Begin Again with Winston Faircloth

Winston Faircloth
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  • Personal Journals
  • Updated Semiweekly

Begin Again is for people in the second half of life who sense that the identity they've been carrying no longer fits. Host Winston Faircloth — spiritual director, daily poet, and fellow traveler — brings honest conversation, personal story, and original poetry to the journey of remembering, releasing, and returning to who God created you to be. Visit www.myreuniontour.com for more resources.

  1. 2d ago

    What IF The Life You Crafted No Longer Fits

    “What If the Life You Crafted No Longer Fits?” There’s a question I’ve been sitting with for years.  Not a question I invented. A question I lived inside — for a long time, without knowing it had words. What if the life you crafted no longer fits who you are becoming? This is the opening episode of the Recognize movement — the second movement of My Reunion Tour. And it begins here: with a question that is already alive in most of us by the time we arrive at midlife. The restlessness. The hollowness. The sense that something we built our days around has gone quiet. In this episode, I want to name what that feeling actually is. It’s not a malfunction. It’s not a midlife crisis. It has a name — and the name comes from one of the most honest books (The Critical Journey) I’ve read about the journey of faith. Janet Hagberg and Robert Guelich call it the Wall. The Wall is the inflection point where the formulas and identities and coping structures that once worked stop working. Not because you failed. Because you’ve arrived at the place where the outer life and the inner life can no longer avoid each other. Where the inward journey — the one you’ve been deferring — becomes unavoidable. You could avoid this wall. But you can’t go around it. You have to go through it. This episode also introduces the hidden vow — the unconscious agreement underneath the identity. And it ends with a promise: in the next episode, I’m going to tell you the most personal story I’ve shared on this podcast. Something that happened when I was eight years old. Something that explains everything that came after. IN THIS EPISODE•  Why recognition is gradual — a dawning, not a flash — and why relief, not drama, is the emotion when it finally arrives •  The Wall: the inflection point where former identities and coping structures stop working (from The Critical Journey by Hagberg and Guelich) •  The key distinction that changes everything: the incident is not the vow — the incident is where the vow was born •  The vow of self-sufficiency — and the three places it shows up: the body, the career, and relationships •  The Loyal Soldier revisited: not the origin of the identity, but the response to the vow that deployed him •  Four portraits of the Wall: the empty nest parent, the caregiver whose role has ended, the person of faith in a dry season, and the achiever whose success arrived hollow •  A closing poem: Tour Day 721: Trust — the crossroads reframed as continuation •  A closing question to carry into the week — and a specific tease of what’s coming in Episode Seven MOMENTS FROM THIS EPISODE “You could avoid this wall. But you can’t go around it. You have to go through it.”  — Winston Faircloth, drawing from The Critical Journey by Hagberg & Guelich “The incident is not the vow. The incident is where the vow was born.” — Winston Faircloth, Episode 6 THE CLOSING QUESTION * What did you decide about yourself in the hardest moment — and are you still living inside that decision? REFERENCED IN THIS EPISODE •  "The Critical Journey: Stages in the Life of Faith" by Janet Hagberg and Robert Guelich — the source of the Wall concept •  Richard Rohr — the Loyal Soldier concept from his book "Falling Upward: A Spirituality for the Two Halves of Life" •  The oneLife Maps — the four-map tool from The RealLife Process (Teresa McCloy) referenced throughout the Remember movement •  Tour Day 731: Search — opening poem •  Tour Day 721: Trust — closing poem RESOURCES & LINKS •  My Reunion Tour program (forming winter 2027)  →  https://myreuniontour.com/the-journey •  Schedule a conversation with Winston  →  https://meetings-na2.hubspot.com/winston-faircloth •  My Reflections (poems + photos)  →  https://myreuniontour.com/my-reflections •  Subscribe to Begin Again  →  Audible •  Apple Podcasts  •  Spotify  •  Amazon Music  •  Your favorite podcast app IF THIS EPISODE RESONATEDIf today’s conversation stirred something in you — visit https://myreuniontour.com/the-journey. Schedule a conversation with Winston. Not a sales call. An honest conversation about where you are right now. And if today’s episode resonated — share this episode with them. You’re right where you’re supposed to be. ABOUT BEGIN AGAINBegin Again is a companion to the My Reunion Tour program — a faith-based journey for people in midlife and the second half of life who sense that the identity they’ve been carrying no longer fits. Each episode moves through one of four movements of the soul: Remember. Recognize. Release. Reunite. Season One’s sixty stories of perseverance and starting over remain in the feed. There is no wrong place to start.

