Sharing this episode a little late, but here’s episode #25 from yesterday…

🎙️ #25: Biblical narratives & US Culture

Barely a couple of hours after recording this episode, my parents surprised me in the very same parking lot that features in the thumbnail of this podcast.

Call it poetry, a story I could never have dreamt up, a miracle… seriously, I am struggling to find the words.

I have been through so much these last 5 months, and they have too. I have put myself ~ and put them ~ through the mill.

I have been baptised and then, just a couple of weeks later, had the opportunity to embrace them both and feel accepted for this new journey I am on, this re-birth I am experiencing.

I love this country ~ and I love my parents. To be able to spend time in this country with them is a gift I wasn’t sure I would ever experience again. I am going to treasure these next few days for all that they are. A precious gift.

Thank you, God.

I am extremely passionate about my Sikh-Punjabi roots, and I am extremely passionate about my Christian faith.

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📸: A shot from what I’m calling the ‘Down to the River to Pray’ scene from O Brother Where Art Thou. The song in the scene is this one, and the movie is by the legendary Coen Brothers ~ and happens to be one of my favorites of theirs.

I open today’s recording with the lyrics of Oliver Anthony’s viral hit, “Rich Men North of Richmond”, and go on to share why I love country music and what I appreciate about country folks. 

I was also fortunate to attend the John Wayne Museum on Memorial Day, to celebrate the anniversary of his birthday. I got to soak in the life and works of this American national hero and the values he embodied ~ ones I believe have gone missing from American society in recent years.

🎙️ #24: Country music & John Wayne

by, Jazz

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📷: enjoying some country music & dancing @ Hip Pocket outdoor theater before a performance of ‘The Mad Dog Blues’

Let us not today, nor on any day, forget our veteran men, our veteran women, and their stories 🙏🇺🇸

#23: Honoring the fallen heroes on Memorial Day 🎙️

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Why i have been writing and podcasting for several years and why i’m now going to be embracing video, too

This is my very first solo video podcast ~ thank you for watching and supporting it:

🎙️ Why I podcast - video

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I’ve spent time today in the ‘Near Southside Cultural District’, a revitalised community in Fort Worth and an example of an upstart that has been injected with funding that has allowed local arts venues and businesses to pop up and bring life back to a once-derelict area.

These communal spaces are the lifeblood of any downtown area, and we can truly use our dollars to “vote” to support them — and not just the online businesses and platforms we have come to rely on and whose interests are not at the local level.

It is up to US to support our local spaces and enable them to bloom — in-person gatherings, where in arts, hospitality or commerce, are the lifeblood of our communities. By investing in these local businesses, we are investing in the health of our neighbourhoods.

🎙️ #18: A revitalised neighbourhood in downtown Fort Worth

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In this episode I open up on why I became a Christian, specifically in the context of family values and healing from a lust and pornography addiction which took hold whilst I was in my teens.

Having searched far and wide for answers to help me better understand and move through this addiction, I came across Christian couples on YouTube talking about this topic and the rest, as they say, is history.

🎙️#17: Family, lust & why I became a Christian

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(please note: this narration makes various ‘end of life’ references. listener discretion is advised)

Yesterday, the dog who was the reason I arrived in Texas passed away.

I’ve only known Tibby a few weeks, but is the first creature I have changed diapers for, both young and old in his nature, and he has certainly helped teach me about how precious life is.

Whether it was our little walks around the block, sitting together on the sofa in the evening, or him just toddling around me nearby with his little bell… Tibby, you were loved and you will be remembered.

Thank you for bringing me to Texas, Tibby.

Rest well, little buddy. 🕊️

🎙️ #16: An ode to a dog

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Since arriving in Fort Worth, Texas a few weeks ago, I’ve had the opportunity to immerse myself in the local theatre scene here.

In this episode I reflect on the what I’ve been getting from the performing arts, including a performance of The Curious Incident of the Dog in the Nighttime at the Theater Arlington — first released as a 2003 a book I read as a teenager and whose story I found it interesting to experience through this stage adaptation, particularly given the nature of the lead character and my own neurodivergent assessment just over a year ago.

