The Art of Honesty

A Soldier’s Journey Through Faith, Doubt, and Intention

A Soldier’s Journey Through Faith, Doubt, and Intention Staying Open After Service, Loss, and Shifting Beliefs with Ryan This conversation is about staying open to connection, curiosity, and life, even after experiences that could have hardened or closed you off. Allison introduces The Art of Honesty and sits down with Ryan, who spent 27 years in the Army with multiple deployments and nearly six years overseas. His story reflects resilience, growth, and a deep commitment to becoming a present and intentional father after years of service required him to be away. Today, he prioritizes showing up for his kids, building consistent relationships, and creating meaningful time together. Ryan shares how the military shaped his leadership, discipline, and sense of purpose, from enlisting at 17 to building a career in aviation. He speaks with honesty and respect about his experiences, including the loss of his best friend Alex in the Extortion 17 crash, and how that loss deepened his appreciation for life, connection, and the people around him. A powerful part of Ryan’s journey is his shift from devout Christianity to atheism. What began as a genuine search for truth became an intentional process of questioning, learning, and rebuilding his beliefs. Rather than closing off, Ryan has remained open, grounded in critical thinking, compassion, and respect for others’ perspectives. His curiosity continues to lead him into conversations and experiences that expand his understanding, including engaging with different cultures and belief systems. This episode is not about having all the answers. It is about what it looks like to grow, to question, and to stay open. Ryan brings a thoughtful, steady presence to this conversation, offering a perspective rooted in service, lived experience, and a genuine desire to understand both himself and the world around him. 00:00 Welcome to the Podcast 01:48 Gratitude and Perspective 03:50 Fatherhood After Deployment 10:19 AGR Life and Weekend Commute 11:17 What Military Service Misses 13:46 Why He Joined at 17 17:08 Civilian Detour and Aviation 19:23 Back to the Reserves 21:19 Losing a Best Friend 24:58 Roots and Religious Upbringing 28:58 From Faith to Atheism 34:52 Deconversion and Seeking Truth 40:54 Respecting People Not Beliefs 42:30 Mosque Visit for Connection 43:09 Curiosity Over Conversion 45:37 Beliefs Without Harm 46:42 Allison’s Spiritual Journey 52:20 Raising Kids to Think 58:02 Pulling the Loose Thread 01:00:43 Contentment and Legacy 01:08:07 Discovery and Real Dialogue 01:13:57 Stop Surviving Start Living 01:16:34 Joy Resources and Support 01:21:58 Gratitude and Being Okay 01:24:42 Closing Thanks and Community This podcast is built around honest conversations and shared experience. If something from this episode resonated with you, or you have thoughts you want to share, feel free to email ⁠⁠theartofhonestypodcast@gmail.com⁠⁠. And if you feel like coming on the podcast for a real conversation, reach out and say hi. Stay connected and follow along on Instagram ⁠@theartofhonestypodcast⁠ [https://www.instagram.com/theartofhonestypodcast/]

