Have the Audacity

[BTS] Learning Lessons During a Slow Season with Dr. Meghan Hurley-Powell

Episode 127

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In this episode, we cover: 

  • Mindset Shift - It's okay to slow down. You don't have to be productive all the time. 
  • Creating Space - What  can you give up to create space in your life? 
  • Downside to hustle culture and how to make choices that go against it.

Want to connect with Dr. Meghan Hurley Powell?
Instagram Account:
@dr.meggymarie
Website: www.meggymarie.com
Podcast: The Power Within Her - LISTEN HERE
Book - The Power Within Her Guide to Journaling

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Remember that, you are worthy. You have value. You get to take up space in this world simply because you exist. Don’t let anyone, including yourself, convenience you otherwise. If that idea or vision for your life is in you, then it is for you.

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Speaker 1:

Can you believe they have the audacity? Welcome to the have the Audacity podcast. I'm your host, jacey Lawlin. I'm on a mission to empower women like you to live audaciously. What does it mean to live audaciously, you ask? Living audaciously means you're no longer available for living your life based on someone else's agenda or boundaries. It's time to activate your power, use your voice and create the life you're meant to live. So the next time someone asks, can you believe she had the audacity, you can look at them and say, yeah, I did. Hey, guys, so I am excited. Megan, I feel like excited too. We've been talking about this for a minute. Yeah, we are going to start doing these like behind the scenes, like monthly chats. Yes, just like share what's going on, just give you like a different perspective on us and like a different kind of conversation.

Speaker 2:

Yeah, One that's very flowy and sort of loose and just kind of honors, whatever's going to pop up. And it's kind of funny because before we hit record we were like, well, what should we talk about? And I had an idea. But now that we've hit record I'm kind of like it would be fun to talk about all these other things. So I'm I'm excited, I think this is going to be a real squirrel rave and I think it's going to be fun it is.

Speaker 1:

I think it's just like this is the peak that you, the listener, get into our normal conversations that you and I just have regularly. So I'm excited for this and, like Megan said, we didn't. There's no outline, there's no. We're talking about this like we are pushing record and what comes up comes up. So this is all gonna be like on off the cuff. Yeah, it's so exciting, okay. So now I want to know what? What other ideas were you coming up? You're like we should talk about this. What were you wanting to talk about?

Speaker 2:

Well, I was just thinking, cause, like we're both teachers, right, and it's the summer, and when this episode comes out, it will no longer be summer. And you know, at this moment, like the summer is kind of like winding up a little bit later. It's not winding up, it's winding down there we go, it's winding down, it's winding down there we go, it's winding down. And I've been really thinking about, you know, just all the things that I have done this summer and what I've spent my time on, and how it's not it looks. It looks nothing like my summers used to look like, and I think that's interesting.

Speaker 1:

Ooh Okay. So what did your summers used to look like?

Speaker 2:

My summers used to look like hustle and grind baby. Like all the work, from the second I woke up to the second I went to bed, I was in hustle and grind mode and that is not what this summer has looked like at all, which was good, which is good. I mean, I'm just going to flat out say like it's phenomenal, right. But I did have a moment a couple of weeks ago where I freaked out about it and I was like, oh my God, I have nothing quote unquote to show for the end of the summer.

Speaker 2:

Like my plan was to write, my plan was to do a ton of podcast interviews. My plan was to I mean, I had, like I had big plans for the summer, right, because conditioning and prior experiences taught me that's what I quote unquote do in the summer. That's what I'm supposed to do in the summer, and I didn't do any of that. Like I haven't written shit this summer, right. Like I haven't. I haven't interviewed anybody this summer, right, besides having, um, some pod like casual conversations with see, our friend CJ um about her process of writing a book. Like I haven't done any of the things I said I was gonna do do, and it's a good thing. It was uncomfortable at first, but this is a good thing.

Speaker 1:

I love that. You like you have that perspective on it. You're like it was good, like this, and not being like judgmental. I love your perspective on it. It would not be like I didn't do anything, I said and that's fine. Well, I didn't. That's the perspective I now have. Okay, yeah, from your little moment. So what was the shift?

