We Can Do Hard Things

Abby opens up about starting therapy and the work she’s been doing to unearth and express uncomfortable emotions like anger and sadness. She shares her long-held fear that if she feels and expresses her full self, people will leave her.

In a profound moment, Abby shares a deep longing to truly love herself. She explains that this love has been clouded by messages she’s received since childhood which have led to difficulty trusting others, equating anger with not being okay, and a feeling like something is “wrong” with her. 

For the episode Abby mentions with Suzanne Stabile, check out Fix Your Most Important Relationships with the Enneagram: Suzanne Stabile

Where does all our suffering come from and how can we free ourselves?

Pastor, author, and speaker, Nadia Bolz-Weber, discusses how she finally became healed and whole enough to choose romantic love from freedom instead of desperation. With her characteristic raw honesty, Nadia shares that the secret to her healing has been “honestly, a lot of pain.”

Plus, Nadia leads Abby to a heartbreaking, cathartic moment of clarity – and shares a blessing that she wrote for Abby and all queer people.

About Nadia:

Nadia Bolz-Weber is an ordained Lutheran Pastor; founder of House for All Sinners & Saints in Denver; host of The Confessional podcast; and author of three NYT bestselling memoirs: Pastrix, Accidental Saints, and SHAMELESS. Nadia writes and speaks about personal failings, recovery, grace, faith, and really whatever the hell else she wants to.

She always sits in the corner with the other weirdos, and she can be found a couple days a week inside the Denver women’s prison where she is a volunteer chaplain.

https://thecorners.substack.com/

IG: @sarcasticlutheran

Priya Parker is here to discuss what Glennon called “the most important thing in the world” – connection – and how to make our time with other people have more of it. She teaches us: 

• How – whether it’s a wedding or a retirement party – you can create new gathering rituals that forge truer, deeper relationships;

• Why the outcome of every gathering is decided before anyone steps in the room; and 

• Why so many of us hate parties – and what to do about it. 

For the The Art of Gathering online course giveaway go to priyaparker.com/hardthings

About Priya:

Priya Parker is a conflict facilitator, strategic advisor, international speaker, and acclaimed author of The Art of Gathering: How We Meet and Why It Matters and host of the podcast TOGETHER APART. She is the creator and host of The Art of Gathering digital course, about how to make meaning with and for our people. She lives in Brooklyn, New York with her husband and two children.

TW: @priyaparker

IG: @priyaparker

Glennon tells three stories that reveal how recovery from anorexia has changed who she is and how she experiences the world.

Together in G’s home, recording for the first time, Abby and Amanda respond with their reflections and the impacts that G’s recovery work has had on the entire family.

In this special episode, Glennon, Abby, and Amanda sit down with icon Dolly Parton for a heartfelt conversation about how to start something new at 77, how she mothers the world, and how she broke her own heart when Elvis asked to record her hit song. 

Plus, the advice Dolly would give to Glennon and Abby’s daughter, Tish, as she enters the music business. 

About Dolly: 

Dolly Parton is the most honored and revered female country singer-songwriter of all time and was recently inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame. Achieving 27 RIAA-certified gold, platinum, and multi-platinum awards, she has had 26 songs reach #1 on the Billboard country charts, a record for a female artist. Parton became the first country artist honored as Grammy MusiCares Person of the Year.

She has 48 career Top 10 country albums, a record for any artist, and 110 career-charted singles over the past 50+ years. On October 17th she is releasing her second coffee table book in a trilogy called “Behind The Seams: My Life in Rhinestones” and on November 17th her highly anticipated 30-song rock album, “Rockstar.”

To date, Parton has donated over 213 million books to children around the world with her Imagination Library. Her children's book, Coat of Many Colors, was dedicated to the Library of Congress to honor the Imagination Library's 100 millionth book donation. 

TW: @DollyParton

IG: @dollyparton

Brilliant life coach, Martha Beck, works her magic for our Pod Squad.

In this treasure trove of profound insight and practical guidance, Martha teaches us how to find purpose in midlife, how to use our longing as a map, and how to know for sure if what we have is real love. 

