Finding What's True

the grand experiment; one control, infinite possibilities

Hey friends, today's episode is the final episode of season one. We have been together for a year now and it has been so lovely! Thank you all so much for listening and being a part of the Finding What's True podcast community. Of course not without a sense of humor the universe decided to school me on patience this morning, with some audio and technical difficulties, making this last conversation feel a bit like a limp across the finish line but I am offering it to you here with love, gratitude, and a grin for the always imperfect nature of making things. Especially things made early in the morning and while in this specific parenting season of life. Deep sigh. Ahem, but I digress. Most of you know how I feel about Sister Corita Kent (total groupie) and today I bring us back around to one of her rules "everything is an experiment." Truly the only control we have is ourselves. If we can embrace this small hard truth than we can actually rest easy that there will be no wrong roads taken...each path simply gifts us information, to be observed, jotted down and folded into the next experiment. The trouble starts, when we stop taking new roads at all, when we put our heads down and plod along on a path already dug out by other folks. At first this seems easier than daring to step off into the wild meadows of this world, I mean you all know how I feel about snakes, but unless we do we will be left disheartened, angry, and empty. Because scaling a mountain, that wasn't even our mountain can do that - it can piss us off. It has to be our mountain, the one we truly want to climb or it's just not worth it...not even a little bit. And with that, let's not be strangers. Let’s keep finding our truly together. The podcast is wrapping up season one but the newsletter [https://substack.com/inbox] will still be reporting weekly. To stay in touch as we roadtrip in our Winnebago Brave this summer subscribe to the Finding What's True newsletter. I'll be sharing stories and photos from the wilds of the road with our two kids, small white dog, and fancy cat. And if you feel like being a paid subscriber that would be wonderful too. It would be like buying me a taco for the road. Because I’m sure gunna miss California tacos. And now I’m crying a little. Lots of love always.

making room for what's delicious; permission to quietly quit the things you don't care about

I think we can all agree that we would love to be doing something that lights us up. We would feel lucky if we found ourselves no longer walking through our day, as if the whole thing could be glossed over and forgotten. The proverbial groundhog day. Misery on repeat. Boredom. If, say, we could walk into our kitchen for that first morning cup of coffee or tea and already feel awake, excited, and filled with endless ideas...maybe even (gasp!) anticipation for what we get to do that day. This is what happened to Lani Fox, owner of Rosemallow Artisanal [https://www.rosemallowartisanal.com/], and my guest on todays episode. During the pandemic, when food shortages meant that even the little things were hard to find, Lani created a marshmallow so magical, beautiful and surprising that it literally blew her friends and family away. Using homemade extracts, fruits and herbs from her garden Lani created something unique and beautiful but the best part was she really really loved making them. What I love the most about Lani's story is that she is also a scientist and she hasn't stopped being a scientist just because she also now runs a Marshmallow business. More often than not we have a romantic idea, that we have to quit one version of ourselves in order to pursue a newer version. But if both versions are serving you than holding onto both of them, and more if you like (insert she's also a mother of two) can actually help you to find balance and joy in ways that perhaps you had lost sight of. What Lani has quit, however, is giving her time to the things that don't bring her joy. And when you stop doing that, you end up being who you actually want to be...somebody true and somebody awake and somebody making room for delicious things in their life…which can also sometimes mean you become a person who doesn't fold their laundry…because that is also who you want to be. And that is A-Okay. I hope you enjoy today's episode to taste some of Lani's incredible creations check out https://www.rosemallowartisanal.com/order [https://www.rosemallowartisanal.com/order] They are truly amazing.

leaps of faith; lessons learned only while walking the path towards the unknown

On today's episode I have the distinct pleasure of having a cup of tea with Jaime Summer Handley of Monastic Mommas. We are in somewhat parallel journey's; as both of us are packing up and heading across the country (in the next month!), with our families but don't (as of this moment) have a new final address. Leaping into the unknown is tricky but especially tricky when you are in your mid-40's and towing small curious children around. There are a lot of questions from the backseat. We chat in depth around the internal shifts towards hope, love, and possibility that an external move can conjure. The understanding that the good stuff in our lives never come to us as we planned, so we can ease up on that pros and cons list a little bit. Giving yourself to permission to listen to that inner voice whispering to you isn't always easy. We have to give ourselves permission to hear it and sometimes even give ourselves permission to not understand it. The learning happens on the journey. Walking the path brings understanding not the other way around. Jaime studies the intersection of creativity and spirituality, exploring how the divine expresses itself through the unique creative voice we've each been given. She has a B.A. from UCLA in English Literature and a Masters in Spiritual Disciplines and Practical Theology from Fuller Theological Seminary. She is an author, contemplative and creative coach and homeschooling momma. She leads groups through the artists way and writes a weekly Newsletter which you can sign up for on her website. Good Things: https://monasticmamas.com/ [https://monasticmamas.com/] The Clothespin Doll by Jaime Summer Handley https://www.amazon.com/dp/0578825260/ref=redir_mobile_desktop?_encoding=UTF8&qid=1639963228&ref_=tmm_pap_swatch_0&sr=8-3 [https://www.amazon.com/dp/0578825260/ref=redir_mobile_desktop?_encoding=UTF8&qid=1639963228&ref_=tmm_pap_swatch_0&sr=8-3]

