STOPTIME: Live in the Moment.

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The Birthday Expectation Trap — Why Do We Wait for Others to Celebrate Us?

Birthdays come with a surprising amount of expectation.

How we’re supposed to feel.
How others are supposed to celebrate us.
What the day is supposed to look like.

In this reflective episode of STOPTIME: Live in the Moment, Lisa shares a personal story from a quiet birthday morning that turned into an unexpected moment of awareness. What began with a simple cup of tea, a card on the counter, and a warm fire in the living room quickly revealed something deeper — the subtle voice in our heads that keeps score.

The voice that notices what was done… and what wasn’t.

Through this honest moment of self-observation, Lisa explores the expectations we place on others to validate us and asks a powerful question:

What would change if we celebrated ourselves instead of waiting for others to do it first?

This episode is a gentle reminder that life is made up of moments — and each one is an opportunity to choose how we show up within it.

If you are enjoying the show please subscribe, share and review! Word of mouth is incredibly impactful and your support is much appreciated!

Support the show

🌟✨📚 **Buy 'The Places Where There Are Spaces: Cultivating A Life of Creative Possibilities'** 📚✨🌟 
Dive into a world where spontaneity leads to creativity and discover personal essays that inspire with journal space to reflect. Click the link below to grab your copy today and embark on a journey of self-discovery and unexpected joys! 🌈👇 
🔗 Purchase Your Copy Here: https://a.co/d/2UlsmYC

🌟 **Interested in finding out more about working with Lisa Hopkins? Want to share your feedback or be considered as a guest on the show?** 
🔗 Visit Wide Open Stages https://www.wideopenstages.com

📸 **Follow Lisa on Instagram:** @wideopenstages https://www.instagram.com/wideopenstages/

💖 **SUPPORT THE SHOW:** [Buy Me a Coffee] https://www.buymeacoffee.com/STOPTIME

🎵 **STOPTIME Theme Music by Philip David Stern** 
🔗 [Listen on Spotify]
https://open.spotify.com/artist/57A87Um5vok0uEtM8vWpKM?si=JOx7r1iVSbqAHezG4PjiPg

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The stars were aligned and the universe winked when these three siblings decided to pursue the arts. Join Lisa in this intimate and one of a kind conversation with Josh and Zach of The Brothers Page who are joined by their sister actress/singer/dancer Kylie Liya Page. They have each forged and continue to flourish at extraordinary careers separately and together in music, film, television, and stage and continue to grow and challenge themselves as artists and human beings. Learn more about their unique upbringing and how being siblings has nourished their hearts & souls.

The Brothers Page have built their multifaceted career independently by combining their unique sets of skills and honing in on the power of real connection with their fans - a connection that cannot be understated, as their 1.4 million fans from across the globe have supported their weekly covers since 2011. They’ve received accolades from a wide range of renowned talents such as the Jonas Brothers, The Chainsmokers, Maroon 5, One Republic, Portugal. The Man, Josh Groban, and Ellen DeGeneres, and the Page brothers have begun to release their highly anticipated original music. 

Kylie Liya Page is an actor, singer, dancer who was born in China and raised in New York. As a child, she appeared on Broadway in the 2006 revival of Les Miserables the first national tour of How The Grinch Stole Christmas. Her more recent film and TV credits include Darby and the Dead (which will be released next month on Hulu), The Girl from Plainville with Elle Fanning, The Girl in the Woods (currently on Peacock) and Kylie starred in episode 8 of Social Distance for which the New York Times singled her out saying it was one of the stronger episodes and that she gave a sweet and heart-wrenching performance.

Listen to Brothers Page on Spotify
https://www.youtube.com/user/brotherspage

If you are enjoying the show please subscribe, share and review! Word of mouth is incredibly impactful and your support is much appreciated!

