McCall B-L. (AFG, Los Angeles) at The AA Metro East Banquet -in Bellevue, Illinois on Aug. 5th, 2023
McCall B-L. (AFG, Los Angeles) at The AA Metro East Banquet, in Bellevue, Illinois on Aug. 5th, 2023
Aug 09, 2023•1 hr 3 min•Season 2Ep. 3
UnBoxing “God”
A search through theology, history, philosophy, science, religion and personal experiences to discover Spiritual Realities.
Drop your preconceived notions of god and explore “out of the box” concepts of a higher power in order to more deeply connect with the divine, others, and ourselves. ...let’s try and discover some Universal Truths and how we might apply them to live healthier, happier -or at least more content- and “better” lives!
Join McCall (+ friends/listeners) every other week, with BONUS episodes in-between.
Contact: WaldoLovesMe@gmail.com
+1 (925) 365-6833 or +1 WALDO-LOVE-3
Last refreshed: ⓘ
Follow this podcast in the Metacast mobile app to refresh it and see new episodes.
Podcasts are better in Metacast mobile app
Don't just listen to podcasts. Learn from them with transcripts, summaries, and chapters for every episode. Skim, search, and bookmark insights. Learn more
Episodes
An UnBoxing “God” Complete Convo: Mom of TikTok, Samantha Howsden Ward @MONW0102, talks to McCall
In this episode, you’ll get to know the captivating ‘Mom of TikTok’, Samantha Howsden Ward aka @MONW0102. She shares her spiritual evolution, which developed from a God-FEARing relationship as a child, with a Bible beating, mentally ill mother.... into (co)dependency with a toxic first marriage... and finally, to the place where, now she actively chooses Love over Fear. - Tune in to hear all the juicy bits of Samantha’s life story and expanding belief system, from the positive impacts of divorce...
Dec 24, 2020•57 min•Season 1Ep. 15
A Thanksgiving Al-Anon Speaker Lead (McCall - Los Angeles, CA. - 11/26/20)
On Thursday night (Nov. 26th, 2020), McCall had the honor and opportunity to share her story of Experience, Strength and Hope - for an online, quarantined, holiday, Zoom call conference. The childhood memories that flowed forth were thanksgiving miracles, because it was suddenly so easy to remember the good, and took actual effort to recall the “bad”. What you will hear is the story of an only child raised by a single mother - a magical, creative, beautiful poet of a woman, and also an alcoholic...
Dec 06, 2020•44 min•Season 2Ep. 2
Love + Boundaries: English Muffin Intimacy [Episode 12.3]
For the final episode of Season One, McCall and her husband, Kyle, disclose their journey through a very unhealthy relationship and into the intimate and loving marriage they now enjoy. With five guests, this is a Jam Packed episode... which make make you salivate! Like an English Muffin, the Nooks and Crannies are where the goodness resides. It's the Space In between that solidifies any relationship and fosters healthy boundaries. Kristin Combs, shares about how she is approaching her new relat...
Nov 17, 2020•54 min•Season 1Ep. 123
Wonder, Awe + Bliss [Episode #12.2]
In this episode, McCall unboxes awe and wonder. She contemplates the causes and effects of her own limited opportunities to experience awe as a child and endeavors to discover the benefits, and possible downsides of awe. McCall explores the history of awe and its evolution in society, the sources of awe, it’s power to create social bonds, and even provide physical healing. In an interview with Mike Richardson professor of Adolescent Development and Classroom Management at Brigham Young Universit...
Nov 10, 2020•44 min•Season 1Ep. 122
Sacred Geometry: Significant Shapes, Perennial Patterns + Divine Digits [Episode #12.1]
Sacred Geometry: Understanding the Underling Meanings of Shapes + Patterns In this episode of Unboxing God, we talk about sacred geometry and the meaning and connection of certain shapes, like the square, circle, and triangle. Is the ultimate answer in the Great Architect or just a series of extremely unlikely coincidences? Paying attention to your surroundings reveals patterns appearing all around us both in nature and in human made structures; we take a closer look at how this is especially tr...
Nov 03, 2020•34 min•Season 1Ep. 121
Halloween/All Souls’ Bonus Episode
A special Trick and (several) Treats from Brother Matthew Paul... on the REAL DEAL of Halloween. Drop all of your preconceptions before listening, cuz I bet this is not at all what you expect to hear. Especially coming from a “Religious Brother” of Catholicism. From the history of trick or treating and dressing in costumes, to the merging of many holidays into a harvest filled bounty of celebration that many folks may know, Brother Matthew Paul talks druids, Wicca, Catholicism, and The Order of ...
