When it comes to changing unhealthy dialogues and digging up errant roots that have been allowed to grow deep—many of us tend to ignore the discomfort and carry on with our days. However, when we live in denial, inequity and ignorance cannot be challenged, and greatness will not be achieved. During our For the Love of Transitions series, we’re learning how to embrace change. We’re sharing the stories of people who have lived through or implemented drastic changes in their lives and came out on the other side stronger and better than before. Some transitions are extremely broad in their scope and may seem nearly impossible—and one issue that’s come to the top of our agendas over the last year is; how do our communities and our country get to a place where we are moving toward an attitude of racial sensitivity? Is it possible that we agree more on what needs to happen around racial justice in this country than what we’re seeing portrayed as a great divide? Former NFL football player/now author and host of “Uncomfortable Conversations with a Black Man” Emmanuel Acho believes that many of us truly do want the same things when it comes to racial justice, but by living in long-held attitudes and perpetuating insensitive commentary around race, we’ve been unable to make the big strides needed to make lasting change. Emmanuel believes that everything great comes by being uncomfortable first, and by pushing us toward those uncomfortable moments, he’s hoping to topple the attitudes we might not even be aware we’ve been caught up in, toward a better and more understanding way of being. He also recognizes that getting people to embrace discomfort toward change is tough, but it’s worth it. Emmanuel puts the thought out there that racial insensitivity is a bigger problem than racism itself in our country, and points out that living in D-E-N-I-A-L (don’t even know I am lying) keeps that insensitivity intact. Emmanuel and Jen walk through the difference between outright racism (which universally, most of us are against) and racial insensitivity (which many of us are guilty of without even knowing it). Come get uncomfortable with us and let’s all move toward making something great.
Podcast Category: Personal Development (Wellness)
Releasing The Fantasy of “The Good Girl” with Dr. Shefali Tsabary
We continue with the “For the Love of Transitions” series and it’s giving us so many new perspectives on pushing back against what we’ve always known and finding new ways to grow and evolve into the person we have always wanted to be. This week’s episode really hits us where we live as we pursue to live a life that is “free”; free from pain, free from hurt, and free from bending to the will and opinion of others. Do you think you are living freely? In your soul, choices, and relationships? Do your actions embody the hopes and dreams you have for yourself? Or, are you acting under an assumed role? One that has always told us we need to be “the good girl;” one that is passive, servile and in the receiving position? It’s hard to see through the systems we’ve become so toxically comfortable with. We have families and friends and jobs to worry about and care for and oftentimes it’s easier to fall into the assumed role than to build our own. However, when we wake up to being sovereign in our own authority, there is a liberation like no other. To walk us through this Radical Awakening (also the title of her brand new book) is Dr. Shefali Tsabary. Dr. Shefali is a New York Times bestselling author, a renowned clinical psychologist, and teacher to women as they transcend their fears and illusions to break free from the mold society has forced them into. Dr. Shefali and Jen have a vulnerable conversation about coming into a new and powerful sense of ourselves–and realizing that as women, “We have not been taught to back ourselves up. We’ve not been taught to put all our eggs inside our basket. And we don’t know what it means to have our own back.” Dr. Shefali gently shows us that inner voice that every woman knows she has speaking to her, but is often avoiding by eating too much, being distracted too much, relentlessly serving family or work. Ultimately, freedom comes by not treating your inner knowing as a liar, but allowing it to speak and show you the truth about what’s really wrong and right in your world.
The Shifting Role of Religion vs. Faith with Diana Butler Bass
Continuing in our “For the Love of Transitions” series, we look at crossroads many of us are facing in regards to our view of faith and religion. More than ever before, people in our country are choosing not to identify with a specific religion, including a large segment of Millennials who say they’ve “never attended church.” But amidst these shifts, there are many who hold tight to their faith, but haven’t found the stability of years past in the institutions they used to invest in for themselves and their families. What are the reasons for this shift? It’s a complex topic and sometimes charged to discuss, and we’ve got independent scholar and author, Diana Butler Bass to help us walk through it. Diana’s newest book, Freeing Jesus, invites readers to rediscover Jesus beyond the narrow confines society has built around Him. While discussing the mass exodus that’s happening in today’s churches, Jen and Diana look at how faith can and does thrive outside the pews of the church, and they ask the question: if we are church-goers, how can we work toward making our churches alive and welcoming for everyone?
Rebuilding Your Life Out of the Rubble with Amy Downs
This week we are kicking off a brand new series here on the For the Love Podcast. There are so many times in each of our lives where a curveball just knocks us on our backs. The unexpected transition from what you thought was going to happen to your new reality is often hard to grapple with. But sometimes, we choose to make a major life change. So we’ll talk through all the ways we can embrace a transition. We’ll seek guidance from people who have made those transitions, learned from the struggle, and benefited from going through the process. Amy Downs epitomizes what it means to be thrown unwittingly into a situation that could have had a profoundly negative affect on her life, only to come out leading the charge for some amazing changes in her life. Amy is a survivor of the Oklahoma City Bombing–the last living person to be found under the rubble that claimed 168 souls that day. Amy’s outlook changed dramatically, and the 350 lb overweight college dropout with an attitude that she’d never amount to much used this experience to reclaim each area of her life by turning it around for the better. She and Jen talk about the horror of that day and how sometimes it’s possible to literally emerge from the rubble of our lives to take small steps toward healing and change.
Paula Faris on Realigning Our Priorities
Right now, we’re capable of so much more than surviving. We can thrive right now if we dig deep and we put our hand to this work. Award-winning ABC News correspondent Paula Faris, who also hosts the Journeys of Faith podcast, has just undergone an enormous self-transformation, right before all this COVID-19 craziness started happening, so she guides us through the waters here. She tells us how she’s leaning into her true purpose and how we use this season to discover ours. As co-anchor of Good Morning America Weekend and the co-host of The View, Paula was living her best life–or so she thought–because even though she had her dream job, she didn’t have her dream life. Fear haunted her when she first stepped into her career, and then again when stepping out of it, and she shares how facing that fear helped her realign her priorities and led to inner peace. In this season, it helps to be realistic with our expectations and our workload; focusing on practicality and giving ourselves (and our loved ones) grace. Like Paula, we can hit the reset button and consider where we are, what’s next, and where we want to go from here.
Love, Learning and Leadership with Stedman Graham
In this bonus episode as we begin a new series, which features Powerhouse Women, we’re thrilled to visit with someone close to one of the most powerful women on the planet! Stedman Graham is a brilliant business consultant whose clients range from Microsoft to the US Department of Labor. And after talking with him about his latest book, Identity Leadership, we can see why. Stedman reminds us if you want to lead someone else, you need to lead yourself first—and leading yourself means knowing who you are and where you want to go. He and Jen talk about why love is the secret ingredient to transforming our energy, why Oprah is one of the world’s most effective leaders, and how we can help our kids become creative, curious thinkers who can lead and dare greatly into the next generation. Whether you’re leading the way for your family or an entire company, Stedman’s advice rings true: find what you love and go do it, because love will light you up and change the world.