A Podcast by Any Other Name …

What’s in a name?

My pet rabbit’s name is Honey Bunny. Yes, I know, that’s kind of like naming a restaurant “Restaurant,” or titling a book, “Story.” I generally explain that my daughter gave the bunny that pragmatic moniker; I’d have given her a more creative name. Or so I claim.

After all, I recently started a podcast, and given the opportunity to name a new entity I came up with something quite utilitarian. My program about dreams and dreamwork is called: DreamWork.

You see, I’ve come around to the idea of choosing a descriptive name. Our rabbit is indeed a honey of a bunny. Her name fits. As for the title of my podcast, I wanted to let people know right from the outset that dreams work. While many people write dreams off as bizarre or useless, many others mine their dreams for ideas for songs, stories, books, businesses, scientific innovation and invention. Dreams do work. So the title DreamWork fits for my series of interviews and lessons on how dreaming is useful in the lives of artists, musicians, publishers, and more. If you give them a chance, your dreams can do some heavy lifting for you, too.

So, I stand by my decision to give my podcast about the magical world of dreams a straightforward, no-nonsense title.

I invite you to take a listen. And if you like what you hear, please leave a rating or review on iTunes.

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(My daughter’s name, by the way is Miranda, which means: Wonderful, worthy of admiration, and miraculous. And I must say, the name suits her quite nicely.)

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My first guest on DreamWork is my fabulous friend, the author Lesléa Newman. You can listen to our conversation here:

How to Find Inspiration in Your Dreams: An Interview with Author Leslea Newman

Lesléa Newman is the author of 65 books for readers of all ages including the poetry collections, Still Life with Buddy, Nobody’s Mother, and Signs of Love. In 2012, her novel-in-verse, October Mourning: A Song for Matthew Shepard, received a Stonewall Honor from the American Library Association and was named a “Must Read” title by the Massachusetts Center for the Book. Ms. Newman has won many literary awards including poetry fellowships from the National Endowment for the Arts and the Massachusetts Artists Foundation; the Burning Bush Poetry Prize; and second place runner-up in the Solstice Literary Journal poetry competition. Her poetry has been published in Spoon River Poetry Review, Cimarron Review, Columbia: A Journal of Literature and Art, Evergreen Chronicles, Harvard Gay and Lesbian Review, Lilith Magazine, Kalliope, The Sun, Bark Magazine, Sow’s Ear Poetry Review,  Seventeen Magazine and others. Nine of her books have been Lambda Literary Award Finalists. From 2008-2010 she served as the poet laureate of Northampton, Massachusetts. Currently she is a faculty member of Spalding University’s brief-residency MFA in Writing program. Her newest poetry collection, I Carry My Mother will be published in January 2015 by Headmistress Press. Visit her website at www.lesleanewman.com