What Do You Want? Relearning Desire and Reconnecting with Yourself

Rediscovering the Courage to Create

What if creativity isn't a talent reserved for a gifted few? What if it's part of what makes us human? In the final episode of our Joy & Aliveness series, Tara and Karen are joined by the founder of Stage & Spirit [https://www.stageandspirit.org/], Veronique [https://www.instagram.com/veroniquemacrae/] MacRae [https://www.instagram.com/veroniquemacrae/], for a conversation about creativity, identity, and the courage to express what's already within us. Together, they explore how many adults slowly disconnect from creativity because they begin believing it belongs to someone else. They discuss the freedom that comes from redefining what it means to be an artist, the connection between creativity and emotional well-being, and why creating isn't about perfection or performance. In This Episode * Why creativity belongs to everyone * Releasing limiting definitions of "artist" * Creativity as self-expression and healing * The connection between play, joy, and expression * Reclaiming imagination in adulthood * Finding the courage to create without perfection Whether your canvas is a journal, a garden, a stage, a kitchen, a classroom, or simply the way you love people, this episode is an invitation to remember that you were created to create. Follow us on Instagram! [https://www.instagram.com/yourodyssey.life/] Music:   Opening/Interlude/Outro: Love Is Waiting [https://open.spotify.com/track/6a4UbgIgQkCwcDGbrhNGvt?si=63543081d4244e3e]Featured Song: Renegades - X Ambassadors [https://music.youtube.com/watch?v=5JhZdu4O2w0&si=s_Z89ymIhZrFte2B] Playlists: Spotify - Volume 2 [https://open.spotify.com/playlist/00JFCmxn0Y0wCRN4Di2x5A?si=vW1LQhhPTHaiPj9KmYDR0g]YouTube Music - Volume 2 [https://music.youtube.com/playlist?list=PLnW38w_wffWHMSwmAlBd7dTvy-PPMUIaw&si=EKJsWWmRsKWkXY3y]

What Do You Want? Relearning Desire and Reconnecting with Yourself

What brings you joy? For many people, that question is surprisingly difficult to answer. After years of responsibility, caregiving, achievement, and doing what needs to be done, it's easy to lose touch with what we actually enjoy, desire, or long for. We become experts at managing life while forgetting how to participate in it. In this episode, Tara and Karen explore the hidden cost of disconnecting from ourselves and why reclaiming joy often begins with a simple but powerful question: What do I want? Together, they discuss curiosity, desire, self-expression, and the small breadcrumbs that can guide us back to what makes us feel most alive. In This Episode * Why many adults struggle to identify what brings them joy * The hidden cost of suppressing who you are * Relearning desire after years of responsibility * Following curiosity as a compass * Self-expression and emotional well-being * Small ways to reconnect with yourself Follow us on Instagram! [https://www.instagram.com/yourodyssey.life/] Music:   Opening/Interlude/Outro: Love Is Waiting [https://open.spotify.com/track/6a4UbgIgQkCwcDGbrhNGvt?si=63543081d4244e3e]Featured Song: Dancing in the Moonlight - King Harvest [https://music.youtube.com/watch?v=otXKTDinWBw&si=W2VR0xRFI-7b3lvu] Playlists: Spotify - Volume 2 [https://open.spotify.com/playlist/00JFCmxn0Y0wCRN4Di2x5A?si=vW1LQhhPTHaiPj9KmYDR0g]YouTube Music - Volume 2 [https://music.youtube.com/playlist?list=PLnW38w_wffWHMSwmAlBd7dTvy-PPMUIaw&si=EKJsWWmRsKWkXY3y]

