Carry Confetti

We've all faced choice paralysis or "the paradox of choice" when choosing a Bible and when opening up the Bible to start reading it. Many people have no idea where to start on a book that isn't written like any other book. As we talked about in the last episode, the Bible is a curated library and is the most translated book in all of history. 

So, how do we choose which translation is best for us? Is there a "supreme" English translation? 

How do we read Jewish meditation literature? Are we approaching it in the wrong way? 

And what is the enemy doing to try and stop us from engaging with a book that not only leads us to God but deeply connects us to God? 

We're living in an attention economy and facing a reading recession. In the words of Herbert Simon, "A wealth of information creates a poverty of attention." 

Attention spans are down, reading comprehension is down, all the while AI summaries are on the rise doing all of the brainwork for us. In a world that is becoming biblically illiterate yet relying on sermon soundbites as nourishment for their soul, how do we fight back against the enemy's tactics?

Start by clicking play on this episode... ;) 

Love,

Darcie

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Books Mentioned: 

• Living By the Book by Howard G. Hendricks and William D. Hendricks
• How to Read a Book by Mortimer J. Adler and Charles Van Doreen 

Episode Mentioned: 

• How 12 Focused Minutes Could Change Your Life: https://open.spotify.com/episode/57czeqlU3GnwFcAIJbVG1s?si=hYjf8o8QT92eWwo5Csj1VA

Connect with me on Instagram: @carryconfetti 

Sign up to Cup of Confetti, my monthly newsletter: https://carryconfetti.kit.com/b58e8ac914

If you'd like to support the podcast or say thank you for a particular episode, you're welcome to buy me a coffee or purchase a poetry print here: https://buymeacoffee.com/carryconfetti

The Bible to me is not simply medicine for the soul or an instruction book for humanity... it's sweeter than honey dripping from a honeycomb. 

The Bible is the best-selling book in all of history with an estimated 5-7 billion copies in print (not including all of the app downloads for a digital Bible), and it's the book that changed my life. And continues to every time I read it.

It's the book that starts to read me the longer I sit with the author.

As I start this new series on how to read the Bible, I ask that you approach it with teachability and the willingness to weigh and consider why this book holds the Guinness World Record for best-selling non-fiction book of all time, why it's the most-translated book in all of history, and why people have died for publishing and distributing it.

In the words of Francis Bacon in regards to reading any book, “Read not to contradict and confute; nor to believe and take for granted; nor to find talk and discourse; but to weigh and consider.” 

So, I invite you to weigh and consider the Holy Bible. 

Over the next several episodes, I want to answer these questions for you: 

• Why should I read the Bible? 
• How should I read the Bible? 
• What’s stopping me from reading it in that way? 
• Which Bible should I read? 
• How do I read it for understanding and not just knowledge? 
• How is my brain designed to take in information and retain it? 
• How has God wired me to learn? 
• What are the different levels of reading and which level am I at? 
• What are the different styles of writing in the Bible and do I need to read them differently? 
• How do I understand the parts and how they’re connected to the whole overarching story? 
• How can I move from seeing the Bible as nasty tasting medicine or dry Weetbix and actually (metaphorically) taste honey as I read it?

This is what I wish someone would have taught me when I was young, so sit with me as I now teach you. 

Love,

Darcie

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Books Mentioned: 

• Living By the Book by Howard G. Hendricks and William D. Hendricks
• How to Read a Book by Mortimer J. Adler and Charles Van Doreen 

Connect with me on Instagram: @carryconfetti 

Sign up to Cup of Confetti, my monthly newsletter: https://carryconfetti.kit.com/b58e8ac914

If you'd like to support the podcast or say thank you for a particular episode, you're welcome to buy me a coffee or purchase a poetry print here: https://buymeacoffee.com/carryconfetti

Life can be hard and the days can be stressful... and on the hard days, we often look for a quick hit of dopamine that never leaves us feeling truly satisfied, replenished, or rested.

What we really need is a dose of delight.

In this episode, I'll explore a few findings in some books mentioned below, as well as highlight to you a certain verse in the Bible I've been meditating on lately that lines up with what researchers are now trying to tell us our brains and our souls need. 

Yet again... God already told us what to do! But we're not very good at listening when the world presents other options that are increasingly enticing.

So, whether it's a good day or a stressful day, hit play and see what chasing delight could do for your life.

