HEARTY (formerly Writing Threads)

Heather's eleven year old daughter, Elsie, joins in for a fun conversation with her mom and Steph, mostly about animals. This is a short one; light-hearted and happy. Just what we all need at the moment. (Don't miss the podcast closing in which Elsie HANDLES IT all on her own.) Disclaimer: At one point Elsie says that our guinea pig Vanny is a "rascal" but it sounds exactly like she says a**hole, which is hilarious. 

This beautiful conversation with death scholar and advocate for death education, Taya Dunn Johnson, can't be missed. We are all affected by the depths of grief in our lifetimes. Come along as Taya walks us through why we feel the way we do, what can help, and much more. 

Taya Dunn Johnson is an author, autism advocate, producer and director.  In 2012, Taya was widowed with a small child at age 35 when her husband died, then 2 years later she lost her father. Taya has become a death scholar and advocate for death education. Her new podcast I Can’t Imagine: Conversations on Death, Grief, and Trauma just launched and she will be having conversations about generational trauma, mental illness, and non-death losses are important, too, and Taya will be talking openly about all of those things.

Quotes from this episode:

"The depth of pain relates back to the efforts to save, and that's part of the problem." - Taya Dunn Johnson

"Guilt serves no one. You have to unravel it." - Taya Dunn Johnson 

"The pain associated (with grief) is directly proportionate to the amount of love for that person." - Taya Dunn Johnson

"Grief comes in many different forms, and it looks different on every person." - Taya Dunn Johnson

Mentioned in this episode:

Where to find Taya Dunn Johnson:

In this 16th episode of Writing Threads, Heather and Steph process grief. After the recent loss of a loved one, Heather shares some of what happened and how it feels. Taya Dunn Johnson was scheduled to be the Writing Threads special guest, but because of technical difficulties, Taya will be on the next episode, talking more about grief and trauma. Her guest spot was scheduled long before Heather and her family's recent loss. What a gift it will be to have Taya respond to today's episode about grief, alcoholism, and letting go. Stay tuned for that one next time. 

#grief #addiction #alcoholism #trauma

Darrin Daniel Ogdahl Obituary

Tender by Heather King

Alcoholics Anonymous

Taya Dunn Johnson: New podcast just launched: I Can’t Imagine: Conversations on Death, Grief, and Trauma

Contact us at [email protected] or any of these other options:

Steph on Instagram: @babysteph

Writing Threads on Instagram: @writingthreadspodcast

Heather on Instagram: @heather_westberg_king

Writing Threads on Facebook

Heather on Facebook

Steph on Facebook

Laugh with us as Steph tells her stories about keeping people in line at the movie theater. Super random and hilarious.

Mentioned in this episode:  

Phish

Top Gun

Brandi Carlile The Gorge 

Lucius 

Sarah MacLachlan

Celisse

Nirasha Kumar

Grace & Frankie

Pete Davidson in Netfilx is a Joke with Neko White 

Story People Brian Andreas 

"You have to do something about it. You can't just wait for it to happen." - Steph

"The wave after wave after wave is not going to stop." - Steph

"A lot of times my kids are what inspires me to change my mindset." - Steph

"By being models of self-denial we hurt our children and ourselves." - Maria Porter Seasons of the Spirit (Meditations for people in Midlife) 

"Grief breeds, it is a living thing." 

In this episode, Steph shares what she's learning about herself and her background after watching a cult documentary. This brings up some pain, more questions, and a great conversation. Join us as we continue to explore what it means to follow the threads through our lives and tell our stories. 

Mentioned in this episode: 

The Deep End on Hulu

Teal Swan

Humans of New York 

Richard Rohr, Falling Upward

Radio Rental - podcast 

Upcoming guests: 

Taya Dunn Johnson - new podcast, I Can't Imagine: Conversations on Death, Grief, and Trauma

Deb Rogers - New book, Florida Woman

Heather and Steph spend a little time catching up on all things reading and streaming, Heather's trip to South Carolina to celebrate her daughter, and an update on her daughter's battle with Lyme disease. Once again, come along for the real talk and honesty. 

Mentioned in this episode: 

The Language of Dying by Sarah Pinborough

Goldenrod by Maggie Smith

We Inherit What The Fires Left by William Evans

The Deep End on Hulu

Heather and Steph talk to the Listen To Your Mother founder and Listen Life Coaching life coach, Ann Imig. Her wise words are a balm while the conversation turns to being ourselves, accepting ourselves and still growing while the world spins with awful things like Uvalde. Ann talks about "acting as if" (you are doing the thing you know you need to do but can't seem to do) until it creates action, and if it doesn't...great news: it will still be good for your well-being and for your work in the world. Topics include but are not limited to: beating ourselves up, the Velveeten Rabbit (complete with a theater fire story in which Steph IS the Velveteen Rabbit), common sense gun regulations--Moms Demand Action, forgiving ourselves, using our voices, and more! (Stay tuned for a bonus clip that was cut from the episode but we couldn't resist sharing. It's filled with laughter. We all need that now.) 

