Inside FLARE: the Art of EndošŸŽ—ļø

Priscilla Palmieri Smith
  • 5.0 (2)
  • Visual Arts

Inside FLARE (Flourish in Life through Art + Resources for Endometriosis) explores art, storytelling, and the lived experience of endometriosis. Through conversations with artists, advocates, and experts, the show transforms invisible pain into visible expression. Hosted by Priscilla Palmieri Smith, founder of FLARE, this podcast is a raw, honest, and deeply human look at life with endometriosis, chronic illness, and the complex emotional world that comes with it. This podcast exists to remind you: your story matters, your voice has power, even in the hardest moments.

  1. 4d ago

    Sometimes the Hardest Part Isn't Endometriosis | Motherhood, Marriage & Mental Health

    This episode is part reflection, part journal entry, part late-night conversation between friends.In this solo episode of Inside FLARE, Iā€™m reflecting on one of the most emotionally intense months Iā€™ve experienced in a long time. As Mental Health Awareness Month comes to a close, I wanted to have an honest conversation about what happens when life keeps piling things onto your plate while youā€™re still trying to recover, heal, create, parent, and simply keep going. Over the past month, my family experienced a mental health crisis that nearly changed our lives forever. At the same time, I found myself unexpectedly stepping into full-time parenting responsibilities while continuing to navigate recovery from major surgery, chronic illness, and the everyday realities of adulthood that donā€™t pause just because youā€™re overwhelmed. I talk about witnessing the ripple effects that mental health struggles have on entire families, the invisible toll stress takes on a body already living with chronic illness, and the strange balance between heartbreak and gratitude that can exist at the same time. I also share thoughts on marriage, creativity, the Maker Community that helped me through difficult seasons of life, and why sometimes simply making it through the month is an accomplishment worth celebrating. Despite some heavy topics, this isnā€™t a sad episode. Itā€™s ultimately about resilience, perspective, and finding small moments of joy even when life feels chaotic. If youā€™ve ever felt like you were carrying too much, trying to support everyone around you, or wondering how to keep creating while navigating real life, this conversation is for you. Thank you for being here. Keep creating. Keep healingšŸ’› Priscilla

    9 min

  2. May 27

    Diagnosed at 16, Creating Through Chronic Illness: Indian Artist Prajaktaā€™s Endometriosis Story

    In this weekā€™s episode of Inside FLARE, I sit down with Prajakta of @gottaloveendo, a multidisciplinary artist, creative storyteller, trained Bharatnatyam dancer, and advocate whose work is deeply shaped by her experience living with endometriosis and chronic illness after being diagnosed at just sixteen years old. What makes this conversation so special is the way Prajakta speaks about creativity not simply as art, but as something that helped her emotionally survive and understand her experience. Together, we talk about growing up as a young Indian woman with chronic illness, the emotional impact of being diagnosed so early, and how art, movement, and storytelling became ways to process pain, identity, and healing. Prajaktaā€™s work is thoughtful, emotionally rich, and deeply connected to culture and self-expression, which is why Iā€™m also so excited sheā€™ll be exhibiting her work in FLAREā€™s upcoming exhibition this fall. This episode is reflective, inspiring, and deeply human. Itā€™s about much more than diagnosis. Itā€™s about creativity, resilience, and learning how to continue becoming yourself alongside chronic illness. Keep creating, Keep healingšŸ’› Prajakta's Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/gottaloveendo/ Prajakta's website: https://prajakta.co.uk/ Prajakta's Substack: https://substack.com/@prajaktaart

    41 min

  3. May 20

    Rebuilding Trust With Your Body: Sophie on Thoracic Endometriosis, Movement, and Chronic Illness

    In this deeply personal episode of Inside FLARE, I sit down with Sophie, founder of Endo Moves Club and an adaptive fitness instructor living with stage IV and thoracic endometriosis, for an honest conversation about what it really means to navigate chronic illness, grief, resilience, and learning to adapt alongside a changing body. Sophie shares her long road to diagnosis after years of being dismissed despite clear symptoms and a family history of endometriosis. From being told she was ā€œtoo young and healthyā€ to have the disease, to becoming bedridden before excision surgery, she opens up about the emotional and physical toll of not being believed. What makes this episode especially meaningful is how personal the conversation becomes. As Sophie talks about living with thoracic endometriosis, I also share my own recent fears and complications following surgery, including my experience with a collapsed lung and ongoing concerns surrounding thoracic endo.. Together, we talk about medical gaslighting, fear, grief, identity, movement, and the complicated relationship many people with endometriosis have with their bodies. We also explore how movement can become healing instead of harmful, why meeting yourself where you are matters more than pushing through pain, and how creativity, self-expression, and adaptive movement can help rebuild trust with your body after illness and surgery. Sophieā€™s approach through Endo Moves Club is incredibly refreshing and compassionate. She is creating space for people with endometriosis to reconnect with movement in a way that feels supportive, accessible, and realistic. This episode is vulnerable, validating, and hopeful. Itā€™s for anyone who has ever questioned their pain, struggled to feel at home in their body, or wondered if healing and joy are still possible while living with chronic illness. Keep creating, Keep healingšŸ’›