I also mention my having been a “creator” for the last 10 years… I believe every artist, whether a writer or a musician or a dancer or an actress, needs to think of themselves as a CREATOR in today’s world. I’ll be expanding more on that in a future blog post. You can check out my new site and subscribe to receive my latest blog content @ www.jasraj.co

🎙️ #15: My ongoing immersion in the performing arts

ps. I recorded this indoors on the Voice Memos app on iPhone ~ I apologise for the ‘tinny’ audio

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With funding for the creative industries being an ongoing struggle, and the performing arts long being under-appreciated and not recognised for the immense value they bring to the health and the income of local communities… in this episode I reflect on how we can transform our local arts centers.

As a member of one local theater in Dallas-Fort Worth, attending the KD Conservatory College of Film & Dramatic Arts last night, and off to watch another show this evening, I am experiencing the vibrancy of the local arts scene.

With the artistic hunger, the people, and the technology at our disposal, there must be a way to better fund our arts programmes, our artists and our arts spaces… for the betterment of all.

Our communities deserve thriving arts spaces, and I believe the answer to is to start with tiered, crowd-funded campaigns to fund local arts.

This is something that Amphibian Stage is doing and ~ if enough of us vote with our dollars and put our money into these spaces ~ the impact and the income that can be generated is significant!

🎙️ #14: Funding our performing arts centers

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As a recently baptised Christian, I share something I like about Jeff Bezos, ex-hedge fund manager turned billionaire founder of Amazon. Each day brings new opportunity.

🎙️ #13: What I like about Jeff Bezos

The journey of mental health and trauma recovery is a delicate one, and I am being reminded that I need to be just as KIND to myself, as I am towards others.

As I build a business that supports mental healthcare specialists, the need for rest is one that I need to be very aware of. The healthy personal habits I build for myself will impact the clients I serve, the partnerships I build, and the people I lead.

In today’s recording I share my thoughts on traditional healthcare and imagine what a new way of doing things might look like. I also introduce a digital summit that I’m putting together this Summer.

🎙️ #12: Traditional healthcare & how it could be improved

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Promotional poster for 🎬 I Care A Lot (2020)

I am currently reading a book called Dead Eye Trilogy, by Cmdr. Burt Avedon.

Like so many men and women, Burt had an illustrious career of military service ~ our veterans proudly put themselves in the line of fire, so we can experience the freedoms we

Like many service-people, however, Burt recounts in his book a particular experience which no man or woman should ever have to endure.

There are so many of these hidden stories of abuse amongst our veterans. Many of them having to compartmentalise and survive with their conditions, untreated. They deserve our utmost respect and we ought to do everything we can for them, for what they have given of themselves ~ physically and psychologically.

God bless our veterans and the many 🎙️untold stories they are carrying with them.

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newsletter: https://jasraj.kit.com/41a0d4234e

As I dip my toe back into the world of personal branding as an adult, in this episode I talk about snapchat — used by hundreds of millions of adults and teens around the world.

The platform is especially problematic when it comes to the sending of explicit and unsolicited pictures. I share some of my own experiences on there as a teenager, why I believe sending these sorts of pictures isn’t a good idea for ourselves OR other people. Given my own struggles around lust and pornography, I also share what I’m reading today that is helping me to exist on the platform in a healthy manner — namely, the Book of Proverbs.

🎙️ #10: Unsolicited pics on snapchat

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Sharing my therapeutic journey ~ and a musical invitation for you this Sunday.

🎙️ just like a prayer

As reports emerge Pakistan and India have agreed to put down their weapons and stop the fighting… let us hope that this lasts and that peace breaks out in Israel, Palestine, Russia, Ukraine and everywhere in the world experiencing daily gunfire. There are no winners in war.

The title of this episode comes from the words spoken by Prime Minister Neville Chamberlain on his return to Britain after signing the Munich Agreement and declaring “peace in our time”. Sadly, German tanks rolled into Austria just a year later, marking the start of the Second World War.

🎙️ #8: Peace for our time?

