Braving the waves Podcast

Welcome to an intentional, slow, and thoughtful approach to the intersection of poetry as storytelling & mental health.

Poetry, since its earliest form, has carried stories, memories, and teachings—including the exchanges and absorptions of them—across generations. Continuing to reclaim and return to this practice is mental and spiritual health care.

Braiding together Narrative 4’s story exchange methodology, Unsinkable’s storytelling framework, and Resolvve’s 1:1 peer support, Braving the Waves invited poets ~18-30 from across the globe to participate in a personalized, multi-week writing/storytelling experience unlike any other…

I met with each poet over video call to exchange stories, and for a few weeks after, we allowed our exchange to inspire a first-person poem for one another. On recording day, we read them aloud for the first time. You might say that our poems became vessels to hold each other’s stories across four weeks at sea—and beyond.

Imagine each page is the room of a ship, where you’ll find a poet, poems, and conversation:

With Cal O’Reilly, you’ll find reflections on the body, horses, trans friendships, grief, and feeling seen.

With Anagha Smrithi, you’ll find a brave letting go of expectations, the difference between grief & hopelessness, porousness, and freedom.

With Erika Flores, you’ll find profound trust, shifting relationships, and a wellspring of family love.

With Hanna Grover, you’ll find relationships with the self—and its impact across continents, transitions, and generations.

With Mariana Merino, you’ll find changing cycles > repetitive loops, rebirth, inexplicability, and how death heals.

In these rooms, we invite you to swim with our stories, the poems we wrote for one another, and the conversations that occurred in the wake. This was one of the most profound experiences of my writing life—I hope you enjoy spending time with everyone as much as I did. Welcome aboard.