    34 min

  4. May 13

    Art, Advocacy, and Medical Gaslighting | Chelsea's Endometriosis Story

    In this episode of Inside FLARE, I sit down with Chelsea Hardesty, patient advocate, artist, mother, founder of Getting the Better of Endo, and one of the first people who truly understood the vision behind FLARE when I shared it with the world. Chelsea shares the reality of living with symptoms for sixteen years before finally being diagnosed with endometriosis after one doctor completely missed disease that another specialist found just weeks later covering her bowel, bladder, and colon. We talk about what happens when years of dismissal slowly make you question your own body, your instincts, and your reality. This conversation goes far beyond diagnosis. We dive into the emotional and physical complexity of living with chronic illness, from multiple surgeries and high-risk pregnancies to pelvic floor dysfunction, chronic pain, and the long-term impact medical gaslighting can have on mental health. What makes Chelseaā€™s story especially powerful is the way she transformed her experience into action. Through advocacy work on Capitol Hill, poetry, community storytelling, and traveling art installations at state capitols, she is helping reshape how people understand endometriosis and why awareness through art matters so deeply. This is one of the most layered, honest, and important conversations Iā€™ve shared on Inside FLARE so far. Not only because of Chelseaā€™s story, but because it reflects the reality so many people quietly live through every day. If you have ever questioned your pain, felt dismissed, or wondered how to turn something painful into something meaningful, this episode is for you. Keep creating, Keep healingšŸ’› -Priscilla Show Notes: Chelsea's Substack: https://substack.com/@gettingthebetterofendo Getting the Better of Endo on Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/gettingthebetterofendo TikTok: https://www.tiktok.com/@betterofendo?_t=ZP-8v7jPs7ZIlS&_r=1 Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/gettingthebetterofendo/ Book: Project 514 415 - Explore the Lived Experience of Endometriosis Through Art and Literature: https://tr.ee/WZAWXUbzNe SATIRE V: https://tr.ee/BffmSsdT0B The American End of Endo Project: https://tr.ee/QuCBwqQ_au Worldwide EndoMarch: https://tr.ee/QuCBwqQ_au Find FLARE On: Our WEBSITE:ā  https://www.flareendo.org/ā  SUBSTACK: ā https://substack.com/@flareendoā   INSTAGRAM:ā  https://www.instagram.com/flare.endoā  FACEBOOK: ā https://www.facebook.com/flareendoā   PINTEREST: ā https://www.pinterest.com/flareendo/ā  YOUTUBE: ā https://www.youtube.com/@flareendoā   X: ā https://x.com/flareendoā  BLAZE Project INTEREST FORM: ā https://forms.gle/QaydSRQUexUVDeL4Aā  Art Exhibition SUBMISSION FORM: ā https://forms.gle/PGrHWh73HqH8yVCx5ā 

    54 min

  5. May 6

    Mental Health and Endometriosis | A Therapistā€™s Perspective on Chronic Illness, Trauma, and Healing

    For the first time, weā€™re welcoming a mental health professional onto the podcast, someone who doesnā€™t just understand chronic illness clinically, but works closely with patients living with endometriosis and other long-term conditions every day. I sit down with Danielle Sampson, trauma therapist and founder of Aligned Connections, to talk about the emotional and psychological reality of living with chronic illness, and why this part of the experience is so often overlooked. We get into the gap that exists in both healthcare and mental health spaces when it comes to truly understanding chronic illness, and how little formal training many professionals actually receive in this area. We talk about the connection between chronic pain and anxiety, the emotional toll of navigating a body that feels unpredictable, and the importance of validating experiences that are so often minimized or dismissed. One of the most powerful parts of this conversation is the reminder that while chronic illness may be ongoing, the mental health impact does not have to be something you carry alone or without support. We discuss the impacts and importance of taking care of your mental health, and how itā€™s not separate from your physical health, it is essential to it. This episode is exactly why FLARE exists.To open up conversations that are not happening enough, and to bring in perspectives that help people feel seen, understood, and supported in a deeper way. Iā€™m so excited to share this conversation with you, and I hope it gives you language, validation, and a sense of connection if youā€™ve ever felt like this part of your experience wasnā€™t being acknowledged. Youā€™re not alone in this.Keep creating, Keep HealingšŸ’› -Priscilla NOTES: Danielleā€™s Instagram: ā ā @alignedconnectionspllc ā ā  Danielleā€™s therapy website: ā ā www.traumatherapybuffalo.comā ā  Information on cPTSD: ā ā Cleveland Clinicā ā  ā ā Link between chronic stress/chronic illness and inflammationā ā  For more reading about the history of American gynecology: ā ā Medical Bondage by Deirdre Cooper Owensā ā  Directory of therapists trained in perinatal mental health: ā ā Postpartum Support Internationalā ā  Directory of therapists that do EMDR (Eye Movement Desensitization and Reprocessing): ā ā EMDRIAā ā  FIND US ON: WEBSITE:ā ā ā  https://www.flareendo.org/ā ā ā  SUBSTACK: ā ā ā https://substack.com/@flareendoā ā ā   INSTAGRAM:ā ā ā  https://www.instagram.com/flare.endoā ā ā  FACEBOOK: ā ā ā https://www.facebook.com/flareendoā ā ā   PINTEREST: ā ā ā https://www.pinterest.com/flareendo/ā ā ā  YOUTUBE: ā ā ā https://www.youtube.com/@flareendoā ā ā   ā€¢ ā€¢ X: ā ā ā https://x.com/flareendoā 

