Eric Maisel is a retired, licensed psychotherapist and an internationally respected coach specializing in creativity, existential wellness, and relationship coaching. He trains coaches and offers workshops and webinars nationally and internationally. The author of more than fifty books, he also writes the long-running “Rethinking Mental Health” blog for Psychology Today and contributes to outlets such as The Good Men Project and Fine Art America. His books include:

• Night Brilliance: The Sleep Thinker's Guide to Powerful Problem-Solving (BTSL – Jim Dandy Publishing 2026)

• Brave New Mind: The Art of Serene Readiness (BTSL- Jim Dandy Publishing 2025)

• Choose Your Life Purposes: A Step-by-Step Guide to Self Awareness, Empowerment, and Success (TMA Press 2024)

• The Coach's Guide to Completing Creative Work: Top Tips for Working with Procrastination, Perfectionism and More (Lynda Monk) (Routledge 2023)

• The Coach’s Way: The Art and Practice of Powerful Coaching in Any Field (New World Library 2023)

• Why Smart, Creative and Highly Sensitive People Hurt: A Toolkit for Thriving in a Chaotic World (TMA 2023)

• The Great Book of Journaling: How Journal Writing Can Support a Life of Wellness, Creativity, Meaning and Purpose (Conari Press 2022

• The Power of Daily Practice: How Creative and Performing Artists (and Everyone Else) Can Finally Meet Their Goals (New World Library 2020)

Interview Date: 1/30/2026 Tags: Eric Maisel, serene readiness, anxiety, emotional balance, self-awareness, imagination, personal responsibility, life purposes, breath exercises, cognitive exercises, emotional balance, habits of thinking, serenity, mindfulness practices, somatic practices, busyness, distractions, cognitive mind, heart mind, persistence, Personal Transformation

Angela Manno is an award-winning visual artist based in New York City whose work weaves together spirituality, ecology, and contemporary iconography. A Bard College graduate, she also studied at the San Francisco Art Institute and Parsons School of Design. She has also trained in Byzantine-Russian iconography with master Vladislav Andrejev. Her work has been exhibited at major institutions, including the Smithsonian, the National Museum of Women in the Arts, and NASA’s collections. She is especially known for her series “Contemporary Icons of Threatened and Endangered Species.” She is the creator of The Sacred Biodiversity Oracle (Bear & Company 2026)

Interview Date: 1/9/2026 Tags: Angela Manno, automorphism, biocentrism, Carl Safina, Laudato Se, empathy, Thomas Berry, orangutan, animal sentience, Council of All Beings, Art & Creativity, Personal Transformation, Spirituality

Jane Hirshfield is the author of nine books of poetry and two collections of essays, and has edited and co-translated four books presenting the work of world poets from the past. Her books have received the Poetry Center Book Award, the California Book Award, and the Donald Hal-Jane Kenyon Prize in American Poetry. Her poems appear in a wide range of prestigious outlets. A resident of Northern California, she is a chancellor emerita of the Academy of American Poets. She presents her work at literary and interdisciplinary events worldwide. She has authored many books including The October Palace (HarperCollins 1994), Lives of the Heart (Harper Collins 1997), Women in Praise of the Sacred (HarperCollins 1994), Nine Gates: Entering the Mind of Poetry (Perennial 1998), After (Harper Collins 2006), Given Sugar, Given Salt (Harper Collins 2001), Come, Thief (Knopf 2011), Ten Windows: How Great Poems Transform the World (Alfred A. Knopf 2015), The Beauty: Poems (Alfred A. Knopf 2015), Ledger (Alfred A. Knopf 2020)

Interview Date: 4/16/2020 Tags: Jane Hirshfield, poetry, pandemic, sheltering in place, illusion of normality, muse, uncertain times, isolation, beauty, suffering, space station, Robert Rauschenberg, refugee crisis, Art & Creativity, Social Change/politics