Support the show

🌟✨📚 **Buy 'The Places Where There Are Spaces: Cultivating A Life of Creative Possibilities'** 📚✨🌟 
Dive into a world where spontaneity leads to creativity and discover personal essays that inspire with journal space to reflect. Click the link below to grab your copy today and embark on a journey of self-discovery and unexpected joys! 🌈👇 
🔗 Purchase Your Copy Here: https://a.co/d/2UlsmYC

🌟 **Interested in finding out more about working with Lisa Hopkins? Want to share your feedback or be considered as a guest on the show?** 
🔗 Visit Wide Open Stages https://www.wideopenstages.com

📸 **Follow Lisa on Instagram:** @wideopenstages https://www.instagram.com/wideopenstages/

💖 **SUPPORT THE SHOW:** [Buy Me a Coffee] https://www.buymeacoffee.com/STOPTIME

🎵 **STOPTIME Theme Music by Philip David Stern** 
🔗 [Listen on Spotify]
https://open.spotify.com/artist/57A87Um5vok0uEtM8vWpKM?si=JOx7r1iVSbqAHezG4PjiPg

Let us know what you enjoy about the show!

What if the first fifteen minutes of your morning could transform your entire day? This guided morning rejuvenation body scan meditation offers exactly that opportunity – a chance to awaken your body with intention rather than reaching for your phone or immediately tackling your to-do list.

We begin by finding a comfortable position and setting a powerful intention for the day ahead, asking the simple yet profound question: "How do I want to show up today?" This plants a seed of purpose that influences everything that follows. Then, we guide you through a systematic body scan, starting with your feet and moving upward, bringing awareness, gratitude, and energizing visualization to each part of your body.

As we move through the meditation, we pay special attention to areas where tension commonly accumulates – the abdomen, shoulders, neck, and jaw. Through conscious breathing and visualization of golden light flowing through your body, you'll release stored stress while simultaneously filling yourself with vitality. The practice recognizes each body part's unique contribution, fostering appreciation for the incredible vessel that carries you through life.

The meditation concludes with a powerful visualization that connects you to both inner and outer sources of energy, leaving you feeling fully awake, present, and prepared for whatever lies ahead. You'll step into your day carrying the affirmation: "I am open to possibility and ready to receive all that today has to offer." This practice proves that just minutes of intentional awareness can radically shift how you experience the hours that follow. Give yourself this gift of presence before the world demands your attention.

Support the show

🌟✨📚 **Buy 'The Places Where There Are Spaces: Cultivating A Life of Creative Possibilities'** 📚✨🌟 
Dive into a world where spontaneity leads to creativity and discover personal essays that inspire with journal space to reflect. Click the link below to grab your copy today and embark on a journey of self-discovery and unexpected joys! 🌈👇 
🔗 Purchase Your Copy Here: https://a.co/d/2UlsmYC

🌟 **Interested in finding out more about working with Lisa Hopkins? Want to share your feedback or be considered as a guest on the show?** 
🔗 Visit Wide Open Stages https://www.wideopenstages.com

📸 **Follow Lisa on Instagram:** @wideopenstages https://www.instagram.com/wideopenstages/

💖 **SUPPORT THE SHOW:** [Buy Me a Coffee] https://www.buymeacoffee.com/STOPTIME

🎵 **STOPTIME Theme Music by Philip David Stern** 
🔗 [Listen on Spotify]
https://open.spotify.com/artist/57A87Um5vok0uEtM8vWpKM?si=JOx7r1iVSbqAHezG4PjiPg

Let us know what you enjoy about the show!

In this episode Lisa shares how  understanding your Regular Unconscious Thoughts (RUTS) can unlock an unlimited supply of Energetic Choice, and how making small shifts will open you up to a more conscious, created life of possibility, growth and gratitude.

If you are enjoying the show please subscribe, share and review! Word of mouth is incredibly impactful and your support is much appreciated!

