We’re often taught—directly or indirectly—that life is supposed to move in a straight line. You’re born, you grow up, you get a job, you hit the milestones, and everything just… progresses.

But real life doesn’t work that way.

In this episode, I talk about why life is not linear—and why that’s actually good news. I reflect on a question I was asked recently: “How are you always so happy?” The honest answer is: I’m not. But I’ve learned how to find joy, even when life feels messy, uncertain, or heavy.

We’ll explore the ups and downs that make up a full human life—the seasons of growth and struggle, beginnings and endings, promotions and pivots, relationships that form and relationships that fade. When we stop expecting life to follow a straight path and instead embrace its rhythm, we open ourselves up to deeper perspective, resilience, and everyday joy.

This episode is an invitation to release the pressure of “having it all figured out,” and to find meaning and hope right where you are—whether things feel great right now, or not so great at all.

Life isn’t linear. And once you accept that, you might just start to see how beautiful it really is.

What can a giant car emblem teach us about the way we live, think, and connect?

During a simple walk at work, I noticed something that stuck with me: the badges on modern vehicles are bigger than ever—bold, shiny, and impossible to miss. That small observation led to a much bigger question about our culture and ourselves.

In this episode, we explore how society has shifted toward valuing labels, brands, and surface-level impressions over depth, understanding, and substance. From the way we choose what we buy, to how we judge ideas, relationships, and even people, we often stop at what’s most visible instead of taking the time to look underneath.

This isn’t an argument against branding or modern life. It’s an invitation to slow down, dig deeper, and reconsider where we place our attention, energy, and trust. Because when things get hard, it’s not the emblem that matters—it’s what’s under the hood.

If you’ve ever felt disconnected, rushed to judgment, or caught chasing the next “shiny thing,” this conversation is for you.

What happens when you have a plan… and the day has other ideas?

On a snowy day filled with good intentions, I kept saying, “I’m going to record my podcast now,” only to be called away—again and again—to help someone else. Fire calls. People stuck in the snow. A quick trip to help my dad after he locked his keys in his truck. By the end of the day, the plan hadn’t happened—but something else had.

In this episode, we talk about the best-laid plans, why they don’t always come to fruition, and how that doesn’t automatically mean the day was wasted or the effort was lost. Sometimes, life reroutes us not to derail us, but to place us exactly where we’re needed.

This is a reflection on flexibility, service, and learning to measure a “good day” by more than what gets checked off a to-do list. If you’ve ever felt frustrated when your plans fall apart—or quietly proud of how you showed up anyway—this episode is for you.

We spend so much of our lives trying to prepare — for hard conversations, big moments, loss, love, fear, and change. We read, we listen, we rehearse, and we tell ourselves that if we just know enough, we’ll be ready.

But some things in life can’t be prepared for until you’re actually in them.

In this episode, I talk about the difference between hearing someone else’s story and living your own. Why no amount of advice, training, or observation can fully prepare us for emotionally heavy moments — or for the beautiful, exhilarating ones either. Whether it’s grief, fear, uncertainty, or falling deeply in love, these experiences don’t land in our minds alone — they move through our whole bodies.

I also explore the reality of the unknown. We don’t walk through life blindly, but we rarely have a full map. Often, the path only reveals itself once we start walking it.

If you’ve ever felt unprepared, overwhelmed, or unsure — this episode is a reminder that you’re not behind, broken, or failing. You’re human. And sometimes, the only way forward is to take the next step and let the path meet you there.