Dawnbreakers by The LifeBeats Project Briana Johnson

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

 

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”

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

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

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”

Friends I am so honored to reshare a favorite story from the LifeBeats Library.  On today’s show I have the absolute honor to bring you the guest that over the past years has been the most requested person that I interview.  The stars have finally aligned and she is with me today on the show.  You will instantly hear the warmth, humor, and passion in her voice and know why.  Natalie Norton is force in this world, she is a writer, photographer, speaker, and life consultant, and the energy behind her newly launched podcast “Show Up”.  Her story is as deep as the passion she has found in her calling to help others see & feel their inherent capacity & worth & to take ownership of that sacred responsibility that comes as a result as then help empower them to live in that highest purpose & potential in their own businesses and lives.  Sounds powerful?!  You better believe she is.  Today we speak to so much of that – leaning in with courage, opting out of ghost worries, and knowing your best is good enough and you are going to be ok – we do this through relating both of our stories, me struggling and making mistakes as a single mom but also being enough for myself and my children, and Natalie drawing upon her wealth of experiences from her own incredible story of years of loss and tragedy, losing her only sibling, then her son, then separation from 3 adopted children, then a mini-stroke, followed by the severe accident of another son.  Friends can you even imagine?!  Natalie is a testament that it is our response to difficulty that determines the quality of our lives. She knows that ⁣it can be really hard, but each of us has what it takes and we truly can find happiness & peace, no matter what life throws our way.⁣

Listen and be inspired to lean into life with courage no matter the circumstance, to opt out of those ghost worries that distort reality, to see the greatest gift of becoming self-aware is the trust we gain in ourselves, and to know that your best is always good enough and you are going to be okay.

Show Notes:

Natalie’s video “Show Up”

Natalie’s Instagram feed

Natalie’s Instagram post that shares a synopsis of her story

Natalie’s blog