In this milestone 50th episode, hosts Denise and Jackie Freed reflect on persistence, the seasonal "grind" of October, and the importance of showing up—both for yourself and for your community.

Denise shares a busy week of travel and inspiration, recounting her trip to Hawaii to celebrate a work anniversary and a powerful evening hearing historian Timothy Snyder speak on "Freedom." She shares Snyder's hopeful yet pragmatic message: there is no single fix for the world's problems, but everyone can "do something," whether it's protesting, donating, or simply paying for credible journalism (like Heather Cox Richardson). She also touches on the "sports grief" of watching beloved Angel City FC players retire, noting how caring about a team is a lesson in loving without control.

Jackie opens up about managing her "melancholy" fall mood with a "Happy Lamp" and a focus on self-care policies. She shares a profound experience volunteering at a food rescue market, where abstract concepts from her grad school classes—like cultural humility and checking internalized bias—became very real challenges in a grocery line.

The mother-daughter duo discusses the vital need for connection to combat loneliness, the power of somatic therapy to release stored trauma, and the ultimate reminder that love is "what we're doing it all for." They conclude by encouraging listeners to revisit their core values and join their growing community.

Key Times:

00:00:49 Celebrating the Episode 50 milestone

00:02:12 The "stressed and depressed" reality of the October grind

00:03:24 Denise’s Hawaii trip: Tree tunnels and environmental observations

00:06:22 Inspiration from Anastasia Soare and Nadia Comaneci at the Oprah event

00:07:41 Takeaways from Timothy Snyder’s talk on "Freedom"

00:11:52 Processing sports grief: Angel City FC retirements

00:17:03 Discussing indigenous rights and Kamehameha Schools

00:19:53 The importance of showing up for community (Sunday Meetings)

00:23:24 Jackie’s "Happy Lamp" and getting "ducks in a row"

00:27:57 Jackie’s volunteering experience: A lesson in cultural humility

00:35:38 Somatic therapy and releasing trauma from the body

00:36:57 "This is what we're doing it all for": It comes back to love

00:43:03 Living life to the best of your ability amidst chaos

00:46:08 Revisiting values: The "Value Sort" exercise

00:50:20 Closing 5-4-3-2-1 gratitude practice

Topics Covered:

1. Celebrating the Episode 50 milestone
2. Combating seasonal depression with "Happy Lamps" and self-care
3. Timothy Snyder’s advice: "Do something" and support real journalism
4. The ethics of sports fandom and processing team changes
5. Indigenous rights and the Kamehameha Schools legal battle
6. Volunteering as a practical application of social justice and cultural humility
7. The importance of physical community vs. online isolation
8. Somatic therapy (releasing trauma from the hips)
9. Revisiting personal values (The Value Sort exercise)
10. The "Universal Mother" taking care of us
11. Closing 5-4-3-2-1 gratitude practice

Join our upcoming meetings: https://forms.gle/4VxnNUnev1RoRJMCA (Zoom meeting on Sunday at 10am PST, the meeting is password-protected so please fill out the form to receive the link and password!)

Follow Us:

1. Follow Jackie: @jackiefreed.la
2. Follow Denise: @denise.freed
3. Follow us on Instagram: @12stepsforeveryone
4. Follow us on TikTok: @12stepsforeveryone