Wrapping It Up!

That’s it listeners! We are officially done with Now’s The Time Podcast…

Finished with season 2 that is!  

Quick re-cap:

Pre-Season: In 2021 Melissa invited Tara onto her Today I Choose Podcast to talk about Traumas & Triumphs: Neurology of the Heart, Self-Care, Tattooing, & the Mind-Body Connection. 

Next they found themselves SPILLING the tea while IRL SIPPING some too.  

Beginning with their first guest, an artist by training & at heart, the late Katie Varette. A once in a lifetime opportunity intended to help Tara explain her “always in process-paperback book- rough draft - science meets spirituality and such- memoir style publication: “Scientific Poetry and Prose; An Abstract Prequel to the Talk and Tales of the Tattooed Women”. 

Moving on with the help of Melissa & her expertise, the dynamic duo eventually wind up on a metaphorical plane ever oscillating between the coastlines as Tara explains herself into, through and out of season 1 of Now’s the Time Podcast.

Bringing us right up to speed on the finale of season 2…

where the recording space went from a wide open room to a designated “studio”.  

And NOW - after a few minimal but essential upgrades, listeners are NOW ABLE to tune in with Melissa & Tara in THIS LAST EPISODE of season 2 as they tweak and fine-tune things. Re-align with purpose.  And then drop the mic.  

Stay tuned for the projected trajectory and or agenda or whatever it is that Season 3 is going to offer! You never know what to expect at the hands of these witty minded women.  Trust. It will be energetic, eclectic and have all the essential elements of surprise, exploration, education and elevation!

Connect with Tara

⁠⁠⁠https://www.nowsthetime.info⁠⁠⁠

⁠⁠⁠Instagram⁠

⁠Buy Scientific Poetry & Prose: An Abstract Prequel to The Talk and Tales of the Tattooed Women⁠

Connect with Melissa

⁠Instragram⁠

⁠Buy Today I Choose Vol 3

Now’s The Time podcast is back up and running!  And,  despite the echo, the message is delivered.  About the echo:  we apologize. The NTT recording studio was in transition at the time of this recording & we only had one chance to get the interview! We took it! Next, we produced the best that we could knowing that the show had to go on!  Now here we are…finding ourselves on track again!  

Come along with the host Tara & her co-host Melissa as they invite the author of Tragic Magic, Regan Caruthers onto the chat train!  

Regan Caruthers has a diverse and impressive biography.  She is a spiritual teacher, life coach & is a trauma informed yoga 500 RYT instructor.  Regan’s past experiences are impressive, including the time she spent leading HeartMath retreats for the Institute of HeartMath in Boulder Creek, CA. 

Needless to say, her spoken narrative just like her written one, is likely to catch & captivate the attention of NTT listeners!

An impressive story teller, speaker, leader & teacher with an outstanding ability to track, Regan Caruthers helps Tara deliver. Regan skillfully follows along & pulls out the utmost pertinent points of the podcast, whilst Tara draws awareness & meaning to the “Venn Diagrams” of their “divinely led” meeting.  

If you follow Tara, you know that she loves these diagrams & they have been a visual aid/tool for her self-actualization & healing journey since 2016.  This tool is most successful when paired with the feedback & wisdom of other invested women.

As it turns out Regan & Tara have an amazingly entwined story, right down to that Regan’s mother (the focal point of her book) grew up approximately 100 or so miles from where Tara & her very own birth mother grew up in upstate New York. Tara’s mother, also being the focus of her first paper publication.

And what are the chances that these two women would accidentally schedule their book talk (and tales of the tattooed women) on the one year anniversary of Melissa publishing Tara’s literal rough draft of Scientific Poetry & Prose; An Abstract Prequel to The Talk and Tales of the Tattooed Women.  Both authors’ books are available on amazon, see links below.

Be it synchronistic, coincidental or simply compelling, these two story tellers get extra vulnerable & expose a bit more about the truths; the reasons; purposes; intentions behind their writings…

Both for the love of their late mothers.  

If you have not heard about it yet, well then, NTT podcast is proud to be among some of the first to mention: 

Tragic Magic by Regan Caruthers.  

A must read if you or your maternal ancestors lived through and/or survived mental health challenges or trauma.    