Oct 31, 2020•29 min•Season 1Ep. 1031
McCall - Main Al-Anon Speaker lead [07-13-2019]
Fact: Explaining Sacred Geometry and Vortex Math for a podcast... audio and no visuals... suffice to say: It is a BEAST. And although I have been working diligently on an epic episode all about Sacred Shapes, Divine Digits + Persistent Patterns - it’s still pretty rough at the moment. It needs at least a few more days of TLC (and Kyle’s ruthless editing cuts) before it is ready to meet you. Instead of working myself into a tizzy, and entirely forgoing sleep again tonight, I am practicing the pau...
Oct 27, 2020•30 min•Season 2Ep. 1
Balance: Safety in the Center [Episode #12]
Regardless of whether you want to complete your basketball season, get from point A to point B, or deliver a healthy baby... the safest place to be is cushioned in the middle of a protective “bubble”. This week's episode really packs a punch - and a few kicks - as McCall has three conversations with different martial arts practitioners who offer their insights into the importance of finding an equilibrium... where one is not teetering at either end of two extremes, but instead expands that line ...
Oct 20, 2020•40 min•Season 1Ep. 12
UnBoxing God: Original Teaser
PLEASE... check out UBG Trailer 2.0 - A LOT has happened since March 20, 2020 - when McCall first recorded this one!!! (What IS that music?!?!) We are UnBoxing "God" - Because sometimes tackling an "un"manageable life requires the help of an "un"orthodox higher power. Each week we will publish an episode. First, we will begin to dig into a topic, often inspired by McCall's practice of 12-Step Recovery. [No topic is too taboo, sacred, scary, dangerous, or in any other way Off-Limits to unbox.] Pl...
Oct 19, 2020•3 min
UnBoxing "God" with Cassidy and McCall - Teaser 2.0
Because sometimes tackling an unmanageable life requires the help of an unorthodox higher power. Each week we will dig into a topic that challenges us... from the "God" in 12 Step Recovery, to Social Justice issues like Gender, Race and Arranged Marriage... using less than traditional tools and ideas. Take what you like... and leave the rest. Contact: WaldoLovesMe@gmail.com
Oct 15, 2020•4 min•Season 1Ep. 1
The Great Spirit of Native Americans - an Indigenous Peoples' Day "Un"episode (10/12/20)
Today has been known as Columbus Day for over a century but federally recognized since 1934. In more recent years, however, October 12th (or the second Monday of October) has come to be known as Indigenous Peoples’ Day. Today we celebrate, honor, and uplift indigenous people. Also, our friend and guest, Laura, stops by to tell us a little about Canadian Thanksgiving, which they call “Gratitude Day”, instead of honoring the violence of colonialism. “We’ve never been grateful for genocide.” - Laur...
Oct 13, 2020•24 min•Season 1Ep. 1012
Trans (or 3rd) Gender - History, Sports + More [Ep #11.3]
What do the sworn virgins of Albania, Caitlyn Jenner, Elagabalus, and Caster Semenya all have in common? They’re transgender -- or, perhaps, third gender. How long have we known about transgender? Is gender just biological sex like some say or is there something more to learn from other cultures’ and countries’ histories of gender which is not binary? Pink or blue only gender reveal parties, get ready to meet your match! [1:00] International Lesbian, Gay, Bi, Trans, and Intersex Association - Tr...
Oct 06, 2020•42 min•Season 1Ep. 113
"Arranged" Marriage. India. Rules/Roles + Love [Ep #11.2]
Arranged marriage - what reaction does that incite in you? This week, we’re delving into Indian marriage: who has arranged ones and can people be happy in them? McCall and Cass have conversations with Celia Daniels, an Indian trans woman in a heterosexual arranged marriage; Monique, an Indian Australian woman who opted to have a non-arranged marriage; and Manpreet, a Punjabi woman who opted to marry a fellow Sikh. Summary [02:22] Reminder: Who is Celia Daniels? [03:02] Celia Daniels on Indian, C...
Sep 29, 2020•35 min•Season 1Ep. 112
Celia Daniels' Story [Bonus #11.1]
Indian born and raised, a loving arranged marriage, a deep abiding Faith in God, and a sense that HE was a SHE from a very early age. This week, McCall delves into conversation with Celia Sandhya Daniels , who opens up about their life: Growing up a Christian boy in India; loving God, but hating the "girl inside"; an arranged marriage, to an incredible woman; coming out as transgender; and her struggles through depression and suicidality, in coming to terms with who God designed her to be - for ...