Speaker 2:

that you like now have that. Well, well, number one uh, therapy is a wonderful thing, right, um, but no, I, a couple of weeks ago and this has been a thought that's popped up occasionally throughout the summer Um, you know where I was like, oh, like I haven't written. Like you know, I have two books, three books that are in the process of being written right now, and I didn't work on any of them. Like, oh, my God, and you know, I have, um, I have quit a major thing in my life, Um, doing, uh, making a major pivot business, wise, right, and haven't really you know how do I even want to say this Like I haven't grown the business or really, like you know, put any effort or energy toward this pivot.

Speaker 2:

And I was like, well, you quit the big thing to make more space, to write more and to grow the business in a different way. And I'm like you haven't done that yet. And then, finally, feelings of like, oh, am I underachieving? Kind of popped up and I brought that to therapy and she's like, excuse me, ma'am, like I have the best therapeutic relationship with my person, she's the best. And she's like, excuse me, ma'am, like you're a teacher, excuse me, ma'am, like you're a teacher, it's the summer.

Speaker 1:

You're a human being, not a human doing no-transcript, because we're on like you're a hundred percent on yeah and so you really don't like it's. It is kind of like you know. That makes me think about teachers always talk about. It's pretty common that you get sick the first week in June because your body finally stops june, because your body finally stops.

Speaker 2:

Yeah, yeah and oh my god, now that you say that, yes, uh, the final two days of school I spent miserable, a sniffling miserable, miserable mess. Uh, because I think everything just came crashing down. So I was sick at the start of summer. That's so wild now that I think back to that yeah, and I just I just I get that too.

Speaker 1:

I set a lot of goals, like even just for work, for the summer. I made a whole list of like all these things I was going to do for work to get ahead, all the things I was going to do for the podcast and like all of these big, and I was also going to prioritize friendships and read all these books, and I didn't really do most of them right, so you didn't either no, and I recently, like just started, like I took a break from ig.

Speaker 1:

I have a love hate relationship with that thing. Actually, it's like a tolerate hate relationship with that that place, because I just don't, I don't like being on all the time and I feel like you have to show up on all the time and, um, I just was like like I recorded a bunch of episodes by myself.

Speaker 1:

I didn't do any interviews this summer, like same as you. Like I just was pretty chill, like and it feels good and I've been trying to think like, okay, what have I done this summer that I really like like, what has been so good about this summer? Um, because I also am in therapy and I love my therapist so much. Um, right, I'm like dang, I wish you weren't my therapist so we could be friends, but you're my therapist.

Speaker 2:

I know I I have that exact same thought as well like, can you, can you be? Both. Could you please be both like?

Speaker 1:

if you're not my therapist anymore, can we be both? Could you please be both? Like, if you're not my therapist anymore, can we be friends? Like no, you know too much trauma, but it's okay. It's okay. Like I have this, but it's just nice because you do have that, like it's a no BS, like very, like straightforward, like it's important with therapy. Honestly, I know, like when you click with somebody, like it just is different like it just is different.

Speaker 1:

And she was like okay, so let's not repeat the cycle, because last school year, full transparency was super rough on me. We moved into a new school building. I was still trying to operate like my business and my podcast and show up for my life and all do everything 100 and literally had like a little minty bee and I was crying every saturday night thinking about going to work on monday. Like I was crying on saturday night. We were past sunday scaries, we're having saturday night scaries about having to go to work on monday.

Speaker 1:

Yep, and I just was like and so there is this fear, because that was our first year in the school building, so it's our second that I'm like I don't want it to be like last year. I don't, I don't want to go through that. Like that was super hard on me, I don't want to repeat that. And so she kind of challenged me to be like what did you like about the summer that you can control moving forward? And I was like okay, and I'm a big Google calendar girl, like that is I know you are yeah, yeah.

Speaker 2:

So what did you like about the summer? What was the answer to that question?

