Skipping School: Gail Harris, Carey Corr, and Colin Smith

Fifty-third Episode: The three people who share this episode with me also share an every-Thursday-morning experience on Zoom called The Friendship Bench. Those gatherings, which typically attract between 20 and 30 people, feature a rotation of hosts, each of whom will introduce a topic, say a few words about it, pose a question or two related to it, then send two or more of us into breakout rooms to discuss what’s been posed before rejoining the larger group after anywhere from 10 to 20 minutes. On a recent Bench, I was assigned to a breakout room with Gail, Carey, and Colin.

After a few minutes, Gail said, “Why don’t the four of us stay here and talk and not go back to the big group?”

I called that skipping school. And here we are.

Gail is a certified ghostwriter specializing in women’s memoirs and an IPNE Book Award Finalist for the memoir, Finding Zoe. She collaborates with women who’ve risen above life’s challenges and are ready to share their journeys. Gail reveres the cathartic nature of storytelling — for the authors and for those who read their stories — because the healing is universal. She finds the gold in an author’s story or what sets it apart from other stories to make it marketable. Gail is also the author of the self-help book, Your Heart Knows the Answer. Her company is Golden Ghostwriting.

Carey creates narrative films that engage, entertain, enlighten, and connect with others who share the goal of using the power of film to move humanity forward. An experienced writer and director with a long history in the entertainment industry, he’s skilled in music videos, feature films, documentaries, and independent film. He has a bachelor’s degree in Film/Cinema/Video Studies from UC Irvine. His website is here.

Colin, affectionately known as The Listener, has an innate ability to deeply listen. His intention is to help as many people as possible become one percent better at listening, rather than trying to improve one person by 100 percent. Though we’re increasingly connected digitally, loneliness, suicide, and mental health issues, continue to rise because fewer people feel truly heard or valued. We seek to know we matter, to belong, to be able to share our thoughts and feelings without fear, and to know our contributions are valued. Colin has more than 20 years of experience facilitating, coaching, and guiding conversations. His company is Dexterity Solutions.

Please join us for some engaging conversation and some respectful listening.

Video Version: https://www.youtube.com/live/s1n-9mH6Lso?si=JcZJs3--3jU6M91O

Learn more about Mark here:

https://www.youtube.com/channel/UC4cXoftnMYJ7bREYG-K9eng

https://www.linkedin.com/company/the-anxious-voyage/about/?viewAsMember=true

https://www.facebook.com/profile.php?id=100095313165139

https://www.linkedin.com/in/markobrien/
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