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With Mother’s Day coming up on Sunday, today’s recording is to honour and recognise every mother for all that they do.

🎙️ #7: honoring our mothers for everything they do

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Artwork by KittenGothz, via Snapchat

Waking up to the news that Microsoft founder Bill Gates has committed to donating $200 billion of his wealth, this episode shares why I believe firmly in the potential of for-profit tech businesses, and specifically COMMUNITY-ORIENTED TECH BUSINESSES (what I’m calling “community-tech”) — and the family friend, ‘Uncle Nilesh’, who has helped plant this idea.

I also share where in the US I’m headed next (clue: I’m heading east…), and the platform that has allowed me to travel and enjoy new places on a budget, called TrustedHousesitters.

Listen via the link below:

🎙️ #6: The potential in for-profit “community-tech” businesses

PS. White smoke has billowed from the Vatican as I prepare to upload this recording. I pray for the next leader of the world’s 1 -billion-plus Catholic community.

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Today’s episode sees me continuing to open up on things that have been left unspoken for several years.

When I was a child and would look at maps of the world, I was fascinated by the different countries and the different cultures and peoples of different backgrounds.

We are different people no matter where we are from, no better and no less, but different. Different, but equal.

I was born and raised in England, but my ancestors arrived here from Panjab, northern India. I was born into a beautiful faith called Sikhism. It was started at a time of great inequality in India, with oppressive and long-standing gender and caste systems at play.

Yet I grew up in an environment where, despite elders going to the Holy temple, and doing their daily Sikh prayers (which are beautiful, by the way), ~ and even housing the Holy Book, the Guru Grant Sahib Ji, in their homes ~ there was both explicit and implied sexism and racism I was exposed to through my childhood and into adulthood ~ as well as clear differences between how men and women, and boys and girls, were treated.

I could probably write a book on this, even a series of books, on what I witnessed and experienced. There were many moments where I had to bite my tongue and, over time, I became increasingly disillusioned with the disparity between the beautiful teachings from the Holy Book, teaching about Oneness and wholeness and humanity, and the lives these older stewards of the family were living out through their actions.

There was inter-family competition to a degree that wasn’t healthy. Coming from a place of compassion, this was a case of broken people (the elders) leading their families the best they could.

Switching to a more hopeful perspective…

Rapper Akala has helped me understand why these deep-seated beliefs have taken hold, and begin to make sense of why there are such shocking differences between how men and men are treated to this day ~ and why family members I was told to respect and trust are so shockingly racist with the views they held.

His book is called Natives, and I would highly recommend it as reading material for anyone who would like to understand where racism and classism comes from, and how we can undo some of the conditioning that’s taken hold to heal ourselves ~ and connect better with others from all walks of life, just as God intended.

I believe there is much beauty to be found I every religion and philosophy that there is… where we fall down is the application of these “rules”. I say this as a man myself… men have a lot to answer for!

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In episode #4 I talk about the personal significance of the number four, and introduce two dear friends of mine whom I’ve gotten to know in recent weeks.

In reflecting on these friendships, and drawing upon comparisons with the founder of Walmart and his famed deathbed words,

‘‘I blew it” — the conclusion I have come to that technology is the enabler for humanity, rather than the source.

Thank you, Eric and Tamara.

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‘Learned helplessness’ is a psychological state where an individual believes they have no control over a situation, even when opportunities for change are available.

Today’s episode shares why this principle is ever relevant in today’s tech-infused world, and draws comparisons between ‘traditional psychology’ and ‘positive psychology’.

I also mention VE Day (also known as Victory in Europe Day) and reflect on my previous years of working in “the city”, with a throwback to the newspapers I would read on the daily commute,

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This second episode was recorded on some rough and rugged land in West Texas ~ there are lessons we can learn from the Land, if only we’ll listen to them.

A Sleeping Panther appears in today’s recording ~ ep. #1 of a new pod I’m calling Making America safe again, in which I open up on my journey with Post-traumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD), as well as how the biblical narrative has helped in my healing, and the importance of letting ourselves cry.