Phoenix Rising From The Ashes

Welcome to the first episode of Shadowlight! I am your host, Bryanna Dee. I believe that this human experience is a perfect juxtaposition—the dark and the light exists in perfect equanimity. That juxtaposition is what most ignites me. I am allergic to small talk and I am obsessed with having authentic, vulnerable conversations about things that really matter; things like mental health, spirituality, the meaning of life, our deepest fears and desires, and the cosmos. You can imagine how well this went over for me at the bars in college! I went to law school to advocate for mental health but found myself frustrated with the system (in more ways than I can count). Now, I have now taken a step back from systematic advocacy and have moved into a more holistic, personal form of advocacy—for mind, body, and spirit. My mission is to share what I have learned (and what I am still learning) on my own holistic healing journey, in hopes that my story will inspire other people to tap into their own radical vulnerability. This first episode is my introduction, my story—what led me to start this podcast! IN THIS EPISODE I TALK ABOUT: Growing up in a home with addiction and abuse How that evolved into a life of self-imposed Perfectionism and Pollyanna Positivity My mother’s mental health struggles as the beginning markers for my passion in mental health advocacy and my strong aversion towards pharmaceuticals Going to law school for mental health advocacy My own mental health struggles; my “dark night of the soul” while in law school, which launched me on a holistic healing journey The holistic PhD therapist who changed my life Discovering the world of trauma Why I believe that the traditional mental health care system is inadequate and incomplete My mother’s overdose and its impact on my life and my belief system Learning to open up and become vulnerable and realizing that the more vulnerable and open I became, the more profound my relationships became Realizing that my “career” passion is not in advocating for mental health rights on a systematic level, but for more personal holistic healing for the mind/body/spirit Appreciating the beauty, depth, love, and joy that comes from talking about my shadows My new mission, to share what I have learned in my own holistic healing journey, and to interview amazing lightworkers to share what they have learned in their journeys. All with a desire to inspire other people to be radically vulnerable, to express themselves, and to ask for help… and to feel deeply connected along the way! LET’S CONNECT Website: www.bryannadee.com Instagram: @bryanna_dee Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/bryannadee Pinterest: https://www.pinterest.com/bryannadee/   That time I thought I could not go any closer to grief without dying   I went closer, and I did not die. Surely God had his hand in this,   as well as friends. Still, I was bent, and my laughter, as the poet said,   was nowhere to be found. Then said my friend Daniel, (brave even among lions), ‘It’s not the weight you carry   but how you carry it - books, bricks, grief - it’s all in the way you embrace it, balance it, carry it   when you cannot, and would not, put it down.’ So I went practicing. Have you noticed?   Have you heard the laughter that comes, now and again, out of my startled mouth?   How I linger to admire, admire, admire the things of this world that are kind, and maybe   also troubled - roses in the wind, the sea geese on the steep waves, a love to which there is no reply?   -Mary Oliver