Joy - Your Birthright

As part of our June series, Joy & Aliveness, we're revisiting one of the earliest conversations from the Your Odyssey archives. What if joy isn't something you have to earn? Many of us have been taught to treat joy as a reward—something that comes after the work is done, after the healing happens, or after life becomes easier. But what if joy was never meant to be a prize waiting at the finish line? In this conversation, Tara and Karen explore the idea that joy is a fundamental part of who we are. Not because life is always easy. Not because difficult emotions disappear. But because joy can exist alongside grief, uncertainty, challenge, and change. Together, they discuss the duality of joy, why we often lose touch with it, and simple ways to reconnect through gratitude, laughter, movement, presence, and wonder. In This Episode * Why joy is more than a fleeting emotion * The difference between happiness and joy * How joy can coexist with difficult seasons * Simple practices for reconnecting with delight * Remembering what has always been available to you Why We're Revisiting This Episode Throughout this month's Joy & Aliveness series, we've been exploring the idea that joy isn't something we stumble upon after everything is fixed. It's something we return to. And this conversation reminds us that perhaps joy has been part of us all along. Whether you're hearing this episode for the first time or returning to it years later, we invite you to listen for what resonates now. Follow us on Instagram! [https://www.instagram.com/yourodyssey.life/] Music:   Opening/Interlude/Outro: Love Is Waiting [https://open.spotify.com/track/6a4UbgIgQkCwcDGbrhNGvt?si=63543081d4244e3e]Featured Song: Walking on Sunshine - Katrina & The Waves [https://music.youtube.com/watch?v=HmR2IZjuMVc&si=wTCHTQMO0U14x4d-]

Joy Isn't Frivolous

What if joy isn't something you earn, but something you need? In this episode, Tara and Karen challenge the belief that joy is frivolous, unproductive, or something to be put off until everything else is finished. They explore why play, curiosity, wonder, and delight are not distractions from healing but part of the healing itself. Through a thought-provoking conversation about our most essential human needs, they invite listeners to reconsider what it means to truly care for themselves. What if joy belongs alongside oxygen and water? What if making space for laughter, creativity, connection, and awe isn't selfish, but necessary? In This Episode * Why joy doesn't have to be earned * The connection between play and well-being * How curiosity helps us stay open to life * Releasing the belief that rest and delight are frivolous * Why surviving and living are not the same thing * Making room for wonder in everyday life If you've been postponing what brings you life until a "better time," this episode offers permission to stop waiting. Follow us on Instagram! [https://www.instagram.com/yourodyssey.life/] Music:   Opening/Interlude/Outro: Love Is Waiting [https://open.spotify.com/track/6a4UbgIgQkCwcDGbrhNGvt?si=63543081d4244e3e]Featured Song: Joy - Voices of Fire [https://music.youtube.com/watch?v=7Hm3tdcuJcQ&si=SMhm5Jcxb8mgx9LX] Playlists: Spotify - Volume 2 [https://open.spotify.com/playlist/00JFCmxn0Y0wCRN4Di2x5A?si=vW1LQhhPTHaiPj9KmYDR0g]YouTube Music - Volume 2 [https://music.youtube.com/playlist?list=PLnW38w_wffWHMSwmAlBd7dTvy-PPMUIaw&si=EKJsWWmRsKWkXY3y]

When Did You Stop Feeling Alive? Reconnecting with Joy, Presence & Yourself

What if the reason you feel disconnected isn't that you've lost your purpose, but because you've lost touch with what makes you feel alive? In this episode of Your Odyssey Podcast, Tara and Karen explore the quiet ways we drift away from ourselves through responsibility, achievement, survival mode, and the endless pressure to keep doing more. Together, they unpack why joy doesn't live at the end of a completed to-do list, how aliveness often shows up in ordinary moments, and what it looks like to reconnect with the parts of yourself that have been waiting for your attention. In This Episode * Why many women feel disconnected despite doing "everything right" * The difference between functioning and feeling alive * How achievement can quietly pull us away from ourselves * Why joy isn't waiting at the finish line * Small ways to reconnect with aliveness in everyday life If you've been functioning but not fully feeling, this conversation is an invitation to slow down, pay attention, and begin finding your way back. Follow us on Instagram! [https://www.instagram.com/yourodyssey.life/] Music:   Opening/Interlude/Outro: Love Is Waiting [https://open.spotify.com/track/6a4UbgIgQkCwcDGbrhNGvt?si=63543081d4244e3e]Featured Song: Alive - Sia [https://music.youtube.com/watch?v=Ae51BA_W1Fc&si=0BJ8Jd-SKEVoLQ01] Playlists: Spotify - Volume 2 [https://open.spotify.com/playlist/00JFCmxn0Y0wCRN4Di2x5A?si=vW1LQhhPTHaiPj9KmYDR0g]YouTube Music - Volume 2 [https://music.youtube.com/playlist?list=PLnW38w_wffWHMSwmAlBd7dTvy-PPMUIaw&si=EKJsWWmRsKWkXY3y]