Victim to Survivor to Thriver: The Journey Back to Yourself Through PTSD

Victim to Survivor to Thriver: The Journey Back to Yourself Through PTSDThis conversation is about what it looks like to live with post-traumatic stress disorder from the middle of ongoing healing, through honesty, nervous system work, and daily choices to stay present. Host Allison speaks with Sims, who shares his history of childhood sexual abuse, years of misdiagnoses before learning he had PTSD. Sims discusses CBT and EMDR, getting off antidepressants and the routines that support his regulation-sleep, exercise, sunshine, clean eating, breathwork, and play. He explains how public storytelling became a duty, how he reframed identity beyond “survivor,” and how his experiences shape emotionally attuned parenting, affirmations, and modeling service, alongside forgiveness toward his parents. 00:00 Welcome to the Podcast 00:25 Content Warning 00:40 Why This Episode Matters 01:45 Where Sims Is Now 02:21 Letting the Inner Child Play 03:14 Discovering PTSD Late 04:38 Early Therapy and Setbacks 05:33 Returning to Therapy 06:25 EMDR and Healing Tools 07:04 Abuse and Substance Use 08:27 Sobriety and Plant Medicine 10:59 Microdosing and Macro Doses12:57 Building New Neural Paths 14:41 Embracing the Full Self 16:55 Rumi and Full Spectrum Feelings 19:31 Leaving Meds Behind 22:47 The Sims Sauce Routine 25:56 Slow Morning Luxury 28:06 Breathwork Daily Tool 30:12 Box Breath And Humming 32:51 Comfort With Feelings 34:57 Finding Resilience Voice 39:09 Inner Child Healing 44:28 Beyond Survivor Identity 48:40 Parenting With Agency 53:54 Forgiving Parents 55:51 Closing Reflections This podcast is built around honest conversations and shared experience. If something from this episode resonated with you, or you have thoughts you want to share, feel free to email ⁠⁠theartofhonestypodcast@gmail.com⁠⁠. And if you feel like coming on the podcast for a real conversation, reach out and say hi. Stay connected and follow along on Instagram ⁠@theartofhonestypodcast⁠ [https://www.instagram.com/theartofhonestypodcast/]

Transformation Over Time : Becoming, Healing with Community, and Letting Yourself be Seen

This conversation is about transformation over time, choosing honesty over perfection, and what changes when you finally meet yourself. Patty shares where he is in life now, feeling grateful, more decisive, and learning how to slow down after years of constantly saying yes and pushing himself to keep up with the pace around him. He reflects on how quickly emotional seasons can shift, and how life has a way of returning us to the lessons we have not fully learned yet. The conversation moves through Patty’s early experiences with grief, the pressure to be productive, and the ways shame and isolation shaped his relationship with confidence and self expression. For many years he hid parts of himself, including his sexuality and sensitivity, which made things like singing and creative expression feel unsafe to share. Over time, practices like yoga, therapy, travel, fasting, and time spent at an ashram in Cambodia began to move healing from the mind into the body. Those experiences eventually led him into teaching, working through feelings of imposter syndrome, and helping create Grounded Good Guys, a space for men seeking connection, growth, and emotional honesty. At its heart, this conversation is about learning to slow down, allowing life to be messy, and recognizing that healing rarely looks neat or linear. Sometimes it simply looks like choosing to stay present with what is. Chapters 00:27 Meet Patty 01:44 Where Patty Is Now 04:35 Learning to Slow Down 08:12 The Pressure to Always Be Productive 12:10 Early Grief and Childhood Experiences 16:02 Shame, Isolation, and Hiding Parts of Himself 20:30 Confidence, Singing, and Self Expression 25:18 Discovering Yoga and Body Based Healing 30:07 Therapy, Travel, and Personal Growth 34:52 Time at an Ashram in Cambodia 39:15 Fasting and Spiritual Exploration 43:36 Moving From Healing to Teaching 48:10 Facing Imposter Syndrome 52:05 Creating Grounded Good Guys 56:40 Men, Vulnerability, and Community 1:01:20 Letting Life Be a Beautiful Mess 1:04:10 What Patty Is Learning Right Now 1:07:05 Closing Reflections This podcast is built around honest conversations and shared experience. If something from this episode resonated with you, or you have thoughts you want to share, feel free to email ⁠⁠theartofhonestypodcast@gmail.com⁠⁠. And if you feel like coming on the podcast for a real conversation, reach out and say hi. Stay connected and follow along on Instagram ⁠@theartofhonestypodcast⁠ [https://www.instagram.com/theartofhonestypodcast/]

