One of the hottest and timely topics is deciding whether or not to pursue a college degree, given the current climate and rising costs of college. Growing up, Johnnie and Arlaana knew it was a given: get a college degree, get a good job and get married. Not so today. In this episode, we discuss the pros and cons of attending college and the various alternatives to developing a succcessful career path and a value-creating life.

In Part 2, entitled, Freedom from Fear, we discuss a therapeutic approach to overcoming fear and offer ways to challenge and even overcome deeply rooted anxiety. It’s time to “look fear in the face” and gain control of our fears rather than let them control us. Using many personal and not-so-personal examples, we discuss how to become the lion and our fears, the mouse, rather than the other way around. It’s all about facing "the scaries" and living our best life!

The greatest fear is the fear of death, and that leads to so many other fears: fear of "the other," anxiety, PTSD, our mortality. But fear can be transformed to inspiration, or motivation to live each moment as if its your last, fully enjoying life. And because we firmly believe that life is eternal, it is how one lives one's life that determines whether one has a peaceful death. In this episode we discuss various fears and ways to overcome them, as in the words of Pressident FDR: You have nothing to fear but fear itself and living the motto: You are the Protagonist, not the Victim of Your Destiny!

In this episode, we discuss the concept of dependent origination, or the interconnectedness of all life and share examples from science and nature how this interconnectivity reveals itself. We compare sympathy to empathy, with empathy significantly more empowering and equalizing. We also emphasize how humans all share 99.9% DNA. Enjoy!

Loneliness has become a national and global epidemic, primarily caused by technology and disproportionately impacting Gen Z and marginalized groups of individuals. Johnnie and Arlaana discuss the emotional and physical impacts of loneliness and discuss ways to get more connected, focusing on dialogue and ways our lives can interact with other lives: human, animal and nature.

In this episode, Arlaana interviews Christopher Marsala, musicologist and beloved elementary school music teacher. He attributes his love and passion for teaching and music from his experience with his own dedicated and phenomenal choir director. Christopher enthusiastically relays how he uses music as the universal language and a universal healer to thrill and excite his amazing proteges.

What is love? An age old question for sure. When we fall in love, our lives are filled with drama and excitement. However, if we get lost in love, it becomes nothing more than escapism. We discuss in this episode the different types of love and, sharing our and others' experience, how to achieve long-lasting love, citing the many different types of love, and always reminding ourselves that We are the Protagonist, not the Victim of our Destiny!

Educators Johnnie and Arlaana share personal experiences with education. Arlaana shares about getting into Columbia University when she was initially laughed at for trying, and how she and other Buddhist educators started a successful public, and later charter school, when the odds were severely stacked against them. Johnnie, who grew up on Hilton Head, the birthplace of the Port Royal experiment to educate freed slaves after the Civil War, explains how education was like breathinng or food growing up and the key to escaping generational poverty. She further relays how she successfully earned graduate degrees and raised highly educated and successful children. Both Johnnie and Arlaana are passionate about the need for a revolution in education.