What is a Good Life?

On the 143rd episode of What is a Good Life?, I’m delighted to welcome Kimbra. Kimbra is a New Zealand-born songwriter, musician, producer, and adventurous performer. Her 2011 debut, Vows, was certified platinum in Australia and New Zealand. The following year, “Somebody That I Used to Know,” her duet with Gotye, topped Billboard’s Hot 100, became the best-selling song of the year in the U.S., and earned her two Grammy Awards. Since then, she has toured with artists including Beck, David Byrne, and Jacob Collier, and has released four more albums: The Golden Echo, Primal Heart, A Reckoning, and Idols & Vices (Vol. 1). She hosts the podcast Playing With Fire and shares essays, poetry and watercolours on her Substack newsletter.

In this conversation, Kimbra reflects on her ongoing journey to find balance and rest within her life and career as a musician. She speaks about the importance of silence in shaping her artistic expression, the power of surrendering to spirit, and the grounding influence of nature.

This episode is an invitation to embrace the fullness of life — its joy, its suffering, and the many paradoxes in between.

For more of Kimbra's work:
Substack: https://kimbra.substack.com/
Website: https://www.kimbramusic.com/

Contact me at mark@whatisagood.life if you'd like to explore your own lines of self-inquiry through 1-on-1 coaching, my 5-week group courses, or to discuss team coaching to stimulate greater trust, communication, and connection, amongst your leadership teams.

- For the What is a Good Life? podcast's YouTube page: https://www.youtube.com/@whatisagoodlife/videos
- My newsletter: https://www.whatisagood.life/
- My LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/mark-mccartney-14b0161b4/

00:00 How to find balance?
03:00 The experience of burnout
06:30 A silent concert
09:50 HoneyBones and nothing to lose
12:30 The generosity and connection of silence 
16:00 Life, art, and work are not separate
19:30 Receiving a message from spirit
23:30 Being empowered by spirit
29:00 A mystical experience and calling
33:42 We all have a cross
38:50 Making a difference in the world
42:30 The power and role of nature
45:00 Rest, letting go, and liberation
51:15 Summary and what is a good life for Kimbra?

What is What is a Good Life??

Over the last three years, I've interviewed nearly 300 people around the question of "What is a good life?" I am not trying to find or prescribe universal answers to this question; instead, I aim to prompt your own inquiry into what constitutes a good life for you. I am also trying to share more genuine expressions of the human experience, beyond the masks that we wear.