Speaker 1:

I liked having like and I've always had like slow Sundays, but I really liked having like intentional time with friends. And so I recently had like with my friends, like in person. And so I recently we went to dinner and I was like, hey guys, school's about to get busy because we're all teachers. And I was and I just said, like what, if we decide the second Friday of every every month, if you can make it, you will like go to dinner.

Speaker 1:

so it's not anybody's house, nobody's having to host anything. Like, yeah, we're just going somewhere, somebody else is cooking the food, somebody else is cleaning up. Like yes, we'll go to dinner like once a month and just like have some time away from school, and so I do that with that friend. And I have another Friday of the month that I scheduled dinner with another friend and I was like, okay, I spent like Saturday mornings at my grandparents' house a lot, like we drink coffee and play cards and like my grandparents are in their eighties and so like I want to appreciate like the time that I have to spend with them. So I was like, okay, like my grandparents are in their 80s and so like I want to appreciate like the time that I have to spend with them. So I was like, okay, well, I could still do that most Saturday mornings. Like that's allowed, like I can still do that. Like who said, you know, and it was just, it just got to thinking like I really fell in love with reading fiction books again. So I was like, okay, okay, well, before I go to bed, like that's, that's the book I read before bed, like no, more non-fiction is not on my nightstand. And it was like I can make that little switch. You know, and I'm even going back with like some boundaries of like.

Speaker 1:

I'm one of the people who has always been like the go-to person on campus for a lot of things and I run our school social media page and I was like you know what, this year anybody asked me to do something. I'm gonna say, well, do you want to run the social media page? Nobody's gonna say yes, because nobody wants that job. So sure, I'm like sure I'll do that, but you're gonna take over this right, like no, okay, then that that's it. This is just. This is my one, this is my one role, because it was just like I need to start like leaving space, and it was, and it was even and we haven't had a chance to talk about this yet but like I got to thinking what do I even want my business to look like? Like what do I actually want? Not what do I think I should want, what other people are telling me I should want what I see other people have.

Speaker 1:

Like I recently have had the opportunity to do more speaking events and like I want to do more speaking, but I don't want to. I realized I was like I don't want to be a speaker. Ooh, like I don't want that to be my sole income. Sure, I was like they're never home income. Sure, I was like they're never home. I like my home, I like my pets, I like my house, like I, you know. Like I said I scheduled, like all the people in my life, like relationships are important to me, yeah. And so I was like that actually doesn't go together with what I actually care about.

Speaker 1:

And then I took it even a step farther and realized, looking back on last year, like why, why did I get to this position where I had to shut down the pod, like producing new episodes, and close everything down and just take a couple months off? And I was like, well, do I want this to be my full-time thing? Like, do I actually want to be a full-time entrepreneur or do I want to also do it while having a stable income, while having insurance? Like what do I actually want right now? And like, is that what is holding me back? Is what you want? Holding you back like, is what? Like what I'm not going after what I actually want?

Speaker 2:

oh, yeah, yeah, holy crowd like holy crowd, holy crap and cow at the same time. Holy crowd, that's gonna start being a thing. Those are some big, big thoughts and and and wonderings and musings and it's just like that's where I'm at right now.

Speaker 1:

It's just like, yeah, trying to figure out what, what I realized, like looking back and you know, trying to think in this, coming back to like where we started this whole question of what did I enjoy about this summer and how could I plan it more into, like going back to school, like school starting again really allowed me to see, like what was truly important to me, what I truly value, and you get to build your life accordingly, so it's time that I start doing that.

Speaker 2:

See, I could just listen to you talk forever. But no, I mean, you are so right Like I don't even take any notes on what you were just like talking about, because I wouldn't take notes talking with a friend at coffee, because that's essentially what we're doing. We are having virtual coffee right now, but all of that is just so good. I think that it's so easy in our society to end up heading off in a direction that is just not actually meant for you, but it's just so common. It's what you see again and again and again, right? I don't think it's far off the mark for me to say that it's normalized in our society, especially on the gram, for this idea of like quit, like start a side hustle so that you can quit your full-time job.

Speaker 1:

Right.