Connect with Tara

⁠⁠https://www.nowsthetime.info⁠⁠

⁠⁠Instagram

Buy Scientific Poetry & Prose: An Abstract Prequel to The Talk and Tales of the Tattooed Women

Connect with Regan

Instagram

Buy Tragic Magic

Connect with Melissa

Instragram

Buy Today I Choose Vol 3

Join us for this episode as Tara recounts vignettes regarding her own recognition & realization of her mental health journey. Perhaps through story, become curious at how innate healing can be!  

Knowing that “talking trauma” can be a challenge, listen as Melissa coaches Tara into an organized state.  In doing so, helping her to set the scene for their guest Judith Belmont, a seasoned psychotherapist & author who is promised to captivate the audience.

Listen in as Judy shares her extensive knowledge about Cognitive Behavioral Therapy (CBT); one of the most widely adapted orientations of therapy in the world. In this episode she provides real-time, real-life examples of its pertinence in today’s society. 

For learning purposes, Judy generously offers her professional perspective not only on Tara’s personal story but she also provides snippets of other clinical/work space cases. In this conversation, Judy leaves listeners several complimentary practical application tools & tips that if applied, may lead to better mental health and living!   

Although Ms. Belmont is retired from private practice, she still advocates for mental health.  She does so by speaking on podcasts & currently delivers her message through being a corporate trainer, wellness conference speaker & is a college adjunct faculty member.

She is the author of 11 mental health & self-help books & two therapeutic card decks. 

Her publishers include New Harbinger, WW Norton, Callisto Printing and Mental Health Publisher, PESI. 

She also has a fused glass studio in Naples where she enjoys teaching the art and fun of fused glass. 

Judy holds an MS in Clinical Psychology from Hahnemann Medical College and a BS in Psychology from University of Pennsylvania. 

Her author page on Amazon is amazon.com/author/judithbelmont

Connect with Tara

⁠https://www.nowsthetime.info⁠

⁠Instagram

Take a moment to listen in on a down to earth but honest conversation among good friends. 

Listen as Tara & NTT’s production manager Jennie Hughes reminisce about the raising of their boys alongside their North Pole Elves Sissy & Steve. 

In addition, learn about the grief project belonging to these two women; affectionately known as The MomMark Project - co created as a strategic means to help Tara move the energy of her grief over the loss of her brother - through & out of her in a constructive manner; always with community in heart & mind. 

Enjoy with them, a nostalgic trip down memory lane as these two mothers, friends & working partners talk about raising children through not only the antics of Christmas but through the emotions of losing a loved one during or surrounding the holidays.

Hear firsthand as they talk about living very different lives yet choose over & over again to come together to provide not only memories for their children, but an environment where EVERYONE is included & is as best understood as possible. A privilege that should be afforded to all. 

In loving memory: 

RIP Lesley M. Horning

2/6/60- 1/13/11

RIP Mark Lee Fisk

9/6/76-11/26/21

Connect with Tara

https://www.nowsthetime.info

Instagram

Connect with Jen

Facebook

instagram

Graham Lorraine Herkimer County Christmas Program:

https://hchungercoalition.org/gram-lorraine

Give to the American Foundation for Suicide Prevention:

https://afsp.org/

Hunker down with Now’s The Time hosts Tara & Melissa as they invite returning guest-host Brianna back onto the scene. With her, Bri brings an additional guest, Jess Therrien, an Area Advisor for Hospice for a conversation about navigating the end of life and the support that is available, the tough conversations that need to happen and many steps in between

Tara starts off with a story referencing an undergraduate essay she wrote for a midlevel psychology class in 2000  (Psy 290-03).  She titled it “Meaningful Loss: The Death of My Grandpa.” She continues in this essay, to discuss & educate on the topic of Disenfranchised Grief & Developmental Thanatology (the process of death & dying).

Bri then takes it away with pertinent supplementation points made by Melissa.  Together, these three women invite Jess to discuss her experience in supporting the person & their loved ones as they are faced with the transition process.  She does this from under the lens of a hospice care provider. Jess weighs in on this delicate topic as she has worked with a wide variety of people throughout her career. Her journey began while working with children experiencing intellectual & developmental disabilities, autism & other vulnerable populations.  Eventually she shifted providing Hospice navigation to those in need; primarily but not limited to senior citizens.  