Mentioned in this episode: 

We Can Do Hard Things Episode 99

Moms Demand Action/Every Town for Gun Safety

Amy Turn Sharp

Shirzad Chamine bestselling author of Positive Intelligence 

Trigger Warning: #suicide #mentalillness #rape #sexualassault #suicidalideation #suicidalthinking 

In this episode, Heather and Steph talk with their friend Casey Coombs about her decision to abandon shame and stigma in exchange for treatment and telling the whole truth. Casey leaves on Tuesday, and she recorded with us on Saturday afternoon. This is her second treatment, or "sad camp" as she calls it, and her courage and candor is a balm for those who struggle with their own mental health and and/or addiction, or know someone who does. 

#majordepression #generalizedanxietydisorder #addiction #BPD #CognitiveBehavioralTherapy #DialecticalBehaviorTherapy #alcoholism #shame #resilience #higherpower #recovery #stigma 

Quotes from this episode: 

“If this is part of my story, I’m going to be all in on it.” - Casey Coombs

"I did what felt good, or made me not feel what I didn't want to feel." - Casey Coombs

"I ended up exactly where I needed to be." - Casey Coombs

"Take any kind of mental health diagnosis and any kind of addictive personality and it's fuel on a fire." - Casey Coombs

"It's very important for me to say that addiction is not just pills, needles, alcohol..." - Casey Coombs

"I felt like I had been filled up on enough skills and coping to survive, and I just ran out of it. I ran out of it. I'm out of it. It was being depleted faster than I could restore it." - Casey Coombs 

"There are so many sown out there that feel like this, and think this is just how you're meant to feel, and it isn't." - Casey Coombs

"I think we all know the feeling when we are absolutely running on fumes. If you stand still it just absolutely washes over you how tired you are." -Casey Coombs 

"There's a reason they use the word surrender in recovery programs. It's because you do. Because I can't do this anymore. And I need help." - Casey Coombs 

Mentioned in this episode: 

Hold Me Tight Seven Conversations for a Lifetime of Love by Dr. Sue Johnson EdDDr

Codependent No More by Melody Beattie

Resources for Mental Illness and Addiction (DRUG AND ALCOHOL AND SEX AND LOVE ADDICTION): 

Alcoholics Anonymous

Al-Anon groups

SLAA groups

NAMI - National Alliance on Mental Illness

NA

Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration

Suicide Prevention Lifeline

In this episode, Heather tells Steph (and you) about the day's beautiful and hard truth-telling with her daughter. But before that, Steph and Heather discuss what it feels like to be a grown-up that doesn't feel "successful" in many ways. This is an episode about our hearts and minds, our pure and true struggle, and the ways we come through to the other side. Thank you for being here with us, friends. 

#divorce #childrenofdivorce #truth #coparenting #parenting #motherhood #wcdht #lizgilbert #debrogers #floridawoman #betterthings #dateline #thestaircase #underthebannerofheaven #fundamentalism #maliburising #chanelmiller 

Mentioned in this show: 

We Can Do Hard Things with Chanel Miller We Are Never Stuck

Quotes from the show: 

On messages of self-care: "It's like telling someone to take deep breaths when they're having a panic attack." - Heather

"Everything I thought about growing up and being an adult meant nothing." - Steph

"We're hard on ourselves until we're not." - Heather

"It's why it's so important to me for my passion to not be my work." - Steph 

"No matter how ugly the truth is, it's the truth. And you can't really heal or move forward until you put that somewhere." - Heather 

On parenting: "I think you just follow their lead. They tell you, if you're listening." - Steph 

This week Heather and Steph talk about self-care, but not self-care. What do we do when the world is constantly crashing in on us with all of its demands? Well, first of all, we can't stand the term "self-care" because HOW? Maybe self-care is really just self-love, without so much over-thinking. Maybe self-love is harder for some of us because of what we were taught when we were small. Maybe we don't have the answers, but we always have honesty. Join us as we discover what "spiritual fitness" is and what it means when we think of self-love.

Our latest writings:

Heather’s Adding Alzheimers to Injury on Medium

Mentioned in this episode: 

Unlocking Us with Richard Rohr - Brene Brown

Normandy American Cemetery

Luvvie Ajayi Jones Rising Troublemaker

Captive Audience: A Real American Horror Story on Hulu

Jen Mann Midlife Bites

Father Richard Rohr's website, Center for Action and Contemplation  

You can find Writing Threads on our Facebook page and our Facebook group. We are also on Instagram. You can find Steph on Facebook and Instagram and on her blog. You can find Heather on Facebook and Instagram and on Medium.