We humans have a tough time of it. When everything seems to be going great, it is easy to get swayed, thinking this "honeymoon" will last forever. The same goes when everything seems to suck. In this episode, Carla and Arlaana talk about the Buddhist concept of the Eight Winds: prosperity versus decline; prestige (reputation) versus humiliation; praise versus criticism; and, finally, pleasure versus pain. We examine each of these using examples from our own lives and discuss what we can do to stop getting swayed and influenced by our environment: to be firmly rooted so that we are not toppled by any "wind" that comes along.

In this episode, Carla interviews Chuck Black, former owner and four-star chef of The Gallery Café and Restaurant on Edisto Island, SC (and former owner of Arlaana Restaurant on Daniel Island, SC) and how he achieved what seemed impossible: starting up a restaurant with his wife with hardly any funds, no experience, no formal culinary training, and, most of all, NO KITCHEN. Chuck was able to accomplish the unthinkable: serving four-star meals with just four microwaves and an oven "on an island in the South", proving that sometimes the most challenging circumstances are the best to achieve your dreams.

Where and what is hell? Where and what is Enlightenment? It is all within you, along with the other "eight worlds" that exist simultaneously. The good news is that since they are all inter-connected, you can – at each moment of your life – transform your destiny. No need to "hang out" in hell, hunger, animality and anger, and on it goes. In this episode, Carla and Arlaana discuss this important Buddhist concept, giving examples of each world and how to pull yourself up from the bottom worlds into the higher, happier worlds.

Carla interviews Arlaana about her memoir: A Day in the Next: A Journey from Brooklyn to Buddhism, available on Amazon in three formats. Narrowly escaping death as an infant, Arlaana wrote this memoir to encourage people to live their lives to the fullest, with the message: Nothing is impossible. Raised with a mother who experienced 13 hospitalized nervous breakdowns and a father with pre-dementia at age 40, her book is filled with zany escapades and extreme pathos, as she barely escaped death three more times, ending up in a heroin den in Paris during her four month European adventure at age 19, and barely surviving an attack after a singing gig in New York City.

Arlaana helped start a successful school in New York with fellow SGI Buddhist teachers and was accepted to Columbia University after being laughed at for applying.

In Part 2 of the book, she writes about how she and her talented husband Chuck began two restaurants, the first with no money and no kitchen and got a four-star review in: How to Run a Gourmet Restaurant on Four Microwaves and an Oven on an Island in the South.

And there's lots more stories, including finding out she was pregnant when Chuck thought she was having a heart attack, and then in labor for six days.

Why is it so difficult to trust anyone or anything these days and why is it important for our personal well-being and society's well-being? In this episode, we explore the nature of trust and how to establish healthy boundaries between naivety and healthy relationships, including trusting oneself, each other, and our institutions. We share examples from our own lives and emphasize the importance of commitment and dialogue to establish trust. Tune into this open and honest dialogue where we discuss a topic that seems to be on everyone's minds these days: the trust epidemic.

We are thrilled to interview Gayle Mullins, a consummate quilter who is all about giving back to society. Raised in a small rural community in Ohio, she grew up among Amish families. A retired nurse with the Ceveland Clinic and the Medical University of SC, she learned quilting 40 years ago and now works with an organization that provides magnificent quilts to women recently released from prison, many who are living in their cars and unable to find jobs. She also works with an organization of women who have been scarred by human trafficking. Our interview reveals a woman who uplifts struggling women with her unique talents and explores a craft that has been around since the Civil War and used to tell stories of struggle.

We are all scared of each other! In this episode we discuss every aspect of friendship, the ultimate answer to loneliness. We share why it is important to have one and how to create friendships. A friend is someone you trust and with whom you share your struggles, difficulties and challenges, as well as your victories. A friend is someone you can depend on to be vulnerable and open with; someone who can be brutally honest with us, yet will not judge us, and accept us just as we are. Friendship boosts our happiness and activates our endorphins. We share some unexpected and humorous ways we began long lasting friendships, that started out negatively. We share how to become friends with neighbors, the people physically closest to us. And how sometimes it takes a simple hello to start building the relationship. Friends don't have to agree with us politically, socially or economically. They just need to be able to support and trust us. And don't forget, pets can be best friends too! Finally, we discuss ways to join groups with whom we share common interests.

How can rich kids be poor? We answer that question, using experiences from a well-being counselor of a university where a large percentage of students are from the top 1% wealthy families. They experience drug and alcohol addiction and body dysmorphia to deal with the high level of stress put upon by their parents and society. Many are not allowed to fail and are told what career path they will pursue. These experiences are not the exclusivity of wealthy families. Parents who have not made it out of poverty may put undue stress on their children to succeed where they did not, causing our youth in general to lack training in resilience, as they struggle to establish a sense of identity and self-worth.