Loneliness, JOMO, and Evolving Friendships in Adulthood

This conversation explores loneliness in adulthood as relationships, identity, and expectations shift over time. Amanda shares what it has been like approaching 37 and letting go of the timeline she once imagined for marriage and children, finding a sense of peace, independence, and a season centered around friendships with other women. She reflects on the contrast between her twenties and thirties. Her twenties were filled with constant work travel, chaotic routines, and relationships that often left her feeling alone. Her thirties feel more grounded and intentional. After experiencing severe burnout and taking FMLA from work, she began prioritizing her mental health, learning to recognize which relationships drained her and which ones supported her, and setting clearer boundaries. The conversation touches on the joy of missing out, being less available through texting, the beauty of secure friendships that do not require constant contact, and how personal growth can sometimes change the shape of relationships. It also explores the difference between being alone and feeling lonely, and how solitude can become something nourishing rather than something to avoid. Chapters 00:00 Welcome to the Podcast 00:31 Meet Amanda 01:17 Life at 37 03:59 Plans vs Reality 05:53 Connection and Charlie 07:18 Twenties vs Thirties 13:23 Lonely While Traveling 16:22 Alone in Relationships 22:08 Burnout Wake Up Call 28:16 Putting Yourself First 31:29 Friendships After Reset 33:55 Boundaries and Texting 34:34 Do Not Disturb Boundaries 37:09 ADHD and Texting Guilt 39:21 Lonely vs Alone 41:16 JOMO and Early Nights 43:31 Scheduling Solo Time 47:57 Irish Goodbye Story 50:34 What Makes a Good Friend 56:10 Closing and Side Quests 58:07 Final Takeaways This podcast is built around honest conversations and shared experience. If something from this episode resonated with you, or you have thoughts you want to share, feel free to email ⁠⁠theartofhonestypodcast@gmail.com⁠⁠. And if you feel like coming on the podcast for a real conversation, reach out and say hi. Stay connected and follow along on Instagram ⁠@theartofhonestypodcast⁠ [https://www.instagram.com/theartofhonestypodcast/]

Authenticity in Corporate, Grief, and Transformation

This conversation explores what it means to stay human while moving through grief, corporate systems, and personal transformation. Allison sits down with Clinton, someone she first connected with beyond small talk in a corporate environment, for a wide ranging discussion about loss, meaning, and authenticity. Clinton shares how a period of deep personal grief reshaped the way he thinks about life, identity, and the systems we spend our time inside. From there, the conversation expands into how people make meaning through lived experience and how our understanding of time, truth, and identity can shift during moments of change. Allison and Clinton also explore authenticity in professional spaces that often operate through impersonal incentives and survival logic. Clinton reflects on how he learned to “parcel” authenticity at work, translating corporate motivations into values he could stand behind, and what led him to leave when trust and psychological safety began to erode. They also discuss curiosity, discomfort, and how personal value systems are often built through questioning rather than certainty. The conversation moves into how algorithms reward outrage and engagement, how that influences trust and community, and why humans are wired for smaller circles of connection. Throughout the episode, Clinton reflects on what it can feel like to think deeply about systems in a world that often rewards simplicity and speed, and why small acts of curiosity and honesty can quietly shift the environments we move through. The episode closes with a reflection on connection, curiosity, and the small ways people plant seeds of change simply by sharing honestly. Chapters 00:27 Meeting Clinton 01:57 Where Are You Now 04:43 Loss and Grief 09:03 Living With the Hole 13:40 Time and Recurrence 20:24 Authenticity at Work 25:43 Safety and Survival 32:53 Clinton’s Career Path 39:54 Is Authenticity Internal 40:36 Privilege and Risk 42:55 Trying on Ideas 46:58 Corporate Conformity 50:45 Curiosity Costs 54:44 Rebuilding Values 01:04:51 No View From Nowhere 01:09:22 Algorithms and Rage 01:15:53 Nervous System Awareness 01:18:55 Faulty Threat Detection 01:19:39 Algorithms Hijack Trust 01:21:21 Evolutionary Roots of Trust 01:24:48 Dunbar Number Explained 01:26:02 Systems Need Narratives 01:35:45 Isolation of System Thinkers 01:40:12 Everyday Seed Planting 01:50:02 Creating Ourselves Together 01:53:06 Maps Versus Coastlines 01:55:59 Closing Reflections This podcast is built around honest conversations and shared experience. If something from this episode resonated with you, or you have thoughts you want to share, feel free to email ⁠theartofhonestypodcast@gmail.com⁠. And if you feel like coming on the podcast for a real conversation, reach out and say hi. Stay connected and follow along on Instagram @theartofhonestypodcast.