In this episode of Curiosity Over Fear, Sharmaine reflects on her first pottery class and the unexpected life lessons she learned while working with clay. What began as a simple creative activity quickly turned into a deeper exploration of perfectionism, control, impatience, and the fear of failure.

Through stories from class, reflections on the creative process, and the famous pottery experiment from the book Art & Fear by David Bayles and Ted Orland, this episode explores why growth rarely comes from obsessing over getting things “right” and why real mastery often comes through experimentation, mistakes, and participation.

This conversation dives into:

• perfectionism and overthinking

• fear disguised as productivity

• learning to collaborate with the process instead of controlling it

• curiosity as a tool for growth and self-awareness

• why being willing to be a beginner matters

Sometimes growth doesn’t come from trying to create the perfect outcome.

Sometimes it begins the moment we’re willing to touch the clay.

Mindful Curiosity Journal link here

More people are quietly admitting they feel more understood by AI than by the people in their lives. This episode sits with that confession and asks what it actually reveals about us... not about the technology.

Sharmaine gets honest about being in the gap between who she said she'd be and who she's actually showing up as right now. If you've ever felt like you're not making progress, this one's for you.

https://www.instagram.com/p/DXcJYwiEdZE/?utm_source=ig_web_copy_link&igsh=MzRlODBiNWFlZA==

You've been showing up for everyone and everything. Your job, your responsibilities, your to-do list. But when's the last time you actually showed up for yourself? In this episode, I'm getting honest about what it looks like when self-responsibility quietly slips through the cracks, and what I'm doing about it. We're talking 90 days, blank pages, and the question that's been sitting with me lately. What if you actually chose yourself?

A girls' night conversation about Joe Rogan turned into an uncomfortable mirror moment. This episode is about responsibility, platforms, and the audacity it takes to show up when people don't think you should.

A simple question changes everything:
What are you grateful for?

In this episode, Sharmaine explores how gratitude isn’t about getting life right… it’s about becoming someone who’s ready to receive more.

It’s World Kindness Day, so I decided to do something a little different.
Inspired by a whimsical love poem about a sandwich (yes, really) and a friend’s creative story about an upside-down world, I wrote a sonnet — a playful little love letter to kindness itself.

In this episode, we explore how kindness doesn’t have to be perfect, polished, or performative. Sometimes it’s awkward, quiet, or weirdly human — and that’s exactly what makes it powerful.
So join me for something lighthearted with a deeper bite: a reminder that real kindness often begins with curiosity.

Last time, we explored why we wear emotional masks and how curiosity helps us begin to lift them.
In this follow-up episode, Sharmaine unpacks what happens next — when curiosity turns into vulnerability.
Drawing from Brené Brown, Carl Rogers, and self-compassion research, she explores why showing our true selves feels so risky, how the “beautiful mess effect” reframes vulnerability as strength, and why acceptance — not self-criticism — is what leads to real change.

A Halloween-season reflection on fear, curiosity, and the courage to be real.

This Halloween season, Curiosity Over Fear explores the real masks we wear — the ones that hide our insecurities, fears, and needs. In part one of this two-part series, Sharmaine unpacks why we hide, how early conditioning shapes our emotional armor, and how curiosity can transform self-judgment into compassion. Featuring insights from Brené Brown, Carl Rogers, and neuroscience research, this episode is a gentle guide to understanding yourself beneath the masks.

October is Filipino American History Month — but how much of that history were we actually taught?

In this episode, Sharmaine unpacks the forgotten stories of the first Filipinos in America, the roots of migration, and how colonial history still shapes our identity today.

Through curiosity and reflection, she explores what it really means to be Filipino American — and why reclaiming our history matters more than ever.