Silver Lining Moments with Kerry

Silver Lining Moments are everywhere,

in every moment,

even in a bum knee.

What's your SILVER LINING MOMENT?

Share in the comments or at wwwSilverLiningMoments.com

A SLM conversaion with eLayne Kelley - artist, author, tribe builder

A sharing of wisdom gained from life's journeys and a path to profound life changes made possible when we wake up to punishing thoughts

After my conversation with eLayne Kelley, I thought she, her vision for life, and her mission in life are gifts for humanity. As I thought this, I imagined hearing her acknowledging this with a soft boldness and adding something like "well, yes; each of us, you, me, everyone listening to this SLM podcast, each and every person everywhere -- we all are a gift to humanity, in our own soulful way; and in our soulfulness is where together, we are humanity."

At the beginning of our conversation, eLayne Kelley casually refers to that time when she accidentally drove off a 20-foot cliff, as if it was an everyday experience, we all have. As she continued, it became clear that but for a series of serendipitous factors, she would have died that night. Luckily and thankfully, she didn't. This was pivotal moment for her that shaped her life's journey, vision, and mission.

After that pivotal "driving off a 20-foot cliff" moment, eLayne began a spiritual and intellectual quest crisscrossing the United States in search of answers to some of life's biggest questions:

"Who am I"

"What happens after death"

"What is my life's purpose"

In our conversation, we discussed:

• Serendipitous moments and factors that save and shape our lives
• Her cross-country journey – a physical and spiritual journey – and the wisdom that followed
• Transpersonal Counseling Psychology, Jungian dream work, and ancient symbols
• Having a daily meditation practice
• The re-awakening of her soul
• The difference between art for process and art for product
• The many "hats" she has worn and wears: artist, art gallery owner, author, and a Disaster Mental Health Coordinator
• Her personal struggle over, and growth from, her son's addiction journey
• How we are wired with a negative bias
• Awakening to our punishing thoughts and letting go
• Learning that thinking that good things could happen is just as easy as thinking that bad things could happen
• Choosing good thoughts
• Her answers to those big questions and how she got her answers
• Her mission and vision for life
• Roadmap to Ease - The Journey to Your Awakened Life, her first teaching memoir, (to be released Nov. 1, 2022), in which she shares her wisdom, tools and a roadmap for others to illuminate their soul's path to ease and awakening

eLayne Kelly now resides on the Guld Coast of Florida where, as she describes, "the gulf breezes, big water, and endless sky fuel the youth of [her] wisdom years".

In our conversation, we didn't talk directly about politics or societal issues or about division and conflict. However, after our conversation, I kept coming back to these thoughts:

We are different. When we share our differences, there is a unifying thread – our shared soul of humanity. There are many times in this conversation, where I caught myself shaking my head with understanding and thinking "I didn't have that experience, but I had times where I felt like this…. I get this; I get you."

Listen to this conversation with eLayne Kelle and experience:

a moment of SHARING lined by UNITY

Thank you to eLayne and to you, listeners. By eLayne sharing and by you listening, together, we are -

expanding love and light,

One person at a time

One story at a time

One Silver Lining Moment at a time.

Music for the SLM podcast: Scandinavianz - Wonderland (instrumental) by Scandinavianz — Creative Commons — Attribution 3.0 Unported — CC BY 3.0 Music promoted by Audio Library

Silver Lining Moments are everywhere....even in an invasive airport security search.

Silver Lining Moments are everywhere.

This one involves a stray dog, named Bijou, from Tirana, Albania.

Today, I am launching a sub-series to Silver Lining Moments podcasts. Each week, I will be publishing a short Silver Lining Moment. However, with all that is going on in the world, I felt low in energy with a heaviness of heart.

Where -- or how - is a Silver Lining in any of these tragedies - shootings, war, conflict, natural disasters? Each week seems to bring a new tragedy, upheaval, and uncertainty. In all honestly, I have moments where I feel like the fabric of society is unraveling and the world is falling apart. I haven't been seeing or feeling a Silver LIning Moment in any of it.

