Letters to Women - Exploring the Feminine Genius

This is the last episode of the Letters to Women podcast — what an honor to journey with you over the past eight years! Listen to discover why I’m hanging up the podcast mic and what’s next for you as you explore the feminine genius in your ordinary, daily life. Resources for you: * Listen to A Drink with a Friend, hosted by Tsh Oxenreider [https://open.spotify.com/show/1MGU3gwpLbhNvGH2HlkX3I?si=5fd6be24aedd495a] * Listen to Visitation Sessions, hosted by Emily and Chris Chapman as well as Kate and Casey Stapleton [https://open.spotify.com/show/77WqNDSPYyJMotdU0yU22J?si=67b403da40e84293] * Listen to Charting Towards Intimacy hosted by Ellen Hollaway [https://open.spotify.com/show/14K9C3T8j5yV9YbhuXmQbu?si=bf28e7b350624498] * Browse close to 200 episodes in the Letters to Women archive [https://letterstowomenpodcast.com/letters-to-women-podcast] * Send me an email! Letterstowomen@gmail.com * Subscribe to Naptime Notes, my monthly newsletter over on Substack [https://letterstowomenpodcast.com/subscribe]

My guest today in this final episode of the Letters to Daughters season is Brya Hanan. She’s a wife, mother, Licensed Marriage and Family Therapist, Life Coach, and fellow pilgrim on the healing journey. Brya brings her Catholic tradition, professional and personal insights, and understanding of trauma to offer accompaniment and tools for interior integration and wholeness. She weaves together Church teaching, Psychology, and Inner Child work and hopes to provide encouragement through children and non-fiction books, her personal blog, and webinars to help people live a fulfilling and authentic life. In this conversation, we’re talking about Brya’s own healing journey, who our inner child is, how to embrace them, and how this approach to healing is integrated and Catholic. If you're longing for healing, deeper self-awareness in your identity as daughter, or a closer relationship with God as Father, sister, this episode is for you. Topics we cover: * Brya’s story as a Catholic woman * The story behind Brya’s new book, Befriending your Inner Child: A Catholic Approach to Healing and Wholeness * Brya’s advice for listeners who have no idea what it means to befriend their inner child and no longer try to erase or abandon themselves * How learning about attachment styles impacts the way that we claim the reality of being made in the image of God * Brya’s ADULT acronym and how it can help us rise above wounds and fractures in our lives * How we can be better tuned into the sensations of our body and how that attunement can bring healing * What attunement is and why it’s so important when it comes to befriending our inner child * How Brya lives out the feminine genius in her ordinary, daily life as a daughter of God Resources for you: * ⁠Pick up a copy of Brya’s new book, Befriending your Inner Child: A Catholic Approach to Healing and Wholeness⁠ [https://www.amazon.com/Befriending-Your-Inner-Child-Wholeness/dp/1646803043?tag=googhydr-20&source=dsa&hvcampaign=books&gclid=Cj0KCQiAv628BhC2ARIsAIJIiK-iUOxGIv4u4ye3VIEbwyRkWgOtnpFA7Za8U3pdeHyXVclCO1MMbOsaAkRfEALw_wcB] * ⁠Follow Brya on Instagram⁠ [https://www.instagram.com/bryahananlmft/] * ⁠Check out Brya’s website ⁠ [https://www.bryahananlmft.com/] * ⁠Subscribe to Naptime Notes and get early, ad free access to all the Letters to Women episodes for just $5 a month⁠ [https://letterstowomenpodcast.com/subscribe]

