All The Wiser

Kimi is joined by Christy and her new puppy, Holly June Miller Peterson, to discuss vulnerability, how powerful it is, and how hard it can be to find courage. Christy opens up about her desire to share more vulnerably as well as her hesitation to do so.

Inspired by Paul Gilmartin's episode last week, Kimi shares her experience with hypomania and discusses whether some symptoms can be viewed as strengths or even gifts. 

In closing, we are reminded that every episode on the pod is ultimately about post traumatic growth and how hard things (and talking about hard things) can lead to positive change. 

Follow the show at @allthewiserpodcast on Instagram.

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Most people don’t change unless they have to. For Paul Gilmartin, it was facing a life without experiencing the intimacy he saw other people had. First he needed to know how to deal with his feelings and then find healthy ways to express them, which he does very openly on his popular podcast, The Mental Illness Happy Hour. But the biggest piece of the puzzle for Paul was facing the childhood trauma he spent 20 years avoiding through therapy, support groups and sobriety.  

Article referenced:

Dr. Alan Rappaport called Co-Narcissism

Book referenced:

A Gentle Path by Patrick J. Carnes

Kimi's episode on All The Wiser

In this episode:

• The complexity of our relationships with people, that there can be so much good and so much darkness…both at the same time.
• The pressures of “doing television” and the compromises that come with it. 
• Choosing to talk about hard things in order to develop trust with people in order for them to bravely meet you.
• The feeling of a life unlived. Sadness, anger, feeling suicidal, having a great life on paper but not being able to feel it.
• Being a cheerleader for people to get help and encouraging them to be transparent and honest.

Stay connected with Paul:

Websites: https://mentalpod.com/

Facebook: The Mental Illness Happy Hour

Instagram: @mentalpod

Charity Donation: ASPCA

Subscribe to All The Wiser  wherever you listen to podcasts - we’re on Apple Podcasts, Spotify, Stitcher, and more! That way you’ll never miss an episode. 

We’d love to hear what you think about the show, too - it helps us know what stories are resonating with you. Head over to Apple Podcasts to write your review!

Stay in the know with all things All The Wiser! Sign up for our newsletter for personal reflections from Kimi, new episodes, and recommendations from our team!

Don't forget to join our new Facebook group to continue the conversation and meet others in our community.

Kimi is smitten with Meyli Chapin, “Terrorist Attack Girl”, and after listening to the interview from last week, Christy is too. Both appreciate Meyli’s authenticity and the raw emotion she brings to her story of terror and healing. It is a rare gift to share pain and hope in equal measure.

Kimi and Christy discuss trauma, both the big and small hardships that impact our health and wellbeing. They wonder whether small-scale, more personal events qualify as trauma, and conclude that trauma is trauma (this is not a competition!). The friends discuss tools to help navigate adversities and Kimi shares an insight from her guests that the retelling of their trauma is often cathartic and a bridge to growth.

Are you interested in thinking more about trauma and your mindset toward adversity? Kimi and Christy suggest reading “The Body Keeps The Score” – bonus, it has beautiful cover art – and a practical workbook called “Choose Growth”, that provides research and strategies for transcending trauma, fear and self-doubt. 

Follow the show at @allthewiserpodcast on Instagram.

Keep the conversation going! Join our new Facebook group and connect with other listeners like you!

Stay in the know with all things All The Wiser! Sign up for our newsletter for personal reflections from Kimi, new episodes, and recommendations from our team!

Meyli Chapin was trapped in a hotel room for 17 hours in Nairobi while Al-Shabaab terrorists attacked the property. She was alone and certain she was going to die. But through the incredible efforts of brave men who fought to recover Meyli and extract her to safety, she survived. However, after the attack, PTSD left her mind shattered. She felt like a fraction of the strong, confident, capable woman she used to be. She thought she was uniquely traumatized and couldn't understand why she was unable to leave her apartment, why she couldn't sleep, and why she wished she had died in the terrorist attack. It was a long, hard road, but eventually Meyli did find the light at the end of the tunnel. She shares her experience of healing from PTSD, as well as thoughts and strategies to help anyone suffering from trauma to find hope and relief.

In this episode:

• The difficultly of living in a region with a constant threat of terrorist activity. 
• Meyli was only scheduled to be in Kenya for 2 days. She was supposed to be leaving the next morning.
• A sleepless night full of panic to the point of heartache.
• Grieving the person you are before the trauma.

Stay connected with Meyli:

Websites: traumabrace.com

Book: Terrorist Attack Girl

Instagram:@meylichapin, @traumabraceapp

Charity Donation: Heroic Hearts Project

Subscribe to All The Wiser  wherever you listen to podcasts - we’re on Apple Podcasts, Spotify, Stitcher, and more! That way you’ll never miss an episode. 

We’d love to hear what you think about the show, too - it helps us know what stories are resonating with you. Head over to Apple Podcasts to write your review!

Stay in the know with all things All The Wiser! Sign up for our newsletter for personal reflections from Kimi, new episodes, and recommendations from our team!

Don't forget to join our new Facebook group to continue the conversation and meet others in our community.

I’m really excited to share with you a special preview from another podcast I love and think you will too. It’s called a Slight Change of Plans from Pushkin Industries. 

In this special preview, civil rights icon Ruby Bridges shares what it was like to be the first African-American student to attend an all-white elementary school in Louisiana in 1960. Ruby was just six years old at the time, and it would be years before she fully appreciated her role in advancing civil rights in America. 