So, instead of launching this series with a SLM short, I am launching it with an honest discussion about how to see the light when it feels we are surrounded in darkness. And, I affirm my trust that the light it is always there and my practice that helps me see it ---when I am not feeling it.

At the end, I was able to find a Silver Lining Moment after all!

A moment of LOVE is lined by KINDNESS

In this episode, I am doing something a little different. I am sharing a loving kindness meditation that I did with friends from around the world to expand love and kindness throughout the world.

For World Kindness Day in November of 2021, I invited 9 friends from the around world to join me in Zoom for a Loving Kindness Mediation. With this meditation, we are filling ourselves with love and kindness and extending love and kindness to the world.

Join in this meditation and feel the love and kindness fill your heart and soul. When you are loved, how do you feel? When you love someone else, how do you feel? Sit with these feelings. When you are filled with love and kindness, imagine your love and kindness expanding to others. Now, imagine people all over the world sitting doing this meditation and sending love and kindness into the world. See your love and kindness meet with theirs. From this place, our collective humanity is pretty cool, isn't it?!

You can also check out this guided meditation on YouTube at https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PXONPoFYodE&t=10s. Beautiful photos of nature accompany the YouTube version. A big heartfelt thank you to Donna Harmony Jones for providing the photographs for this meditation. She captures the beauty in nature that foster a loving and kind energy for this mediation. To see more of Donna's photographs, check out Donna's website here: https://healwithharmony.com/photos/

I would love it if you let me know what you think and feel about this meditation. I have ideas for more meditations with Silver Lining Moments and would love to hear what you think. You can email me at: [email protected].

During today, may you be happy and healthy; may you be free from suffering, may you be free from negativity, drama and conflict.

During today, may you be immersed in peace, prosperity, positive energy, love and kindness.

During today, you you give and receive genuine acts of love and kindness.

With this meditation, I realized how we expand love and light,

one person at a time

one meditation at a time

one Silver Lining Moment at a time.

A moment of LOSS is lined by EMPOWERMENT

"How can she be so happy and positive after all she's been through?"

This is what Dr. Alisa Whyte's mom asked the nurse when Alisa was lying in a hospital bed having lost life-threatening amounts of blood and facing the loss of her uterus.

These are just some of the traumatic losses she experienced.

• LOSS: In her childhood, domestic violence by her father damaged tissues in her brain. While recovered now, for a year she experienced the loss of her memory, her ability to speak, and her ability to move freely by herself .
• LOSS: As an adult, she experienced infertility and miscarriages. She lost her unborn babies. Then, with losing her uterus this past year, she lost the possibility of ever giving birth to her own children.
• LOSS: She lost her marriage to divorce.

At one point, she explained that "my soul was so tired" and how she felt frustrated with having done everything "they" said to do to be a happy and successful adult yet feeling stuck in loss.

This conversation is not about being stuck in loss. Alisa did not stay stuck.

THIS SLM CONVERSATION IS ABOUT LETTING GO, FINDING PEACE, LIVING YOUR PURPOSE

Dr. Alisa Whyte shares her own experiences of trauma and loss and her healing through these losses. She has been in the trenches of grief and anger and she shares her path to peace and joy. With tools grounded in self-awareness and gratitude, she deals with the tremendous life challenges that we all face from time to time while still living with purpose and with peace.

She now empowers others to do the same and to live with fulfillment, purpose, and joy.* Ambassador , Prof. Dr. Alisa Whyte is the dynamic, trailblazing Founder, President, and CEO of Fulfillment Empowerment Network, the Vice President of Save the Girl Child Advocacy, Africa. and the Accreditation Director for Europe, M.E.N.A and Asia at International Internship University (IIU). Alisa is a Transformational Leadership and Master Mindset Coach, an International Speaker and trainer, certified by the John Maxwell Team. Additionally, Alisa is an ambassador of peace for humanity and a global professor of humanities, leadership, and management at International Internship university.