Speaker 2:

I hopped on that train for a while, you know, and that's why I worked myself to death and why my, my summers were full of hustle and grind and go, go go, because I thought that is what I wanted, but it's not. And so I think it's so easy to just get wrapped up in a trend and onto a train and then you just don't have time to think about whether or not it is what you align. And I just think what's sticking out to me is, I feel like for both of us, this summer was about slowing down to get to and creating space to get clear on what you actually like, really want for number one and for number two to be a human being, you know because I think it's just.

Speaker 2:

There's this haiku. One of my friends one of my friends wrote and he posted it a while ago on Instagram and I can see if I can pull it up to read the exact thing, but it illustrates 100 how I feel, um, and I've got it here. So the title of the poem is haiku for poets once tortured but now mostly just struggling with conflicting feelings of purpose, ennui, mindfulness and general depression. So he it's, I, I laugh because he broke the rules of the haiku, right, um, anyway. So that's the title of the haiku and here's the haiku itself.

Speaker 2:

Once I wanted to be important, but now I just want to hear birds sing. And if there was an anthem or a mantra or something to mark the current season of life that I'm in, it would be that Because there was a time in my life I thought I can be a full-time entrepreneur. I can hustle and grind and be traveling all over the world to do workshops and this and that, and blah, blah, blah. And like you I know you didn't use this word, but I'm an introvert. I like to travel, I like to go out there, but I don't want my traveling and my words and the, the, the wisdom I have to offer on any topic to have to be my full-time job, right, like, does that make sense? I don't know if that like makes any sense.

Speaker 2:

I just like I, just I I've I've had this call ever since 2023, like January of 2023, and, if I'm being honest, like October 2022 and then on to just simplify things, to get off the hustle, go, go, go train and just to enjoy my life. I think that's been a big undercurrent of a lot of my decisions ever since January 2023. You know, the going to therapy, the learning how to manage the anxiety of pulling back, of quitting big things that I had made, you know, a part of my identity, and just pulling back from a lot of it so that I could have time and space to breathe and to be a human and to be present in relationships and spaces. That I could have time and space to breathe and to be a human and to be present in relationships and spaces that I wanted to be present in. And just getting away from to-do lists Like I don't make to-do lists anymore If I can't hold the amount of shit I have to do in my head it's too much, you know and just learning to be okay with that. And I think this summer, bringing it all the way back around, like I had this moment of kind of like doubting that that was the path I wanted to be on.

Speaker 2:

Like how that happens sometimes where, like, you're just going, you know you're going down the path or you're pursuing a goal, you're just living your life, and then you have this doubt where you're like, oh shit, is this right, am I not doing enough? Like, am I not? You know? Like whatever, just any kind of doubt like seeps in, right. And that's why I think where those thoughts of being an underachiever came from. Where, again, you look at social media, you look at the gram and you're like, oh shit, I'm not doing enough. Am I doing enough? Like I haven't written, but like, and then. And then you just end up in this like twisted, hot mess pretzel. But then when you untangle it again and I go back to that haiku, I do just want to hear the birds sing, you know.

Speaker 1:

I don't want my goals to eclipse my joy of being alive and being a human.

Speaker 1:

I love that that's so well said. I really do feel like we are like both in that kind of season of like moving forward. I mean, I know, outside of this conversation, we've had several conversations like I, I feel like right now, like I have a expensive hobby and not a business because it's not bringing, like it's not bringing anything and it's not structured to bring anything in right now. But I'm like you know what? That's fine. I recently started the sharing good news and I was like gonna do it daily. And then I thought, no, okay, I'm gonna do it monday through friday, monday through friday. I need the weekends, I need to not be on every day. I can commit to monday through friday. But I and that just came from like why don't I just create what I want to see more of? Yeah. And then from that I like started the.

Speaker 1:

I saw a reel and it was about like what, what would you say if I said your dreams would come true in six months? But you have to act like the person who already has it for six months. And I was like this whole six months away concept started coming in and I really started thinking about it and that was where I gave up streaming services for six months. I was like, well, superversion of Me doesn't sit around and watch TV all the time. So yeah, and let me tell you, I had some panic because the olympics are on right now and, um, I don't have any streaming services. Um, all the all the shows in the fall. I'm like why didn't I do this in january?

