Today, I’m sharing a personal story about my experience with a parent with mental cognitive decline and how it actually turned out to be a gift in disguise.

I know that may sound strange but you’ll have to listen to my story to understand what I mean. And if you find yourself in the same situation someday, maybe this will give you a silver lining to your story as well.

In this episode, I shared what Thanksgiving has become for me (hint: it’s not the whitewashed story of Pilgrims and Native Americans living in harmony) as well as how and why I’m learning to be thankful for all of life’s challenges.

I’m super curious if any of this conversation resonates with you so PLEASE come over to our private community on Substack to chat. I would love to hear your thoughts!

In today’s episode, I’m sharing how I’ve been processing the past few weeks. Emotions are all over the place so I’m relying on the tried and true tools as well as some new ones to help me get back to center. (I’m still unsure where that is these days.)

When emotions run high, we often reach for things to numb out, help push them down, or “just get through”. I did that for years, and it never made me feel better. It only delayed the inevitable tidal wave of feelings that were irrelevant to time and place.

I’m sharing a few things that are working for me and I hope they’ll be helpful for you as well. Finding our way back to center is vital to our emotional well-being but allowing ourselves (and others) to “be in our feelings” is also important.

You’re never alone in how you feel and having people in your life who listen and support you in hard times is life-saving.

All women are welcome in the AWEd AF community.

My guest, Ann Imig, has been in various roles throughout her life: a performer, blogger, writer, mother, and now coach, which she says is where she feels the most flow.

She is a positive psychology coach who aims to help others shift their minds, disrupt their stress, and lean into their strengths to better enjoy today.

I can’t think of a better time to have this conversation than right now so please take a listen and share with a friend who may need a little push toward positive thoughts right now. Help is just a click away.

Today, of all days, is the perfect day to start a meditation practice and I’ve got one that’s super easy.

It’s a way to show loving kindness to yourself and others at the same time.

You can control how you feel at any given moment or space in time and this is one of the tools I’ve found to help me which only takes a few minutes to do.

Have you ever wanted to just pick up and live somewhere else? I don’t mean like the next town over….I’m talking like the next country over.

Well, my next guest did just that. Heather and her husband sold their home and everything in it then moved overseas to a place they only visited once. ONCE!

Today, Heather shares where this idea to move abroad came from, how they pulled it off, the good and the bad of it all, as well as a few pieces of advice in case you’re curious as to what it would take to move overseas as well.

Nothing lights me up more than the topic of women pursuing themselves and a life THEY want.

I know too many women who have put themselves on the back burner for their entire lives (I was one of them!) because they didn’t want to appear selfish because either they were a mom, a wife, a caretaker, or a million other roles.

Society often tells women, directly and indirectly, that we are the ones who need to make sacrifices in order to serve others. We are the ones to give up on our dreams to meet the needs of others. We are the ones who need be at the beck and call of others when they need help.

But what about OUR needs? What about what WE want? Why do those things get discounted or dismissed so easily?

There is no better time to start then now, regardless of our age, to pursue ourselves and the life we want.

I have so many thoughts on this and I’m sharing them today on this podcast episode. Tune in then come over and join me on Substack in our AWEd AF community to chat further. The link is below on where to find us.

It can be so disheartening when the people closest to us don’t support our businesses or our creative endeavors. Unfortunately, it’s normal but that doesn’t mean it’s okay.

I’m sharing some of my own experiences as well as what has helped me look at the whole situation differently which feels healthier and brings me more peace.

I share this for two reasons:

1. You are not alone in how you feel so welcome to the club.

2. To bring awareness to people who may not realize how their silence affects the creators, entrepreneurs, small business owners, writers, etc. in their lives.

The war on Big Food has started…I hope.

Recently, there was a Senate roundtable discussion panel where practitioners, nutritionists, wellness advocates, and doctors spoke regarding the changes over the course of the last century that have negatively impacted our nation’s health.

It’s been a long time coming and I hope this is just the beginning.

Today I’m sharing my own thoughts and personal experiences of learning about the toxic nature of our food industry and what we can start doing NOW to positively impact our families.

It’s time to send a message to Big Food that we are no longer here for their crap…literally.

Menopause…just saying the word may be making you feel tired, irritable, sad, or like you just gained five pounds. I’ve been there and I KNOW how strange this time can be for you right now. It was for me, too.

Or maybe you’re a Millennial or Gen Z and this is waaaay down the road for you. Cool but I still think this topic is something to pay attention to NOW before you get there.

Suffering is optional and I’m here to tell you how I ended mine. I’ve also got resources for you in the show notes to check out as well.