She has received many awards for the positive impact she is making around the world including: the global woman of choice award for peak performance in business and leadership, businesswoman of the year 2021, and A RED BLAZER OF EXCELLENCE AND ACHIEVEMENT Global Award. She is a #1 International Best-Selling author for her collaborative work with the book I AM - How to Release the Shame of Narcissistic Abuse & Transform Financial Poverty to Wealth Beyond Numbers.

IN THIS CONVERSATION, WE DISCUSS:

• The losses she has endured
• Losing babies through miscarriages
• How one of the most common questions asked at any and every networking function or event strikes daggers of pain into the heart of a woman who has miscarried and never had children
• How the "just get over it" culture is not healing, keeps you stuck in pain, and robs you of the joys of life
• Her passion about compassionate servant leadership and helping individuals live authentically in their purpose
• Her personal mission to help individuals overcome self-limiting beliefs, discover their purpose, improve their relationships, and lead a life of fulfillment
• Asking ourselves "how do I want to make the world a better place?"
• Not letting the roles we play or the titles we have define who we are
• How each of us is a gift for the world
• Her work with Save the Girl-Child Advocacy and other special projects
• the personal development "work" she has done on her path of healing and fulfillment including P3 (Purpose Passion Peace) retreats, which is where we met
• Her Silver Lining Moment from the "angels" of P3 that turned her heart from hopeless to hopeful, which remains a part of her today.

During our conversation, I felt connected. In her losses, I felt loss. In her healing, I felt healing. I deeply understood that, although going through a loss can feel extremely lonely, we are not alone. And, as she experienced her message of self-awareness, authenticity, gratitude, and resilience, I was empowered on my own path of purpose and fulfillment. From my conversation with Dr. Alisa Whyte, I discover how:

A moment of LOSS is lined by EMPOWERMENT.

Thank you to Alisa and to you, listeners. By Alisa sharing and by you listening, together,

We are expanding love and light,

One person at a time

One story at a time

One Silver Lining Moment at a time.

*To learn more or to connect with Dr. Alisa Whyte, connect with her at any of these sites. Let her know you heard her on Silver Lining Moments podcast.

Website: www.alisawhyte.com

Email: [email protected]

Free Gifts: 5 Transformative Ways to Help You Discover and Live Your Life's Purpose - https://alisawhyte.com/free-gifts

Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/alisawhytecoaching

LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/alisa-whyte-5500668a/

Twitter: https://twitter.com/Iamalisawhyte

Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/alisawhytespeaks/?hl=en

A moment of ONE is lined by TWO

A SLM Conversation with Shari Hunter, founder of the Two Cafe & Boutique

(Helping the world see the strengths and greatness in individuals with exceptionalities such as Down syndrome and autism)

Two are better than one. We lift each other up. As Shari Hunter, the guest of this episode, says "we can do it TWO-get

This idea of TWO is the inspiration for the name Two Café & Boutique ("the Two") in Chagrin Falls, Ohio that was founded by Shari. While the Two serves delicious, organic, and healthy food and sells unique gifts and clothes, it's purpose and vision is much more.

It serves as a training place and job placement coordinator for adults with exceptionalities such as Down syndrome and autism. At the Two, individuals gain real work experience and employment as they learn and practice job skills. They take these skills with them when they enter the workforce in their community. And, the Two started with Shari's son, Derek.

Shari explains that Derek is the reason behind the Two. When Derek was born with exceptionalities, Shari didn't believe that his life should be limited as society often does. Neither did he. He graduated from Kent State University; he is married, and he is now working at the Two. If you have a moment, check out the Two's website at: https://www.twocafeandboutique.com/

Through the Two, Shari and Derek, TWO-gether, give a message of love, purpose strength, unity, community, kindness, and more. If you want to fill yourself up with a positive outlook for humanity, you will want listen to this episode.