Support the show

🌟✨📚 **Buy 'The Places Where There Are Spaces: Cultivating A Life of Creative Possibilities'** 📚✨🌟 
Dive into a world where spontaneity leads to creativity and discover personal essays that inspire with journal space to reflect. Click the link below to grab your copy today and embark on a journey of self-discovery and unexpected joys! 🌈👇 
🔗 Purchase Your Copy Here: https://a.co/d/2UlsmYC

🌟 **Interested in finding out more about working with Lisa Hopkins? Want to share your feedback or be considered as a guest on the show?** 
🔗 Visit Wide Open Stages https://www.wideopenstages.com

📸 **Follow Lisa on Instagram:** @wideopenstages https://www.instagram.com/wideopenstages/

💖 **SUPPORT THE SHOW:** [Buy Me a Coffee] https://www.buymeacoffee.com/STOPTIME

🎵 **STOPTIME Theme Music by Philip David Stern** 
🔗 [Listen on Spotify]
https://open.spotify.com/artist/57A87Um5vok0uEtM8vWpKM?si=JOx7r1iVSbqAHezG4PjiPg

Let us know what you enjoy about the show!

We guide a gentle morning meditation that uses breath, a soft smile, and memory to cultivate contentment, then expand it with appreciative joy for others. We close with simple ways to spot micro‑joys during the day and carry calm into action.

• settling the body and softening judgment
• breathing with awareness and smiling through a body scan
• reframing meditation as access to joy in the present
• recalling a personal moment of happiness with sensory detail
• repeating clear affirmations for worthiness and agency
• practicing mudita by celebrating others’ happiness
• returning to breath and smile to anchor calm
• spotting micro‑joys in daily life and reinforcing attention
• gentle reentry with stretch, yawn, and a closing blessing

Support the show

🌟✨📚 **Buy 'The Places Where There Are Spaces: Cultivating A Life of Creative Possibilities'** 📚✨🌟 
Dive into a world where spontaneity leads to creativity and discover personal essays that inspire with journal space to reflect. Click the link below to grab your copy today and embark on a journey of self-discovery and unexpected joys! 🌈👇 
🔗 Purchase Your Copy Here: https://a.co/d/2UlsmYC

🌟 **Interested in finding out more about working with Lisa Hopkins? Want to share your feedback or be considered as a guest on the show?** 
🔗 Visit Wide Open Stages https://www.wideopenstages.com

📸 **Follow Lisa on Instagram:** @wideopenstages https://www.instagram.com/wideopenstages/

💖 **SUPPORT THE SHOW:** [Buy Me a Coffee] https://www.buymeacoffee.com/STOPTIME

🎵 **STOPTIME Theme Music by Philip David Stern** 
🔗 [Listen on Spotify]
https://open.spotify.com/artist/57A87Um5vok0uEtM8vWpKM?si=JOx7r1iVSbqAHezG4PjiPg

Let us know what you enjoy about the show!

What’s behind the headlines—and what happens when purpose, presence, and generosity quietly shape the biggest opportunities?

In this episode, I’m joined by tap-dance powerhouse sisters Chloe and Maud Arnold—creators, choreographers, educators, entrepreneurs, and the visionary force behind Syncopated Ladies, the all-female tap ensemble that has amassed over 100 million views online. Their work has traveled to more than 30 countries, with appearances on The Ellen Show, Good Morning America, The Kelly Clarkson Show, and So You Think You Can Dance—and recognition from cultural icons including Beyoncé, Whoopi Goldberg, Shonda Rhimes, and Janet Jackson.

But this conversation isn’t about the highlight reel.

It’s about the humans behind the headlines—and the small, deeply human choices that often create the biggest turning points. Chloe and Maud share how major breakthroughs have come through everyday acts of care: giving a friend a ride, making space for someone who needs to be included, and leading with mission rather than image.

We talk about:

• Why “being present” is a performance skill—and a life skill
• The “make it until you make it… and keep making it” mindset (and the early projects nobody saw)
• Rejection, resilience, and staying open without getting bitter
• Identity, excellence, and the power of being raised with the message: you already belong
• What it means to choose your standards—and protect your energy—while staying generous and grounded

This one is an invitation to slow down, remember what matters, and honor the unseen moments that shape a life.