Speaker 1:

because nothing really good comes on in the spring, so it's fine, but like fall's prime time television, and I'm not gonna have it. But I was like no, like let's, let's create some space. Like let's, let's create more space where you can. Like, let's not, yeah, film out on in front of the tv every saturday morning, like from your week. Like, because that's what I would do during the school year. You don't have time during the week to watch tv, so, like saturday morning, I would spend the next like four to five hours catching up on all my shows I missed during the week, you know. So it was like, yeah, let's not have that. Like let's create some space where we can. And yes, and I was like I'm gonna do this for free, I'm gonna build a community around this for women and we're just gonna do it for free. And I'm like what part of that does that make sense? But it feels good like just to like do it.

Speaker 2:

Yeah, yeah, I think that's like a primary way to create space in your life for being a human right Is that? I feel like there's so many actions we can take and it's like, okay, you know, I mean I can't go on Instagram without seeing an advertisement that says you can't just post on Instagram randomly, like you have to have a strategy. And I'm like F that I have never been the person to post on Instagram with a strategy. Even when I took a course on trying to figure out how to post with strategy, I resisted it Right out. How to post with strategy, I resisted it Right.

Speaker 2:

So I think there can just be such beauty in life to follow your heart and to follow the whims of, of what you want to do in the current moment. You know, I'm not just saying you know free for all, all the time, but like there's a beauty in to use a phrase you used, um, you know, a while back when we were chatting, just to be lost at sea, just to just to float, just to sort of see what's what and just to let yourself be a human being and float and do something because it feels good Right Now.

Speaker 2:

I'm not saying go do drugs because it feels good. Like that's not what I'm saying.

Speaker 2:

Like what I'm saying is just you know, if you want to connect with other women and you saying is just you know, if you want to connect with other women and you feel like this is something that you want to do, then go do it right if I want to post a picture of my husband and I enjoying a you know dinner at this really awesome underrated restaurant where I live, like that's what I'm gonna to do, I don't care if it doesn't fit into a pillar, I am focused on being a human right now and I think I don't know, I think there's such beauty and freedom and healing in that.

Speaker 2:

You know, I mean especially in in this, like you know, day and day and age where, like the, the pandemic, I think, really put us all in hustling mode. I think we were all hustling so hard to get away from ourselves and our feelings and and to just try to create something when there was so much more space, you know. But now it's like the opposite, where I want to create, I want to create more space, I want to create more time and I want to live my life.

Speaker 1:

I love that and like, too, on this whole like journey of getting to this point, I really had to sit down and ask myself, like when's the last time you did something and didn't expect to get anything out of it? Yeah, yes, like when's the last time you watched a movie and wasn't like, oh, how could I turn this into a podcast episode? Or read a book? Like, oh, how do I use this? Not saying that's bad when you're feeling inspired, but sometimes you sit down you're like I need content. What, like where do I pull this from? And it was like when's the last time like I just did something because I wanted to do it? Yeah, and so I like it started with, like I started learning Spanish, and I was like I'm just doing this because it has nothing to do with anything. I'm doing, like, yeah, picking up more reading, more fiction books, like we're just reading because we want to and just starting to do things for fun.

Speaker 2:

And I think that is part of the spice of life, right? Not always being on, not always having to produce or to create. God, when you said, when was the last time I did something without trying to get something else out of it? Oh my God, I flew right back in time in my head to the thick of the pandemic, right when my husband and I were. Like I was, like you know, hopping off another. You know my 10th call of the day, I swear to God. And he was like, yeah, let's watch. You know, let's watch something on Netflix together.

Speaker 2:

And I'd be like, okay, and I'd sit there for two seconds and I would be so like amped up and just like buzzing with this guilt and this like you know, sense of have to. Like, oh, I have to be doing something. I can't just sit here with my husband and enjoy, you know, our time together. Right, it was like I need my laptop because I can create a little graphic as I'm sitting here. Or you know what's a lesson I can get out of this movie that I can create into a piece of content? Like it was like I was looking through the the world. I was looking through a pair of glasses at the world through a lens of productivity and it just made it just.

