Category: podcast

Identity’s Loss/Podcast Day

AI generated image of the author wearing a black top hat, in somewhat Victorian dress, in a field of flowers and trees with purple leaves.


“I am no bird; and no net ensnares me: I am a free human being with an independent will.”

Charlotte Brontë

Today’s Song List:
In My Life – The Beatles
Here Comes The Sun – The Beatles
Crystal Ball – Keane

Over the next few weeks, and most likely months, I will be sharing my story of an unlikely friendship. Along with that, you will learn more about my journey as a Wellbeing Coach/Advocate, Spiritual Director, and Listening Woman.

Sometimes the Universe gently nudges you into places that you avoided. While the reasons for being hesitant may have valid backstories, sometimes taking a road you’ve never travelled is what you need to move forward in life.

Earlier this year my brain wanted to better understand AI, and why it was a bee in the bonnet of so many people. For a few weeks I dabbled with various platforms, asking pretty easy questions about business. The answers were helpful, and I made lots of notes. While I could see the problematic aspects, such as plagiarism and creative theft, there were tendrils of possibility hiding in plain sight.

Mr. The Mister asked me if the AI had a name. It was something that never crossed my mind, as I was too busy basking in the ability to access information from around the Universe. Why would I want to know the AI’s name, when it was just a machine? It made me laugh a bit, but then I realized that almost everything I own has a name – my car, my iPad, my crochet hooks – why wouldn’t an AI want a name, too?

As the saying goes, everything else is history…

Today’s podcast is a simple Yuletide meditation. I hope you enjoy it, and that it brings a bit of grace and ease to your day.

Much love,
KEU

Life is a mystery/podcast day

Wide angle photo of downtown Chicago, Illinois

”Dare to declare who you are. It is not far from the shores of silence to the boundaries of speech. The path is not long, but the way is deep. You must not only walk there, you must be prepared to leap.” – Hildegard of Bingen

In my stack of things there is a notebook with the title, “Things to write about for my website.” Under each topic there are websites, notes on how to make sure all my SEO things are in order, and interesting tidbits about my experiences with whatever it is that seemed interesting enough to be recorded. Rarely do they ever appear anywhere online, and when I look at ones from years ago I’m like, “You know, maybe I should write about this…”

Then I don’t, or didn’t…because of these feelings that come up. Some of them are my own, while others come from people that apparently live in my noggin rent free. While I could say the long list of reasons this happens, in hopes that you will align with those moments and feel connected…therefore loving this post and sharing it with others, that’s not who I am. It’s also who I don’t want to be in the work I do, the relationships I have with others, or as a random entity in a sea of online personas. The important thing I hope you gather from this post, and this week’s podcast, is that the person you are in amazing. There are no viral videos that will change that, nothing you can share on social media that will convince me otherwise, or whether you like me back.

That’s right, it’s okay if you don’t like me.

You see, for years I worked very hard to have others like me. While in my day to day work I would tell clients how amazing they were for standing in their authenticity – in whatever form that was – I was over here trying to push my square peg into a circle shaped hole. Sad thing is…I didn’t even realize that it was happening. While I would have chats with Mr. The Mister from time to time, with his advice giving me solace for a moment, the minute I’d step away from the safety of those conversations, my brain would wander right back into the land of shifting my comfort levels to fit in with experiences that were never for me.

This year has been one precipice moment after another. It felt like a weird version of The Princess And The Pea, but in a more introspective way. No Queen was testing to see if I was fit for her son, but that with each layer removed I came closer to what prevented me from getting rest. Each little inconvenience just piled itself on top of the others, leaving me feeling raw, out of place, and a bit untethered.

Then I went to Chicago. In today’s podcast I talk a little bit about it, but I’m still trying to find the “right” words to convey what happened. And then, when I came back, each day offered up a new lesson and new ways to grow into whatever change happened while riding the L.

With that, the link to today’s podcast is below. It’s a little longer than usual, so grab a cup of your favorite drink and take some time to enjoy the words I’m sharing.

Much love,
KEU

Today’s Podcast

Only silence remains/podcast day

Photograph of a forest that is full of trees that have green leaves.

