#TheVoidProject 09: Family agreements w/Susan Walter

06/20/23 • 23 min

When someone values experiences over possessions, it’s acceptable to have less stuff. Even preferable. It can become a delicate matter, however, when older generations are ready to pass down their favorite belongings.
Summary
With each move from one home to the next, choices await. About what to keep, what to acquire and what to let go of. These transitions can be opportunities to, "look at a new way of living." And clear organizing principles, with mutual understanding among all involved, pave the way for decision making to be relatively simple and straightforward.
About my guest
Susan Walter is an educator at heart. She’s also an author with a memoir in development -- telling the story of her existential crisis and how it let to becoming a badass advocate. She’s currently moving between states and between careers and in both cases Susan knows where she’ll land. In Philadelphia, working with families and loved ones of people with disabilities, to do future life planning that incorporates the associated legal, financial and tax matters.
More about Susan
https://www.linkedin.com/in/susan-walter-5476319/
Resources and references
Refugee resources
Below are the nine national agencies that hold federal agreements to resettle refugees as of 2022. Many communities also have local resources.
Church World Service, Ethiopian Community Development Council, Episcopal Migration Ministries, Hebrew Immigrant Aid Society, International Rescue Committee, US Committee for Refugees and Immigrants, Lutheran Immigration and Refugee Services, United States Conference of Catholic Bishops, and World Relief Corporation.
Capsule wardrobe
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Capsule_wardrobe
Main Topics
1:38I said yes to everything
2:53canoeing in the Boundary Waters
5:59furnish the way the space needed to be used
6:13we looked at a new way of living
8:46choosing to donate to a refugee settlement program
10:20conversation with mom
13:59pod lady living out of suitcases
17:19capsule wardrobe
18:44care taking for an adult child with disabilities

Podcast theme music
empty by Tea K Pea
freemusicarchive.org/music/tea-k-pea/
To hear more episodes of The Void Project, subscribe on Apple Podcasts or wherever you listen to podcasts.

Podcast theme music
empty by Tea K Pea
freemusicarchive.org/music/tea-k-pea/
To hear more episodes of The Void Project, subscribe on Apple Podcasts or wherever you listen to podcasts.

Previous Episode

#TheVoidProject 08: Everything in its place w/Craig Constantine

When we begin with a blank slate, it can ignite imagination and clear the way to define and create what we truly want.
Summary
Sometimes we look around and realize there’s not much rhyme or reason to the things we own. When we pare down to a blank slate, it can ignite imagination and clear the way to define and create what we truly want.
About my guest
Craig Constantine is the voice behind the “Movers Mindset” podcast. He’s a mountain climber, a sailer and a martial artist. He’s also a world traveler, he leads retreats in astronomy and he loves philosophy. Craig's background is in physics and he’s worked in programming and system administration.
Craig's mission is creating better conversations to spread understanding and compassion. At 40, Craig discovered Parkour and began relearning how to play. Finding himself in countless conversations about movement, he began podcasting in 2017 to share what he was experiencing.
He has helped thousands of people learn to create podcasts through coaching and community, has been on dozens of podcasts as a guest, and has published more than 1,000 episodes for his own shows including more than 300 conversations.
Learn more about Craig at:
Movers Mindset podcast
https://moversmindset.com/podcast/
Open + Curious
https://www.openandcurious.org/
Resources mentioned
Freecycle
https://www.freecycle.org/
Greg McKeown, Essentialism: The Disciplined Pursuit of Less
Marie Kondo, The Life-Changing Magic of Tidying Up
Main Topics
3:05imagine what each space in the house would be
3:43everything in the house should have a place
5:27a blank canvas to work from
9:17taking a room apart
11:40imagination
15:01freecycle.org
20:55we get to be big kids
22:22making the space together
24:03minimalism and essentialism

Podcast theme music
empty by Tea K Pea
freemusicarchive.org/music/tea-k-pea/
To hear more episodes of The Void Project, subscribe on Apple Podcasts or wherever you listen to podcasts.

Next Episode

#TheVoidProject 10: Tangibles and intangibles w/Wenndi Freer

After we’ve dealt with the tangibles and plumbed the intangibles, what we are left with might be surprising.
Through a ritual called Space Clearing, we can infuse our home with our intentions, and gain greater awareness of our presence.
About my guest
Wenndi Freer is never satisfied with the superficial; her curiosity compels her to search for what’s underneath or behind initial appearances. When she was growing up in Connecticut she lost friends and family to early death, which led her to a number of questions about, and inquiry into death and dying. That unfeigned exploration propelled her onto a deeply personal spiritual path.
As a space clearer, Wenndi leverages the energy of people’s homes and offices to remove internal obstacles, loosen personal limitations, and position her clients to expand into an experience of the life that they truly want to live.
More about Wenndi
https://wenndifreer.com/
Main Topics
2:48when the tangibles have fallen away, what’s left?
4:17something reveals itself
9:28move intangibles out of the way
12:33how to know the change stuck
15:21the intention people put in their space
18:04engaging a spiritual path

Podcast theme music
empty by Tea K Pea
freemusicarchive.org/music/tea-k-pea/
To hear more episodes of The Void Project, subscribe on Apple Podcasts or wherever you listen to podcasts.