

I start with what I do know and then I can move towards the things I want to know.
“This is what I do know.  I know that this body has carried me through the best of times and the worst of times. My legs have many miles and every one of those miles has a story.
And it is about my story, it’s about people’s story.  I only state facts and then I can state the things I want to know.  I want to know that people aren’t there to hurt me, that people are genuinely good, that these things are real.” – Rachel Barker
On today’s podcast episode I am happily back on my studio sofa across from my friend Rachel Barker of Dear Rach and Wise Nutrition for a very candid conversation as we explore Rachel’s lifelong journey with feeling unheard and invisible despite her own tireless efforts to give a voice to those who haven’t had one.  Rachel shares how growing up with a father with progressive Multiple Sclerosis and being raped as a teenager created trauma that altered the way she thinks, deals with other people, and views herself.  She openly shares about the work she is diving into even just this year to own her own hurt and to allow herself to experience full joy by getting help and letting others in.
Show Notes:
Dear Rach instagram https://www.instagram.com/dear.rach/ and website https://dearrach.com
Wise Nutrition instagram https://www.instagram.com/shopwisenutrition/ and website https://dearrach.com

301: Where to Begin When You Feel Unheard or Invisible with Rachel Barker of Dear Rach

You feel the fire. Your heart beats knowing you have a message of hope to share. But staying in your purpose and light every day can be hard and lonely.  Dawnbreakers by The LifeBeats Project with host Briana Johnson-Hurst is a weekly podcast dedicated to providing tools, resources, and like-minded connection for men and women seeking to reenchant a disenchanted world.  Each week, whether a conversation with a guest or a solocast, is dedicated to helping you, a Dawnbreaker, remain standing in your purpose and message as you daily seek to align with your Higher Power.   For more information and show notes, visit https://www.thelifebeatsproject.com/podcasts/  To be a part of the community of The League of Dawnbreakers, visit https://www.thelifebeatsproject.com/events/

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After 8 months, I have dusted off my microphone to share pieces with you about where I have been since May, what I am doing now, and what is to come for me and for you and me.   I speak of the importance of wintering in our lives and the role it is playing as I grieve and heal through my second divorce.  This will be the final episode of Season 3 but not of Dawnbreakers.  The future is is bright for you and me when my spring comes again.
Show notes:
Kim Christenson “Talky Word to Me” 
“Wintering: The Power of Rest and Retreat in Difficult Times” by Katherine May
Dawna Markova quote
 
*some links may provide a “thank you” to me if you decide to purchase from them
 

336: Wintering: Its Importance in Our Lives and its Role in My Second Divorce

Friends this is one of my very favorite interviews. I am so honored to reshare from the LifeBeats Library a conversation with Dawnbreaker Andy Proctor of the podcast “More Happy Life” as he honored our community by sharing something he hadn’t shared publicly this fully.  I know he will be met with respect and love.  Andy shares his and his wife’s spiritual journey and the events that have led to them questioning everything they have believed, spurred by the hospitalization of his wife due to delusions and psychosis.  Andy lovingly describes what she experienced and their path of uncertainty but desire to believe in God.  He shares the questions that remain unanswered for him and what he is looking to understand.  Andy shares the importance of thriving and having meaningful experiences especially during these critical moments of uncertainty and what he is currently doing daily to foster having a happy life.   We also talk about the idea of loneliness and belonging as the antidote and what we can do to feel that in our lives.  Friends, I know that you’re going to just appreciate Andy’s vulnerability and honesty as you think of your own questions or periods of uncertainty in life.
Listen and be inspired to think of and push through your questions understanding that you can still thrive in uncertainty, do those things that bring joy in your life despite the questions that you might have as you can move forward with a desire to know dedicating your time to finding the answers, and create meaningful connections with offline relationships.
Show Notes:
Andy’s website “More Happy Life”
Andy’s podcast “More Happy Life”
“The Happiness of Pursuit”

335: Thriving When We Have Questions & Uncertainty | with Andy Proctor of More Happy Life