Hear the full episode and more from a Slight Change of Plans here.

Christy gets a fancy microphone, and Kimi looks like she's working at a call center. They go behind the scenes of Pastor Jose Hernandez's interview and explain how he went from being a gang member in Watts to be a beacon of peace and hope.

Kimi and Christy discuss incremental change, or "baby steps," which ultimately lead to personal growth. Kimi shares how she transformed from a workaholic to a "semi-balanced" person. Christy talks about living with postpartum anxiety and how she regained her mental and emotional health incrementally.

The two friends reflect on Pastor Hernandez's faith journey and how religion played a part in his healing. Kimi opens up about her faith and how she feels religion can be misunderstood when it's seen in broad strokes. Both admit they are uncomfortable talking about religion since it can lead to conflict and division. Kimi emphasizes that All The Wiser is a place where "all are welcome" and voices are as varied as the fabric of our country.

Follow the show at @allthewiserpodcast on Instagram.

Keep the conversation going! Join our new Facebook group and connect with other listeners like you!

Stay in the know with all things All The Wiser! Sign up for our newsletter for personal reflections from Kimi, new episodes, and recommendations from our team!

Somewhere after gang life, incarceration and a stint with a Mexican Cartel, Jose Hernandez felt a stirring in his heart, which would eventually lead him towards ministry and a legacy of leadership and healing in Watts, California. But in order to move forward, Jose first had to make peace with his past, including the suffering and pain he caused others. Today, Pastor Jose Hernandez is a role model and father figure to many young boys in Watts, setting a strong example of hope, dedication and the power of personal transformation.

In this episode:

• Jose thought the life of a criminal was his fate and never imagined he would live this long.
• His father abused him and his mother, then abandoned them, which set the tone for a lot of his life.
• His desire to belong, to be part of something bigger, to be protected because of all those things he was lacking.
• Learning the cost of being a member in a gang.
• Becoming the man he vowed he never would be and the journey to his faith.
• His return to Hope Central Watts, becoming a pastor, and the importance of forgiveness.

Stay connected with Jose:

Website: www.hopecentralwatts.com

Facebook: Hope Central Watts

Instagram: @hopecentralwatts

Charity Donation: Hope Central Watts

Subscribe to All The Wiser  wherever you listen to podcasts - we’re on Apple Podcasts, Spotify, Stitcher, and more! That way you’ll never miss an episode. 

We’d love to hear what you think about the show, too - it helps us know what stories are resonating with you. Head over to Apple Podcasts to write your review!

Stay in the know with all things All The Wiser! Sign up for our newsletter for personal reflections from Kimi, new episodes, and recommendations from our team!

Don't forget to join our new Facebook group to continue the conversation and meet others in our community.

In "A Little Wiser", Kimi and Positive Psychology coach Christy Peterson take you behind the scenes of each previous All The Wiser interview and explore how to apply the lessons from our guests to our own lives. 

In our first mini-episode of the new season, Kimi talks about why she was nervous interviewing Amanda Knox and how their conversation about ethical storytelling made her rethink dinner party gossip. Christy examines how stories add entertainment to our often mundane lives and that we often forget there is an (actual) human being behind the stories we consume. Kimi remembers a time in junior high when she discovered that people were gossiping and saying hurtful things about her. The two friends pledge to do better when consuming stories about other people.

Follow the show at @allthewiserpodcast on Instagram.

Keep the conversation going! Join our new Facebook group and connect with other listeners like you!

Stay in the know with all things All The Wiser! Sign up for our newsletter for personal reflections from Kimi, new episodes, and recommendations from our team!

It never occurred to Amanda Knox that she would be looked at as a suspect for the murder of her roommate Meredith Kercher. The police told her she was their star witness. But once the story made international headlines, the investigation quickly turned into a calculated and violent interrogation that left Amanda without a voice and with a wrongful conviction that would change the course of her life forever. Who do our stories belong to? And how can we avoid objectifying the real people at the center of them? 

In this episode:

• How should we think about the stories we are told in the media?
• Who is being helped and who is being harmed by the systems we rely upon for information, and what can we do about it? 
• Amanda’s experience when first moving to Italy.
• The first week of November when Amanda’s life would change forever.
• The news Amanda received that she was the key witness to this case.
• Amanda and her boyfriend’s fight for freedom and justice.
• Three core principles to live by when storytelling.

Stay connected to Amanda:

Website: KnoxRobinson.com

Twitter: @AmandaKnox 

Instagram: @AmamaKnox

Podcast: Labyrinths

Charity Donation: Frederick Douglas Project for Justice

Subscribe to All The Wiser  wherever you listen to podcasts - we’re on Apple Podcasts, Spotify, Stitcher, and more! That way you’ll never miss an episode. 

We’d love to hear what you think about the show, too - it helps us know what stories are resonating with you. Head over to Apple Podcasts to write your review!

Stay in the know with all things All The Wiser! Sign up for our newsletter for personal reflections from Kimi, new episodes, and recommendations from our team!

Don't forget to join our new Facebook group to continue the conversation and meet others in our community.

All The Wiser returns next week with inspiring guests sharing stories of hope and possibility on the other side of pain. Here's a sneak peek of the upcoming season.

You can follow the show @allthewiserpodcast on Instagram.

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Don't forget to join our new Facebook group to continue the conversation and meet others in our community.