In this episode, Shari and I discuss:

• the inspiration for the name Two Café & Boutique (It's from Ecclesiastes 4:9-10: "Two are better than one; because they have a good reward for their labor. For if they fall, one will lift up his companion. But woe to him who is alone when he falls, For he has no one to help him up.")
• how everyone has their own greatness and purpose, how "there is no them", and how at the Two, "[w]e do us"
• the Two is a small place with a big dream to change the workforce across America and the world that opens doors for all people
• her message to people with exceptionalities: you can and you do belong as much as anybody else
• success stories of those who completed the Two's training
• how Shari took her idea for the Two and created it and some of the lessons she learned along the way
• the positive impact that those who completed the Two's training have on the workforce and the joy Shari feels when a company says (and they do) that these individuals changed their workforce for the better
• Shari's philosophy of seeing hardship as a challenge: "…if the darkness is that great like how much brighter can we shine."
• her special Silver Lining Moment

Shari, Derek, and the TWO are the embodiment of "two are better than one". We each have our strengths and skills; no one is perfect by themselves. On our own, we may limit our potential. With the support of others, our potential may be realized and expanded. And, we can be that support for others.

From this conversation, I felt the love for my fellow person and humanity; I was inspired to look for ways to live this idea of "two are better than one" in my own life and with Silver Lining Moments; and I discovered how a:

a moment of ONE is lined by TWO.

Thank you for listening to Silver Lining Moments.

By Shari sharing and by you listening, together we are:

expanding love and light,

one person at a time,

one story at a time,

one Silver Lining Moment at a time.

Have you ever felt broken?

A SLM conversation with KAREN MEYER

The guest of this SLM episode, Karen Myer, and I go back several years. We worked in the same law firm and we have an inside joke about Thursdays. During this one 6-month or so period in 2009, we were absolutely inundated with work. I would have a stress meltdown at her desk every Thursday. One week, I was so stressed and we had so many deadlines that I couldn't even articulate anything other than "But Karen, It's Thursday!"

Since then, and over 10 years later, "But, Karen, it's Thursday" has become a code phrase for us, one with dual connotations:

• One: I feel like I am about to break
• The Other: I feel like laughing with relief and gratitude that our friendship survived and strengthened from those Thursdays.

Whenever it is said and however it is said, we are in it together – either supporting the other one or laughing with each other. We know that we were not alone when we felt like we were breaking. And, knowing that made all the difference. As hard as that time was, we could see the source of our stress - work. On those Thursdays, I felt like work was breaking me. At least, I could separate myself from that breaking feeling by separating myself from work.

What about those times when it is not something else that is breaking you; rather, when you feel like you are broken? The first comes with a sense of hope because that "brokenness" is outside of you and you can overcome it or with time it may change. However, when you feel you are broken you feel like whatever you do and wherever you go, the brokenness will go with you because it is you. This second broken feeling is called despair.

This is where Karen found herself in 2015: feeling like she was broken. When the despair was trying to take hold, she started having suicidal thoughts. Before this despair and its accompanying suicidal thoughts could get their full grip on her, she visited her family for the holidays. Their love steadied her enough for her to start reclaiming her worth.

In our conversation, we discuss:

• How the abandonment from her biological father and bullying at school made Karen believe that she was broken
• How feeling broken became a subconscious belief that directed her decisions and relationships
• How love and support from her family came right when she needed them most
• How she started a journey toward self-love during which she got to know her true (whole and completely unbroken) self; she reconnected with her faith; she found love and became a mom after 40;
• How Gretchen Rubin's Happiness Project has helped her reclaim happiness
• How she and her husband are living with purpose and with integrity to their values, which includes spreading kindness and eliminating single use plastic from their lives
• How the word "___________" has the most overreaching guidance over her life (Listen in to discover her word. If you're feeling a connection, email me your word at [email protected])
• How growth after her despair is one of her Silver Lining Moments

Listen to this episode and join Karen on her journey to self-love and discover how:

a moment of FEELING BROKEN is lined by FEELING BLESSED.

Thank you for listening to Silver Lining Moments.

By Karen sharing and by you listening, together we are:

expanding love and light,

one person at a time,

one story at a time,

one Silver Lining Moment at a time.