Love,

Darcie

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Books Mentioned: 

• How to Make Your Brain Your Best Friend by Rachel Barr
• Stress Resets by Jennifer L. Taitz

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Episodes Mentioned: 

• The Problem: You've Been Sold the Lie of Fake Fun - https://www.buzzsprout.com/2431016/episodes/18799014
• The Solution: Reset Your Life with a Fun Audit - https://www.buzzsprout.com/2431016/episodes/18847286

Connect with me on Instagram: @carryconfetti 

Sign up to Cup of Confetti, my monthly newsletter: https://carryconfetti.kit.com/b58e8ac914

If you'd like to support the podcast or say thank you for a particular episode, you're welcome to buy me a coffee or purchase a poetry print here: https://buymeacoffee.com/carryconfetti

Stress can ruin a day, overwhelm a mind, and stir up turmoil in your body. But you don't have to let it be the boss of your brain. You weren't created to live in a constant state of stress and worry. In fact, God ordained rest for humanity, because he knew our bodies and our brains would need that break regularly.

So, how do we intercept stress before it turns into full-blown anxiety? 

How do we discover and define a solution when the problem feels so heavy? 

How can I reframe feelings of stress in my mind to be fuel for a positive challenge in life? 

I'll answer all of that and more in this episode :) 

Join me on Instagram to visually see some daily stress resets that you can try over the next 15 days. 

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Book Mentioned: "Stress Resets: How to Soothe Your Body and Mind in Minutes" by Jennifer L. Taitz

Episodes Mentioned: 

• How Feasts, Festivals, and Freudenfreude Invite You to Celebrate: https://www.buzzsprout.com/2431016/episodes/17255863
• The Rhythm of Repetition: https://www.buzzsprout.com/2431016/episodes/17561748
• The 7 Types of Rest You Need: https://www.buzzsprout.com/2431016/episodes/17597304
• The Simplicity of the Sabbath: https://www.buzzsprout.com/2431016/episodes/17634002

Connect with me on Instagram: @carryconfetti 

Sign up to Cup of Confetti, my monthly newsletter: https://carryconfetti.kit.com/b58e8ac914

If you'd like to support the podcast or say thank you for a particular episode, you're welcome to buy me a coffee or purchase a poetry print here: https://buymeacoffee.com/carryconfetti

This simple 20-minute activity has been proven through research to be highly influential in a person's long term success and overall happiness and satisfaction after they've faced loss, trauma, or any form of hardship. Of all that my counsellor and I talked through, this ONE piece of homework was game changer for me. It's honestly like therapy when you sit down and do it authentically with God's help.

So, let's talk about it.

We've been chatting about mental health and taking toxic thoughts captive through a range of episodes. Today, let's finish it off with with one of my favourite Confetti Recipes that truly will result in renewed perspective, freedom from the internal chatterbox, and longterm positive change in your mind.

God bless y'all!

Darcie

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Book Mentioned: Emotional Agility by Susan David

Connect with me on Instagram: @carryconfetti 

Sign up to Cup of Confetti, my monthly newsletter: https://carryconfetti.kit.com/b58e8ac914

If you'd like to support the podcast or say thank you for a particular episode, you're welcome to buy me a coffee or purchase a poetry print here: https://buymeacoffee.com/carryconfetti

How is it that some people who have faced the most horrific events in life can still find it possible to live with joy, delight, and hope for a brighter future? How do Holocaust survivors go from simply surviving to thriving well into their 90s? How do people who once struggled with depression and anxiety turn a corner towards hope and wholeness? 

Well, the state of your mind is connected to the state of your immunity.

The condition of the roots in your mind determine the condition of the fruit you produce in your life. If there's any form of misbelief based on past experiences, it will lead to misalignment with the current reality. And that sadly leads to many missed opportunities to experience the delight that can be found every day. Yes, there is delight to be found even on the hardest days.

But it all comes down to who and what you agree with.

God bless,
Darcie

Connect with me on Instagram: @carryconfetti 

Sign up to Cup of Confetti, my monthly newsletter: https://carryconfetti.kit.com/b58e8ac914

If you'd like to support the podcast or say thank you for a particular episode, you're welcome to buy me a coffee or purchase a poetry print here: https://buymeacoffee.com/carryconfetti

Are you the type to say "I'm fine" even when you're very much not fine? Or are you the type to keep the conversation of your emotional vent going by saying "just let me say one more thing and then I'm done"?