  2. Aug 8

    The In Between Place

    There is a place between where you were and where you’re going. The Remember movement has done its work. The maps have been completed. The stories have been laid out, named, and honored. And now — before the deeper work of Recognize begins — there is this: the in between space. The threshold. The place where you are no longer who you were, but not yet who you are becoming. This short-form episode is not a lesson. It is an invitation to stay in that space a little longer — and to stop measuring yourself against someone else’s timeline for transformation. Episode Five opens with a clip from Winston’s conversation with Sibyl Towner. Then Winston does something he hasn’t done yet in this season: he names the lie of scheduled transformation, confesses he believed it, and shares what the slow, gradual, unscheduled journey of the last five years has actually looked like from the inside. The episode closes with a poem from Winston’s daily reflections — Tour Day 946: Left — and one question to carry into the Recognize movement. IN THIS EPISODE •  Sibyl Towner on why transformation can’t be rushed: ‘This is slow cooking, and requires a lot of water and grieving and speaking and community. I need to make tear soup.’ •  The cultural promise of six-week transformation programs — and why Winston believed it •  A confession: ‘For a long time I thought that was my fault.’ •  Why real transformation doesn’t come on our schedule: a seed planted today never bears fruit immediately •  What five years of slow, gradual letting-go has actually looked like from the inside •  The liminal space: the doorway where you are no longer where you were, but not yet where you are going •  Nearly a thousand poems — not because Winston is a poet, but because the poems were the only place to put what he was feeling without trying to fix it •  Tour Day 946: Left — a poem about the preciousness of time remaining •  One question: What are you learning in the waiting that you could only learn here? A MOMENT FROM THIS EPISODE“A seed planted today never bears fruit immediately. You can water it. You can tend it. You can give it light. But you cannot make it grow faster than it grows. The timeline belongs to the seed, not to you.”  — Winston Faircloth CLOSING POEM — TOUR DAY 946: LEFT Treasure each moment and dayNot to be treated as debtLet me savor and serveWith the time I haveLeft. Read more poems from Winston’s daily reflections at myreuniontour.com/my-reflections. ALSO FEATURED Sibyl Towner — spiritual director, co-author of the oneLife Maps, co-director of The Springs Christian Retreat Center. Her full conversation with Winston is in Episode Four: “There Is a Place for You.” RESOURCES & LINKS •  My Reunion Tour program (forming winter 2027)  →  myreuniontour.com/the-journey •  Schedule a conversation with Winston  →  https://meetings-na2.hubspot.com/winston-faircloth •  My Reflections (poems + photos)  →  myreuniontour.com/my-reflections •  Subscribe to Begin Again  →  Apple Podcasts  •  Spotify  •  Amazon Music  •  Your favorite podcast app IF THIS EPISODE RESONATED If today’s conversation stirred something in you — visit myreuniontour.com/the-journey. Schedule a conversation with Winston. Not a sales call. An honest conversation about where you are right now. And if today’s episode resonated — share this episode with them. You’re right where you’re supposed to be. ABOUT BEGIN AGAINBegin Again is a companion to the My Reunion Tour program — a faith-based journey for people in midlife and the second half of life who sense that the identity they’ve been carrying no longer fits. Each episode moves through one of four movements of the soul: Remember. Recognize. Release. Reunite. Season One’s sixty stories of perseverance and starting over remain in the feed. There is no wrong place to start.

