A Cup of Tea with Mahogany - Author Interview # 171

Mahogany Clark, is a poet, author, and U.S. army soldier from Miami Florida. She just recently turned 21 years old, and has written two books Self Love & A Cup Of Family Tea, Her third book was written to encourage young children to always feel loved, because proper nurturing is a huge aspect of growing up, and there were times as a kid where she felt unloved, and it is important that children across the world know they are loved, so they can grow and go on to love their own children. We sat down over Skype to chat about her life, her writing and her upcoming book Somebody Always Loves You.

You can follow Mahogany on all the social media links in these show notes, as well as order her books from these links. Her newest book will be available October 14, 2020.

https://m.facebook.com/mahoganywritez/

https://www.amazon.com/Self-Love-Mahogany-Clark/dp/1099940109?fbclid=IwAR2s0191nnjdMzkZ6BnmgeDOxtxYTWmvr6wGJrxL5AKtECGKZl3gAIztTfs

https://borntosoar81.wixsite.com/somebodyalwayslovesy?fbclid=IwAR0zKa1KMp9-z7cBQt95nmG1yMqjfbTjLn9VwkrDYVKqtwTEQP8sSqsIF1k

Mahogany is on Twitter and Instagram @mahoganywritez

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https://twitter.com/mahoganywritez?s=20

https://twitter.com/mahoganywritez?s=20

Cultural Touchstones - 170

Moments that define a culture or a generation...these are our cultural touchstones. The term ‘cultural touchstone’ has been credited to Matthew Arnold in his 1880 piece “The Study of Poetry.” In short, Arnold suggested that in order to determine how much praise a new piece of poetry deserved, it should be compared to older poetry that still received the same high praise. 

So, in essence, a cultural touchstone is something that defines an era. For instance, a huge movie in the life of my Rusted Robot Podcast co-host, is The Land Before Time. That film defines her generation. I have not seen it, and several people have now suggested I must watch it. This got me thinking about things that define eras and cultures. That is this episode.

Some of the topics covered in this episode include: the 1938 War of the Worlds radio broadcast, JFK's assassination, the Olympics, the Titanic, Star Wars, Star Trek, songs, television shows (episodes or moments), 9/11, the MCU, #metoo, and so many more.

The monologue at the end of the episode can be found on YouTube at https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VSLDyAbaqlw

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Going Back To School in 2020 - 169

March Break is finally over. Summer time fun is at an end. You're going back to school in 2020. It's a weird time in the history of humanity. Never has a society shut down like it has this year.

In this episode, we remember back to school rituals. The coming of another school year always meant back to school shopping. In merchandising, back to school is the period in which students and their parents purchase school supplies and apparel for the upcoming school year. At many department stores, back to school sales are advertised as a time when school supplies, children's, and young adults' clothing goes on sale.

My girlfriend's daughter joins us on the show for a brief chat about her first day back.

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Jeramy Spoke In Class Today - 168

Jeramy from the Fandom Squad Podcast comes by to chat about his rough childhood.

We start by learning about Jeramy's early childhood. His parents divorced when he was fairly young. As a result, he lived with his mother who moved around quite a bit. She also choose men who may not have been suitable for her or Jeramy. There were many such men in her life.

Because Jeramy did not have a stable home life, he turned to food. Eating become something he could control. Over eating led to him becoming the chubby, poor, outcast kid. He was bullied.

Abandoned by his mom at age 11, he went to live with his sister and her family. From ages 11 until 21 he had a somewhat stable home life. However, because of his past, and his feelings of abandonment, Jeramy engaged in self-harm, had low self esteem, and felt unlovable.

Through counseling, Jeramy learned about forgiveness. He was able to re-establish old relationships. He now has a relationship with both his mother and his father. Credit for a lot of his healing must also go to his girlfriend. This is Jeramy's story.

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Witchcraft for Beginners - 167

In Witchcraft for Beginners, Tracy takes us on her journey into the spiritual side of things. On this episode, we go over how she become interested in witchcraft, and what she has learned so far.

Tracy started with an interest in Reiki, and began to learn about the crystals and the chakras. She followed this up with the practice of meditation. Watching Sabrina the Teenage Witch on Netflix, and reading about witchcraft brought Tracy to where she is now.

I first noticed Tracy's interest in the spiritual side of things when she asked to smudge my new house. I had heard of smudging, but hadn't seen it performed. As for smudging, most people use white sage to remove negative energy. You can also use sweet grass, cedar sticks and other plants for differing purposes.