If you are enjoying the show please subscribe, share and review! Word of mouth is incredibly impactful and your support is much appreciated!

Support the show

🌟✨📚 **Buy 'The Places Where There Are Spaces: Cultivating A Life of Creative Possibilities'** 📚✨🌟 
Dive into a world where spontaneity leads to creativity and discover personal essays that inspire with journal space to reflect. Click the link below to grab your copy today and embark on a journey of self-discovery and unexpected joys! 🌈👇 
🔗 Purchase Your Copy Here: https://a.co/d/2UlsmYC

🌟 **Interested in finding out more about working with Lisa Hopkins? Want to share your feedback or be considered as a guest on the show?** 
🔗 Visit Wide Open Stages https://www.wideopenstages.com

📸 **Follow Lisa on Instagram:** @wideopenstages https://www.instagram.com/wideopenstages/

💖 **SUPPORT THE SHOW:** [Buy Me a Coffee] https://www.buymeacoffee.com/STOPTIME

🎵 **STOPTIME Theme Music by Philip David Stern** 
🔗 [Listen on Spotify]
https://open.spotify.com/artist/57A87Um5vok0uEtM8vWpKM?si=JOx7r1iVSbqAHezG4PjiPg

Let us know what you enjoy about the show!

What happens when a world-class performer stops chasing perfection—and starts choosing presence?

In this episode, I’m joined by Sean Panikkar, an American tenor of Sri Lankan heritage whose career spans the world’s most renowned opera houses, including the Metropolitan Opera, Royal Albert Hall, La Scala, Carnegie Hall, the Salzburg Festival, and the English National Opera. Many also recognize Sean from America’s Got Talent as a member of Forte, the operatic tenor trio that captivated millions.

Sean reflects on how the pandemic reshaped his relationship to his work, his family, and himself. After years of constant international travel, the sudden pause brought him home—and revealed just how deeply he missed the rehearsal room, the creative process, and the joy of making art. That space helped him reconnect to his “why” and renew his gratitude for the work he once risked taking for granted.

We explore his unconventional path into music, the mindset that sustains a long and demanding career, and the surprising place where he finds the most joy—not in applause, but in rehearsal and collaboration. Sean shares how releasing the need for perfection liberated him as a performer, allowing him to step onstage with trust, freedom, and presence. As he puts it, live performance is never flawless—but it is always true to the moment.

We also talk about reliability, preparation, working smarter rather than harder, and the values that anchor him—especially fatherhood. At the heart of this conversation is a powerful reminder: when we let go of control and fully arrive, we’re often right where we’re meant to be.

If you are enjoying the show please subscribe, share and review! Word of mouth is incredibly impactful and your support is much appreciated!

Support the show

🌟✨📚 **Buy 'The Places Where There Are Spaces: Cultivating A Life of Creative Possibilities'** 📚✨🌟 
Dive into a world where spontaneity leads to creativity and discover personal essays that inspire with journal space to reflect. Click the link below to grab your copy today and embark on a journey of self-discovery and unexpected joys! 🌈👇 
🔗 Purchase Your Copy Here: https://a.co/d/2UlsmYC

🌟 **Interested in finding out more about working with Lisa Hopkins? Want to share your feedback or be considered as a guest on the show?** 
🔗 Visit Wide Open Stages https://www.wideopenstages.com

📸 **Follow Lisa on Instagram:** @wideopenstages https://www.instagram.com/wideopenstages/

💖 **SUPPORT THE SHOW:** [Buy Me a Coffee] https://www.buymeacoffee.com/STOPTIME

🎵 **STOPTIME Theme Music by Philip David Stern** 
🔗 [Listen on Spotify]
https://open.spotify.com/artist/57A87Um5vok0uEtM8vWpKM?si=JOx7r1iVSbqAHezG4PjiPg

Let us know what you enjoy about the show!