  3. Aug 1

    There Is a Place for You with Sibyl Towner

    Every story has a place.  In this episode of Begin Again, Winston Faircloth sits down with Sibyl Towner — his spiritual director, and the co-author of the oneLife Maps that form the Remember movement of My Reunion Tour — for an unhurried conversation about where the maps came from, what they’ve surfaced in her own life, and what she knows about helping people find their way home to themselves. Sibyl has spent more than fifty years in ministry and spiritual formation — at College Hill Presbyterian Church in Cincinnati, Willow Creek Community Church in Chicago, and for years now at The Springs Christian Retreat Center in Indiana, which she co-directs with her husband Dick. She is not a theorist. She is a companion who has walked alongside hundreds of people in the most honest seasons of their lives. This is her story. And it turns out it has everything to do with yours. IN THIS EPISODE •  The origin of the oneLife Maps — from Sibyl’s grandmother’s church in Germany to a three-hour dinner with Sharon Swing to Margie Blanchard saying ‘I don’t think we need to reinvent the wheel’ •  Paul Tournier’s book A Place for You — and the line that became the theological root of everything: ‘You cannot leave a place until you have a place’ •  The practice of putting every child’s name on the bed at camp — and how that became a table practice at The Springs •  Hospitality as inviting the stranger into the inside circle of intimacy — knowing and being known •  The Jewish tradition of the table as a place of repair •  Sibyl’s own story: the father she never met, a trip to Germany, a lavender two-piece outfit, and the healing prayer that gave her and others what she never received •  Re-membering: not just recalling, but realigning — the wobbling wheels brought back into alignment •  The woman who couldn’t remember her story before age 13: ‘Put a heart around that section, and in the middle write: Held by God’ •  ‘I only know in part — but I am fully known. That is the birthplace of hope.’ •  Everything in life that God can transform for good — even the worst of the worst •  The oneLife Maps: 25 years, three edits, now stewarded by The RealLife Process with Teresa McCloy •  Sibyl’s closing word for people in transition: remember who you are, grieve what needs to be grieved, examine your relationships, pursue a clean heart A MOMENT FROM THIS EPISODE “Hospitality is inviting the stranger into the inside circle of intimacy. And so it’s about knowing and being known. In the Jewish tradition, the table was a place of repair. So this is where relationships were repaired.” — Sibyl Towner  FROM WINSTON’S REFLECTION “Every story has a place. Your story has a place. And that’s what the Remember Movement of the My Reunion Tour journey is all about — giving your story a place before you’re asked to release any of it. You cannot let go of what you’ve not yet named. You cannot grieve what you’ve not yet honored. And you cannot honor it until you’ve given it a place at the table.” — Winston Faircloth, closing reflection ABOUT SIBYL TOWNERSibyl Towner is a spiritual director, author, and co-founder of The Springs Christian Retreat Center in Indiana, which she led with her husband Dick. She is co-author of the oneLife Maps — now part of The RealLife Process with Teresa McCloy — a structured story-work tool used by thousands of people to map the terrain of their lives. She trains spiritual directors and has companioned hundreds of people through the most formative seasons of their faith journeys. She is Winston Faircloth’s own spiritual director. ABOUT ONELIFE MAPSoneLife Maps were co-authored by Sibyl Towner and are now part of The RealLife Process, stewarded by Teresa McCloy. They are licensed for use in My Reunion Tour. To learn more or get a copy for yourself, visit onelifemaps.com. Teresa McCloy — founder of The RealLife Process — will be a guest on an upcoming episode of Begin Again. Visit therealifeprocess.com for more information.  RESOURCES & LINKS •  My Reunion Tour program (forming winter 2027)  →  myreuniontour.com/the-journey •  Schedule a conversation with Winston  →  https://meetings-na2.hubspot.com/winston-faircloth •  My Reflections (poems + photos)  →  myreuniontour.com/my-reflections•  The oneLife Maps  →  onelifemaps.com •  The RealLife Process (Teresa McCloy)  →  therealifeprocess.com •  Subscribe to Begin Again  →  Apple Podcasts  •  Spotify  •  Amazon Music  •  Your favorite podcast app  IF THIS EPISODE RESONATEDIf today’s conversation with Sibyl stirred something in you — if her story gave language to something you’ve been carrying — visit https://myreuniontour.com/the-journey. Schedule a conversation with Winston. Not a sales call. An honest conversation about where you are right now.  And if today’s episode reminded you of someone who has been wondering if there’s a place for their story — share this episode with them.  You’re right where you’re supposed to be. ABOUT BEGIN AGAINBegin Again is a companion to the My Reunion Tour program — a faith-based journey for people in midlife and the second half of life who sense that the identity they’ve been carrying no longer fits. Each episode moves through one of four movements of the soul: Remember. Recognize. Release. Reunite. Season One’s sixty stories of perseverance and starting over remain in the feed. There is no wrong place to start.

