? * The power of a single act can be multiplied when we invite others to join us. Where are the opportunities to expand your reach by inviting others to join in the work? * Karen believes we are “Meant for More?” What is the “More” that you are called towards? You can learn more about Karen Olson on her website.  [https://www.karenolsonauthor.com] Get your copy of Meant for More here [https://bookshop.org/p/books/meant-for-more-following-your-heart-and-finding-your-purpose-karen-olson/21705817?ean=9798990242500]. To learn more about Robert Maggio, the composer of "Where Love is Love," our theme music, please check out his website [https://www.robertmaggio.com/]. To learn more about Suzanne, visit her website [https://www.suzannemaggio.com/]. To learn more about the inspiration for this podcast, please check out Suzanne's memoir, Estrellas - Moments of Illumination Along El Camino de Santiago [https://adelaidebooks.org/products/estrellas-moments-of-illumination-along-el-camino-de-santiago?_pos=1&_sid=7e72e99f5&_ss=r] Follow Suzanne on Social Media * Instagram @suzannemaggio_author * Facebook @ Suzanne Maggio author * Threads @suzannemaggio_author

Traei Tsai was 6 years old when her family emigrated from Taipei, Taiwan to make a new start in Vancouver, Canada.  New to a country and community where they didn’t speak the language, Traei began school where, for the first time in her life, she began to recognize that she was different. Some othe the children teased her, and to manage the discomfort she found solace in books. She began learning English through reading, even though her grasp of the language was still tenuous. In books she found the power of sharing a story, a way to open oneself to world where a different way of being was possible. She was grateful to her teachers and recalls a time when a teacher corrected her after she’d read aloud. “She did it with such grace,” she said, not shaming her in any way.   Perhaps not surprisingly, Traei found her voice in sharing the stories of others.  On her podcast Her Stories Untold [https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/her-stories-untold-live-talks-with-traei-tsai/id1523497334], she shares stories from women from various walks of life as a way to build connection to the ordinary (and extraordinary) lives we all lead. As an actress and filmmaker she aims to open hearts and minds to the challenges that exist in the world around us.  Film has the ability to break us open, encouraging us to think about things differently, and then, perhaps, to shape our actions to make the world a better place. Traei Tsai [https://traeitsai.com/] is a Taiwanese-Canadian multi-talented artist based in Vancouver, Canada, who gained recognition for her role in the globe’s first "Corona Movie," which in addition to the subject of the film’s title, explored issues of racism and xenophobia. As the Vice-President of the BC Minorities in Film & TV Society, she champions diversity in the film industry, advocating for representation both in front of and behind the camera. Traei speaks seven languages with varying degrees of fluency, including English, Mandarin, Cantonese, Japanese, French, Taiwanese, and Russian. She is currently developing new digital art series to promote harmonious living and is in pre-development on several documentary, web series, and TV/film projects. To learn more about Robert Maggio, the composer of "Where Love is Love," our theme music, please check out his website [https://www.robertmaggio.com/]. To learn more about Suzanne, visit her website [https://www.suzannemaggio.com/]. To learn more about the inspiration for this podcast, please check out Suzanne's memoir, Estrellas - Moments of Illumination Along El Camino de Santiago [https://adelaidebooks.org/products/estrellas-moments-of-illumination-along-el-camino-de-santiago?_pos=1&_sid=7e72e99f5&_ss=r] Follow Suzanne on Social Media * Instagram @suzannemaggio_author * Facebook @ Suzanne Maggio author * Threads @suzannemaggio_author