Mini-Episode: Reflections for a New Year
Nicole returns for a short season interlude to reflect on lessons learned during Season One of Here For Me, and share an announcement on what being here for herself looks like as a new year dawns.
Get caught up on Season One of Here For Me
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[00:00:04] Hello, friends, listeners, and beloved supporters of Here For Me. As we reach the end of 2022 and a New Year dawns, I wanted to say a quick hello and reflect on some key lessons-learned from this first season to take with us into 2023. We heard from remarkable people who stared mortality straight in the eyes; who lost loved ones, many of them, and in rapid succession; who found themselves in abusive relationships and then found their way to the other side using what they learned to heal others. We talked about how it's hard to ask for help, to be vulnerable, to feel our feelings and express them, to identify our needs and articulate them, to follow our hearts even when they lead us somewhere we didn't expect. We talked about how perceived weakness is actually strength, like admitting to others that we need them. We talked about taking care of ourselves by taking care of our bodies as well as our minds. Setting boundaries. Saying no. Speaking our truth, and letting the chips fall where they may. A departure from people-pleasing and self-abandonment. It's sometimes said that you teach what you need to learn. Over the course of creating this first season, I absorbed many of the lessons in these stories, including my own. In doing so, I found the courage to speak my truth to my husband, and we made the difficult decision to end our marriage.
[00:01:31] I share this as a reminder that I might be the creator and host of this podcast, but I'm still learning to be Here For Me. As we discuss this season, choosing ourselves and stepping into our power is often two steps forward, one step back. You learn a lesson, drop the ball, and learn it again, and again, and again. I'd venture to guess that as humans we do this in matters of the heart more than anything else. Life is messy, love is messier.
We're all doing the best we can with what we have at any moment. My hope in sharing the stories on this podcast is that we learn to have more compassion for ourselves by recognizing that we're all riddled with fear, doubt, uncertainty, and vulnerability. Choosing ourselves means expressing that to the people around us, tearing down the walls of stoicism, self-criticism and defiant self-reliance, in favor of authenticity and connection. As Jay Hughley said, ‘I don't know where, as humans we got on this kick that it's weak to be vulnerable and sad, but I won't have it anymore.’ My wish for you in the New Year is that you embrace vulnerability. Reach out, speak your truth, and give yourself grace. Then take the reins. Take back your power, and choose yourself. Thanks for listening and I'll see you in season two.