Your Fellow Human

Have you ever heard the saying "you are the sum of the people you spend time with?"

Today I want to introduce you to Petey, someone who not only chooses positivity because of the people he surrounds himself with, but also one that adds to the pure joy of those that get to spend time with him.

Petey and I may get a bit off track from time to time in this episode as we chat about running hard and fast towards your dreams, about why being you is the most important role you will take on in this life, and why jumping and often failing is one of the most elating feelings we can experience; BUT, our "off track" moments are some of my favorites...Some of the moments you get to see just a fraction of what it's like spending time with this human.

Petey shares about the "leap" (more like giant flight) he took in moving to the other side of the world, the way he has pushed himself and held himself accountable to keep pursuing his dreams, and why it's so ok to struggle as we learn and move forward.

We talk about the importance of telling others how we feel, about having those you can sit in silence with, and why being yourself is an opportunity to impact and help someone else in ways you might have never known.

So tune in today and meet Petey, one of my favorite humans and a man out to share life, joy, and all he has to offer with the world

And to you Petey, thank you, thank you for allowing me the honor of sharing a glimpse of who you are with others, for the friend and absolute treasure you are to me, for the way you allowed me to learn from you, be encouraged by you, and for simply being you. Cheering you on always and counting days till our crew is back together! 

if you want to follow along with Petey's adventures you can find him @peteyboytv 

What does excitement feel like to you?

What does it mean to create a life you love, a life of value, a life that allows others to learn their own value as well?

Today I want to introduce you to Zac, Zac and I met here in Cappadocia, it would be the first of many times I would see Zac acknowledge everyone that he encountered, a cheery hello, an introduction, and just like that, a new friend.

We chat about what home means, how it's found in connections and other people, the value in knowing a new individual, and how it is always worth meeting someone new

He shares the choice we have to understand where another is coming from, the opportunity to understand that some need more grace and comfort than us at times, and that respecting the journey everyone is on doesn't mean devaluing your own

He shares about the importance of valuing yourself, your time, and your work, and what that has looked like for him as a business owner

Zac is truly a genuine joy of a human, one that I am so grateful to know, and to learn from, he is one that elevates the joy and energy in any space that he's in an infectiously beautiful way

So tune in today and meet Zac, a man that lives creatively, fully, passionately, and full of genuine love for those he meets

And to you Zac thank you, thank you for saying hi, for sharing your knowledge, your joy, and most importantly your friendship. You are a gem of a human, you have shared so much joy, and I'm forever going to be treasuring our adventures my friend @zacfreuden 

What is real? Have you ever had someone question who you are? If the way you live is authentic to who you really are on the inside? Have you ever felt like you weren't being honest with yourself by not speaking up? When is it ok and necessary to simply let another's impression of us stand and when is it our duty to ourselves and others to speak up?

Today I wanted to share some thoughts and hopefully a reminder of what it means to be authentic, who has a right to know us deeply, and why there are times to let another assume

So tune in today and let's chat, I'd love to hear your thoughts on this one as well.

You shouldn’t do things like that…

You should probably try this instead…

Today I want to introduce you to Justin, Justin is one that has found the most joy and success on the other side of what others may say he “should” do

Justin is one who is quick to learn, quick to hear how he can grow, and quick to pursue life

We chat about the finer points of pizza, and why having a profile image might help him in the dating world

He shares what being willing to simply ask a question has led to, how the loss of his brother impacted and changed life as he knew it, and why time with others is the greatest treasure we are given 

He shares how he wishes the world didn’t face hunger the way it did, how it feels a problem that shouldn’t exist, and his desire for others to be who they can be when they aren’t worried about survival 

We talk about the difference between stubbornness and success, the struggle of being “too tall,” and how rejection and reward can often be connected

Justin is one that can be trusted to value who another is, one that is willing to hear how he can grow, and one that knows the value of a life that can be taken at any moment

So tune in today and meet Justin, a man that will be the first to jump up and help in anyway he can and one that will be uncomfortable or inconvenienced for the sake of another

And to you Justin thank you, thank you for sharing your ginger chews when I got sea sick, for sharing your sense of humor with me, for the way you always jumped in to help, and for your friendship; excited for all the new memories yet to come! @justpears

Have you ever smiled at a stranger and regretted it?

You know that moment when you look up and attempt to make a simple short connection and someone else looks away instead of smiling back?

Today I want to introduce you to Megs, Megs is one that will not only wait for you to smile back, but more likely will also ask how you are, what you love, and genuinely look to get to know you

We talk about why some people just aren’t our people, and why that’s ok, why judgment kills more opportunity than it should, and why the opinions of others should not be allowed to carry too much weight

She shares why being curious is something she wants to encourage us to do more of, why she bickers with the person she loves most more often than she wants, and why she has a deep hunger to meet others

Megs is one that finds so much joy in helping someone else conquer what might hold them back, she is one that values the “peace” in a way that honors humanity and hearing another’s perspective, and one that will always smile at you if you are on her train

So tune in today and meet Meg, one that I can honestly say left me a better person for knowing her, one that has some talents, love, and willingness to help that can make anyone around her a better human

And to you Megs thank you, thank you for the way you see, support, and strive to celebrate every life that you encounter. You are a truly beautiful soul and it is an honor to give space for your voice and heart to be heard @motleymegs

How has what is missing from you life impacted you?

Does loss change the way we view the world or ourselves?

