What is a Good Life? #59
Following Your Own Nature with Julie Zickefoose
On the 59th episode of the What is a Good Life? podcast, I am delighted to introduce our guest, Julie Zickefoose. Julie is a writer and artist who illustrates her own books (Saving Jemima, Baby Birds, The Bluebird Effect). She is an Advising Editor for BWD Magazine and a naturalist at home in the Appalachian foothills of Ohio, where every day she roams the 80-acre wildlife sanctuary she lives on—a wellspring for her writing and art.
Her contribution to a beautiful movie I watched, In Pursuit of Silence, utterly captivated me, so I was thrilled to have the chance to talk. In this enlivening conversation, Julie shares her journey from just about making ends meet to becoming an author and illustrator living on her own sanctuary. She imparts important lessons along the way, such as gratitude for life, borne out of her observations of the hardship of nature and from the deaths of her father and her husband.
We explore the emotional relationships she has cultivated with the birds she has rehabilitated, as well as the importance of relationships with animals in realising more connection in our lives. She also touches on the significance of silence, solitude, and unstructured time and space for her creative process and for following her own nature.
This entire conversation was good for my soul; it is inspiring to be in the company of someone who so fully follows and embraces their own nature with such conviction. This episode will reinforce gratitude for simply existing and surviving, and open you up to possibilities for more love and connection in our lives, whether with other animals or humans, as well as what can happen if you simply trust your own nature.
The weekly clip from the podcast (3 mins), my weekly reflection (3 mins), the full podcast (60 mins), and the weekly questions all follow below.
1. Weekly Clip from the Podcast
📣 My weekly conversation group takes place every Wednesday at 7pm (CET) on Zoom. It incorporates silence and authentic communication - sharing thoughts and experiences from what is emerging in the moment. It is completely free for now as it’s for a course I’m designing and I’m experimenting with different themes. Message me here to find out more or sign up.
2. My weekly reflection
During this conversation, we reflected on the demands we can often put on ourselves before we can afford ourselves any acceptance, love, or understanding. It seems like it isn't enough to simply exist and make it through a day; we put pressure on ourselves to have done something to assert our worth.
It made me think about how that doesn't seem to be the case with animals. When I come home after any period of time, my dog greets me like nobody else could. Similarly, just looking at Alma, even when she's doing next to nothing, can trigger big smiles or laughter from me.
It also makes me think of my 6-month-old daughter, who just smiles at me whenever I've entered the room. The smiles aren't reserved for days when I exceed expectations and aren't withdrawn when I need to do more. Simultaneously, I am not looking at her thinking, "When you do more with your day, I'll love or smile more at you."
Now, these are two of the three relationships that bring me the most unbounded joy in my life, and there are presently next to no expectations or the need for either party to justify their worth or for us to impress each other. They simply evoke a sense of love within me because they exist.
Shortly after my daughter was born, as I observed all the attention she was getting from our families, friends, and familiar faces, and it provoked a thought while walking around the neighbourhood. When looking at everyone else, I reflected on how we were all babies once. Whether the people I passed on the street appeared to be thriving or burdened by life, when did we stop attributing specialness to each other for simply being? I wondered at what point did we consider this not to be enough.
An extension of that thought was when did we begin to say it to ourselves, that it wasn’t enough?
What is it about the way that we view ourselves and each other that differs so much from how we relate to the rest of nature? While walking through a forest, do we single out any trees as unsatisfactory—too tall, too short, etc.? Do we shout at trees for losing their leaves and celebrate them for growing them once more? When hiking on a mountain, do we discern that the mountain would be more impressive if some stones, rocks, or foliage were distributed differently, or do we just take it all in as it is?
I am not saying all this for sudden epiphanies. However, in lieu of pithy insights or a linear set of prescribed steps, I would say just being aware of our acceptance of so many other things, regardless of their cycles, being aware of our experiences of unconditional love, even if fleeting—this awareness can have a profound influence in terms of how we relate to ourselves. Over time, it may even make you more accepting and embracing of your own nature and to live it more fully.
If you’d like to work with me individually as your coach, to awaken your own self-inquiry, message me here to a arrange a free 30-minute 1-on-1 consultation
3. Full Episode - Following Your Own Nature with Julie Zickefoose - What is a Good Life? #59
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4. This week’s Questions
If you were to truly follow your own nature what changes might occur in your life? What might you do or how might you be?
As per the clip above, if you found yourself on your deathbed tomorrow, what would you suggest you were meant to do differently in your life?
About Me
I am a Coach based in Berlin, via Dublin, Ireland. I left behind a 15-year career in Capital Markets after I became extremely curious around answering some of the bigger questions in life. I started this project in 2021, for which I’ve now interviewed around 200 people, to provide people with the space to reflect on their own lives and to create content that would spark people’s own inquiry into this question. I am also trying to share more genuine expressions of the human experience, beyond the facades we typically project.
If you would like to work with me, or you simply want to get in touch, here’s my email and LinkedIn.
Mark, Julie’s comment that you can be really good at things you don’t want to do (anymore) hits home. I am currently thinking of sinking a canoe that brings me money but little satisfaction these days.