A moment of SCIENCE is Lined by SUPPORT

A SLM conversation with Kerry Flaherty Walia

Silver Lining Moments:

a space for conversations, feelings, and ideas that expand love and light

Scientists are silver linings for humanity. In a year filled with uncertainty, loss, and fear, they gave us guidance, confidence, and a plan forward. They gave us hope.

In the year of the pandemic, science has filled our screens and has become a part of our everyday lives. We have watched press conferences with scientists standing side by side with our leaders. We have read articles trying to understand the science behind Covid and the regulatory guidelines. We have seen research in action as vaccines were developed. With time, we began to see how we could and would overcome the hurdles thrown in front of us by Covid.

As we watched, read, and listened, we may not have understood all the data or research but one thing became crystal clear: scientists are an essential role in humanity's survival. As we are jumping over the Covid hurdles, we see many more hurdles facing humanity-- climate change, degradation of food quality and water purity, depletion of natural resources and energy – to name a few. Through their systematic research and investigation, collaborations, questioning and testing, scientists will discover and develop pathways for us to cross the hurdles before us. (Of course, we must all do our part too, including things like not fertilizing our lawns or using environmentally friendly fertilizers.) So yes, and as I said above, I will say it again:

Scientists are silver linings for humanity.

This is one of the reasons I asked Kerry Flaherty Walia* to be a guest of Silver Lining Moments. (That, and we share the same name, with the same spelling.) Kerry is a marine fisheries research scientist. She studies how the environment and humans are affecting fisheries and the fish population. From her research, guidelines and regulations can be implemented; and our actions and behaviors can be adjusted. Simply, her research helps us save the fisheries and fish for future generations.

In our conversation, we discuss:

• The day to day life of a marine fisheries research scientist,
• The importance of protecting our waters and fisheries for everyone and for future generations,
• The necessity of supporting policies and regulations that protect the environment and address climate change,
• The role of science and the scientific method in understanding and discovery,
• The igniting and sustaining power of having passion for what you do,
• The support she received from others as she began her career in science and the support she now gives to others,
• Being the only female scientist in the room or in the field,
• How she and a few friends started Women of Fisheries, Inc., a 501(c)(3) tax-exempt organization dedicated to supporting women in fisheries whose membership now spans over 40 countries, (here is the website: https://womenoffisheries.org), and
• One of her Silver Lining Moments.

One topic that Kerry and I have discussed in the past, which I wanted to ask her about during our SLM conversation but forgot, is the interplay between science and religion. Some people think that spirituality and science are mutually exclusive and place them at odds with each other. Given the prominent role they both play in society, I find this topic interesting and worthwhile for us to have. Therefore, I emailed Kerry and asked if she would share her thoughts. This is what she said:

"Since your podcast centers on love and light, that directly links to spirituality. As a scientist (specifically a biologist), sometimes people are surprised that I am also a Christian. I personally don't think that the two are mutually exclusive. When I was a freshman at Florida State, my honors biology professor said something before he started the section on evolution that has always stuck with me. "Science explains the how, but God/faith/religion explains the why." Science itself is not a belief system, it is a process of figuring out how things work based on evidence. Although he may not agree with my opinion, Neill deGrasse Tyson famously said, "The good thing about science is that it's true whether or not you believe in it." For me, pursuing and applying knowledge of how biological processes work and evolve doesn't negate faith in a higher power."

This makes sense to me.

As I reflected on my conversation with Kerry, the word "support" came to mind, as it had come up throughout our conversation. I thought about - how science has supported humanity this past year, how Kerry's work supports our natural resources for future generations, how having the support from others, and being the support for others, are key to our shared human experience. From my conversation with Kerry, I realize how:

a moment of SCIENCE is lined by SUPPORT.

Thank you for listening to Silver Lining Moments.

By Kerry sharing and by you listening, together we are:

expanding love and light,

one person at a time,

one story at a time,

one Silver Lining Moment at a time.

*The opinions expressed by Kerry in our conversation are her own and don't reflect the beliefs or policies of her employer.