Today I want to introduce you to Chema, Chema is on that is a kind and gentle sparkle of light, one that values presence and pressing into the joy found in the everyday moments of life, and one that has found time and again, that something will come when we are willing to press forward 

He shares why he is proud of what he does and how he loves getting to look forward to what he does, in being behind the camera, but also in the places his work has brought him and allowed him to be present in

He shares what losing his dad was like at 10 years old, how that changed the course of his life, and how he will never fully know how that changed him, but that it has shaped him

We talk about what a softer world might be like, one without harshness, one where we focused on being gentle with those around us first

We talk about the the difference between excitement and stress, why when teaching someone else it matters most that we can put ourselves in their shoes and explain something in a way that works for them

He shares how one of his early trips changed him and made him into the Chema that he is today and how he hopes others will press in to knowing and experinceing other cultures

Chema is one I am grateful to learn from, grateful for his patience, his ability to be gentle and approach others with a soft and listening ear, one that pushes past his own fears and one that amplifies the joy of others

So tune in today and meet Chema, a man worth learning why life is worth learning from 

And to you Chema thank you, thank you for all the ways I’ve been able to learn from you, for being someone that loves last minute adventures, for your heart for others, and most of all, that I get to call you friend @chema.ball

Have you ever felt a little out of place?

Like your level of energy was too much for others?

Today I want to introduce you to Thira, Thira is one that I am so happy to know, one that has left me happier and more alive then when I met her, and one that loves genuinely pouring her love of life into those around her

She shares what life as a model and a content creator is like for her right now, her desire and the struggle in creating a career out of what she loves, but also the unwillingness to give up even when it can feel impossible

She shares how much it means to her to be appreciated by new friends, to feel the freedom to be herself and not be the “weird” one for being excited for happy about life

We talk about the impact of others considering things about us without knowing us, how when others ask questions it can at times cause us to question who we are, and how sometimes we need to just dare to jump and walk our own path

Thira is a genuine life of light in this world, one that has a contagious joy and love that flows from her, she is one that gives freely, loves deeply, and is unwilling to let fear keep her from what life is meant to be

So tune in today and meet this cute and joyfully contagious friend of mine one that reminds us all that it’s ok to be who we really are on the inside, on the outside too

And to you Thira thank you, thank you for your rays of sunshine, for being a ball of energy, for dancing with me, laughing with me, and allowing me to know you, you are a sweet soul and a treasure I am honored to call friend @thiramoeants

What if change was demanded?

What if the things that brought you joy were no longer possible?

Today I want to introduce you to Tyson, Tyson is one I have come to know and learn so much from, he is a man of consistency and one that can be relied upon, and one that no matter what life has dealt him chooses to pursue the good he can contribute to the world.

He shares how he feels change is often rare in humanity, but how growth is more common and what he has learned so much from

He shares about a time when the fragility of life was brought to the forefront of his world, when he was faced with a choice and how he came through that time to use his experience to help others

We talk about what it means to enrich the life of another and to see the richness and value of knowing humanity

Tyson is one that is on an adventure, an adventure as a part of the beauty this natural world has to offer, one that journeys with humanity to share what he has learned, and one that does so with respect and admiration for what and who is before him.

So tune in today and meet my friend Tyson, a man whom if this conversation is your only interaction with, has the ability to change the way you see the world.

And to you Tyson thank you, thank you for the continual opportunity to learn from you, bring people together with you, for the times of exploring the sea, and for your friendship, I am truly grateful to know you and am inspired and encouraged by how you choose to approach the life you live @tysonsadler 

Today I wanted to chat a bit about what the journey of happiness can look like and often where we can lose our way. 

The idea that we can pursue something we don't want, are unsure of, or strongly desire, and each path can either lead us to happiness.. or create our own prison.

It's a thing I've often heard others opinions of as far as my own pursuit is concerned, and one that I know from conversations with others, is not so uncommon to hear or even feel as if we should have gone a different way.

Have you ever had a little pep talk with yourself? You know the kind when you say “c’mon you can do this”?

Today I want to introduce you to Lilah, I met Lilah through a friend and former guest who felt after a moment of knowing her said “we needed to meet”

And, he was not wrong!

Lilah is one that lives with intentionality and joy, one that found freedom outside the box society told her happiness was found in, and one that believes in taking her own hand and reminding herself to “c’mon, you got this”

We chat the difference between choosing gratitude and ignoring what is weighing us down, how joy is a choice and how it differs from false positivity, and why acknowledging joy in the now changes everything.

She shares her personal journey and her battle with CPTSD, how getting the care she needed changed her life, how it came from a place she wasn’t expecting, and how she felt for the first time that her feet were firmly on the ground and she could go forward in life in ways she never knew possible

She shares why her life makes many think she is crazy, but for her the crazy and scariest thing would be to not live the way she does, how she wishes she could give everyone a feeling of self awareness for their own growth and joy, and how others are allowed to process who we were to them without it changing or invalidating who we have become

Lilah is one that quickly became a friend I will treasure, one that as we shared what it means to have our hearts live in pieces around the world, will undoubtedly carry a piece of mine with her wherever life takes her next

So tune in today and meet Lilah, a beautiful woman full of presence and joy, a soul intentioned to live life taking her own hand and reminding herself that she can indeed conquer whatever lies before her

And to you Lilah thank you, thank you for your open and eager to make a friend spirit, for your willingness to share what life has brought you through, for your heart to know humanity, and for the gift of getting to call you a friend. @lilah_rose