Friends I am so honored to reshare a favorite story from the LifeBeats Library. I am so excited to welcome back Season 1 guest, musician Paul Cardall and introduce you to the phenomenally talented and impressively self-aware Ellee Duke.  Together along with many other artists they have produced an altruistic album called Worth of Souls with songs written for the express purpose of fighting depression, preventing suicide, and anchoring people to hope in a loving and merciful God, no matter who that God is.  Ellee shares her own story that inspired her to write the song “Life Me Out” that I spur on her to sing on the show!  She has such a glorious voice and message.  Ellee tells of following her gut and turning down the chance at American Idol to pursue her own path in Nashville as an artist only to experience one of her darkest experiences in her life upon moving there and finding herself alone.  She had lost the friendship of the one person who knew everything about her, sharing a bond that she thought was unbreakable.  She found herself depressed, locked in her room, and not eating.  She had wanted her dream so badly but never realized the cost that came with getting what she wanted.  It was these feelings that she drew upon to write “Lift Me Out” in which she turned to God to help lift her out of this “war in her mind” that she couldn’t find a way out of, that inner battle of the negative and positive thoughts that had paralyzed her, to find a confidence that would propel her forward in her career to find her footsteps she couldn’t find or see herself.  She shares her foundation for her impressive self-identity as her confidence in being a child of God and her supportive family who taught her that she could do this!
Listen and be inspired to identify where your self-awareness comes from, to connect to your higher power and reach out for help during moments you just can’t see how to get out of, and to get out of the negative thoughts to focus on the life and people you have right in front of you.
Show Notes:
My LifeLine podcast – Process of Recalibration and obtaining & retaining a quiet mind
Ellee’s song “Lift Me Out” Music Video
Worth of Souls Project website and resources
Ellee Duke’s website
Ellee Duke’s YouTube and Instagram
Paul Cardall’s website

334: Lifting Out of Depression and the War in Our Mind through Music and Anchoring to God | with Paul Cardall and Ellee Duke of The Worth of Souls Project

Friends I am so honored to reshare a favorite story from the LifeBeats Library. Dawnbreaker Rachel Nielson is the host of 3 in 30 podcast, a podcast for moms to give them 3 solid takeaways in 30 minutes.  Rachel shares her battle for having control in her life that lead to a decade long eating disorder emerging from dealing with the health decline and death of her mother at a young age to her battle with infertility.  She goes from one extreme of excessive running and starvation to lying to her husband to sneak away to eating multiple drive-thrus.  After fighting long and hard to bring children into her family, upon the arrival of her child she came to the realization that she was done treating herself like that and no longer wanted any hidden shame.  Rachel provides a fascinating insight into her own mind during that period of battling with her eating disorder as she moves through narrative therapy by personifying and giving a voice to it.  So compelling to hear how poorly we treat ourselves and helps us to identify and rid ourselves of any similar thoughts.
Rachel shares how counseling and living true to who she actually was through living out her desires and passions helped turn around her negative thinking and need for control.
Rachel then shares the next part of her chapter that she has never shared before, how she fears for a tailspin back into her eating disorder, how it has been placing a strain on her marriage, what she hopes will come from sharing it, and how we can support her.   In the spirit of sharing, I also reveal something about my divorce I have not since spoken of.
Listen and be inspired to remove shame in your life by bringing things to the light, realize we don’t have to have the perfect plan to start making changes, and to support others by not trying to fix them but by loving them.
Show Notes:
Rachel’s podcast 3 in 30
Rachel’s Instagram feed 
Rachel’s article “The Surprising Way I Confronted My Eating Disorder”
Rachel’s podcast in which she read the narrative

333: Examining the Voice that Fuels You: A Reveal on Shame, an Eating Disorder, a Diagnosis, and Not Fixing Others | with Rachel Nielson of 3 in 30 Podcast

Today I have the honor of bringing you another video podcast episode in the Stiry Studio with another inspiring and life conquering guest. Jodi Orgill Brown is a national speaker, non-profit consultant, and author whose life experiences have taught her the importance of the unique worth of each individual,  taking charge of our own lives, cherish each day and each relationship, as well as pressing on to find a new normal.  During her “white picket fence” time of life, she calls it, in which she had the husband, kids, schooling, certification, had her dream job, house, she began to have debilitating symptoms that revealed a brain stem tumor that her doctor told her he wouldn’t touch with a ten foot pole.  After having her scans distributed throughout the world, the unique connections of one individual brought her to a doctor who saved her life.  Complications after multiple brain surgeries resulted in facial paralysis and a serious infection that nearly took her life and brought her to a place in which she had to make a decision to live and take charge of her own life.  After leaving the hospital she also left with the very same symptoms that brought her there, the nerve damage had been done and she found herself dealing with depression but once again found a determination to press on to find a new normal and be a part of the solution to help others dealing with depression by writing a book.
Listen and be inspired to have gratitude for the every day things and people in your life, see the worth of each individual and the unique value they contribute, trust your inner voice and take charge of your own life, be a part of the solution, and to press on in new life circumstances and find your new normal.
Show Notes:
Jodi’s website
Jodi’s social media: Facebook, Instagram
Email Jodi: authorjodibrown@gmail.com
Jodi’s books: “The Sun Still Shines: How a Brain Tumor Helped Me See the Light” and “Rise Above Depression: Encouragement and Tips From Those Who Do It Everyday”

301: Where to Begin When You Feel Unheard or Invisible with Rachel Barker of Dear Rach

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