Adam and Eve Ate the Apple — Thank God

Welcome to Twice 5 Miles Radio. I’m your host, James Navé. Today, my guest is Diana Gustafson.Recorded in Taos, New Mexico, following the Imaginative Storm Writing Workshop, this conversation moves through memoir, creativity, spirituality, storytelling, wholeness, poetry, meditation, and the mysterious force that drives us to write.Diana reflects on leaving Washington, D.C., after years serving as an Episcopal priest, rediscovering her creative life, and exploring memoir and creative nonfiction as pathways toward deeper human connection. Together, we examine the nature of talent, artistic permission, the “volcano” beneath the writer’s voice, and the search for wholeness through art, literature, and spiritual practice.The conversation ranges from Homer and Tennyson to Adam and Eve, Tibetan meditation, sermons, storytelling, imagination, and the role of creativity in helping us understand ourselves and the world around us. Thoughtful, searching, and deeply human, this episode explores how writing can become both a creative practice and a spiritual quest.Perfect for listeners interested in memoir writing, creativity, spirituality, poetry, philosophy, meditation, imaginative intelligence, and the deeper currents beneath artistic life.Run of Show — Adam and Eve Ate the Apple — Thank God00:00 — Introduction 01:10 — Diana Gustafson on Leaving Washington, D.C. and Beginning Again 04:20 — Writing, Memoir, and the Search for Voice 08:15 — Talent vs. Permission 11:00 — “Find the Volcano, Not the Voice” 14:20 — God, Divinity, and Creative Power 19:10 — Washington Power vs. Spiritual Power 24:30 — Tibetan Meditation, Oneness, and Writing 28:40 — Sermons, Storytelling, and the Human Need for Meaning 33:00 — Adam and Eve, Shame, Desire, and Consciousness 38:15 — “Thank God They Ate the Apple.” 42:30 — Sin, Wholeness, and Missing the Mark 46:20 — Poetry, Tennyson, Homer, and the Quest for Wholeness 52:00 — Conclusion Begins 56:00 — End