Each woman’s contribution to this episode is mixed with personal stories, experiences, perspectives, perceptions & provide unique insights. Congruent with integrative health coaching, every part of the human system is addressed at least once in conversation; meaning - the intention to speak on the mental, emotional, physical & spiritual connection regarding life, living & the inevitable next step- becomes apparent by the end of this collaborative piece. 

For more content from Tara and Melissa please visit:

Tara's Instagram @ Tara WFager

Tara's Facebook @ Tara WFager

Melissa's Instagram @ todayIchoosewithMelissa

Melissa's Facebook @everydaylivingwithintention

Brianna Voyles

Instagram: @freewoolhandcrafts

“The art of healing comes from nature and not from the physician. Therefore, the physician must start from nature with an open mind.“ -- Paracelsus

Tune in as returning guest Brianna Voyles and Tara talk about the nature of their “witchery” and how it was something that came to both of them naturally. Early on, it is established that Bri will carry on this episode with her vast knowledge base on several topics that some might associate with witchcraft. 

Listen closely as Tara recounts a spontaneous trip to Salem, Massachusetts, taken a couple of years ago with one of her sons.  Bri listens as Tara tells her tale of not only that venture but also how she became inclined to look further down the narrow road of what “typical society” might define as Paganism. As the conversation progresses, it’s clear that both Tara and Bri agree that when it comes to the art of navigating oneself through this life and possibly even others, it must come from somewhere within, at least to feel that true connection.  

Creatively include yourself as you lean in with Brianna and Tara as they explore several topics and touch upon new terminology. In this light and in this act, Tara is the student, and Bri is the teacher. 

Listening to them may stimulate a new perspective as it becomes clear that, in the end, all perspectives and perceptions are pertinent.  What is key is finding common ground to stand on, then exploring other paradigms together.  

We hope that listeners are inspired to broaden the narrow road of what “typical society” might define as Paganism and see what innately, speaks to them!

So, be it the role of apprentice or mentor, let it be known that no matter who or where or what you identify with…you are certainly going to be able to find some fun as these two college friends, now collaborate creators, chit chat in an attempt to debunk stigma associated with the term WITCH!

Follow:

Tara Whiteman-Fager

Instagram:  The ShadowQueen’sDaughter

@tara_wfager

Facebook:  Tara WFager

Website: ⁠⁠nowsthetime.info⁠⁠

Brianna Voyles

Instagram: @freewoolhandcrafts

Let’s get right to it Everyone!

This short episode is bound to register as a bizarre but fun one! It is recommended that you keep a playful and open mind when jumping in. 

Listen as Melissa creates a safe container for Tara to reveal her “alter-ego.” Be carried in and out and through the storyline that has developed over the years as Tara talks about the birth of The Shadow Queen’s Daughter. 

The integrative work and internal narrative that Tara has scripted is expertly drawn out by Melissa as these two women tango with drama and creativity.  

Answering Melissa, Tara toggles between herself, her character: The Shadow Queen’s Daughter and the “She” that lives in the spaces in between “Them” all. 

Multidimensional beings and personalities is what makes this show go!

This episode features The Shadow Queen’s Daughter and is intended as a companion piece to the most recently published blog on Now’s The Times regarding a series of upcoming Captivity Narratives.

Feel free to let your imagination drift into what you might be like or do; in an alternate time and space.  

What would your “alter-ego” be like?  

Please email your answers to us at Now’s The Time. Perhaps we can anonymously represent or, rightfully so; give credit where credit is due. We will find a way to share your thoughts with our listeners sometime in the near future.  

Note: Although Melissa and Tara did not share a full oracle card read in this episode, they DID reference the 44th card of Alana Fairchild’s White Light Oracle Deck: Ishtar’s Lion Gate 888. Be sure to watch socials for the photo of the card that artist A. Andrew Gonzalez drew up! This is the card that lead Melissa and Tara through this “exclusive, behind the scenes interview!"

Disclaimer: Please note that no part of this podcast is to be considered professional, psychological or medical advice. Please seek treatment if you are in crisis.

