Going viral: AIR podcast launches in a global pandemic
By Silas Rose April 30, 2020
Awake In Relationship has been in the hopper for a long, long time. Many years ago I began dreaming about a learning platform that could solve a particular modern challenge; how to cultivate intimate and meaningful relationships in a time of unprecedented change.
Any new creative venture starts with raw inspiration and can often feel like finger painting in the dark. The first iteration of Awake In Relationship was a side hustle called LoveCamp, imagine a summer camp for amorous adults. Unfortunately, the porn industry had equal claim on that name and web domain URL so the project was short lived. While I still hold the aspiration of hosting live events focussed on intimacy skills building it was clear early on that I wanted to explore the topic of relationships more broadly.
I have always felt a desire to challenge and reimagine the culture forces shaping our world. Like many of my peers this desire began in earnest in my 20’s through witnessing the wholesale destruction of the coastal old growth rainforest in my home province of British Columbia. I found an outlet for rage and grief in art and activism.
Not all radicals wear bandanas
My radical youth was a very creative (and sometimes crazy) time filled with a sense of passion, purpose and camaraderie. I lived communally, collected welfare and dedicated my life to the ancient forests. However, an injury on the frontlines in the ‘war in the woods’ abruptly forced me to stop everything and be more curious about my internal terrain. This event led me to explore meditation more seriously and reevaluate the meaning of activism in general.
The same destructive patterns and world view I was fighting against in the forests also lived in me, which needed to change. I am still on that journey.
I often toggle back and forth between the longing to immerse myself in my personal path and the urgent feeling that screams ‘all hands on deck!’. When it comes to big issues like the climate crisis (or a pandemic!) there is no such thing as individual liberation. At this point in evolution we are all in this together, sink or swim. We are all potential change makers, in whatever life situation we may find ourselves in.
The vision for the AIR podcast and platform is to highlight the extraordinary power of ordinary relationships to transform and heal even the most intractable problems and suffering.
I look forward to the time when the human tragedy of Covid 19 is a distant memory, but I don’t wish things to return to ‘normal’. I hope we can use this cultural moment to create something better. I can’t think of a more potent time to start a conversation about intimacy, community and culture than now.
– Day 47 of the Global Pandemic
Check out AIR episode #001 for the back story behind Awake In Relationship