  4. Jun 20

    Four Maps for Finding Your Way Home

    Before we can release what no longer fits, we have to know what we’ve been carrying. Before we can name it — we have to map it. In this episode, Winston Faircloth walks through the four oneLife Maps that form the core of the Remember movement of My Reunion Tour — and shares what each one surfaced in his own life. This is not a survey of a tool. It is the story of a man who sat down with four honest questions and let them do their quiet work. The episode opens with a poem — Tour Day 986: Maps — and closes with Tour Day 961: Story, a poem about the question that sits beneath all four maps: Who am I? In between, Winston introduces each map personally, through the lens of his own journey. A note on the maps: the oneLife Maps were co-authored by Sibyl Towner, Winston’s spiritual director. They are now part of The RealLife Process with Teresa McCloy. The maps are licensed for use in My Reunion Tour — they are not Winston’s creation. You’ll hear from Sibyl in the next episode. IS THIS EPISODE FOR YOU? The oneLife Maps invite people into this work with a set of honest questions. You may want to listen if: •  You are seeking God in a deeper way and desire to rediscover who you are through His eyes •  You have thought: I don’t know myself anymore •  You wonder: Is there something more? •  You stand at a crossroads and ask: which way leads toward more of who I was made to be? •  You are looking for a way to understand the restlessness you feel inside •  You are relationally at odds with yourself or others in ways that have ties to your past IN THIS EPISODE •  Why we map before we release — the logic of the Remember movement •  The four maps in sequence: My Life Now • My Life Story • Peak Experiences • Valley Experiences •  Map 1: the lingering questions that matter most — what is still unknown or unsettled? •  Map 2: why the first twenty years hold so much — and why we should linger there •  Map 3: the difference between accomplishments and peak experiences — what comes effortlessly •  Map 4: the losses that shaped us, the compensating behaviors we built, and why this map is foundational •  What the four maps reveal together that none of them reveals alone •  A preview of the next episode: a conversation with Sibyl Towner, co-author of the oneLife Maps • Two poems: Tour Day 986: Maps (opening) and Tour Day 961: Story (closing) FEATURED POEMS Tour Day 986: Maps  —  Opening poemWritten on Day 986. Five stanzas moving from hidden stories to the courage of honest examination, ending on the single word that names the work: Maps. Tour Day 961: Story  —  Closing poemWritten on Day 961. Six stanzas built around the question beneath all four maps — Who am I? — moving through memory, roles, and the honest admission that old answers may no longer fit, toward the freedom found in a new Story. Both from Winston’s My Reflections archive — nearly 1,000 daily poems written alongside personal photos, chronicling a transformation he didn’t choose but came to receive. Read them at https://myreuniontour.com/my-reflections. A CLOSING WORD FROM THIS EPISODE Freedom promised by our Father Begins with a different identityBeloved. Equipped. Prepared.For this day as it unfolds. ♥ Releasing the loyal oneWho protected us in certaintyRetired in honor, counting the costOur pathway to freedom is in a new Story.— Tour Day 961 ABOUT ONELIFE MAPSThe oneLife Maps were co-authored by Sibyl Towner, a spiritual director with decades of pastoral experience. They are now part of The RealLife Process, a program developed by Teresa McCloy. The maps are licensed for use in My Reunion Tour. To learn more about the oneLife Maps visit onelifemaps.com. Teresa McCloy will be a future guest on Begin Again.  OTHER RESOURCES & LINKS •  My Reunion Tour program (forming fall 2026)  →  https://myreuniontour.com/the-journey •  Schedule a conversation with Winston  →  https://meetings-na2.hubspot.com/winston-faircloth•  My Reflections (poems + photos)  →  https://myreuniontour.com/my-reflections•  Subscribe to Begin Again  →  Apple Podcasts  •  Spotify  •  Your favorite podcast app IF THIS EPISODE RESONATEDIf today’s episode stirred a desire to do this work — to sit with these four maps and let them do what they’re designed to do — visit https://myreuniontour.com/the-journey and schedule a conversation. Not a sales call. An honest conversation about where you are and whether this is the right season. You’re right where you’re supposed to be.

