My new poetry collection Milkweed is available now. Find the digital copy here!

https://stan.store/Morintune/p/get-milkweed-now

We are surrounded by pressure. A constant pressure to post the right opinion, to protest the right issue, and to position ourselves on the right side of history. But in all that noise, are we actually helping, or just performing?

This episode poses a challenging question: What if our outrage is serving our own egos more than the people we claim to care about?

In this raw and intimate check-in, host David Morin speaks with his dear friend Sarah, who is deep into her "Year to Live" journey. Together, they explore the uncomfortable truth that our most human instincts include destruction just as much as creation. As David states, "Genocide is our birthright as much as writing a poem."

This conversation is not a call for inaction, but a radical invitation to purify the source of our engagement. To move from performative outrage to integrated compassion. It’s a look at why the most effective activism might be the quiet, internal work of healing ourselves.

Follow David on Instagram: @mor.intune

Work with David 1:1 | www.voiceguide.crd.co

Follow Sarah on Instagram: @vijisarah_learningtolovewell

Content note: This conversation contains challenging perspectives on activism, politics, and human nature. It's designed as a contemplative space for those ready to question conventional approaches to social change.

In this episode you will learn:

• Why our online outrage may be serving our egos more than the people we claim to help.
• The challenging idea that destruction is just as much a part of our humanity as creation.
• How confronting your own mortality can be the key to dissolving "us vs. them" thinking.
• The difference between performative action and the deeper work of integrated compassion.
• Why true change begins with radical self-honesty, not pointing fingers at others.
• The concept of Earth's "war consciousness" and how polarity shapes our human experience.
• Why true healing is the most potent and sustainable form of activism.
• How to find peace by learning to hold opposing truths in the same hand.

Journal Reflections From This Episode:

These aren't questions to answer quickly. They're invitations to sit with over the coming days. Take what resonates and leave what doesn't.

• What parts of yourself do you see in people you oppose politically?
• How has proximity or distance to death influenced your political engagement?
• How much of your activism do you feel is influenced by your tribe?
• Do you feel like there are more effective ways of encouraging compassion in our community, digitally or in person?

Timestamps:

00:00 Introduction: The Human Paradox
00:24 Ideologies and Entitlement
00:33 Forgiveness and Humanity
01:37 Radical Responsibility and Change
02:56 The Year to Live Journey
04:05 The Noise of Activism
05:00 A New Direction: Compassion and Humility
05:30 The Cycle of Outrage
05:52 The Power of Radical Honesty
06:23 The Conversation Begins
40:31 The Importance of Self-Healing
41:03 Embracing Uncomfortable Truths
41:19 Introducing 'Milkweed' Poetry Collection
43:03 The Cycle of Human Progress
46:53 Soul Contracts and Past Lives
56:05 The Role of Polarity in Life
01:00:42 Confronting Mortality
01:04:59 The Sacredness of Pleasure
01:12:11 Ancestral Connections and Plant Medicine
01:14:04 Final Reflections and Contemplations

This episode was originally published in a new podcast but decided to bring it back for Art 2 Heart Season 2.

What happens when the theology you were raised inside begins to soften, and the person who taught it to you is willing to soften too?

Last year, I completed what was my own "Year to Live" exercise. At the top of that commitment was my relationship with my mom. She raised me and my siblings inside the Seventh-day Adventist church. Faith shaped everything—what to eat, what to fear, what to believe, what to bury.

And yet here we are…sitting on the kitchen table, reading The Third Jesus by Deepak Chopra together. No microphones. No plan. Just two former Adventists, opening a book neither of us could've touched when I was a kid.

In This Episode:

• The revelation: "I thought it was heartbreak... it was all the grief" - unpacking depression after Peace Corps service
• Why we sometimes prefer heartbreak to grief - the devil we know versus the one we don't
• Understanding emotions as "disguises" and what lies behind evil
• Finding profound love and Christ consciousness through prison work
• The vital practice of learning to "Protect Your Peace"
• Healing divides through nourishment - a mother's realization about seeing unmet needs
• Seeing the "God" or innocence beneath everyone's surface
• How focusing on the afterlife can rob us of the present moment
• Moving beyond duality - challenging "good vs. evil" thinking

Key Insights:

• Grief wears disguises - sometimes as heartbreak, anger, or busyness
• Christ consciousness is about seeing the divine in everyone, especially those society has rejected
• Moments of peace must be protected - a spiritual practice of creating boundaries
• The transition from religious dogma to spiritual understanding creates space for deeper connections
• Finding divinity not as something external, but as the essence within each person

This isn't a polished podcast. It's a prayer you overheard - a raw conversation about what opens between a mother and son when grief softens, and religion lets go.

Watch on YouTube

Connect with David:

• Newsletter: Passages and Perspectives
• Instagram: @mor.intune

What We Fear More Than Death

This podcast was originally uploaded under a new podcast, but I ultimately decided to bring it back for Art 2 Heart Season 2.

Most of us aren’t afraid of dying. We’re afraid of what death reflects back at us. Our regrets, our tenderness, our joy, and everything we’ve been avoiding.

In this episode, I share my story and the vision for this podcast. I talk about what it means to live with one year left, and how that question has shaped the way I show up now—as a poet, death doula, and someone who helps others reunite with their humanity.

What to expect in this episode:

• The origin story behind A Year to Live
• What this podcast will explore
• How my own year to live changed my life
• A reframing of what we’re actually afraid of
• An open invitation to begin your own journey

This podcast is here to help you return to what matters most.

—

Hosted by David Morin
Poet | Death Doula | Prison Facilitator
@mor.intune