My guest today is Meg Hunter-Kilmer. Meg has been on the podcast so many times -- sometimes sitting at my table, sometimes from someone else’s home, this time from her OWN home! I first met Meg ten years ago at a Kansas Catholic College Student Convention and her love for Christ and his Church is such a joy to witness. When I started putting together the shows for this Letters to Daughters season, I knew I wanted Meg back on the show to talk about what living her daughterhood looked like.  In this conversation, we’re talking about the saints, Meg’s recent trip to South Korea, what it’s like to write about the hard parts of saints stories so even the littlest can meet these Heavenly friends, and what it’s like for Meg to OWN a home after years of life as a hobo for Christ. If you're ready to embrace your identity as a beloved daughter of God and be inspired by the lives of the saints, sister, this letter is for you. Topics we cover: * Meg’s new adventures as a homeowner in South Bend * Why we should throw out perfectionism when it comes to hosting and how to embrace scruffy hospitality * Meg’s recent pilgrimage to South Korea * How Meg started writing about the lives of the saints, how she’s grown in friendship with them over the years, and how that heavenly friendship impacts how she views herself as a daughter of God * The universality of the Catholic Church * What it was like for Meg to adapt her saint book for older children into a six part series for little kids * How Meg lives out the feminine genius in her ordinary, daily life as a daughter of God Resources for you: * Pick up a copy of Meg’s new Saints Around the World for Little Ones Collection [https://www.google.com/search?gs_lcrp=EgZjaHJvbWUyBggAEEUYOTIMCAEQLhgnGIAEGIoFMgwIAhAuGBQYhwIYgAQyBwgDEAAYgAQyBwgEEAAYgAQyBwgFEC4YgAQyBwgGEAAYgAQyCAgHEAAYFhgeMggICBAAGBYYHtIBCDQwNDlqMGo0qAIAsAIB&ie=UTF-8&oq=meg%20hunter%20kilmer%20six%20books&q=meg%20hunter%20kilmer%20six%20books&rlz=1C1VDKB_enUS933US933&sourceid=chrome] * Follow Meg on Instagram [https://www.instagram.com/mhunterkilmer/] * Modern Saints by Ann Ball [https://tanbooks.com/products/books/modern-saints-their-lives-and-faces-book-2/?gc_id=17487855346&gad_source=1&gclid=Cj0KCQiA4L67BhDUARIsADWrl7EpqZposp-SzVNwJmLly-dwSpnkNosE3TmIF2Ma5kqZcD685y7NHRsaAiYzEALw_wcB] * Subscribe to Naptime Notes and get early, ad free access to all the Letters to Women episodes for just $5 a month [https://letterstowomenpodcast.com/subscribe]

My guest today is Dr. Natalie King. She’s a palliative care physician. Many of us are in a season where we are caregivers - maybe to a grandparent, a parent, another family member. But others of us are in a season where we can see that role of caregiver on the horizon Maybe you're noticing your parents health starting to decline, or you're seeing them make medical decisions and invite you into that process. But regardless of the season you find yourself today, for all of us, we either are caregivers, will be, or will receive care at some point in our life. This conversation on suffering, having hard conversations about hard decisions with those we love, and living out the feminine genius as a Catholic woman praying for a good death  is for each and every one of us. So, if you want to think through caregiving issues and align those big decisions for yourself and loved ones with the Catholic faith in a way that safeguards the sacred dignity of human life, sister, this letter is for you. * Dr. King’s story as a Catholic woman * The origin story of Dr. King’s new book, Intensive Caring: A Practical Handbook for Catholics about Serious Illness and End-of-Life Care * What suffering looks like as Catholics and why a Catholic understanding of suffering stands at odds against a secular culture * What palliative care is and how it differs from hospice care * Dr. King’s advice for successful conversations about death and dying with parents who are navigating serious illness and end-of-life care decisions * How Catholics can advocate for themselves and their loved ones to ensure that they’re getting care that is respectful of their dignity * What a good death is and how we can prepare for it * How Dr. King lives out the feminine genius in her daily life as a daughter of God * Pick up a copy of Dr. King’s new book, Intensive Caring: A Practical Handbook for Catholics about Serious Illness and End-of-Life Care [https://www.avemariapress.com/products/intensive-caring] * Connect with Dr. King online [https://nataliekingmd.com] * Read an article talking about the benefits of palliative care support [https://www.nejm.org/doi/full/10.1056/NEJMoa1000678] * Example guide to help conversations with loved ones about health care from The Conversation Project [https://theconversationproject.org/get-started#Your-Conversation-Starter-Guide] * Five Wishes [https://www.fivewishes.org/for-myself/] * Compilation of states with Catholic versions of advance directive forms (even if your state doesn’t have one, you can use other states as examples!) [https://www.catholicendoflife.org/resources/ ] * A beautiful Church document from Saint Pope John Paul II on teaching [https://www.vatican.va/content/john-paul-ii/en/apost_letters/1984/documents/hf_jp-ii_apl_11021984_salvifici-doloris.html] * A Church document teaching on palliative care [https://press.vatican.va/content/salastampa/en/bollettino/pubblico/2020/09/22/200922a.html] * Subscribe to Naptime Notes and get early, ad free access to all the Letters to Women episodes for just $5 a month [https://letterstowomenpodcast.com/subscribe]

