This is a conversation with Drew Southwell, better known as indie singer, songwriter, producer and composer Portair. We had a free-flowing and candid conversation about music, mental health and creativity in which we touched on many topics including: Drew’s background as an artist; his drive to create and the factors that nurture his creativity; the centrality of uncertainty and the tolerance of ambiguity in the creative process how the true meaning of what one creates often emerges much later; the foundation of symbol, metaphor and analogy in the creative process; learning to productively co-exist with one’s self-doubt; the primacy of doing or ‘just starting’; the joy ands and benefits of collaboration; Drew’s own mental health experiences and how therapy very positively changed his life; the important distinction between healthy and unhealthy perfectionism; and other topics. It was a delightful and illuminating conversation for me, and I hope you experience it that way as well.

This roundtable discusses my podcast with Bill Goodwin and especially his book, Priority Living. Topics explored included Bill's definition of 'legacy' as what we leave in others; we talked about how refreshing Bill's wisdom is, born of lived experience; parenting was discussed in terms of guiding our kids via the 7 Pillars of Bill's book and innoculating them with those values; as with Bill's death and resuscitation, we also explored catalysts in our lives that wake us up from 'the big sleep' and reorient us to live more intentionally; how important actual modelling of these pillars is as parents; how not to be too perfectionistic about this as kids take a 'weighted average' of what we do, and are actually quite resilient; and finally, a discussion about the difficulty and guiltlmany people experience when trying to relax.

This podcast showcases Bill Goodwin discussing his book 'Priority Living: 7 Pillars to Make Your Life Count'. The central thesis is that to be happy and to have a life of satisfaction, one needs to base it on a clear purpose, or what Bill calls 'intentional living'. He discusses the pivotal life experience of dying and being resuscitated, and how this second chance inspired him to not waste his life or to let it drift. Bill takes us through the 7 Pillars with earthy, real-life examples laced with pithy quotes. Throughout we discuss how contemporary psychology provides empirical support and guidance for much of what Bill has discovered.