curiosity and grace; the chaos of a wide open heart

Hey friends, I just returned from a weekend away with my sister. Things got real crazy (middle aged women crazy); I drank coffee (tea drinker) and ate focaccia (gluten sensitive). I've been bumping into chairs and struggling to form sentences the past few days. Suffice to say some lessons are hard to learn, even the ones that seem small and ridiculous. I am a tea drinker and I can't eat wheat without becoming reduced to a clumsier, crankier and more confused version of myself. That said I had to pour myself a cup of coffee to get this episode out - the withdrawal is real. Grace for all the versions of ourselves. Mostly I was driving around and strolling with my sister in a state of curiosity and blubbering wide open heartedness (seriously tearing up all day long everywhere). Curiosity is something that has come up now in two books I've recently read; Joy-Full AF by Dr. Erin Baker where they talk about curiosity as one of the primary ingredients of joy and Big Magic by Elizabeth Gilbert where she talks about curiosity as simply the best operating system we have as humans. I noticed it, this curiosity, over the weekend. I actually heard it's soft voice (my curiosity is so polite / it doesn't shout), where I usually just ignore it, and let it guide me a bit; I ended up in an Episcopal church (and I'm not Episcopal) listening to a roundtable of old ladies speak on how their faith has been tested and restored, I made an offer on a farm in Ohio (we didn't get it but it was still an amazing experience), and I fell in love all day long (again crying a lot) with the mommas and speakers that I encountered at the conference we were attending even when those folks were coming from wildly different family ecosystems than mine. It left me emotional and in a place of deep love. I think this often quiet curiosity can be a key to finding grace in the chaos of our everyday. I'm going to now enter my house where my children may be crying, the dog may have peed on something, I don't know what we're making for dinner and the laundry has piled up. Curious indeed. Love and luck to us all. Good things mentioned in today's Episode: We are wrapping up season one of Finding What's True in May. I will still be sharing our journey over Substack, where I will be writing and telling stories from the road over the summer, so be sure to subscribe. https://findingwhatstrue.substack.com/ [https://findingwhatstrue.substack.com/] Four Corners Studio: ⁠https://www.fourcorners.studio/⁠ [https://www.fourcorners.studio/] St. Stephen's Episcopal Church: https://ststephensslo.org/ [https://ststephensslo.org/] Dr. Erin Baker: https://erinmbaker.com/ [https://erinmbaker.com/] Big Magic by Elizabeth Gilbert: https://a.co/d/cCjB8bi [https://a.co/d/cCjB8bi]

logic and desire; or why we had cereal for dinner

I've been thinking about logic and desire all week. I had a coaching session with Dr. Erin Baker [https://erinmbaker.com/] several days ago and it got me all up in my head about it, which is ironic because we both agreed my logical brain is taking up wayyy too much space in there. And here's the truth, I'm pretty uncomfortable with answering any questions connected to what I desire. Down to stupid stuff like "what movie would you like to watch?"...insert shoulder shrug. Let's just say I've come a long way in my codependence (thank you twelve step) but I still have galaxies to go. And since this is the case, my brave but neglected intuition is up a creek most days; because the truth is, the desire I don’t like talking about comes from that deep inner knowing which is always trying to lead us to our highest and best. I was reading a wonderful newsletter by Mallory Leone of Four Corners Studio [https://www.fourcorners.studio/] and she was suggesting / playing around with an exercise, she had gotten from Pilar Lesko, where you take a portion of your day and just try to listen to your intuition and see where it goes...if it says go to left while driving go left, if it says call your mom call your mom etc. I thought it sounded interesting and very concrete (which my logical brain LOVES) so I gave it a try yesterday. I made it about half way through my first intuition hit before my logical brain jumped in with a bull horn, basically shouting “ok, ok people nothing to see here” and shut down all the magic. If we’re trying to make something true to ourselves it’s tricky to navigate all those opposing voices. Tricky to get down to that inner place that knows what it’s talking about. In The Creative Act: A Way of Being, Rick Rubin says “Think to yourself: I’m just here to create.” How simple right?! I wonder how our intuition is tied to that creative part of us, that part of us that is coming from a place of honest desire (there’s that word again). And if we listen to it how we might just find our way home or at least into a better version of our day than we had so carefully planned. So on today's episode I'll share a little about how I did not in fact get to start my Monday out with a warm bath but ended it by creating a beautiful dinner of cereal and strawberries for my kiddos. Lots of love. Links to good things: finding what's true, substack https://findingwhatstrue.substack.com/ [https://findingwhatstrue.substack.com/] four corners studio, mallory leone https://www.fourcorners.studio/ [https://www.fourcorners.studio] joy-full af; dr. erin baker https://erinmbaker.com/ [https://erinmbaker.com/] the creative act; a way of being by rick rubin