Hey Julie, is there something you wanted to do as a kid, that you haven’t done and still want to do?

Hi Pete the Poet. I feel like I’m living my best life right now, this instant and I want it to last and last and last. I recently found some of my art from kindergarten, poems from 3rd grade, and journals from jr. high and high school. I’ve done all the things I dreamed about as a kid, except maybe skydiving. I’ve been a writer, a traveler, a wife, a mom, managed a big career, and now have settled into a life of making art and hanging out with friends, family and pets. I have no desire to skydive now. Why risk it, and maybe break an ankle just for a rush of adrenaline? Life is so incredibly beautiful just as it is, with all the good, bad, joy, sorrow, light and dark. More of that is all I want. I don’t need to jump out of an airplane to appreciate it.

Julie is an artist, writer and teacher who explores the dance between the organic nature of life at the cellular level and what humans have created from it. Her work is filled with “Biology Rising” themes emerging in circles from conception to death and beyond. Join her on Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/juliejulieart/ and on her website: https://www.juliejulie.co/

Pete the Poet still writes poetry. He also co-edits the online poetry journal http://www.ADozenNothing.com.

The post Q 2 – Pete the Poet Interviews Odyssey Interviewee Julie appeared first on Uncle Joe's American Odyssey.

Hey Snake, what is your strongest memory as an interviewee in Uncle Joe’s American Odyssey?

Answering the question about how I’d want to die — I answered that I’d like to fall to Earth without a parachute. I was interviewed in a forest by a river and I looked up at the sky as I discussed that.

Hey Snake, what’s one “rule” of life you think everyone should break at least once?

Probably all of them. Or none of them. If you designate something as a rule of life, you own that decision.  And so if you think it should be broken, then by definition it’s not one of your rules of life. I’m not going to let anyone else determine my rules of life.

Hey Snake, is there something you wanted to do as a kid, that you haven’t done and still want to do?

Skydiving.

Pete the Poet still writes poetry. He also co-edits the online poetry journal http://www.ADozenNothing.com.

The post Q 1, 2, & 3 – Pete the Poet Interviews Odyssey Interviewee Snake appeared first on Uncle Joe's American Odyssey.

Hey Rick, what is your strongest memory as an interviewee in Uncle Joe’s American Odyssey?

I remember the wind sitting on the side of the hill behind our new house being built.

Hey Rick, what’s one “rule” of life you think everyone should break at least once?

Sticking with it. Sometimes it’s best to say “Hey, this is not something I want to do. Let’s try something or somewhere else.”

Hey Rick, is there something you wanted to do as a kid, that you haven’t done and still want to do?

Hike in the mountains and sleep in a cabin like Grizzly Adams.

Hey Rick, do you ever use chance elements when navigating your life? If so, share a memorable time you did?

I took the wrong exit on the highway and went to a different place for lunch than I expected to.

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Pete the Poet still writes poetry. He also co-edits the online poetry journal http://www.ADozenNothing.com.

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Hey Lynn, what is your strongest memory as an interviewee in Uncle Joe’s American Odyssey?

I was nervous and sweaty with lunacy. I also really loved that apartment.

Hey Lynn, what’s one “rule” of life you think everyone should break at least once?

You mean I have to pick just one? Maybe do tug on Superman’s cape. I don’t think he’d be that sore about it.

Hey Lynn, Is there something you wanted to do as a kid, that you haven’t done and still want to do.

Go somewhere like Norway or Alaska and stand in the snow with a friendly herd of reindeer whilst gazing upon the aurora borealis quiescently and with full reverence. Also: make friends with crows and live in the woods for a while.

Pete the Poet still writes poetry. He also co-edits the online poetry journal http://www.ADozenNothing.com.

The post Q 1, 2, & 3 – Pete the Poet Interviews Odyssey Interviewee Lynn appeared first on Uncle Joe's American Odyssey.

Hey Julie, what’s one “rule” of life you think everyone should break at least once?

Hi Pete the Poet. Following the rules. That’s the rule I’ve learned to break.

I’ve spent a good amount of my life following the rules society told me to follow. Hell, I didn’t even smoke pot until it was legalized in Oregon in 2015, because it was against the law! And I always wanted to follow laws! Turns out when I finally did try pot, I really didn’t like it, so no love lost there, by the way.

I think always following rules helped me feel safe. I wanted to believe that if everyone followed the rules all the time, life would be easier and better. Now I know that this kind of wishful thinking comes from a place of privilege, and a quiet, underlying fear of not having control when things going badly. The advent of cell phones and social media makes it easier to see the vast injustice and disparity of rights of people of color, even when they followed all the rules and lived with extreme inequality or got killed for no good reason anyway. The social justice movement has opened my eyes to the privilege I didn’t even know I had. I tend to want to keep my head down and avoid conflict, but that is not always the best choice for society and the world, or for me personally, either.

I’m not an anarchist or saying we should routinely break laws. I still believe that society should collaborate on making good laws, but if the laws are bad or outdated, we need to work together and change them.  Like: Votes for women! No more slavery! Civil rights! Legalize Pot! But always trying to follow the cultural rules we’ve been taught just to avoid conflict can get us stuck.

As a girl and younger woman, I tried really hard to walk a straight line in the middle of the road of “shoulds” and always do what I thought I was supposed to do. As I approached middle age, I started standing in my power more. I let my hair go gray and settled into my menopausal phase with confidence. I let the rules of “should” and “supposed to” melt away.

Julie is an artist, writer and teacher who explores the dance between the organic nature of life at the cellular level and what humans have created from it. Her work is filled with “Biology Rising” themes emerging in circles from conception to death and beyond. Join her on Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/juliejulieart/ and on her website: https://www.juliejulie.co/

Pete the Poet still writes poetry. He also co-edits the online poetry journal http://www.ADozenNothing.com.

The post Q 1 – Pete the Poet Interviews Odyssey Interviewee Julie appeared first on Uncle Joe's American Odyssey.