Do Influencers Make Us Feel Seen — or Not Enough?

Do Influencers Make Us Feel Seen — or Not Enough?

Do influencers inspire us, connect us, and help us discover new ideas — or do they quietly leave us feeling like we’re somehow falling behind? In this episode, we take a thoughtful look at influencer culture and the role social media plays in our lives today. We explore the pros and cons of a world where strangers influence everything from how we decorate our homes to how we think about success, beauty, relationships, and happiness. Along the way, David shares a story about being influenced to make the bed differently… with mixed results. 😄 We also discuss: • Why humans are drawn to reality TV and “real life” content • How much of what we see online is actually real • The effect influencers have on our children and younger generations • Why some content makes us feel seen and understood • Why other content can leave us feeling like we’re not enough • The difference between inspiration and comparison This is a conversation about authenticity, influence, human connection, and learning how to consume media without losing ourselves in it. #influencers #socialmedia #authenticity #comparisontrap #mentalhealth #personalgrowth #digitalwellness #socialmediaculture #wellnesspodcast #chiminginpodcast

The Tipping Point: What Would You Do If You Knew You Couldn’t Fail?

What creates a tipping point in our lives? Is it planning, vision, luck… or simply taking action? In this episode, we explore the surprising relationship between momentum and decision-making. David shares the story of launching a virtual reality business in just one week to prepare for a trade show and how the experience revealed something important: action often comes before clarity. We discuss the difference between focusing on the process versus focusing on the outcome. David tends to focus on the moments leading up to the tipping point, while Elyse prefers to visualize the end result and trust the path will unfold. Along the way we explore: • Why action creates momentum • How deadlines can motivate us to do our best work • Why the VR business wasn’t a failure, even though it didn’t become a long-term company • What we would create if we knew we couldn’t fail • The role of passion, purpose, and high-energy states in creativity • Why some people thrive under pressure • What a life-changing diagnosis can teach us about urgency • And what to do when you don’t love the work you’re doing This conversation is about possibility, momentum, creativity, and learning to trust that the first step often reveals the next one.

Getting Older, Friends Who Feel Like Family & Learning to Feel "Heard"

What happens as we get older, reconnect with people who’ve known us forever? 🤍 We start with a funny birthday story, the movie "The Fifth Element" and the idea that humanity can feel both beautiful and painfully unkind at the same time. Reconnecting with childhood friends and reflecting on the comfort of being fully known by people who have witnessed every version of you — like Russian nesting dolls with layer after layer of shared history. We talk about: • how friendship can survive even through dark periods and addiction • why mothers often struggle to sleep when their kids are out late • the difference between loving everyone and actually liking everyone • what we would tell our 80-year-old selves • and why the simple word “heard” might change the way we communicate with the people we love This episode is about aging, perspective, radical acceptance, and the deep human need to feel understood. #friendship #aging #personalgrowth #relationships #nostalgia #emotionalhealth #wellnesspodcast #chiminginpodcast #heard

Why Vulnerability Feels So Intimate: Showing Up Without Armor

What happens when we stop protecting ourselves and allow ourselves to be fully seen? 🤍 In this episode, we take a deep dive into vulnerability as one of the most intimate and transformative experiences we can share with another person. We talk about the (perhaps unnecessary) armor we wear to protect ourselves and why it can feel so risky to take it off. True connection  begins the moment we start showing up dressed in nothing but  authenticity. https://www.justwatch.com/us/tv-show/love-on-the-spectrum-u-s #vulnerability #emotionalintimacy #personalgrowth #relationships #authenticity #selfawareness #wellnesspodcast #chiminginpodcast #loveonthespectrum

Why Life’s Milestones Feel So Crazy & Emotional — Even When We See Them Coming

Graduation. Mother’s Day. Big moments that somehow sneak up on us no matter how much we prepare 🎓🤍 In this episode, we talk about the emotional whiplash of milestones — how quickly time moves, how surreal it can feel watching our children grow, and why these transitions can leave us asking, “Wait… how did this happen so fast?” We reflect on the beauty, grief, pride, and disbelief that often live side by side during life’s biggest moments, and how easy it is to get swept up in planning and expectations while forgetting the simple things that matter most. The conversation ultimately comes back to connection: the reminder that we don’t actually need a holiday, milestone, or special occasion to tell people what they mean to us. This is a conversation about time, love, family, and learning to say the important things while we’re living them. https://open.substack.com/pub/elysewendy/p/wtf-and-yay?r=2jb6rt&utm_medium=ios #graduationseason #mothersday #familylife #personalgrowth #parenting #lifemilestones #wellnesspodcast #chiminginpodcast