The Wilderness Journal

How does worry affect our ability to simply be present? What can we do to free ourselves from the grip of worry?

In troubled times, some people turn to binge watching television shows, some to food, some to drink. Angela turns to poetry. In this episode we explore how poetry and Liturgy intersect because in a technology laden, short attention, sound bite driven world we are often unaware of the deep poetry and lasting peace that Liturgy offers.

What is stirring when we meet our rebel self? And when that rebel self shows up, what wisdom will we find there? On this episode of The Wilderness Journal, Angela explores the familiar landscape of rebellion, its role in conversion and in deepening our journey of faith.

The start of a new year brings us to a point of clarity– a starting point, an ending point. It is in these moments that we can choose hope as we look forward, or regret from looking back. What does the New Year represent to you? “I wish I had” or “I hope I do?”

What does it say about a person who has a collection of barely used daily planners stashed under her bedside table? It is a sign of a disorganized mind and an unwilling spirit, or maybe just never finding the right thing? Angela and fellow author, Katherine Bolger Hyde explore the intricacies of day planner addiction, cabinets from Ikea, and phone alarms ringing at inopportune moments.

Parenting is a sacred and daunting task at every stage of their development but parenting teenagers has its own set of challenges and its own joys as well. When do when the time is right to let them start “adulting” and how does our prayer life support us as we venture into new territory?

The prayer of St. Ephraim is a familiar one for Orthodox Christians, especially during Lent. This season offers us the chance to practice the prayer and to come face to face with our own inner “construction” as we come closer to Pascha. What roads are we paving? What bridges are we building?

We all have ways to work through our hang ups. Whether we run away from the things we fear or rush headlong toward them, taking a moment to consider the story we’re telling can go a long way in helping and preserving us.

On this episode of the Wilderness Journal, Angela contemplates exploring the “wilds” of Chicago and discusses hot button issues like Climate Change and Bigfoot with Fr. Kaleeg Hainsworth, Orthodox priest and author of “An Altar in the Wilderness."

In this episode Angela continues her conversation with Orthodox priest and Spiritual Ecologist, Fr. Kaleeg Hainsworth where they discuss the role of the Orthodox Christian in issues about the environment, the wilderness as a “de-tox” method, and how to survive the Zombie apocalypse.

In times of fear and distress, we can turn to the simple act of prayer to calm the waters. Angela reads a passage from Nearly Orthodox about this very thing, and about learning to pray the Jesus Prayer in Greek.

On this episode of The Wilderness Journal, Angela Doll Carlson explores the topic of "time" with her friend (and Ancient Faith author) Dr. Nicole Roccas. They discuss connections between fear and apathy, and the differences between standing still and being static."

As we move close to glorious Pascha, Angela takes a few moments to reflect on the common threads between Poetry, Liturgy, and Holy Week.

What can we do with the anxiety that creeps in on us? Angela finds sorting anxiety like sorting laundry on this episode of The Wilderness Journal.

In this reading from Angela’s latest book, “The Wilderness Journal: 365 days with the Philokalia” she explores the reality of what brings color to our lives.

Angela Doll Carlson shares her plans for the podcast for 2019, particularly reading from her new book titled The Wilderness Journal: 365 Days with the Philokalia.

Is “giving” something we only think about at the holidays? What does it mean to give from a empty well?

In this episode of the Wilderness Journal, Angela talks with poet Scott Cairns about having a sense of “place” in one’s life, as well as the importance of language, dialogue, and literature in the task of building the self.

There are days when we need to hear words to lift us up out of the dirt. Whether they are words of poetry, or words from the Fathers, the pursuit of the beautiful, the kind of beautiful that resides under the skin, is worthwhile for everyone living the daily struggle of life.

As attention spans shrink, what entices us to move more deeply into mystery and stillness? How can the acts of reading and prayer help us acquire the spiritual and intellectual nutrition we crave in a world where fast, cheap, and easy are what’s on the menu? Angela talks with friend and bookseller, Warren Farha of Eighth Day Books about stillness, “real books” and beach reads.

There is a wind farm on I-65 that evokes a sense of longing– for peace, for stillness, for quiet. What does it mean for us, in a busy and loud world, to stay engaged, to seek out that stillness, to harvest this like the wind turbines harvest air?

While most Mother’s Day celebrations include things like cards, brunch or carnations, there are other, more tangible ways to embrace the more non-commercial aspects of appreciating mothers. What would it look like to connect daily gratitude with the small moments of mothering? How might it transform us?

It’s often intimidating to walk into a new space filled with strangers. It’s hard to be the stranger but it’s also sometimes intimidating to be the one charged with welcoming the stranger. How does “coffee hour” or “fellowship” after Liturgy remind us, as William Butler Yeats wrote, “There are no strangers here; Only friends you haven’t yet met.”

How we care for and nurture our bodies has implications for all areas of our development—physical, emotional, and even spiritual. The body is a living and organic revelation of the unseen spirit inside—a kind of garden. Garden in the East is a poetic exploration of how the care of the body can lead us to wholeness and wellness in every area of our lives. In this podcast, Angela reads an excerpt from the book.

We’ve all heard about helicopter parents. I’m more of a lawnmower parent. I want to make straight the paths before my kids. I do not want to see them hurt. And of course, that’s natural– no parent wants to see their child injured– but when I make the path so straight and the field so even that they do not seem to engage the “struggle” then I’ve gone too far. How do we teach our children to embrace the struggles of life, to see the beauty and the reward in it?

The start of Great Lent begins with preparation. We prepare our refrigerators, freezers and pantry for the fast, emptying it of meat and dairy. But we prepare our hearts as well, emptying it of resentments or grudges, wrongs we have done or wrongs done to us in our community. On navigating Forgiveness Vespers as an introvert.

In this episode of The Wilderness Journal Angela continues her conversation with Summer Kinard, Jamey Bennett and Geoff Thompson about things we wish we had known about Orthodoxy before entering into the faith, including talk of Spiritual Fathers and people made of cheese.

From the outside, the practice of Orthodoxy seems rigid, complicated and intimidating. In this episode, Angela explores how Orthodoxy cannot be fully understood until it is fully experienced. Like a spiritual Tardis, it’s bigger on the inside.

As the light of the Nativity comes closer, how does silence fit into the last minute rush for gift buying, baking, caroling and office parties? In this episode of The Wilderness Journal, join host Angela Doll Carlson in the second half of her conversation with author Summer Kinard as they talk about Advent, silence, self care, and Amish/Alien romance novels.

This season of The Nativity, or Advent, is busy for us. Preparation is our watch-word, but too often our attention is co-opted by the commercial side of things– shopping, gatherings, tree trimming. How do we find the space and time we need to truly prepare our hearts for the feast?

The preflight announcement on the plane always instructs us to “put our own mask on first” before helping someone else but how often do we take that advice in the normal day to day? On “self-care” and finding moments to stop and breathe.

How is it possible to find silence in the middle of the city? Why does it matter? On the lessons learned from St. Isidora and the daily task of floor washing.