We have multiple voices within us, and it's not always clear even when we're not in a state of depression that we're listening to true self.

Welcome to the one you feed throughout time great thinkers have recognized the importance of the thoughts we have quotes like garbage in garbage out or you are what you think ring true.

And yet for many of us our thoughts don't strengthen or empower us we tend toward negativity self pity jealousy or fear we see what we don't have instead of what we do we think things that hold us back and dampen our spirit.

But it's not just about thinking our actions matter it takes conscious consistent and creative effort to make a life worth living.

This podcast is about how other people keep themselves moving in the right direction how they feed their good wolf.

In the 70s the warehouse took over Chicago nightlife and the clubs DJ would go on to make history.

Frankie may sure that you felt it in your soul.

Learn more about the rise of house music on the history of the world's greatest night clubs a 12 part podcast about the iconic venues and people that revolutionized how we party listen to the history of the world's greatest night clubs on the I heart radio app Apple podcast or wherever you get your podcasts.

Thanks for joining us our guest on this episode is Parker Palmer an author educator and activist who focuses on issues and education community leadership spirituality and social change Parker is the founder and senior partner of the center for courage and renewal.

He's also the author of many books including a hidden wholeness the journey toward an undivided life.

And here's the interview with Parker Palmer.

Hi Parker welcome to the show thank you are good to be with you I'm happy to have you on I've had a chance to explore some of your work particularly in depth over the last week and I think there's a lot that really spoke to me about it and I look forward to getting into some of those details.

Before we do that though let's start like we always do with the parable there's a grandfather who's talking with his grandson and he says in life there are two wolves inside of us that are always a battle.

One is a good wolf which represents things like kindness and bravery and love and the other is a bad wolf which represents things like greed hatred and fear.

And the grandson stops for a second he looks up at his grandfather and he says grandfather which one wins and the grandfather quietly replies the one you feed.

So I'd like to start off by asking you what that parable means to you in your life and in the work that you do.

Well I think it's a fascinating story and I suppose paradoxical reactions to it as you may know paradox is a big word in my vocabulary and we'll probably return to it.

On the one hand I agree completely that we have these contrary forces inside of us the forces of light on the forces of darkness and a lot depends on which one we feed.

I when I first read that parable years ago I thought of Abraham Lincoln's appeal to the better angels of our nature and of course in doing so he was also implying that we have lesser angels in there as well.

So on that level I'm 100% with the parable on another level I wrestle with the implications a little bit in the sense that I think that in the long run human wholeness has a lot to do with with integrating the light and the dark in us rather than trying to overwhelm one with the other.

Rather than trying to imagine that it's possible to drive out the darkness it seems to me that we always live with our with our shadows partly because they're the hardest things for us to see in ourselves we can we can see the shadow in another person quite easily oh he or she is greedy or or resentful or angry or whatever.

But we have a harder time seeing that in ourselves I once defined wholeness as in this way wholeness is not perfection wholeness is about embracing all of what we are and and and acknowledging that our darkness is as important as as our light and sort of holding that in our in our conscious awareness as we go through the day.

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