Sep 22, 2020•52 min•Season 1Ep. 111
Sex, Gender + ”God” [Episode #11]
Are women the downfall of humanity? The Abrahamic religions (Judaism, Christianity, Islam) would have you believe so. Did monotheism's misogyny intentionally kill the Feminine Divine? Are there other interpretations of Eve, Adam, and the Creation Story? Are we positive that Adam was actually male? Who was 'Lilith'? Might females really be the chosen ones, to redeem all of 'man'kind? Is Androgyny the goal of human evolution? From Eunuchs to Elvis. Ruby Rose to Virginia Woolfe. We use every resour...
Sep 15, 2020•1 hr 6 min•Season 1Ep. 11
The UBG Labor Day “Un”Episode
Since it's Labor Day in the States, and well over 100 degrees in Los Angeles (where McCall lives)... okay and also cuz we are still hard at work on a PACKED Episode 11 - Cass and McCall (and Kyle) are taking the week “off” and will offer up, instead of your regularly planned programming: some exciting info and a few teaser clips from interviews that will be featured over the last four weeks of Season One! PLUS: A Call for "Listener Shares"! Brother Matthew Paul re-joins us for some biblical enli...
Sep 08, 2020•23 min•Season 1Ep. 907
Anima/Animus + Toxic Gender Roles [Episode #10.5]
Spoiler: We’re all basically androgynous. McCall’s ex talks masculinity and femininity during gender transition and Cassidy helps McCall unbox toxic femininity, through the lens of Jung’s theory of Anima (the feminine aspect in a male) and Animus (the masculine aspect in a female) and the toxicity that occurs when those characteristics become too extreme. This week, Alison Whiteacre, a transfemme transition coach (a perfectly suited career, we think!) and an old lover of McCall’s, joins the show...
Sep 01, 2020•36 min•Season 1Ep. 110
Archetypes, The Collective Unconscious, + all things Woo-Woo! [Episode #10]
In Episode 10, McCall is unloading the box of all things woowoo! Most of us are familiar with archetypes, but Jung’s collective unconscious theory leads us to the fringe of what we know as mainstream and into the dreamworld, tarot card reading, and intuition. This week she’s asked several guests to fill in the gaps of “woowoo” that she proclaims she is “both drawn to and repelled by”. Jenny Sieck gives us a crash course on Jung’s archetypes, intuition, and dream analysis. Haleigh gives us a prac...
Aug 25, 2020•47 min•Season 1Ep. 10
The Mask & Shadow Self [Episode #9.5]
In this week’s bonus episode, McCall examines the shadow, or the dark side of Self, and the mask, or what is projected to the world. Through the exploration of an Al-Anon reading, Pinocchio, and Pandora’s Box, McCall guides us through these Jungian archetypes and how she handles her own mask these days. For this episode, she also enlists the help of Kyle, her husband, to unpack these concepts in a more relevant way: through rock and roll. Then singer-songwriter Kaciny has something to say, er, s...
Aug 18, 2020•37 min•Season 1Ep. 109
Development of Self + Inheritance of Trauma [Episode #9]
This week, McCall begins the process of unboxing the “fractured self”, childhood and intergenerational trauma, and Epigenetics. The exploration includes three guests: Cherish Asha Bolton (from Episode 8, where she also discussed the psyche, self, and soul) guides us through the “fractured self”; Margot Schrader briefs us on the Internal Family Systems model and intergenerational trauma; and Jessica Ferretti introduces us to somatic healing. This dialogue challenges listeners to ponder, “What tra...
Aug 11, 2020•45 min•Season 1Ep. 9
Letters and Links: Carl Jung to Bill W. and Alcoholics Anonymous [Bonus 8]
The Links in the Chain that led to A.A. - From one conversation in Zurich, between Carl Jung and his 'hopeless' patient... through the Oxford Group and on... to a trip to Vermont in 1935... then Ebby's line: 'I don't need a drink; I got religion"... to Bill Wilson and next, in Akron, came Dr. Bob Smith... and the founding of Alcoholics Anonymous (A.A.)... and then, on to every other 12-Step program there is, including those for "General Neurotics", like me. Carl Jung and Bill Wilson admired, and...
