Causes That Have My Heart - A Podcast

Usually I can keep it under wraps that I’m a complete nerd. I’m pretty good at chatting lightly about current events or daily life. But then I get asked a question that lands at the heart of a topic I dearly love, and the filter just comes off.

Forewarned is forearmed if you’re going to listen to this podcast I did with Colette Darville of “Yin Yoga Lifestyle.” Usually in interviews I chat about diluting soap and cleaning bathroom s, worthwhile subjects upon which I will easily give concise answers.

But Colette asked me about Regenerative Organic Agriculture. And then she asked me about Relief Pad, an organization that provides menstrual supplies and education to girls and women in rural India. I couldn’t help myself.

Find the podcast on Colette’s Yin Yoga Lifestyle website (March 7, 2021), or wherever you find your favorite podcasts.

See, these two projects are transforming lives. Really transforming lives.

You hear so much lamentation over world problems but not enough action. There are sighs about climate change and the bleak prospects of small-scale farmers and the struggles of women with fewer opportunities. These are truly troubling issues, but all too often sighs are all they get from us.

It’s completely different to see concrete, doable actions that make real differences. Farmers whose families are emerging from subsistence living and whose fields are flourishing with abundant life. Who have control over their finances and whose very air is becoming more clear. Who have a say in community decisions and who are no longer at the mercy of a soulless and impenetrable bureaucracy. Women who have previously closed doors opened to them and can walk in confidence. Who have solutions that work and don’t cause other problems, who are learning that the way things have been are not the way they have to be. Who can go to school and learn and work and pursue dreams just like the boys and men they live beside.

See there I go again.

Colette and I also chatted about what it was like to have the principles of Dr. Bronner’s, the company, lived out in my house growing up. On that topic, I’ll say this – a lot of attention gets paid to my grandfather Dr. Bronner – after all, he started the company – but it was my parents Jim and Trudy Bronner whose principles of kindness and hard work defined the experience of my childhood. A lot of what you see in Dr. Bronner’s today – the hospitality that welcomes all, the holistic care for employees, the attention paid to whole supply chains from farmer to retailer, the profuse activism and support for myriad under-voiced causes – are fundamentals I grew up with expanded to a larger, company-wide scale.

I felt right at home with Colette, which is probably why I launched so deep into these topics. Not only is she a long-time Dr. Bronner’s user, which earned her a special place in my heart, but I so enjoyed her gentle and astute curiosity. Her podcast addresses whole life issues, from health and fitness to emotions and interactions with people and planet.

Give this podcast a listen on your next walk or commute, or if you’re like me, while you’re cooking or doing chores. It’s 30 minutes. And as you’ll hear, my core work is chatting with readers, so please leave me a note or question!