ENVISION THIS: A culture in which physical craftsmanship, psychological health, and spiritual awareness go hand-in-hand
Ross Laird is a consultant, teacher, writer and creative artist. Merry fell in love with his deft joining of creative woodworking and spirituality back in 2001 when he published GRAIN OF TRUTH: The Ancient Lessons of Craft. Since then, he has published a companion volume on stone sculpting, A STONE'S THROW: The Enduring Nature of Myth. In this book, he further relates his topic to insights into today's most troubling conflicts.
Ross is now working on LABYRINTH: Addictions and the Search for Healing. He says, "Throughout Labyrinth, addiction is considered as a healthy impulse -- a longing for connection, wonder, vitality -- but an impulse thwarted and redirected, a twist in the bone that prevents the hand from opening." As we read this description, it occurs to us that our whole culture's addiction to wealth, power, and the accumulation of stuff may be just such a misdirected healthy longing.
Ross has just finished working with IDEA learners and colleagues to finalize their core values and goals: Self-awareness, Empathy, and Character. They will use these broad skills and goals to build the courses and learning experiences of our new program in Mentorship and Community Engagement.
Ross is clearly the kind of visionary "man for all seasons" we want our listeners to connect with. He is an alchemist who brings to his work, "my typical blend of psychology, spirituality, and mythology: mixing, distilling, rendering."
The show will air January 8, 2014 at 8:00 pm Eastern Time (unless he says otherwise). While traditional republicans and democrats, liberals and conservatives wish to remain stuck in a sick and deteriorating system, Ross' work breathes a breath of fresh air to those of us who realize that our culture needs to change drastically. 