Speaker 1:

It took so much joy and presence from from life for me looking back, I love like I I get it and I mean especially you know I can. We can only speak to like. We both live in the states, so we can only speak to the culture that we know. But especially here in the states, it is very like nose down, hustle, hustle, hustle. Yeah, roi for everything if it's not getting an roi out of it. Like okay, like we're not just like breathing. And I actually read this quote and I wish I need to pay attention better to who stuff is by when I see it. Um, but it was talking about how statistically more people die within five years after they retire. I've heard that too and I was like because you're used to go, go, going and then you have space to breathe, and I'm like what are we doing?

Speaker 1:

Yep, Like what are we doing?

Speaker 2:

Yeah for sure. So that's why, going back to like an earlier point coming, you know, kind of all the way back around at at therapy, it was so great to be like, yeah, oh, I feel like an underachiever. And she was like, no, ma'am, no, no. And I was like, yeah, I've been sleeping in and I just play Animal Crossing for hours and hours. And then, you know, then I might write part of a podcast and then I'll hang out with my husband and she's like, and what's wrong with that? I was like, well, there's nothing wrong with that, I'm enjoying the hell out of myself.

Speaker 2:

And she's like, then, keep freaking, doing it, you know. And she's like you know. She's like what, what time do you get up? And I was like eight, nine o'clock, she's like that is the perfect time to get up. She's like no, like, no, ma'am, like, uh, you know, just stop guilting yourself for being a human being, you know, cause you and I both know that as soon as the school year starts, like I mean, I don't know about you, but Monday through Friday, my butt's getting up at 5am every day, and then, because that is so, you know, becomes like such a like ingrained in my body and my biological clock. I will then on Saturday and Sunday, without even trying to still get up at six, six, 30, maybe seven if it was a rough week, right.

Speaker 2:

The days of eight 9am will be long gone, so soak it up while it's here now. And different seasons require different habits and different expectations from us. Right and just.

Speaker 1:

This is the first summer I've ever not expected anything from my health other than to just be a human being and do what feels good and there's in that I agree with that and I love that we're having this conversation to like and we're seeing it even like I know with like mutual friends we both have who are like oh, I need to like push a pause. Like there's this like collective and you know, with everything with social media and algorithm, like I mean, you can curate it where it's good for you, but it gives you a very small scope of the world and, like that's true, it gives you very small scope of what actually is going on and that's not like what's perceived, like that's just your perception of it, but not like the reality of the situation. And so it's just like we don't need to be on all the time. We don't need to be on all the time, we don't need to be connected to everybody all the time, like the experiment that we're living in of the days of like having internet.

Speaker 1:

I think it would be so interesting to know which we won't be here. But like what they say in 100 years of life, yeah, you know, like what boundaries do they have? Like, oh, I mean, yeah, think about it. Smoking used to be like popular, recommended, like go smoke, and now people, I know you did what right exactly like that is so bad for you, like what?

Speaker 1:

and you know, like in 100 years, like the great experiment we're all living in of being having a computer in our pocket and being constantly connected to everybody, all the time, and vlogging every single experience.

Speaker 2:

People are going to look at that and be like you had your device in your face 24-7. That's not good for mental health. Why would you do that?

Speaker 2:

Yes, Like you know, and so it's just one of those things like I mean, just cause everybody's doing it doesn't mean you have to do it and yeah, well, it's yeah, and and I had a. This is kind of sort of tangentially related. I was talking to a friend the other day and, um, you know, and, and she, she's really good at crocheting. And I was like, you know, and she's really good at crocheting, and I was like, why don't you start an Etsy business? Because she hates her job, right, and she really wants to start a side business. And you know she's taking steps to be able to like do that.