In Witchcraft for Beginners, we also learn about using and trusting your intuition, speaking with spirits, and the difference between witchcraft, Wicca and paganism.

Witches were once much-loved healers in communities. Various circumstances turned that love into hate and fear where these women were seen as evil or tools of the devil.

We finish the episode with some talk about green witches. This includes herbalism and making tinctures, salves and poultices. We also learn about spells, rituals and astrology.

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Parenting Life in the Fast Lane - 166

Parenting. It's living life in the fast lane. This week's Soul Forge brings you a look behind the parenting style of Rene, a father of 3 boys.

Rene is the father of a 13 year old boy and 11 year old twin boys. On this episode, he discusses his parenting strategies. He talks about the sacrifices he has made to raise his family. We will go behind the scenes and learn about some of the things he has done to give his children a healthy life.

We will also learn about the challenges he has faced. What did he learn along the way? Rene talks about priorities, going with the flow, hockey, and so much more.

Please fill out the survey Rene needs for his class project by following this link: https://docs.google.com/forms/d/e/1FAIpQLSc5IwSiOPCa12mJHq_p3iTKR4uVb-dsIpxIm3gMtL8RachM4g/viewform

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The Glow Up - Author Interview with Unique’ka - 165

This week the Soul Forge brings you an author interview with Unique'ka. Her self-published book is called The Glow Up. It's a self help book based on the journey of her life.  Sit back and listen to a tale as unique as Unique'ka.

Coming from an abusive childhood shaped many factors in Unique'ka's life. She and her brother were both sent to foster care. Her anger issues and feeling of abandonment caused her to run away several times. However, the one constant in her life, was her love of reading and writing.

After dropping out of high school, she began stripping at the age of 17. In time, she had a son and wanted to do better for him, and for herself. Unique'ka began a life-long journey of self reinvention.

Reading self-help books and living her life by their principals is what really helped her turn her life around. She used these books and the lives of people like Oprah as a kind of guidance counselor.

We end the podcast with the story of Unique'ka finding her birth family. We also learn about how the book came to be. You can purchase The Glow Up in several places, but the best sources are Walmart.com and www.msuniqueka.com

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The Life Coach Session - 164

In the life coach session episode, Shawn talks with his brother Robin about his latest endeavour. Robin has decided to pursur a career in life coaching. On this episode, we learn about the reasons why Robin is pursuing this new direction, and we learn a bit about what the course entails.

Robin admits he has no specific talents. However, he is pretty good at finding the talent in others and encouraging them. He feels that by becoming a life coach, he should be able to unlock the potential in others.

Life coaching is not therapy. Therefore, you do not need to have your own life in perfect order to be able to help others. Although every decision Robin has made has been the wrong one, he still feels as if his experiences can help others.

A life coach can help you through many problems or issues. These can range from relationship issues, to decisions about career or family, and many other topics. The best part about being a life coach is that you can set your own schedule and work whatever hours you choose. This is ideal for Robin who does not enjoy waking up early. The life coach session is yours for the taking!

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Advice From Your Future - 163 (3rd Anniversary Episode)

Advice from your future self is not something you can get. But, you can get advice from people older or wiser than you. On this week's episode, we celebrate 3 years of podcasting. We also have 30 pieces of advice that a 30 year old wishes he had when he was 20.

Struggle Is Good

Don’t Complain

Spend Time With People You Love

Don’t Start A Relationship If You’re Not In Love

Exercise Daily

Keep A Journal

Be Grateful

Don’t Care About What People Think

Take More Risks

Pick An Industry, Not A Job

Lead The Way

Things Are Not What They Seem

Money Is Not The Most Important Thing

Be Nice

Get Comfortable With Being Uncomfortable

Learn Every Day

Rest Before You Are Tired

Don’t Judge

Think About Others

Give Without Expecting Something In Return

There’s No End Game

Enjoy Small Things

Don’t Take Yourself Seriously

Don’t Blame People

Never Look Back Too Long

Avoid Negative Situations And People

Invest In Yourself

Rely On Yourself

Create Something

Take Action

You can email the show at soulforgepodcast@gmail.com

To support the show: https://ko-fi.com/rustedsoul

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Half-Assed Zodiac Episode - 162

Okay so this week we will be discussing a few aspects of the Virgo star sign. Starting off with a brief discussion of topic ideas, we move into a general overview of astrology. This is definately going to be a half-assed zodiac episode.

We are coming up on our 3 year anniversary next week. Would love your feedback, comments, concerns, suggestions...anything really...to know that you care or are paying attention.

Get ready for this crazy episode.

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