Catie Glynn started off as a mentor of mine, but I quickly recognized in her a friend and fellow performer whose work and spirit I respect a great deal. Based in the picturesque little art town of Lanesboro, Minnesota, Catie shares the story of The Root River Anthology, a play she originally began writing for the stage in memory of her father, and adapted as a lyrical, musical, whimsical radio play in response to the pandemic lockdown. It was recorded rather creatively in closets and on iPhones, and the Commonweal Theatre Company Resident ensemble and the members of Catie's theater company, A.R.T. (Audacious Raw Theater) are the featured voices. The music is by composer Eric Carranza. We flex and flow in our conversation, meandering through metaphorical waters both calm and turbulent, finding moments of delicate and profound wisdom along the way. I hope you'll feel as restored as I did listening to this conversation here on The Rayna Sense.

My guest today is Eric Carranza, a gifted musician, artist and educator based in the Lowertown district of St Paul, Minneapolis. In our conversation, he reveals how his ancestral language of Spanish poured forth somewhat spontaneously in him as he was writing a recent piece of music for his project Root River Vibes, even though he barely spoke it before. We allow the moment to take us where it will, dancing and flowing with subjects including spontaneity and improvisation in art, and how we might all do well with being in the present, and having a little more looseness in life. It's all coming up right here on The Rayna Sense.

I meet a LOT of people in my life. Several of them tend to be eccentric, offbeat, apart from the mainstream. Some of them are also creative, musical, funny, artistic, wise and deep. But few of them have grabbed my attention right off the bat, from the get-go, as immediately and undoubtedly as my guest today. Calling in from Ahmedabad, the capital city of the state of Gujarat in India, Shraddha Hattangady Mehta is a versatile, sensitive singer with emotional awareness, spiritual depth, and strength of character that blows my mind. She's open, honest, blunt and bold -- my kind of woman -- and, I'm guessing, yours too. This podcast is the first time we've ever spoken and the experience for me was profound as I learned about how she's navigated life's breaks and blows with grace, humor, wisdom, self-acceptance and gratitude. Without further ado, here's the conversation you didn't know you were dying to hear. Featuring the song "Rangi Sari Gulabi Chunariya," an ode to a beloved pink sari sung by Shraddha in the dadra style, a light vocal form of Hindustani classical music.