What does it actually take to be joyful—not performative-happy, not “fine,” but truly joyful in a way that feels brave, embodied, and real?

In this episode, I’m joined by two brilliant storytellers and screenwriters, Meg LeFauve and Lorien McKenna, whose combined credits span beloved studio and indie projects across animation and live action—including Inside Out, Up, The Good Dinosaur, Captain Marvel, and more. Together, they also host the outstanding podcast The Screenwriting Life.

We begin with Inside Out as a doorway—asking which character each of them most identifies with (and why). Lorien claims Disgust: truth-teller, protector, and sharp point of view. Meg surprises us with Sadness—not as an identity, but as a writer’s intimacy with vulnerability, self-doubt, and instinct. From there, the conversation opens into something deeper: the stories we tell ourselves that don’t serve us, and what it looks like to rewrite them.

Meg shares an unforgettable moment of meeting her inner critic head-on—visualizing a small red chair and asking that voice to sit down while she moved forward anyway. Lorien speaks candidly about imposter syndrome, the discomfort of receiving praise, and the belief that love has to be earned—then traces how her creative work is helping her practice hope in real time.

And then we land on the heart of the episode: joy as vulnerability. Meg offers a powerful reframe—true joy requires courage, because joy opens us up. It makes us visible. It asks us to hope. The two of them explore what it means to be observed again after the pandemic, how community reflects us back to ourselves, and why friendship can be genuinely life-saving.

You’ll also hear beautiful distinctions around self-acceptance vs. self-celebration, creative presence, and what “living in the moment” looks like when you’re someone who naturally lives in the future. We close with a playful “What makes you…?” lightning round—stress hunger, curiosity hunger, overwhelm-as-a-signpost, and the small ordinary moments that carry real joy.

If you’re navigating self-doubt, trying to receive the good that’s coming toward you, or learning how to choose hope without needing certainty—this one is a gem.

If you are enjoying the show please subscribe, share and review! Word of mouth is incredibly impactful and your support is much appreciated!

Support the show

🌟✨📚 **Buy 'The Places Where There Are Spaces: Cultivating A Life of Creative Possibilities'** 📚✨🌟 
Dive into a world where spontaneity leads to creativity and discover personal essays that inspire with journal space to reflect. Click the link below to grab your copy today and embark on a journey of self-discovery and unexpected joys! 🌈👇 
🔗 Purchase Your Copy Here: https://a.co/d/2UlsmYC

🌟 **Interested in finding out more about working with Lisa Hopkins? Want to share your feedback or be considered as a guest on the show?** 
🔗 Visit Wide Open Stages https://www.wideopenstages.com

📸 **Follow Lisa on Instagram:** @wideopenstages https://www.instagram.com/wideopenstages/

💖 **SUPPORT THE SHOW:** [Buy Me a Coffee] https://www.buymeacoffee.com/STOPTIME

🎵 **STOPTIME Theme Music by Philip David Stern** 
🔗 [Listen on Spotify]
https://open.spotify.com/artist/57A87Um5vok0uEtM8vWpKM?si=JOx7r1iVSbqAHezG4PjiPg

Let us know what you enjoy about the show!

What if the real win isn’t the credit list, but the way you show up when no one’s clapping?

In this conversation, I sit with actor Philip Anthony Rodriguez to unpack a four-decade career spanning Broadway stages, prime-time television, and voice work—including a Star Wars Inquisitor—and then zoom in on the human core that powers it all.

Philip reframes performance as service: a collaborative act that allows audiences to feel, think, and reset. He shares how the pandemic reshaped his process—self-tapes at home, resourcefulness as a daily skill, and gratitude as a grounding practice—and why choosing response over reaction changed everything. The old reflex to bristle at last-minute auditions gave way to a steadier standard: prepare well, conserve energy, and be the professional who delivers. That mindset, he notes, applies far beyond show business—from startups to classrooms.