Tara's Instagram @ Tara WFager⁠

⁠Tara's Facebook @ Tara WFager⁠

⁠Melissa's Instagram @ todayIchoosewithMelissa⁠

⁠Melissa's Facebook @everydaylivingwithintention

In honor of Suicide Prevention month, volunteers circled around the Now’s The Time (NTTP) microphone with Melissa & Tara to discuss their personal perspectives & tell stories of why this cause is near to their hearts.  

Melissa kicks off recounting a collaborate blog piece recently posted to the Now’s The Time’s Blog by Jennie Hughes: Teen Team No Stigma Finalizes 2024 AFSP Campaign

It features Teen Team No Stigma & Team No Stigma.  No Stigma was founded by one of the two featured guests: Lisa Miller.  

The other guest, Wynn Hayes, holds an impressive work history & has a deep giving well of volunteerism living within her. Wynn courageously comes to the table with a keen sense for synchronicities; “funny” observations that she has made in the past year or more regarding her family’s story of trans-generational history with suicide. Wynn begins the most truthful tale she can piece together about the loss of her grandmother as a result of it.

Unfortunately, the trauma inheritance of suicide strikes Wynn with a double whammy being that Wynn lost not only her paternal grandmother to suicide but also an opportunity of ever knowing her; particularly attention worthy as her grandmother’s death preceded Wynn’s birth & is her namesake.  

Become inspired by Wynn’s ability to reframe the hard parts of such inheritance & re-route it into a constructive action step: volunteering. Count on Wynn to find the beauty even on the darkest of topics. 

Listen closely as she weaves threads of familial history together with fundamental information about the co-founder of the American Foundation for Suicide Prevention (AFSP) Mariette Hartley. For more on Mariette check out the LA Times article she was featured in.

Wynn adds threads & for now, knots it together with an explanation of her intention; her personal desire to support Teen Team No Stigma, No Stigma & the AFSP. In the future, Wynn will return to talk more on this topic so consider this the beginning of the talk & tales of a tattooed woman (or not). In the end, Wynn reveals her status.

Melissa & Wynn’s oracle card reading transitions to Lisa who boldly begins to share the story of being a suicide survivor under the frame & context of losing her brother to suicide over thirty years ago. 

She also sheds light on what her volunteer work looks like behind the scenes. Lisa is an active volunteer for the AFSP & has been intimately involved with the Out of the Darkness Chicagoland Walk for decades now. 

Sit with us as Lisa takes us along the way & tells the tale of her dedication & reason in volunteering; giving nuggets of Team No Stigma’s history & quick references to the AFSP as she goes. 

Lisa’s team, No Stigma grew significantly, like a ripple effect, once she started using her voice to spread awareness in & around her community. The group she joined, along with her team & many others, grew so large that the walk needed to be relocated from a patch of woods in the suburbs to the city! So, in essence, if you walk in any of the AFSP walks around the nation, you are literally on the foundational steppingstones of Lisa’s work!

Lean in as she uses her voice yet again, on a unique platform, in honor of her brother. Her intention is to keep her brother’s voice alive through this conversation. If you wish to support Lisa in her endeavors, reach out.  Become connected.  

In honor & memory of Frank Nicholas Baron

11/25/71 - 10/15/93

#myBrothersKeeper

Spirit Glyph Oracle, Earth Transitions by Alison Fast

Tara's Instagram @ Tara WFager

Tara's Facebook @ Tara WFager

Melissa's Instagram @ todayIchoosewithMelissa

Melissa's Facebook @everydaylivingwithintention

Teen Team No Stigma

AFSP

AFSP in Illinois

Lisa's Team No Stigma Page

Lisa's Instagram

Wynn's Facebook

Wynn's Instagram

Tune in this week with Melissa and Tara, for an interesting twist and turn in the journey of Now’s The Time Podcast. Listen in as the women speak with guest Brianna Voyles, who has spent time not only as the Executive Director of a senior living community but currently is the Regional Director of Sales and Marketing for the same company. 

Follow along as Tara and Bri continue on the path of exploring a very common thread of familial trauma; at least in their stories, which is specifically related to that of alcohol. 

They talk and tell just a little about what they are seeing in themselves & their children as a result of having a common node; one making them alike, despite all the rad ways they are different; and that commonality is having survived a primary parent who struggled/struggles with addiction- particularly alcohol. 