Today, we're talking about two toxic things we tend to do with our emotions: bottle and brood.

Toxic thoughts can lead to toxic emotions, so let's talk about how we can better learn to navigate our emotions. Let's discover how to believe the best in everyone and in every situation, with God's help.

Love,

Darcie (a previous bottler) 

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Books Mentioned: 

• Switch On Your Brain by Caroline Leaf 
• Emotional Agility by Susan David
• Telling Yourself the Truth by William Backus & Marie Chapian

Connect with me on Instagram: @carryconfetti 

Sign up to Cup of Confetti, my monthly newsletter: https://carryconfetti.kit.com/b58e8ac914

If you'd like to support the podcast or say thank you for a particular episode, you're welcome to buy me a coffee or purchase a poetry print here: https://buymeacoffee.com/carryconfetti

Rumination can trick us into thinking we're actively trying to solve a problem by thinking about it so much, when really we're stuck in a negative loop that is harming our brains.

It happens to the best of us, and this episode will reveal the four most common hooks of rumination (I bet you can relate to at least 1 but probably all 4 at some point in your life). 

If we want to work towards focusing on all that Philippians 4:8 tells us to focus on, then we have to be able to identify when our minds are leaping elsewhere in order to reign those thoughts back in and take them captive.

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Book mentioned: Emotional Agility by Susan David

Connect with me on Instagram: @carryconfetti 

Sign up to Cup of Confetti, my monthly newsletter: https://carryconfetti.kit.com/b58e8ac914

If you'd like to support the podcast or say thank you for a particular episode, you're welcome to buy me a coffee or purchase a poetry print here: https://buymeacoffee.com/carryconfetti

In this episode, we explore the powerful influence of the internal narrator we all have... and it's a narrator that can't always be trusted. Although we don't intend to, our brain can come into alignment with a lie and if it gets repeated enough, we then believe it to be true (even when it's not). We can come into alignment with harmful narratives that were handed to us from previous generations, spoken over us at some point in our lives, or perhaps shaped by negative experiences where our emotions took the reins and still refuse to let go.

Too easily, the internal chatterbox gets us hooked into toxic thinking that doesn't help us or our future. 

So, let's change the narrative. One intentional thought at a time.

Books mentioned in this week's episode: 

• Emotional Agility by Susan David
• Switch On Your Brain by Dr. Caroline Leaf 

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Ladies that are 13+ years old are also invited to Replenish Women's Conference at my local church, Elim Christian Centre Papakura! Tickets are $45 and it's on 12-13 June (Friday night + all day Saturday). Would love for you to join us!

https://brushfire.com/elim/papakurareplenish2026/630367/tickets

Connect with me on Instagram: @carryconfetti 

Sign up to Cup of Confetti, my monthly newsletter: https://carryconfetti.kit.com/b58e8ac914

If you'd like to support the podcast or say thank you for a particular episode, you're welcome to buy me a coffee or purchase a poetry print here: https://buymeacoffee.com/carryconfetti

Do your genes control you or do you have the power to impact your DNA in a positive way? Let’s explore the science of epigenetics and the scriptures that command us to take our thoughts captive.

Why should we and how do we?

We’re kicking off a new conversation on the podcast to better understand how the Bible applies to our brains in a really powerful way. Over the coming weeks, let's talk about toxic thinking, rumination, misaligned minds, misbelief theory, stress, multitasking, and the power of delight.

You can make your brain work better for you, and I'm gonna tell you how. 

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Mentioned Book: ’Switch On Your Brain’ by Dr. Caroline Leaf

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Mentioned Episodes: 

‘How 12 Focused Minutes Could Change Your Life | Ep. 7’: https://www.buzzsprout.com/2431016/episodes/16716999

‘How Understanding God as Compassionate Changes the Way You Pray | Ep. 8’: https://www.buzzsprout.com/2431016/episodes/16778032

Connect with me on Instagram: @carryconfetti 

Sign up to Cup of Confetti, my monthly newsletter: https://carryconfetti.kit.com/b58e8ac914

If you'd like to support the podcast or say thank you for a particular episode, you're welcome to buy me a coffee or purchase a poetry print here: https://buymeacoffee.com/carryconfetti