We all build fantasies early in life — a web of denial and idealization meant to protect us from painful truths we couldn't yet face. But those same fantasies quietly shrink our world, steering us toward relationships and patterns that reenact the very things we're avoiding. In this episode, host Cynthia Marks welcomes back Dr. Lauren Dolinsky, a Los Angeles psychotherapist who works from the teachings of the late Dr. Bernard Bail, to explore how we can gently lift the veil, return to reality, and finally make room for real love, real connection, and a life that's actually our own.

Guided as always by the dream, Cynthia and Lauren walk through a series of remarkably clear dreams — a veiled ship lost at sea, a fantasy built around "the Rock," a refrigerator cleaned of moldy wine and rotten milk, and more — that show the unconscious doing its quiet work of clearing away what isn't true. Along the way, Cynthia shares her own deeply personal journey of dismantling a fantasy she once mistook for love. The message at the heart of it all: telling yourself the truth is one of the most loving things you can do, and it begins the moment you're willing to look inside.

This is And Now Love. Listen to your dreams and live from your heart. Please follow, rate, and share the podcast, and pass this episode along to someone who might need it.

0:00 — Welcome Back, Dr. Lauren Dolinsky

4:08 — Why We Settle for a Small Life

8:43 — Dream 1: The Veiled Ship

16:09 — The "Perfect Thanksgiving" Trap

21:05 — Dream 2: "The Rock"

25:05 — Cleaning Out the Unconscious

32:52 — A Personal Reckoning

35:08 — Coming Home to Reality

In this episode of *And Now, Love*, Cynthia Marks sits down with artist, father, community organizer, and Sidewalk Project leader Crushow Herring.Crushow’s story is not simply about art. It is about becoming.He speaks openly about growing up between Kansas City and Los Angeles, missing his father, finding expression through drawing, basketball, graffiti, and street culture, and eventually facing the painful reality that the world did not see him the way he had once believed it would.After returning to Los Angeles, Crushow found himself in Skid Row. What began as survival slowly became connection. He started listening to people’s stories, learning why they were there, and seeing the humanity that so many others overlook.Then fatherhood changed everything.Crushow says his son saved his life. Becoming a father gave him a reason to stop surviving the old way and begin living with purpose. That purpose now moves through his art, his murals, The Sidewalk Project, and his work helping communities feel seen, heard, and valued.This conversation explores fatherhood, faith, Skid Row, public art, healing, community, and the choice to live from one’s authentic purpose instead of becoming the statistic the world expected.Listen to your dreams and live from your heart.Topics include:* Fatherhood as transformation* Art as healing* Skid Row as community* The Sidewalk Project* Public murals and cultural memory* Living with purpose* Faith, service, and humanity* Seeing people others overlook* Breaking cycles through love

In this moving episode of And Now Love, Cynthia Marks sits down with Dr. Frank Rogers Jr., professor at Claremont School of Theology and co-founder of the Center for Engaged Compassion, to explore the healing power of radical compassion. Frank defines compassion as being genuinely moved by another’s experience in a way that prompts restorative action—and distinguishes it from empathy, which can become draining “empathic distress” if we stay stuck in the wince. He shares unforgettable stories—especially his grandmother caring for a dying, ostracized man during the AIDS crisis—as an example of what compassion looks like when it’s lived. Frank also reveals his own trauma-to-recovery journey as a sexual abuse survivor, and how learning self-compassion transformed inner chaos, shame, and suicidal impulses into a path of restoration. Together, they discuss the threefold rhythm of compassion—grounding in a sacred source, practicing self-compassion, and extending compassion outward—especially in a polarized world. The conversation closes with practical hope: compassion can be practiced in small moments, and dreams/body signals can guide us toward what the soul is asking to heal.

• 0:00 — What Compassion Is

• 8:16 — The Grandmother Story: Compassion as a way of life

• 16:32 — Practicing micro-compassion

• 24:48 — Trauma & Shame: Frank’s turning point and why compassion changes healing

• 33:04 — The 3-fold rhythm: sacred source, self-compassion, compassion for others

• 41:20 — Polarization & faith splits: “conscious uncoupling” with dignity

• 49:36 — Practical help: seeing yourself differently + finding people who see you

• 57:53 — Closing: dreams/body as signals + where to find Frank’s work