Speaker 2:

And I was like, well, if you want to create, you know, more streams of income, I was like, start an Etsy business with your crocheting. I was like, you are so good at this, that would be. You know, that's a no brainer. And she was like, because I don't want to monetize my joy. And I was like, oh, like you know, cause I think we should have things that we do in our lives that bring us joy, that we don't monetize, that we don't need to start an Instagram account for, right, Like, there've been so many times the thought of like, oh, I should have been a bookstagrammer and like a book blogger, like all the way back in college and like I could have grown it and monetize it, that could have been my full-time gig and I'm like, but I don't want to be tethered to having to review people's books.

Speaker 2:

You know, like that's to me, like I don't want my joy of reading to be to feel like a job you know, and it's just, and so when I thought about that, I was like, oh yes, totally get why you don't want to start a you know, an Instagram, not Instagram an Etsy for your crocheting Right. And to your point, we don't always need to be on, we don't need to monetize everything. Like you know more, being a human can be so good for the soul and for the mental health, I think which totally like ties into like with your summer.

Speaker 1:

I know you went and looked at um you did your troll hunting, yes, one of those like those troll exhibits, which is all about like yes, and that's the premise of why that art was created yep, to get up and out of the house and go with friends and connect in nature.

Speaker 2:

And you know, just do do all those things Right. None of those troll. I don't want to call them exhibits, but, like art pieces said, take a selfie with anybody or take a picture of whatever it was all about. Let's see if I can recount them in a somewhat concise manner. So Ronnie Funny Face was all about connecting with a stranger and making them laugh, right Barefoot.

Speaker 2:

Frida was all about walk a mile, a metaphorical mile, barefoot, you know, on the earth, or you know in the sand or in the water, right, connect with nature. The tall leaf or leaf, or whatever his name was. He was all about, you know, plant a tree like. Grab a friend, go plant a tree. Like contribute something positive to the earth, to the environment.

Speaker 2:

Jacob Ever Ear was all about like, let's tell each other stories, let's connect through stories. So you were supposed to step up to his side and whisper a story in his ear and then you were encouraged to tell stories to other people. And then the evil golden rabbit, which was the mysterious extra one. If you found all the other trolls, you could then go find the evil golden rabbit and he was all about save your money today, don't consume, just spend time in nature, spend time with family and friends. None of them was about doing or like, not like. You know what I'm saying Like, not like, about like hustling. It was about this wholesome connection and and nature and getting out there and just being with people and with nature and that was really. It was fun. It was a lot of fun.

Speaker 1:

I truly like, I'm so glad you shared that and I wanted to bring it up because I love that you did that and it just ties so perfectly like in, like the whole premise of that art is what we're talking about today yeah, and, and I and I don't want us to come across as like preachy, right, like people have goals, you have dreams, like, and that's, that's awesome.

Speaker 2:

so do we right? But I just think that you and I are in a phase of our life and I know that our friend Kelly is too where being a human and prioritizing your mental health and pulling back and enjoying life and just not growing a business is our priority right now.

Speaker 1:

And that's okay, yeah, and it's okay too, like, if you're like I, you want to try to figure out, like, because you need this time to be able to build what you want, because you don't want to build a goal page for yourself, right, exactly when you like, have all this income and you have all this success and you know whatever you define success as, and you're like I actually am miserable, right, but I have all this great success. So how do you walk away from it? And so you have to really get to know yourself and figure out, like, what it actually like, what feels good for you.

Speaker 2:

Yeah, absolutely. And I know by taking this season we're going to take, you know we're going to be completely transformed versions of ourselves. So when we get to a space where we want to grow businesses again or really take significant steps toward doing it, I'm not going to then fall back on the person I used to be. I'm going to be a completely transformed version of myself where I know what enough is. I don't need to have 10 calls in a day. If it takes me 25 years to build the business to where I want it to be, then that's the amount of time it takes, right, Like I used to think. So like real fast.

Speaker 2:

Back in 2023, when I was that was my year of surrender I was like, okay, we're going to take a year of rest, we're going to learn what we need to learn and then we're going to be back to running. I just don't see, at this point in my life, a season again where I'm going to be running. You know there might be some jogging, followed by a nice long sit on a bench and then some more walking, but I just don't ever foresee another season where I am sprinting and running, chasing my enoughness, chasing my worth Each step, whether I'm sitting or walking or jogging, is enough, and I'm going to use and I'm going to build a business from that place of I am enough, I'm not chasing my enoughness and it's going to make it all the more worth it and fulfilling.

