Courage to Be Courageous

Jalene Murphy overcomes life's obstacles, mental health, the stigma of divorce, pervasive perfectionism and shame and guilt from the Catholic Church to find her authentic self. After a deep discovery, of who she is, she divorced her husband, who was her best friend because she knew she was gay/lesbian. This podcast will talk about sexual affirmation, self love, and the power of courage and inner strength. Jalene wrote a book called "Modern Day Courage" which is essential reading for anyone, wishing to discover self. Doing so requires work – hard work -but the reward is inner peace. Jalene shares with emotion and tears the courage that she's had to be her authentic self and live the best life she can live.

Ralph Kellog was an only child raised by a single mom who was emotional and physical abusive to him. He knew at four years old he was different ;he liked playing with dolls, didn't fit in with the other boys, was bullied at grade school and middle school, and would run home to hide. He had no one that he could talk to about who he was, and he learned not to fully trust adults .In high school he met a good friend named Tommy where they met in ROTC .Tommy supported Ralph and new that he was gay . They became good friends. However, when they went out to a lake with friends and boated to a small island, Tommy ended up drowning. Even though Tommy was straight he was the love of Ralph's life. Ralph not trusting adults was accelerated when he was outed at work by his boss. Ralph received his MBA at Bellview University in Nebraska, and received another Masters Degree in Conflict Negotiations and Dispute Resolution . Ralph is the HR Director for Lutheran Family Services which has been around over 100 years and are leaders in adoption and behavioral health . Regardless of what Ralph went through he teaches us empathy and forgiveness.

Larry Smith is our guest from Toronto, Ontario Canada. He has a BFA in Drama (Acting and Directing). He was the son of an evangelical minister of the Church of Christ . The church was very restrictive., no alcohol, no dancing and took the literal word.of God in the Bible fundamentally. Larry knew that he was different. He's always like speech and drama,love the fine arts , wanted to be an actor and felt as an alien with other men. He suffered depression, and eventually married a woman to have a beautiful daughter Genna as he has always wanted children . After attending a seminar, which is about letting down your walls, he knew he had to be open and honest and express who he authentically was which led to a divorce . Larry makes some powerful comments about "Don't let the ideology of your childhood be the ideology of your life, change is constant ". Also, "Being your authentic self is enough just be present and that is enough." Please check out this powerful podcast.

Andy Vaughn is the president of Alliant University which is headquartered in San Diego, and has six campuses. They are the leading university training license clinical psychologists in the United States. They also opened a nursing division in training individuals to get a degree in nursing. He started in his earlier years in radio broadcasting ; broadcasting sporting events, and eventually news radio in Nebraska before entering higher education. Andy talks about coming out, gay in a very conservative environment in Nebraska, and what it was like to do so .He talks about the tragedy of losing his father who was a great mentor to him to suicide and the powerful lesson it taught him. Andy gives some insight as to accepting ourself as our authentic self and the peace and joy it brings.

Alliant University:

www.alliant.edu

After doing 27 episodes of the podcast "the courage to be courageous" I wanted to do a reflective interview to my Podcasters. It's really a podcast of thankfulness and having a voice for our community and I am so appreciative that I'm able to do this . .I also want to ask those who are my listeners to give me input on what they would like to hear in future podcasts.I also want them to have a voice on my website and on my Podcasts, where they can individually encourage those with your compliments of my guests who have come out with some incredible courageous stories. Tell him how their story has affected your life. As humans we need affirmations and I want to encourage my listeners to give those affirmations on my podcast/website. Our audience is an audience of inclusivity, and I want to hear from all including our heterosexual allies. This is a podcast for humanity.

Jahn Curran was a member of the Mormon church served on a mission. He came out as gay late in life and went through a tumultuous life of coming out as a gay person. He also was a patient of conversion therapy and the damage that it caused giving him PTSD. This story is powerful with elements of sadness and acceptance. He also is battling cancer along with having open heart surgery. I believe you're going to be drawn to Jahn. As his community, let's give him the support that he needs. He was so courageous in telling his story.

Marisa Butler is the Director of development for the Phoenix Theater Company. You're going to find an incredible community at the Phoenix Theater Company . The theater just started their 104th season and are expanding their facilities. In fact, Steven Spielberg showed his first production as a high school senior in the Phoenix Theater, and still considers it to be the start of his movie career. Live theater is for the whole person and we encourage all to embrace live theatre in your community . The Phoenix Theater also provides healing and laughter for the Phoenix, Children's Hospital and other hospitals. Also, they all support hospice of the valley where they help elderly ones to enjoy laughter and connection with the community. One of the reasons that I chose to support this theater is the productions I have seen have been the best with professional actors from all over the world. Their website is wwwphoenixtheartre.com/support. In many cases, you can give funds to the Phoenix Theater and get a charitable deduction

Andrew Suozzo is a marathon runner and completed the New York marathon , the Boston marathon, and the Tucson marathon at the age of 76 and 77 years old. He was number one in his group in all three marathons. This is an incredible podcast which shows the importance of commitment to exercise by running which Andrew pursued . He will also be running the Chicago marathon in October 2023 where he is in the Hall of Fame for the Chicago Marathon. He also received his PHD from the University of Pennsylvania and taught history and later teaching French . Andrew went through the AIDS crisis and he talks about the fear, but also the courage to get through it. This is a dynamic podcast.

David Matheson was formally a member of the Later Day Saints church, and even went on a mission for the church. He got his bachelor,s degree from BYU in counseling. Because he wanted to help people, especially those that were part of the Mormon church he went into counseling, which eventually led to "conversion therapy counseling" . After spending many years, doing conversion therapy counseling, he had to deal with one sobering fact:" he never changed anyone's sexual orientation."He trained under one of the leaders/developers of conversion therapy, and he tells an incredible story even coming out to accept himself as a gay man . You will find this podcast riveting and insightful

Ian Jenkins MD wrote a book called "three dads and a baby". He is in a throuple relationship with Alan Mayfield and Jeremy Hodges. This is a powerful podcast for all three dads wanted to be on the birth certificate and went to court to get this approved. This shows the courage of all three dads in the face of odds to make this happen. They received international recognition from all five continents of the world, and were interviewed on podcasts throughout the world. They have two beautiful children, daughter, piper, and son Parker. This is a fascinating podcast!