  5. Jun 13

    When the Suit No Longer Fits

    What does it actually look like when the identity you’ve built your whole life around stops working? Not gradually. Not with warning. Just — stops. In this episode, Winston Faircloth goes to the specific anatomy of his own identity collapse — October 2019, the crickets, the 401k, the coping mechanism that finally failed. This is not a pivot story. It is an identity story. And it is the most honest account yet of what the Remember movement of the journey actually requires. Episode Two opens with a poem from Winston’s My Reflections archive — Tour Day 982: Shift — and closes with Tour Day 861: Unfolding. In between, Winston traces the arc from the vow that built the suit to the silence that finally invited it to be taken off. IN THIS EPISODE •  The identity that worked — and why it worked so well for so long •  October 2019: what happened when the golden touch went quiet •  Why the collapse wasn’t a business problem — it was an identity problem •  The unconscious vow: what it was, when it formed, what it built, and what it cost •  What a prison looks like when it has a great track record on the wall •  The question that cracked everything open: Who are you when the title falls away? •  The gift no one wants — and why it may be the most important gift you’ll ever receive •  Two poems: Tour Day 982: Shift (opening) and Tour Day 861: Unfolding (closing) FEATURED POEMS Tour Day 982: Shift  —  Opening poemWritten on Day 982 of Winston’s daily practice. Five stanzas moving from the hollow pursuit of achievement to the crash of the ladder — and ending on a single word that names the only way forward: a downward Shift. Tour Day 861: Unfolding  —  Closing poemWritten on Day 861. A poem of open hands and surrender — the posture the entire episode has been building toward. Closes on the word Unfolding: not an ending, but a becoming. Both from Winston’s My Reflections archive — nearly 1,000 daily poems written alongside personal photos, chronicling a transformation he didn’t choose but came to receive. Read them at https://myreuniontour.com/my-reflections. A CLOSING WORD FROM THIS EPISODEOpenhanded, expectant.Trusting, awaiting.In darkest valleys, mountain peaks alike.I will surrender andPursue what You desire in theUnfolding.— Tour Day 861 RESOURCES & LINKS •  My Reunion Tour program (forming fall 2026)  →  https://myreuniontour.com/the-journey •  Schedule a conversation with Winston  →  https://meetings-na2.hubspot.com/winston-faircloth•  My Reflections (poems + photos)  →  https://myreuniontour.com/my-reflections •  Subscribe to Begin Again  →  Apple Podcasts  •  Spotify  •  Your favorite podcast app  IF THIS EPISODE RESONATED If something in today’s episode named what you’ve been carrying — if the suit you’ve been wearing has started to feel wrong and you’re not sure what to do with that — visit https://myreuniontour.com/the-journey. Schedule a conversation with Winston at https://meetings-na2.hubspot.com/winston-faircloth. Or share this episode with someone you love who might recognize themselves in it. You’re right where you’re supposed to be.

