Donald Chang is an actor, an improvisor, and a voice-over actor based in New York City.

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(00:00) Born in Queens, Raised Across the East Coast

(01:55) Drawn Back to New York’s Energy

(04:50) Why New York Beats Los Angeles

(07:40) Calvin and Hobbes Sparks a Comedy Path

(11:42) The Gifted Program Improv Class

(14:35) Childhood Attention and Love of Performing

(18:04) From Business and Psychology to Acting Dreams

(22:46) Supportive Parents and Serious Training

(27:12) Balancing Improv and Theater Discipline

(32:58) Choosing Creative Lanes and Avoiding Burnout

(36:15) Finding a Manager and Representation

(40:06) College Stand-Up and the Loneliness Factor

(43:40) The Power of Comedic Collaboration at UCB

(47:32) Unique Superpowers in a Comedy Ensemble

(51:03) Creativity, Suppression, and the Shadow

(54:25) Why Everyone Has the Urge to Create

(56:47) Cultural Pressures and Latent Artistic Talent

(58:12) Defining Success on Intrinsic Terms

Shaina Garfield is a death doula, grief guide, ceremonialist, and the founder of Leaves With You. With her devotion to the sacred continuum of life and death, she extends compassionate support to all beings navigating the dying and grieving processes. Her mission is to cultivate a profound connection with the Earth and the Divine, fostering harmony within the web of life.

Shaina’s approach is deeply rooted in ritual, which she believes is essential for transforming grief, reclaiming spirit, and honoring the profound mystery of death. She offers group and individual grief sessions, hand crafts natural macrame coffins, plans and facilitates pre and post death funerary rituals, and more. Her services are not only for the dying but also for those who experience losses of all kinds throughout life.

Beyond these services, Shaina provides an array of nurturing offerings including Blue Lotus Ceremonies, Rose Healings, and Sound Healing. Through her heartfelt work, Shaina Garfield is reshaping the way we honor and embrace the cycles of life and death.

Shaina is facilitating a grief retreat in Woodstock, NY at the end of September. If you resonate with her words in this podcast and feel the call to honor and release your grief, check out the retreat here.

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(00:00) Arriving in NYC for Art School

(02:45) Moving from City to Forest and Back

(04:10) Choosing Design to Reconnect with Nature

(06:12) Creating the Biodegradable Coffin

(08:26) Chronic Lyme Disease Diagnosis

(11:20) Physical Symptoms and Walking with a Cane

(14:03) Navigating the Diagnosis Process

(15:52) Holistic and Indigenous Healing Approaches

(19:18) Vision Quest: A Four-Year Ceremony

(22:40) Surrender and Healing Through Acceptance

(26:35) Living with Pain, Living with Joy

(29:40) Advice for Others on Healing Paths

(32:50) The Coffin That Traveled the World

(36:28) Death Practices Across Cultures

(39:55) What a Death Doula Does

(43:16) Collaborative Coffin-Making with Families

(47:20) The Baby’s Death and Forest Burial

(51:04) Offering the Body Back to the Earth

(55:32) Letting Death Deepen the Love of Life

(61:07) Relationships Over Productivity

(65:28) What Comes After Death

(69:50) Knowing You’ve Found Your Soul’s Purpose

Rosalie Smith is a found objects artist based in New York City.

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(00:00) Moving to New York for an MFA at Hunter

(01:30) Choosing New Orleans over New York after college

(04:10) The turning point: leaving an office job after a cancer diagnosis in the family

(06:30) Building a career in New Orleans and hitting a ceiling

(08:10) Why New York offers the challenge and energy she craves

(10:20) A family history steeped in art and performance

(13:00) Creating DIY art spaces in New Orleans, including Lucky Art Fair

(16:00) The contrast between New Orleans’ DIY art scene and New York

(17:50) Deciding on a lifelong path as an artist

(20:10) Found object sculpture: origins and inspirations

(23:20) Influence of grief and preservation on her early sculptures

(26:40) How collecting objects changed how she sees the city

(30:10) Why found objects and the act of looking keeps her present

(32:50) How this niche form of art became her calling

(36:00) Strategies for surviving as an artist in New York City

(40:20) The importance of networks, DIY projects, and saying yes

(43:10) Is the struggle worth it? Reflections on fulfillment vs. hardship

(45:10) Numbing yourself to rejection and the freedom it brings