Hey, welcome!
I write about the enduring human spirit via essays, stories, and poetry. This podcast is my way of bringing those pieces to life in audio, so you can listen while you’re on a walk, driving, cooking, or just needing a moment of reflection.
If something here resonates with you, I’d be grateful if you’d subscribe.
Subscribe by searching for Our Future STRONG wherever you get podcasts, at Apple and Spotify.
Thank you for being here. ❤️
Yes, we all have a talent for living fully.
We just forgot we did.
A Speck on the Sahara – Read by Rachana
https://youtu.be/ob4pSskh2pg Want To Listen To The Article Instead? - Sipping Tea In The Sahara One early morning in late December, we set off on a three hour journey from Cairo to Dahshur. As we passed village after village, lush green fields...
That Will Leave a Mark – A Poem Read by Rachana
https://youtu.be/9ByubdjMp-U - Want To Listen To The Article Instead? - That Will Leave a Mark In a locked hotel room, two people are orbiting each other in loaded silence. There is desire, there is restraint, and there is the tyranny of...
Cohesion – A Poem Read by Rachana
https://youtu.be/r8htwM3FEhk - Want To Listen To The Article Instead? - Cohesion {NSFW} This poem is a raw, sensual, and unapologetically erotic poem that celebrates intense, prolonged physical and emotional intimacy between lovers. Stay here with these...
Becoming a Writer: The Night I Found My Voice – An Essay Read by Rachana
https://youtu.be/qm6ygiEOWdc - Want To Listen To The Article Instead? - On Becoming A Writer I have to write great opening lines if I’m going to become the most famous writer in the world. I don’t remember the exact moment I started calling...
The Festival in My Heart: An Essay Read by Rachana
https://youtu.be/U8Cx2Bj6nsQ - Want To Listen To The Article Instead? - To Live Or Not To Live Years ago, I traveled to the Piazza di Spagna in Rome in search of John Keats. Never mind that it was approaching his 100th death anniversary, I simply...
Homesick for the Stars – Read by Rachana
https://youtu.be/AHm4v2h1PhU - Want To Listen To The Article Instead? - Homesick for the Stars This essay is about travel, wanderlust and our perennial need for discovery. I wrote this while staring at a glorious sunset. As the golden hour sky...
Wish I Had Never Met You – A Poem Read by Rachana
https://youtu.be/Q-PfOH9jwLo - Want To Listen To The Article Instead? - Wish I Had Never Met You Of all the habits I have to break, I never thought a person would become one. With you, whatever I resist digs deeper. The weather isn’t...
Arrested By Your Gravity – A Poem Read by Rachana
https://youtu.be/WMdUc3hYSdA - Want To Listen To The Article Instead? - A Philosophical Freefall Into Desire {NSFW} When our orbits first collided, I tried to name the feeling. I rummaged through the library of sensations to understand what I felt...
Don’t Kiss Me. Yet. – A Poem Read by Rachana
https://youtu.be/KkB8hsIK1t8 - Want To Listen To The Article Instead? - I look up.Your mouth of firehovers an inch above mine.In your eyes I see the curve on my backyou were never allowedto memorize with your hands. Read the full poem here. --...
Child Bearers of the World – What Remains – A Poem Read by Rachana
https://youtu.be/4BJSLSTS18g - Want To Listen To The Article Instead? - A mother holds her baby boy close.He had meant a thousand heartbeats.Life inside the womb was longer than on earth.Being still alive is no good than being stillborn....
Why Darkness Can Be a Gift – A Poem Read by Rachana
https://youtu.be/kIYM07fLXZM - Want To Listen To The Article Instead? - And so you sit up straight, wring your hands. But the weight of silence, makes you wonder, Can darkness be a gift? This silence that’s so violent — can it be a...
The Invisible Brandons Hiding in Plain Sight – Read by Rachana
https://youtu.be/m64m4MyMcIM - Want To Listen To The Article Instead? - A Night To Remember I came home and couldn’t go back to bed without cleaning my kitchen countertop with my hands. As I cleaned, I thought of Brandon and how he was a...
On Living Out Loud – Read by Rachana
https://youtu.be/KHnRhdHrQyE - Want To Listen To The Article Instead? - The Actions Of A Free Man Here’s the truth. The things that make us feel alive, laughter that makes our ribs ache, projects that ignite curiosity, connections that fire...
Love Made Me Do It – A Poem Read by Rachana
https://youtu.be/toLd4m-ofRk - Want To Listen To The Article Instead? - As you slip and fall, my thoughts ride along with youatop the death train – La Bestia. A smiling young man you were, one heartbeat ago,the next – a limp body in the overgrown,...
When Home Is Still Here And We Aren’t – A Poem By Rachana
https://youtu.be/PDINhtHzvNI - Want To Listen To The Article Instead? - Unlike refugees, who don’t have a home behind or infront of them, we have a home. But, Will it remember all those mornings that the woodpecker made mating calls from...
If I Die Tomorrow, Let This Be My Final Message to You {Audio}
https://youtu.be/rSxE2YtgbvI - Want To Listen To The Article Instead? - A Love Letter to Living Fully Someone once told me, to them, I feel like an unexplored abundance of everything. I hope you choose to live that way too – full of wonder and...
I’m Mortal – A Poem by Rachana {Audio Podcast}
https://youtu.be/1i_wi9_9Wtc - Want To Listen To The Article Instead? - Read the poem here. --https://futurestrong.org/2023/10/04/im-mortal-a-poem/ and if you would like to read more of my poetry, please visit: --https://futurestrong.org/rachana...
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