What is a Good Life?

On the 44th episode of the What is a Good Life? podcast, I am delighted to welcome Danielle Donnelly Smyth as our guest. Danielle is an astrologer, yoga and meditation guide, energy healing practitioner and teacher, and served as one of my early guides in exploring spirituality.

In this episode, Danielle shares her journey of living a connected life—whether it’s bridging her dreaming and waking worlds, the conscious with the sub-conscious, or connecting and navigating enlightened moments and the mundane aspects of life. She also discusses the importance of cultivating consciousness within her life, while acknowledging the challenges and struggles that may entail.

Our conversation delves into spiritual and existential meanderings, exploring questions about the purpose of existence, acceptance within not finding answers, the role of suffering in awakening, the sense of separation presently in the world, and the significance of astrology in mapping and making sense of her own interpretation of life.

If you’re eager to explore consciousness and ponder the meaning of existence without being explicitly provided with answers, this conversation is for you. While the breadth of topics, tools, and experiences covered will offer you ample material for contemplation on how you can interpret existence and your own good life.

Subscribe for weekly episodes, every Tuesday, and check out my YouTube channel (link below) for clips and shorts.

Contact me at mark@whatisagood.life to book a free consultation (30 minutes) for one-on-one coaching programs or to hear about corporate workshops I am offering around this question.

Running Order:

03:46 What is the purpose of experiencing life?

06:41 Weaving and connecting experiences and poles

12:46 Finding acceptance within the questioning

18:11 Fractals of consciousness finding ourselves

25:10 The role of suffering in our awakening

35:48 An introduction to Astrology

50:47 Facing challenges to express more consciousness

59:44 Summary of key themes in the conversation

1:01:46 What is a good life for Danielle?


For further content and information check out the following: 

- For the 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/

- Danielle's Website: https://12thspace.com/

- Danielle's Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/12thspace/

What is What is a Good Life??

Over the last three years I've interviewed over 250 people around the question of "what is a good life?". I am not trying to find or prescribe universal answers to this question, instead to prompt your own inquiry into what constitutes a good life for you. While I am also trying to share more genuine expressions of the human experience, beyond the masks that we wear.