We wander through early breaks, a transformative European tour of West Side Story, and the deliberate expansion of his toolkit—on-camera nuance, action training, voice work—to keep opportunity wide. The heart of the conversation lives closer to home: a father reflecting on his own dad’s tough love, laughing with his son in a grocery line, and realizing that small, unseen moments are the legacy that lasts.

We talk presence, confidence without ego, and the courage to let friends call you out when you’re stuck. Along the way, we explore why arts education isn’t optional if we want healthy communities—and how humor, kindness, and curiosity help us stay resilient.

If the conversation resonates, follow the show, share it with a friend, and leave a quick review—your words help others find us. 

If you are enjoying the show please subscribe, share and review! Word of mouth is incredibly impactful and your support is much appreciated!

Support the show

🌟✨📚 **Buy 'The Places Where There Are Spaces: Cultivating A Life of Creative Possibilities'** 📚✨🌟 
Dive into a world where spontaneity leads to creativity and discover personal essays that inspire with journal space to reflect. Click the link below to grab your copy today and embark on a journey of self-discovery and unexpected joys! 🌈👇 
🔗 Purchase Your Copy Here: https://a.co/d/2UlsmYC

🌟 **Interested in finding out more about working with Lisa Hopkins? Want to share your feedback or be considered as a guest on the show?** 
🔗 Visit Wide Open Stages https://www.wideopenstages.com

📸 **Follow Lisa on Instagram:** @wideopenstages https://www.instagram.com/wideopenstages/

💖 **SUPPORT THE SHOW:** [Buy Me a Coffee] https://www.buymeacoffee.com/STOPTIME

🎵 **STOPTIME Theme Music by Philip David Stern** 
🔗 [Listen on Spotify]
https://open.spotify.com/artist/57A87Um5vok0uEtM8vWpKM?si=JOx7r1iVSbqAHezG4PjiPg

Let us know what you enjoy about the show!

Jet lag can leave you feeling untethered—tired and wired at the same time, unsure whether to rest or push through. This gentle meditation is designed to help your body recalibrate after travel, without forcing sleep or wakefulness.

Rather than trying to override your system, this practice focuses on orientation. We begin by grounding in the body and noticing where you are now—the quality of light, the sounds around you, the simple fact of being supported. Through natural breathing and subtle cues, you’ll invite your nervous system to register safety and arrival.

You’ll be guided to release urgency around “getting it right” and instead allow your internal clock to adjust gradually. This is not about snapping into a new schedule, but about offering your body clear, calm signals so it can update in its own time.

Listen after arrival, in the morning or early evening, or anytime jet lag leaves you feeling out of sync. Return to this practice as needed as your body settles into a new rhythm.

If this meditation supports your transition, consider subscribing, sharing it with a fellow traveler, or leaving a brief review to help others find their way back into alignment.

Support the show

🌟✨📚 **Buy 'The Places Where There Are Spaces: Cultivating A Life of Creative Possibilities'** 📚✨🌟 
Dive into a world where spontaneity leads to creativity and discover personal essays that inspire with journal space to reflect. Click the link below to grab your copy today and embark on a journey of self-discovery and unexpected joys! 🌈👇 
🔗 Purchase Your Copy Here: https://a.co/d/2UlsmYC

🌟 **Interested in finding out more about working with Lisa Hopkins? Want to share your feedback or be considered as a guest on the show?** 
🔗 Visit Wide Open Stages https://www.wideopenstages.com

📸 **Follow Lisa on Instagram:** @wideopenstages https://www.instagram.com/wideopenstages/

💖 **SUPPORT THE SHOW:** [Buy Me a Coffee] https://www.buymeacoffee.com/STOPTIME

🎵 **STOPTIME Theme Music by Philip David Stern** 
🔗 [Listen on Spotify]
https://open.spotify.com/artist/57A87Um5vok0uEtM8vWpKM?si=JOx7r1iVSbqAHezG4PjiPg