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What helps us keep caring when it’s easier to withdraw?

Christopher Johnson pairs Ntozake Shange’s words about art as a healing force with Maggie Smith’s poem “Good Bones.” Together, they invite a reflection on how poetry, music, and stories can sustain us while we acknowledge the world’s difficulties.

Christopher considers the comfort of feeling understood, the tension between protecting others and preparing them for life, and the possibility of caring for the places where we have some influence. He also explores how small choices in a gathering can help people feel welcome and heard.

This episode closes with an invitation: return to a work of art that has stayed with you. Give it your attention, and notice what it offers you now.

In this episode:

• Ntozake Shange on art, joy, and sustaining ourselves.
• The uneasy hope in Maggie Smith’s “Good Bones.”
• How art can give form to feelings we struggle to express.
• Making room for experiences that help us continue.
• Finding opportunities for care in everyday life.

Reflection question: What poem, song, or story has helped sustain you through a difficult time?

Connect with Christopher Johnson on LinkedIn, and subscribe to the newsletter for more reflections and recommendations from Calm Clear Curiosity.

Resources:

• Read “Good Bones” by Maggie Smith
• Learn about Ntozake Shange

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About Calm, Clear Curiosity

Calm, Clear Curiosity is a weekly exploration of ideas worth thinking about. Each episode begins with a quote and follows the questions it raises through books, podcasts, journalism, conversations, and other discoveries.

Hosted and produced by Christopher G. Johnson of Calm Clear Media.

Music by Jerome Gray of Cleveland Heads.

Connect & Keep Exploring

Connect with me on LinkedIn for more ideas about curiosity, communication, media, and the ways we connect with one another.

Subscribe to my newsletter for reflections, resources, recommendations, and ideas that carry on the conversation beyond the podcast.

If this episode introduced you to a new idea, raised a question, or encouraged you to see something differently, follow Calm, Clear Curiosity wherever you listen to podcasts and share the episode with someone who might enjoy it.

Keep curious.

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What Has the Journey Already Given You?

What are you gaining while you work toward a goal?

In this episode of Calm Clear Curiosity, Christopher Johnson reflects on Ursula K. Le Guin’s observation: “It is good to have an end to journey towards; but it is the journey that matters, in the end.”

Paired with Dolly Parton’s America, the podcast series from Jad Abumrad and Shima Oliaee explores how our experiences shape us before we reach a destination. The series’ questions about music, identity, home, and belonging offer a starting point for considering what we carry with us as our lives change.

Drawing on connections across his career and his experience learning to swim as an adult, Christopher considers the value we can overlook when completion becomes our only measure of progress. Along the way, we develop skills, build relationships, and sometimes discover that our goals have changed.

A question to carry with you: If you haven’t reached your destination yet, what has the journey already given you?

In this episode

00:00 Ursula K. Le Guin’s quote
00:59 How goals guide us
02:22 Introducing Dolly Parton’s America
03:46 Home, identity, and belonging
04:52 Connections across a varied career
06:05 Life during the preparation
07:11 Valuing progress when the outcome is uncertain
08:18 How curiosity can change our direction
09:15 Listening recommendation and reflection
10:26 Closing and credits

Listen and connect

Dolly Parton’s America

Connect with Christopher Johnson on LinkedIn and subscribe to his newsletter for more reflections and recommendations.

Music by Jerome Gray of Cleveland Heads.

Support the show

About Calm, Clear Curiosity

Calm, Clear Curiosity is a weekly exploration of ideas worth thinking about. Each episode begins with a quote and follows the questions it raises through books, podcasts, journalism, conversations, and other discoveries.

Hosted and produced by Christopher G. Johnson of Calm Clear Media.

Music by Jerome Gray of Cleveland Heads.

Connect & Keep Exploring

Connect with me on LinkedIn for more ideas about curiosity, communication, media, and the ways we connect with one another.

Subscribe to my newsletter for reflections, resources, recommendations, and ideas that carry on the conversation beyond the podcast.

If this episode introduced you to a new idea, raised a question, or encouraged you to see something differently, follow Calm, Clear Curiosity wherever you listen to podcasts and share the episode with someone who might enjoy it.

Keep curious.

Send us Fan Mail

What do you do after making a mistake? Do you correct it and keep going, or does it become a reason to stop trying?

In Episode 12 of Calm Clear Curiosity, Christopher Johnson reflects on John Wooden’s observation that people who take action inevitably make mistakes. Drawing on learning to swim as an adult and working in live broadcasting and events, he explores how we respond when an attempt falls short, why being experienced doesn’t exempt us from being beginners, and how thoughtful correction helps us improve.

The book pairing is Coach Wooden and Me: Our 50-Year Friendship On and Off the Court by Kareem Abdul-Jabbar. The relationship between player and coach invites a question about mentorship: Who helps us keep learning when we get something wrong?

In this episode:

• Moving from embarrassment to useful reflection.
• Making room to be a beginner.
• Correcting a mistake and returning your attention to the present.
• Helping others improve through respectful feedback.
• Recognizing the attempts we avoid because we fear getting them wrong.

A question to carry with you: What have you been postponing because you might get it wrong, and what would a manageable first attempt look like?

Book

• Coach Wooden and Me by Kareem Abdul-Jabbar

Connect with Christopher Johnson on LinkedIn and subscribe to his newsletter for more reflections from Calm Clear Curiosity.

Support the show

About Calm, Clear Curiosity

Calm, Clear Curiosity is a weekly exploration of ideas worth thinking about. Each episode begins with a quote and follows the questions it raises through books, podcasts, journalism, conversations, and other discoveries.

Hosted and produced by Christopher G. Johnson of Calm Clear Media.

Music by Jerome Gray of Cleveland Heads.

Connect & Keep Exploring

Connect with me on LinkedIn for more ideas about curiosity, communication, media, and the ways we connect with one another.

Subscribe to my newsletter for reflections, resources, recommendations, and ideas that carry on the conversation beyond the podcast.

If this episode introduced you to a new idea, raised a question, or encouraged you to see something differently, follow Calm, Clear Curiosity wherever you listen to podcasts and share the episode with someone who might enjoy it.

Keep curious.