55 -Trying Different Things (Life After Dance w/ Justin Starkweather)

Melody’s Dad is back in the New York groove. Justin Starkweather is the star of this episode, which picks up where we left off in 1960s NYC in Episode 44 – My Daddy Is A Ballerina. (If you haven’t yet listened to 44, we’d recommend starting there.) In this period of soul searching and “trying different things,” Justin gets into Sufi whirling, or Dervish turning, where he searches for his deep self….and finds it. Although meditation didn’t come naturally at that time, it plays a prominent role in his contemporary life and comes up a lot throughout our chat. In this period, he also tries his hand at a couple of different careers in the arts. He gets into puppeteering and is given an opportunity to meet the then unknown Jim Henson, but regrettably says, “nahhhhh.” And he has some adventures and success in filmmaking – but ends up saying “nah” to that too. Books, having greatly influenced a lot of his interests are what brought him to Montessori. He trained at a convent under Mother Isabel, who learned from Maria Montessori herself. But then came the teaching, and in practise, it got another big “nah.” If you can believe it, there’s another huge life change looming on Justin’s horizon, sparked by yet another book, that involves long hair, a strange beard and a bunch of hippies – but we will get into that in our next installment. Enjoy this glimpse of the past from the coolest guy ever (seriously tho, the COOLEST), Justin Starkweather. I LOVE YOU DAD!