Welcome to the Letters to Daughters season! . I love the line from Saint Pope John Paul II’s original Letter to Women: “Thank you, women who are daughters and women who are sisters! Into the heart of the family, and then of all society, you bring the richness of your sensitivity, your intuitiveness, your generosity and fidelity.” This season, we’re exploring what living out the feminine genius in this vocation of daughter -- daughters to our Heavenly father as well as daughter within our human families.  My guest today is Heather Kym. For years, I’ve loved learning about the importance of story, identity, and healing from Heather. Whether that’s reading books she’s written or listening to her in conversation with friends over on the Abiding Together podcast, I’m so excited for this conversation to not only start of this new season of Letters to Daughters, but also to start off this liturgical season of Advent.  So, if you’re ready for encounter the Lord in a new way as we prepare for Christmas, sister, this letter is for you.  Topics we cover: * Heather’s story as a Catholic woman and her story of living the paschal mystery of dying and rising * A brand new Advent journal and meditation collection Heather wrote called Encountering Emmanuel * How to recognize areas of self-reliance in our lives and what it looks like practically to open ourselves up to God’s life and power * How Heather’s journey of healing has impacted the way she views God as Father and herself as His beloved daughter * Heather’s advice for listeners who struggle in their relationship with Mary and have a desire to grow in relationship with her this Advent * Why it’s crucial that we don’t miss sitting at the feet of Jesus this Advent and how to practically be with the Lord in this season * How Heather lives out the feminine genius in her ordinary, daily life as a daughter of God Resources for you: * Heather’s new Advent journal, Encountering Emmanuel [https://www.avemariapress.com/products/encountering-emmanuel?gad_source=1&gclid=Cj0KCQiAgJa6BhCOARIsAMiL7V9vVQmOW93-Plg01KQsmnYOHehIqzoSIWuw_mtnyH1y3yVwEUx9kEoaAkuTEALw_wcB] * The pause app that John Eldridge created to help you create a habit of coming into God’s presence throughout the day [https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=com.ransomedheart.pause&hl=en_US] * The Abiding Together podcast [https://www.abidingtogetherpodcast.com/] * Visit Heather on Instagram [https://www.instagram.com/heatherkhym/?hl=en] Discussion questions: 1. Jesus wants to come right now into every moment and situation you find yourself in. Where do you long for him to show up in your life this Advent? 2. In what ways do you rely on yourself and reject the providence of the Father? Do you trust Him to provide everything you need? 3. Heather mentioned the importance of becoming little and dependent in our relationship with the Lord. What is your first reaction to that statement? Would you describe yourself as little and dependent in your relationship with the Lord? 4. What is your relationship with Mary like? Do you have a desire to grow in relationship with her this Advent? 5. What is one practical way that you can make a plan to simply be with the Lord this Advent?