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    David Whyte, Poet — Spacious Ease, Irish Koans, Writing in Delirium, and Revelations from a Yak Manger (#781)

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    David Whyte (davidwhyte.com) is the author of twelve books of poetry and five books of prose, including his latest, Consolations II, which further explores what David calls “the conversational nature of reality.”

    David holds a degree in marine zoology and has traveled extensively, including living and working as a naturalist guide in the Galapagos Islands and leading anthropological and natural-history expeditions in the Andes, Amazon, and Himalayas. He is the recipient of two honorary degrees: from Neumann University in Pennsylvania and Royal Roads University in Victoria, British Columbia.

    David grew up with a strong, imaginative influence from his Irish mother among the hills and valleys of his father’s Yorkshire and now makes his home in the Pacific Northwest of the United States. 
    He has also hosted a live online series, Three Sundays, every other month since 2020.

    Please enjoy!

    This episode is brought to you by GiveWell.org charity research and effective giving, Eight Sleep’s Pod 4 Ultra sleeping solution for dynamic cooling and heating, and AG1 all-in-one nutritional supplement.

    Listen to the episode on Apple Podcasts, Spotify, Overcast, Podcast Addict, Pocket Casts, Castbox, YouTube Music, Amazon Music, Audible, or on your favorite podcast platform. Watch the interview on YouTube.

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    #781: David Whyte, Poet — Spacious Ease, Irish Koans, Writing in Delirium, and Revelations from a Yak Manger

    This episode is brought to you by Eight Sleep. Temperature is one of the main causes of poor sleep, and heat is my personal nemesis. I’ve suffered for decades, tossing and turning, throwing blankets off, pulling them back on, and repeating ad nauseam. But a few years ago, I started using the Pod Cover, and it has transformed my sleep. Eight Sleep has launched their newest generation of the Pod: Pod 4 Ultra. It cools, it heats, and now it elevates, automatically. With the best temperature performance to date, Pod 4 Ultra ensures you and your partner stay cool in the heat and cozy warm in the cold. Plus, it automatically tracks your sleep time, snoring, sleep stages, and HRV, all with high precision. For example, their heart rate tracking is at an incredible 99% accuracy.

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    This episode is brought to you by GiveWell.org! For over ten years, GiveWell.org  has helped donors find the charities and projects that save and improve lives most per dollar. GiveWell spends over 30,000 hours each year researching charitable organizations and only recommends a few of the highest-impact, evidence-backed charities they’ve found. In total, more than 100,000 people have used GiveWell to donate as effectively as possible.

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    Want to hear another episode with a poet? Listen to my conversation with award-winning writer Mary Karr, in which we discuss curiosity and presence as a solution to fear, the role spirituality plays in maintaining her sobriety as a former atheist, coping with and expressing the aftermath of trauma, what she wished she’d known about therapy when she was younger, and much more.

    What was your favorite quote or lesson from this episode? Please let me know in the comments.

    SELECTED LINKS FROM THE EPISODE

    • Connect with David Whyte:

    Website | Substack | Facebook | Instagram | Threads | TikTok | YouTube

    SHOW NOTES

    • [00:06:25] Connecting with Henry Shukman.
    • [00:10:32] Low times in the High Himalayas and a yak manger awakening.
    • [00:15:17] The place from where David writes good poetry.
    • [00:17:22] Invitational speech.
    • [00:21:55] Catching up with the curve of one’s transformation.
    • [00:27:58] A revolutionary moment reflecting on parameters and regret.
    • [00:37:41] “Everything Is Waiting for You.”
    • [00:40:54] The secret code to life and the agreed insanity of so-called adults.
    • [00:46:47] Being found by the world in greater and greater ways.
    • [00:48:52] Asking beautiful questions.
    • [00:58:13] “Tan-y-Garth.”
    • [01:02:09] Memorizing poetry.
    • [01:08:28] “Zen.”
    • [01:22:55] Courage.
    • [01:24:15] How living in a trailer on the side of a Welsh mountain helped David develop as a writer.
    • [01:31:14] Irish koans, French doors, and Tibetan bells.
    • [01:38:30] Poetry as consolation.
    • [01:42:03] The best place to hold a poem.
    • [01:43:07] “Time.”
    • [02:00:01] Writing and reading good poetry.
    • [02:04:52] Parting thoughts.

    MORE DAVID WHYTE QUOTES FROM THE INTERVIEW

    “Poetry is not some abstracted art. It’s how human beings speak when they’re trying to create language against which there are no defenses. This has to be heard and it has to be heard in the spirit in which it is being conveyed, and the language has to be invitational to that particular person.”
    — David Whyte

    “Poetry is the secret code to staying alive, to staying present, to staying visionary.”
    — David Whyte

    “All of us spend so much time trying to find a path where we won’t have our heart broken. And really, the only way you can find a path where your heart won’t break is by not caring.”
    — David Whyte

    “You are really only courageous about what you’re heartfelt about.”
    — David Whyte

    “Time is not slipping through our fingers. It is we who are slipping through the fingers of time.”
    — David Whyte

    “Every conversation, as its foundation, has an invitation in it. When the invitation stops, the conversation really stops.”
    — David Whyte

    “Poetry’s been such a good friend to me. I’ve gone through seven years of grieving in seven months because poetry has allowed me to take each step along the way, in such a powerful, invitational way.”
    — David Whyte

    “The beautiful thing about a horizon is that it’s got something over it, that’s the definition, and that what’s over it is the unknown that’s inviting you. “
    — David Whyte

    “Sometimes your life breaks down and you hit present reality with such velocity that you break apart on impact. And this is a time honored way of transformation, but it’s very hard on us to go through it that way. There’s another way of doing it, which is to stay up with the edge of your own seasonal maturation, and that occurs below this invisible line inside you.”
    — David Whyte

    PEOPLE MENTIONED

    The Tim Ferriss Show is one of the most popular podcasts in the world with more than one billion downloads. It has been selected for “Best of Apple Podcasts” three times, it is often the #1 interview podcast across all of Apple Podcasts, and it’s been ranked #1 out of 400,000+ podcasts on many occasions. To listen to any of the past episodes for free, check out this page.





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