They also chat about what they see professionally regarding the degenerative effects of excessive alcohol consumption in senior living which is where Bri’s current work lives. 

Listen as these undergraduate alumni ladies reunite, and this time; instead of around a cafeteria table at The College Of Saint Rose, sitting opposite’s at times in their mentality, yet still coexisting-  among a shared and beloved group of friends. 

A woman’s circle.

In this episode, Tara and Bri circle up in front of Melissa and, around a microphone for one of the first times in approximately 26 years- even though they are miles and years apart, the connection is palpable.

This time- the women are using their voices on several, post 40 years old- untied missions; as they explain their commitment of understanding their traumas and using them to their benefit, for self and for their legacy. 

They share tales of using their privileges: earned by work, money, time, effort or those inherited via trans-generational trauma; familial trauma…These now over 40 somethings tell it like it is!

Per the card reading, readying themselves, gearing up to rise & meet the calling, to activate their inner Divine Feminine, to begin leadership through voice!

Join them as they ponder such topics all while under the umbrella of compassion.

As always they share stories about being tattooed or not!

AND- a little about dating preferences then and now! 

At NTT Podcast, it is safe to expect serious talk, always with a cool down conversation before we part.

Follow:

Tara Whiteman-Fager

Instagram:  The ShadowQueen’sDaughter

@tara_wfager

Facebook:  Tara WFager

Website: ⁠nowsthetime.info⁠

Melissa Bingham

Instagram: @todayichoosewithmelissa

Facebook Group: @everydaylivingwithintention

Brianna Voyles

Facebook: @freewoolhandcrafts

Card Reading

Spirit Glyph Oracle, Earth Transmissions by Alison Fast.

⁠https://www.justfilo.com/products/spirit-glyph-oracle-deck-by-alison-fast

Join Melissa & Tara as they entertain their guest Amanda Cogan! Listen in as the Now’s The Time Podcast hosts turn the table on this amazing female presence!

You see…Amanda is typically the one doing the entertaining through her multidimensional skillset! This episode’s guest is a song writer & singer. She plays more than one instrument, is a women’s empowerment coach & within the past two years has grown into a strong spiritual & community minded influencer in & among her hometown area of San Diego, California.  She is the visionary founder and producer of the Shake and Shine Festival & revels in the act of sneakily diverting patriarchy!

NOTE:  There is an upcoming Shake & Shine Festival on September 21, 2024 in the San Diego area!  Be sure to follow Amanda on socials (listed below) to glean more details!  This is not an event to miss if you are ready and willing to embrace the spectrum of playing, connecting and creating under the influence of Divine Feminine. 

Additionally, in this episode, discover how Tara & Amanda met.   Hint: It includes pen, paper, sea walls & much, much more!  

Journey along with these two as they recap their divinely led meeting & learn what developed as a result of them both - letting go and trusting Universe! 

Clue:  it includes deep introspection, shadow work, vulnerability, acting in trust & maintaining a shared living space on the beach in a cottage named “Rosie”. 

Vices?!  Yes, although the term “vice” is typically associated with negative connotation, taboo, societally unacceptable actions or states of being…leave it to Tara to draw the dichotomy to attention as she shares more about one of her favorite ancient healing modalities with the help of Melissa & Amanda.  

Feel included as these three women ease the audience into an oracle card reading & trust; they don’t stop there! 

As always, there is a section of the podcast dedicated to the talk & tales of tattoos, women & the reasons behind being inked!  Listeners will leave with a greater understanding about the significant thought, energy & resources many recipients of tattoos put into choosing & receiving their life time markings.  

Follow:

Tara Whiteman-Fager

Instagram:  The ShadowQueen’sDaughter

@tara_wfager

Facebook:  Tara WFager

Website: nowsthetime.info

Melissa Bingham

Instagram: @todayichoosewithmelissa

Facebook Group: @everydaylivingwithintention

Amanda Cogan 

Instagram: @amandacoganmusic

Card Reading

Spirit Glyph Oracle, Earth Transmissions by Alison Fast.

https://www.justfilo.com/products/spirit-glyph-oracle-deck-by-alison-fast