Speaker 1:

And I and I love it too, and just like this is, I love how you like you explained that Cause I'm very much in the same space and that's where I started this like daily good news share it. I'm like I am not doing it. In a sense, like right now, I've been doing it for a week and we're recording this and I think I've had like 1500 views on one and that's the only one that's at over a thousand and I don't even care, I don't really even look at the metrics, because I'm like this is good for my mental health. Yes, to go find good news like this is good for me. That to be reminded that there is still good in the world, that what we're seeing and being fed is not the whole story, and so if nobody watches it, I'm still gonna do it, because I told myself I'm gonna do this for six months for myself and I started.

Speaker 1:

I'm like doing um bodacious women's society that's completely free, and like Sunday calls, because I like talking. I'm like I don't, I just want to connect with people who want, are pursuing whatever their goal is, whatever they're doing in life, and just having a community of women who get it. And I'm like I don't, I just want to contribute, and what comes from that I'm open to, but not putting any like constraints on it. And it's not like, oh, I'm going to build this community so I can launch this thing or I can do this thing. It's just like I'm going to do this because this feels good to do. Yeah.

Speaker 2:

And I love that.

Speaker 1:

I love that so much. Well, I can say like I'm super excited awesome conversation it has been and I'm super excited like for us to be doing this and just even to have the marker of like the growth that happens and like where we're at in four weeks, what we're navigating in four weeks and and I love this whole just getting to see this is like a more like you get closer to us than you do on like the internet. I mean, this is on the internet but like on social media it's like yeah, you know what I mean.

Speaker 1:

Like it's just like I like coming here like listener, listening, like you're my people, like you're Megan's people, like this is gonna be on both podcasts. It's like you get to be up close with us and in this conversation that I wouldn't be this candid with online. Yeah, it's like this is your community of people and so I'm excited to get to take everybody on the journey of like where we're at. Yeah, me too. Well, do you have any final thoughts for the end of our conversation here?

Speaker 2:

I do not. I just I'm just so grateful. I say I do not and then here I go. I just I'm just so grateful that there are more women who are craving being a human first and prioritizing that, because I have felt alone in that for a very long time and you know some some roads you do have to walk alone. Sometimes you are alone, um, in what you think and what you believe and what you prioritize, but I'm just so grateful to have such good, soulful friends like you and like Kelly and just some other people who are like girl. You've taught me how to slow down and the value of that, because I have been talking about this since 2023.

Speaker 2:

Right, and you know, it's just. I'm just so glad to have other people in it with me who get it and respect it and meet me where I'm at and we can help each other out. It just makes me so happy and I'm really excited to be having these conversations with you and I was just thinking earlier I was like what are we going to call this series? And you know, I don't know. I don like, what are we going to call this series? And you know, I don't know. I don't know what we're going to call it. It's just such just raw, real awesome, soulful conversations and I'm just really excited to do this with you.

Speaker 1:

Thank you, I'm super excited for this too. I think this is just going to be a fun journey to be on. I think so too. First, I want to say thank you so much for listening to today's episode. It truly means so much to me that you were here and that I got to be a small part of your day. I have three things to tell you before you go, though. First, please rate and review this podcast. It truly helps this podcast grow and get the message out, and is such a simple thing that you could do to support this show. Thank you for doing that.

Speaker 1:

Second, share this episode with somebody right now that you know needs to hear it, or take a screenshot. Tag me on social media and let me know what you loved about this episode. I love getting to connect with you. And the third last thing I have is I cannot let you go without sending you off into the rest of your day with the reminder that I want you to always remember you are worthy, you have value, you get to take up space in this world simply because you exist. Don't let anyone, including yourself, convince you otherwise, and if that idea or vision for your life is in you, it is for you. Living with this phrase in mind in today's world is such a truly audacious thing for you to do so. Until the next time I talk to you, remember, have the audacity.

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