Note: We've decided to take a pause on the topic of romantasy, but we may come back to it down the road :)

In this special episode, we are sharing our recent webinar with Daev Finn, an artist, psychotherapist, and Sheryl's loving husband. 

After years working as a visual effects artist, Daev realized it was time for a change, and he made the transition to become a psychotherapist. Here, he reflects on the personal demons and dreams that pulled him from and to this path, the influence of art and myth on this work, and the process of unlearning much of what he was taught about what it means to be a man. 

You can find out more about Daev's work at his website and contact him by email at [email protected]

References:

Psychology & Myth

Jung & the collective unconscious

The Hero’s Journey – Joseph Campbell

Daev's Writing

Films

Music

Related Gathering Gold and Perennials Episodes

Fairy Tales by the Fireside

Join us on Patreon for bonus content and virtual gatherings: patreon.com/gatheringgold

Some of our recent bonus episodes include:

Victoria's Psychotropic Experience | The Slipstream of Time | Give and Receiving - Shudder - Feedback | The Problem with Pedestals | Are Intrusive Thoughts like Stray Cats?

"Be glad of your human heart....Pity those who don't feel anything at all.”

What if the meteoric rise of the romantasy genre isn’t about fae courts and dragon riders—but about our deepest and most human longings?

Romantasy has taken the publishing world by storm. While some dismiss these stories as escapist fantasy, we believe their deeper power lies in how they illuminate the human heart.

In this series on the alchemy of romantasy, we explore the mythic and psychological currents running through books like A Court of Thorns and Roses and Fourth Wing. Through the lenses of Jung and the Hero’s (and Heroine's) Journey, we examine the desire to individuate, to be truly seen, to claim inner sovereignty, to find belonging, security, and freedom—and to join with a soulmate who honors the self we are becoming.

Join us as we ask why these stories resonate so profoundly right now, and what they reveal about who we are.

References:

Books & Series

A Court of Thorns and Roses and A Court of Mist and Fury – Sarah J. Maas

Fourth Wing – Rebecca Yarros

Psychology & Myth

Enneagram 4 type

Jung & the collective unconscious

The Hero’s Journey – Joseph Campbell

Pop Culture

Moana

Frozen

Related Gathering Gold Episodes

Escape Hatch Fantasies

What Could Have Been

You Do Not Have to Be Good

Bonus: Books that Changed Us

Join us on Patreon for bonus content and virtual gatherings: patreon.com/gatheringgold

Some of our recent bonus episodes include:

What Sheryl Forgot and Victoria's Experiment | The Slipstream of Time | Give and Receiving - Shudder - Feedback | The Problem with Pedestals | Are Intrusive Thoughts like Stray Cats?

In today's episode, we dip a toe into the icy waters of body shame: the waters that take our breath away, that make us run for cover.

How do we anchor our bodies in the warmth of true safety, of acceptance that frees us to open up to life and all it has to offer?

Sheryl explores themes of body shame, body love, and so much more in her course Sacred Sexuality. Registration for the next round closes on January 31st, and listeners of podcast can get a 10% discount with the code BodyLove-GG. Members of our Patreon community can find a code for 20% off over at our Patreon page.

In this month of January, the beginning of the New Year, some of us may be looking at our current habits and patterns, returning to practices that have fallen away, reinvigorating activities that have lost luster, and exploring new ways of caring for and connecting with our selves. Journaling might be one of those practices that you are thinking about engaging with -- or perhaps feel like you should do, but don't really want to.

In today's episode, lifelong daily journaler Sheryl and never-journaler Victoria talk about the intentions and mindsets behind healthy, helpful journaling; the pitfalls of perfectionism; why Sheryl doesn't use a special, "beautiful" notebook for journaling; and two particular methods that Sheryl suggests for effective, supportive journaling. 

References:

As Sheryl and Victoria lean into the rhythm of the holiday season, resting and connecting with family at the end of the year, we invite you to return to our most-listened to episode of 2025.

* * *

“Energy moves in waves. Waves move in patterns. Patterns move in rhythms. A human being is just that, energy, waves, patterns, rhythms. Nothing more. Nothing less. A dance.” --Gabrielle. Roth

Our heartbeat. Our breath. Our steps along the sidewalk. Our life happens in rhythms--breath by breath, heartbeat by heartbeat, step by step. We move in and out of seasons, feel a shift in tempo as our energy levels ebb and flow, fall into connection and disconnection with those around us. 

In today's episode, we are exploring what it means to "live in the rhythm" of life, why it can be so hard in our contemporary culture, and how turning towards the natural world can invite us back into a dance that is humane and enlivening. 

References:

In this solo episode, Sheryl explores the potency of the present moment. With personal reflections and poetry, Sheryl illuminates how much depends upon noticing, holding, and imprinting in our soul the extraordinary mystery, love, joy, and pain in the moments we wish we could extend for a bit longer, live over again, remember all of our days.

References:

At this time of year, it can start to feel like time is speeding up.

The holidays are here already? It's almost the end of 2025? Didn't the year just begin?!

In a culture that begins celebrating Christmas before trick-or-treaters have even begun knocking on doors, this sense of rush and speed is amplified at every turn.

In today's episode, we are exploring the question: how do we slow down time? How do we shift our relationship to time, enter into deeper presence and flow, and savor all that we have--the present moment?

References:

In today's episode, Sheryl and Victoria unpack an idea explored in Sheryl's upcoming course Open Your Heart: A 30-Day Course to Feel More Love and Attraction for Your Partner: a pattern of criticizing and micromanaging your partner is a surefire way to close your heart and add bricks to a wall between you.

Sheryl and Victoria name the historical, cultural, and societal influences behind the word "nag" or "nagging," which cannot be uncoupled from patriarchy and capitalism, then circle back to this question: when we are with a loving partner who is doing their best and trying to meet us halfway, and we still find ourselves quick to nitpick, criticize, and attempt to control them, how can we regain intentionality and find spaciousness to chart a healthier path forward? 

References:

**Today, we are practicing what we preach: slowing down and giving ourselves a little break by re-airing this episode from last year. We hope you enjoy, and we are sending you well wishes for rest, rejuvenation, and tending to your own rhythms and self-care in this season of rooting!**

Meaning making. Connecting to breath. Aligning with nature. So many actions, big and small, can help us dig a little deeper into the soil of time, anchor ourselves against the buffeting winds of change and demands, especially as we shift into a new season.  

We recorded this conversation in front of a live virtual audience of Patreon community members, opening up the second half of the episode for group discussion on the topic of rooting into autumn. 

We are so grateful to the insightful, compassionate members who added their wisdom about steadying ourselves amidst the busy-ness of autumn.

How will you send some energy to your roots today?

References:

Rooted, by Lyanda Lynn Haupt

In today’s episode, we are slowing down and opening our hearts to the beauty and loss abundant in autumn, a season that can so poignantly reflect and hold our own grief. Sheryl shares reflections about the passage of time, her sons growing up, and the passing of her beloved soul cat Tashi. Victoria shares her recent experience of learning about the death of a friend she had lost touch with. 

How do we meet all of the limitless forms of beauty and loss, gratitude and grief? What does autumn have to teach us about what it means to be human in this heartbreaking gift of a world?