  6. Jun 7

    Welcome Home

    Begin Again is back. And Winston Faircloth isn’t the same person who recorded that last episode.  After a season away — five years of honest reckoning, spiritual formation, and the slow daily writing of nearly 1,000 poems — Winston returns with a relaunch that is less a resumption and more a homecoming.  This episode is his most personal yet: the story of what broke at 59, what the silence held, and what he found on the other side of it.  Episode One opens with a poem from Winston’s My Reflections archive — Tour Day 984: Home — and closes with a second: Tour Day 773: Begin.  In between, Winston shares what he has never said quite this directly before. IN THIS EPISODE•  Why Winston is back — and what changed in the years between seasons •  The identity that collapsed at 59, and what it cost to lose it •  The Loyal Soldier: the part of you that protected you, and now stands guard at a door you need to walk through •  What a ceremonial discharge actually looked like — a speech written for no audience, then read aloud to the people he loves most •  What Begin Again, Season Two is: a companion to the Remember, Recognize, Release, and Reunion journey of My Reunion Tour •  Who this season is for — and the question at the heart of it all •  Two poems: Tour Day 984: Home (opening) and Tour Day 773: Begin (closing) FEATURED POEMS Tour Day 984: Home  —  Opening poem The poem that opens the episode and the season. Seven stanzas tracing the arc from restlessness and hollow pursuit to the quiet turn toward what truly matters. Written on Day 984 of Winston’s daily writing practice. Tour Day 773: Begin  —  Closing poem The closing poem and the season’s recurring benediction. Four stanzas that arrive at a single word, set alone on its own line: Begin. Written on Day 773. Both poems are from Winston’s My Reflections archive — nearly 1,000 daily poems written alongside personal photos, chronicling a transformation he didn’t choose but came to receive. Read them at  https://myreuniontour.com/my-reflections.A CLOSING WORD FROM THIS EPISODE Today in this moment With Trust and Surrender We decide to Follow In a first step of Faith. This is how we Begin.— Tour Day 773 RESOURCES & LINKS My Reunion Tour program (forming fall 2026) →  https://myreuniontour.com/the-journeySchedule a conversation with Winston  →  book a call with WinstonMy Reflections (poems + photos)  →  https://myreuniontour.com/my-reflectionsSubscribe to Begin Again  →  Apple Podcasts  •  Spotify  •  Your favorite podcast appIF THIS EPISODE RESONATEDIf something in today’s episode landed for you — if you’ve been carrying an identity that no longer fits, or feeling a restlessness you can’t quite name — visit myreuniontour.com. Schedule a conversation. Or simply share this episode with someone you love who might be standing at the same threshold. You’re right where you’re supposed to be. ABOUT WINSTON FAIRCLOTHWinston Faircloth is a spiritual director, guide, and companion for people navigating the second half of life. He is not a theorist. He is a fellow traveler who happens to have five years of unfolding to share — and nearly 1,000 poems to prove it. He works from Tampa, Florida, and online. More at myreuniontour.com. ABOUT BEGIN AGAIN PODCAST Begin Again is a companion to the My Reunion Tour program — a faith-based journey for people in midlife and the second half of life who sense that the identity they’ve been carrying no longer fits. Each episode moves through one of four movements of the soul: Remember. Recognize. Release. Reunion.  Season One’s sixty stories of perseverance and starting over remain available in the feed. Season Two goes deeper — into the identity work itself. There is no wrong place to start.

  7. Season 2, Episode 1 Trailer

    This is How We Begin (Again) - Trailer

    Welcome to Begin Again. This is Episode Zero — a brief introduction to the show, to host Winston Faircloth, and to what’s waiting for you in both seasons.  It opens with a poem: “Tour Day 713. Reunion.” Sixty episodes of perseverance and starting over live in Season One.  The deeper identity journey — Remember, Recognize, Release, Reunion — lives in Season Two.  Start wherever you are. There is no wrong door. myreuniontour.com

  8. 11/27/2020

    Daring to Fight with Victoria Mininger

    As our final episode of Season One of the Begin Again Leadership podcast, we've saved our BEST begin again story for last.  A second chance.  Three of the most beautiful, hopeful words ever spoken.  Victoria Mininger never set out to write a book, much less a book about depression.  In fact, she didn’t really even aspire to be an author. Yet, after a season when overwhelm turned to darkness, Victoria dared to fight.  Her second chance not only helped herself, it's now helping thousands.  Writing is hard work.  A book always seemed like a daunting task.  And it is. And yet, when the need outweighs the excuses, somehow a book is what you get. And WHAT a book! Daring to Fight: When Grit, Grace & Faith Take Depression Head-On  is now available on Victoria's website and on Amazon.  I LOVE this book so much that I've already given away copies to friends who need a word of inspiration during a very challenging time.  Victoria is a wife, mom of four, Owner, CEO and Integrator of Bear Creek Outdoor Living ( a Residential Construction Firm), Writer, Author, Speaker, hands in the dirt gardner & farm girl.  And a great friend from a faith and business Mastermind we've been part of for several years. Links from the ShowBear Creek Outdoor Living (company website)Daring to Fight: When Grit, Grace and Determination Take Depression Head On (Amazon)Daring to Fight book trailer (YouTube)VictoriaMininger. com (speaker website)

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Begin Again is for people in the second half of life who sense that the identity they've been carrying no longer fits. Host Winston Faircloth — spiritual director, daily poet, and fellow traveler — brings honest conversation, personal story, and original poetry to the journey of remembering, releasing, and returning to who God created you to be. Visit www.myreuniontour.com for more resources.

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