    37 min

  6. May 6

    When You Stop Trusting Doctors and Start Trusting Yourself | Sophieā€™s Endo Story

    This episode feels really special to me. Iā€™m joined by Sophie, a member of the FLARE team, our unofficial ā€œSubstack Queen,ā€ and an incredibly talented writer and creative. Sophie shares her experience being diagnosed with endometriosis at young age, and what it was like trying to understand something so complex at the time. We talk about what it means to grow up with a condition that most people around you donā€™t fully understand. How, at that age, you often donā€™t question what youā€™re told, even when something doesnā€™t feel right. How those early experiences can shape the way you see your body, your pain, and your voice over time. One of the most powerful parts of this conversation is when Sophie opens up about trust. Not just trust in doctors, but how repeated dismissal or lack of clarity can slowly turn into questioning yourself. Your symptoms. Your instincts. Your reality. Sophie also brings in her creative perspective in such a meaningful way. As a writer and zine creator, she has found ways to express her experience through storytelling and art, including a zine that reflects her personal journey with endometriosis. Itā€™s a reminder that creativity can become a powerful outlet for processing something that is often so difficult to put into words. We also talk about the mental health side of endometriosis in a way that feels very real and very honest. The anxiety, the overthinking, and the emotional weight of not knowing whatā€™s happening in your own body, especially at such a formative age. Iā€™m so excited for what Sophie is building within FLARE as well. She will be leading one of our very first online workshops, creating space for others to explore storytelling and creative expression in a way that feels approachable and personal.What stood out to me most in this conversation is how quietly these experiences build. Itā€™s not always one defining moment, but a series of small ones that shape how someone learns to cope, adapt, and make sense of what theyā€™re going through. Sophie is from Belgium and is currently based in New Zealand. I appreciate her sharing her experience and perspective on the varying ways healthcare systems across countries address endometriosis She recently had a surgery herself and I feel lucky to have connected with her around the same time I had started my recovery process in March. Sophie brings such a thoughtful, grounded, and creative voice to this space, and Iā€™m so grateful she shared it here. If you were diagnosed young, or if youā€™ve ever felt unsure about your own body because of what youā€™ve been told, I think this episode will resonate with you in a really personal way. This is youā€™re reminder that you are allowed to trust yourself. Keep creating, Keep HealingšŸ’›-Priscilla *Sophie's Substack: https://thisissophietoday.substack.com/?utm_campaign=profile_chips Find FLARE on: Our WEBSITE:ā  https://www.flareendo.org/ā  SUBSTACK: ā https://substack.com/@flareendoā   INSTAGRAM:ā  https://www.instagram.com/flare.endoā  FACEBOOK: ā https://www.facebook.com/flareendoā   PINTEREST: ā https://www.pinterest.com/flareendo/ā  YOUTUBE: ā https://www.youtube.com/@flareendoā   X: ā https://x.com/flareendoā  BLAZE Project INTEREST FORM: ā https://forms.gle/QaydSRQUexUVDeL4Aā  Art Exhibition SUBMISSION FORM: ā https://forms.gle/PGrHWh73HqH8yVCx5ā 

    52 min

  7. May 3

    Mental Health and Endometriosis | A Therapistā€™s Perspective on Chronic Illness, Trauma, and Healing