If you’d like to go back and listen to the episodes mentioned in today’s conversation, check out episodes: 

252. Martha Beck Helps Amanda Let Go

238. How to De-Stress: Relaxation Intervention for Amanda (and You)!

121. Martha Beck & Rowan Mangan: Polyamory & Throuple Life

67. How to Get More Joy with Martha Beck

66. How to Come Home to Yourself with Martha Beck

About Martha:

Dr. Martha Beck is a bestselling author, life coach, and speaker – offering powerful, practical, and entertaining teachings that help people improve every aspect of their lives. She is known for her unique combination of science, humor, and spirituality.

For over two decades she has been, in the words of NPR and USA Today, “the best-known life coach in America.” Her published works include several self-help books and memoirs, including New York Times and international bestsellers Finding Your Own North Star, The Joy Diet, and Expecting Adam.

Martha’s most recent book, The Way of Integrity: Finding the Path to Your True Self, was an instant New York Times Best Seller.

TW: @TheMarthaBeck

IG: @themarthabeck

In this incredibly raw episode, Martha Beck coaches Amanda through a transformative, therapeutic session to help heal her overfunctioning, resentment, and burnout. Martha uncovers the different parts of Amanda that have existed inside her since childhood – and invites them to speak and then finally rest into peace, joy, and enoughness.  

If you’d like to go back and listen to episodes referenced in today’s conversation, check out: 

238. How to De-Stress: Relaxation Intervention for Amanda (and You)!.

170. The Most Radical Way to Heal: Internal Family Systems with Dr. Becky Kennedy

67. How to Get More Joy with Martha Beck

66. How to Come Home to Yourself with Martha Beck

About Martha:

Dr. Martha Beck is a bestselling author, life coach, and speaker – offering powerful, practical, and entertaining teachings that help people improve every aspect of their lives. She is known for her unique combination of science, humor, and spirituality.

For over two decades she has been, in the words of NPR and USA Today, “the best-known life coach in America.” Her published works include several self-help books and memoirs, including New York Times and international bestsellers Finding Your Own North Star, and Expecting Adam.

Martha’s most recent book, The Way of Integrity: Finding the Path to Your True Self, was an instant New York Times Best Seller.

TW: @TheMarthaBeck

IG: @themarthabeck

Singer, songwriter, and instrumentalist, Allison Russell, shares her incredible life story and teaches us how she healed from abuse through music, sisterhood, and returning to her body. This hour is a soul-stirring reminder of the life-saving, cycle-breaking power of truth telling, art, and love. 

About Allison:

Allison Russell has spent her career in multiple bands, including Po’ Girl, Our Native Daughters and Birds of Chicago. After a career spent as a gifted multi-instrumentalist, backing numerous other artists, she finally dared to release her solo project in 2021. She made her Opry debut and appeared at the Country Music Hall of Fame and performed at the 2022 GRAMMY’s Premiere Ceremony.

In addition to her four GRAMMY nominations, she has earned three 2022 Americana Award nominations and a win for Album of the Year, two International Folk Music Award wins, a 2022 Juno nomination for ‘Songwriter of the Year,’ and her first-ever Juno Award win for Contemporary Roots Album of the Year. Russell received two 2021 Americana Awards nominations, won three Canadian Folk Music Awards, two UK Americana Music Awards, and more. She was recently nominated for Song of the Year and Artist of the Year for the 2023 Americana Awards. 

TW: @outsidechild13

IG: @allisonrussellmusic

Today, Angela Chen teaches us how understanding asexuality helps us understand ourselves and the true meaning of sex. Angela describes: 

And a question for anyone seeing themselves in asexuality: What would this label free you from?

About Angela:

Angela Chen is a journalist and editor. She is the author of Ace: What Asexuality Reveals About Desire, Society, and the Meaning of Sex, which was named one of the best books of 2020 by NPR, Electric Literature, and Them. Her reporting and essays have also appeared in The New York Times, The Wall Street Journal, The Atlantic, The Guardian, National Geographic, Paris Review, and more. 

TW: @chengela

IG: @angelaetcetera

Who do we go to for advice? And do we really even WANT advice — or just a good listener?

Glennon, Abby, and Amanda tell us who they each go to when they don’t know what to do next — and offer their best advice to Pod Squaders dealing with loneliness and the unexpected jealousy of their partner's affection for a pet.