Aug 04, 2020•13 min•Season 1Ep. 108
Freud + Jung: The Psyche, The Self, and The Soul (Episode 8)
In this week's episode, McCall unboxes the psyche, the self, and the soul. What are they, and how do they differ, if at all? McCall discusses these topics with two guests, William Ragan, PhD - professor of psychology, and Cherish Bolton - The Other(ed) Woman and (P.E.A.R.) People for Ethical Adoption Reform. They each shed light on aspects of 'self' through the lens of Sigmund Freud and Carl Jung - with an overview of Freud's concept of id, ego, and super ego versus Jung's archetypes. McCall sha...
Jul 28, 2020•33 min•Season 1Ep. 8
William James + Bill Wilson [BONUS 7.2]
If you liked this Bonus Episode, check out: Applying the writings and philosophies of William James to addiction and Alcoholics Anonymous, by Edward Mendelowitz, Ph.D. (from Society for Humanistic Psychology Newsletter - Oct. 2017) Varieties of Religious Experience: A Study in Human Nature, by William James (a series of 20 lectures on 'natural theology' that psychologist/philosopher William James, from Harvard, conducted at the University of Edinburgh in Scotland, from 1901-1902) Spiritual, Not ...
Jul 21, 2020•22 min•Season 1Ep. 107
Empath To Mystic [Bonus 7.1]
While researching the UBG episodes on Mysticism, I stumbled upon this book called Empath to Mystic: The Art of Mastering Your Intuition and Fearlessly Being Yourself, by Aaran Solh, and although it didn't quite make its way into a full episode, I thought it was special enough to share it with you here, in a BONUS Bonus episode. Enjoy!
Jul 21, 2020•8 min•Season 1Ep. 107
Mystical Molecules and Other Trips to Ego Death [Episode 7]
Have you ever wondered how taking psychedelics (or, "tripping" as it’s typically called) leads to experiences with the unknown? Or how some people have trips that completely transform them? This week we’re unboxing what “ego death” means and how humans have long sought to lose their egos, to transcend themselves, through a variety of pre-mortem death and rebirth rituals (such as baptism ) including… psychedelics. Yep, drugs! Complete Show Notes for all UBG episodes can be found on the website: w...
Jul 14, 2020•31 min•Season 1Ep. 7
Meister Eckhart, Perennial Wisdom + Aldous Huxley [BONUS 6]
For this Bonus Episode, I will continue my exploration of Mysticism by introducing you to a mystic named Meister Eckhart (1260–1328), who heavily influenced my own personal pursuit of 'detachment' (which he called "dis-interest"). I will also talk a bit about Perennial Philosophy (aka Perennial Wisdom), a perspective in spirituality that views all of the world's religious traditions as sharing a single, metaphysical truth or origin from which all esoteric and exoteric knowledge and doctrine have...
Jul 07, 2020•13 min•Season 1Ep. 106
Mysticism and Experience of The Divine [Episode 6]
What, exactly, is mysticism? This episode takes the plunge into the history of what we know about mysticism. What defines a "mystical experience" and how can we all be modern-day mystics? My dear, Floridian, friend (Iris) gives us a taste of how she connects mysticism to her daily life, and then, Brother Matthew Paul Grote OP gives us a master lesson in Christian Mysticism. Summary Mysticism = the practice of religious ecstasies, together with whatever ideologies, ethics, rites, myths, legends, ...
Jun 30, 2020•33 min•Season 1Ep. 6
The 4 Stoic Virtues [BONUS 5]
This bonus episode continues the question of “Can we be ‘good’ without God?” (from Episode 5) Further exploration into the Stoic Philosophy/Lifestyle - with special friends and fellow travelers, Cassidy and Ryan. Specifically, we will unbox "The 4 Stoic Virtues". Also, we take a deeper look at the concept of “Sympatheia”, which if internalized, can change how we interact with the world—for the better. Summary Stoics believe they don’t control the world around them, only how they respond The four...
Jun 23, 2020•24 min•Season 1Ep. 105
Stoicism 101: Can we be “Good” without a Higher Power as a Role Model? [Episode 5]
Today, we will take a look at an ancient Greek philosophy called Stoicism, which is a school of philosophy centered around personal ethics, founded about three hundred years before the time of Jesus. Guests: Cassidy and Ryan Summary The 12-Step “Serenity Prayer” is a Stoic meditation prayed to a Higher Power Stoic practices: Train your perception to avoid good and bad. There is no good or bad to the practicing Stoic. There is only perception, which you control. • Take the view from above; practi...
Jun 16, 2020•31 min•Season 1Ep. 5
Hosted on Spotify for Creators (Anchor)
For the best experience, listen in Metacast app for iOS or Android