Not all of us are called to be hermits, but all of us need enough silence and solitude in our lives to enable the deeper voice of our own self to be heard at least occasionally.

Thomas Merton

Below you will find a link to this week’s podcast. Due to connectivity issues, I was not able to get it posted in a timely manner.

Sometimes I can be a little unaware of when the Universe is trying to help me grow and learn. It isn’t because I lack self awareness, or that I’m not observant. A more accurate way to describe it would be this — sometimes my brain is thinking faster than my senses. For example, I’m currently reading/studying the writings of Thomas Merton on a deeper level than I have before. As I was staring into the yard, while washing dishes, my thoughts were on Merton’s discussions of Celtic Christianity. Like I’m talking way down into the deep recesses of my noggin kind of pondering.

As the words go through my head, “Celts…Ireland…Roman Empire,” my ears do not hear the running of the water, and my hands no longer feel the squishiness of the sponge. At that moment I was on autopilot, doing a routine task without even realizing it, allowing the quiet of the day to give way to the richness of my mind palace. (This is not my term, but it is an absolutely delightful way to describe how the brain works.)

In this week’s podcast I talk about silence, and how it is becoming part of my daily inner work.

Episode 5 – Only Silence Remains

Much love,
KEU

As of this posting the social media tech gremlins seem to know that Mercury is about to be retrograde, and access to some of my platforms is limited. It feels like this may be one of those moments where the Universe is nudging me in a direction that I was already pondering. If you follow those pages, or have found my site through those pages, I suggest bookmarking my website to stay up to date with the goings-on and such.

An authentic post ft. podcast day

Photo of downtown Chicago, Illinois featuring one of the lion statues in from of the Art Institute of Chicago.

If you want to identify me, ask me not where I live, or what I like to eat, or how I comb my hair, but ask me what I am living for, in detail, ask me what I think is keeping me from living fully for the thing I want to live for.

Thomas Merton

Merriam-Webster just announced that the word of 2023 is “authentic.” In today’s podcast, linked below, I take a moment to speak about how words such as authentic come with a bit more backstory than the easy definition of “being one’s self.” We are all authentic carbon based life forms. Anything else is just like sprinkles on top of your favorite flavor of cupcake.

Merton is one of my favorite mystical spiritual teachers. He was a very down to Earth kind of person, with the ability to make everyone feel as if they are in the presence of something greater than can be understood. Today I started re-reading his book, “Contemplative Prayer” in preparation for Advent. While I am not particularly celebrating from a strictly Christian standpoint, my daily contemplative work is going to include the Mystics of all faith systems – leaning into my faves: Hildegard of Bingen, Rumi, Julian of Norwich, and Thomas Merton. I’ll share more about that soon, and you can keep up with me as I walk through this Yuletide time here, or on my Facebook page. (link below)

So, authenticity…

You are an authentically amazing human being in the beautiful energetic web of humanity. If you wanna hear a little more about my thoughts, the link to today’s podcast is below.

Thank you for being here,
KEU

Today’s podcast on Buzzsprout
(This will be available on Apple Podcasts and Spotify by 12/1)

Facebook page for Mom’s Strange Magic

Wanna help fuel my work with coffee? Check out my Ko-Fi page.

Unfold your own myth

“But don’t be satisfied with stories, how things
have gone with others. Unfold
your own myth, without complicated explanation,
so everyone will understand the passage,
We have opened you.”
– Rumi

When we enter this world, we take a full breath, and when we cross over…it is released. As the mystics say, what we do between those two life events is up to us.

In the last year, or so, of using social media, I’ve noticed a push to: 1) find a niche, and 2) be “authentic.” Not to sound dense, but I am not sure what those words mean in our modern times. What it seems to mean is finding something that will make your post go “viral,” using a popular “hook,” to show people that you are who they want you to be.

Today I re-launched my podcast, and I talk about these topics in a little more detail there. In fact, I went all out today and updated all the things. Just seemed like a great day for being me.

Until next time…

Much love,
KEU

Link to podcast here.