    For the first time, weā€™re welcoming a mental health professional onto the podcast, someone who doesnā€™t just understand chronic illness clinically, but works closely with patients living with endometriosis and other long-term conditions every day. I sit down with Danielle Sampson, trauma therapist and founder of Aligned Connections, to talk about the emotional and psychological reality of living with chronic illness, and why this part of the experience is so often overlooked. We get into the gap that exists in both healthcare and mental health spaces when it comes to truly understanding chronic illness, and how little formal training many professionals actually receive in this area. We talk about the connection between chronic pain and anxiety, the emotional toll of navigating a body that feels unpredictable, and the importance of validating experiences that are so often minimized or dismissed. One of the most powerful parts of this conversation is the reminder that while chronic illness may be ongoing, the mental health impact does not have to be something you carry alone or without support. We discuss the impacts and importance of taking care of your mental health, and how itā€™s not separate from your physical health, it is essential to it. This episode is exactly why FLARE exists. To open up conversations that are not happening enough, and to bring in perspectives that help people feel seen, understood, and supported in a deeper way. Iā€™m so excited to share this conversation with you, and I hope it gives you language, validation, and a sense of connection if youā€™ve ever felt like this part of your experience wasnā€™t being acknowledged. Youā€™re not alone in this. Keep creating, Keep HealingšŸ’› -Priscilla NOTES: Danielleā€™s Instagram: @alignedconnectionspllc  Danielleā€™s therapy website: www.traumatherapybuffalo.com Information on cPTSD: Cleveland Clinic Link between chronic stress/chronic illness and inflammation For more reading about the history of American gynecology: Medical Bondage by Deirdre Cooper Owens Directory of therapists trained in perinatal mental health: Postpartum Support International Directory of therapists that do EMDR (Eye Movement Desensitization and Reprocessing): EMDRIA FIND US ON: WEBSITE:ā  https://www.flareendo.org/ā  SUBSTACK: ā https://substack.com/@flareendoā   INSTAGRAM:ā  https://www.instagram.com/flare.endoā  FACEBOOK: ā https://www.facebook.com/flareendoā   PINTEREST: ā https://www.pinterest.com/flareendo/ā  YOUTUBE: ā https://www.youtube.com/@flareendoā   X: ā https://x.com/flareendoā 

    5 min

  8. Apr 30

    Mental Health and Endometriosis | A Therapistā€™s Perspective on Chronic Illness, Trauma, and Healing

    For the first time, weā€™re welcoming a mental health professional onto the podcast, someone who doesnā€™t just understand chronic illness clinically, but works closely with patients living with endometriosis and other long-term conditions every day. I sit down with Danielle Sampson, trauma therapist and founder of Aligned Connections, to talk about the emotional and psychological reality of living with chronic illness, and why this part of the experience is so often overlooked. We get into the gap that exists in both healthcare and mental health spaces when it comes to truly understanding chronic illness, and how little formal training many professionals actually receive in this area. We talk about the connection between chronic pain and anxiety, the emotional toll of navigating a body that feels unpredictable, and the importance of validating experiences that are so often minimized or dismissed. One of the most powerful parts of this conversation is the reminder that while chronic illness may be ongoing, the mental health impact does not have to be something you carry alone or without support. We discuss the impacts and importance of taking care of your mental health, and how itā€™s not separate from your physical health, it is essential to it. This episode is exactly why FLARE exists. To open up conversations that are not happening enough, and to bring in perspectives that help people feel seen, understood, and supported in a deeper way. Iā€™m so excited to share this conversation with you, and I hope it gives you language, validation, and a sense of connection if youā€™ve ever felt like this part of your experience wasnā€™t being acknowledged. Youā€™re not alone in this. Keep creating, Keep HealingšŸ’› -Priscilla NOTES: Danielleā€™s Instagram: ā @alignedconnectionspllc ā  Danielleā€™s therapy website: ā www.traumatherapybuffalo.comā  Information on cPTSD: ā Cleveland Clinicā  ā Link between chronic stress/chronic illness and inflammationā  For more reading about the history of American gynecology: ā Medical Bondage by Deirdre Cooper Owensā  Directory of therapists trained in perinatal mental health: ā Postpartum Support Internationalā  Directory of therapists that do EMDR (Eye Movement Desensitization and Reprocessing): ā EMDRIAā  FIND US ON: WEBSITE:ā ā  https://www.flareendo.org/ā ā  SUBSTACK: ā ā https://substack.com/@flareendoā ā   INSTAGRAM:ā ā  https://www.instagram.com/flare.endoā ā  FACEBOOK: ā ā https://www.facebook.com/flareendoā ā   PINTEREST: ā ā https://www.pinterest.com/flareendo/ā ā  YOUTUBE: ā ā https://www.youtube.com/@flareendoā ā   X: ā ā https://x.com/flareendoā 

    37 min
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About

Inside FLARE (Flourish in Life through Art + Resources for Endometriosis) explores art, storytelling, and the lived experience of endometriosis. Through conversations with artists, advocates, and experts, the show transforms invisible pain into visible expression. Hosted by Priscilla Palmieri Smith, founder of FLARE, this podcast is a raw, honest, and deeply human look at life with endometriosis, chronic illness, and the complex emotional world that comes with it. This podcast exists to remind you: your story matters, your voice has power, even in the hardest moments.

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