Wandering the Wild Mess

Have you ever wanted something so badly, but deep down questioned whether you were actually good enough to have it? Maybe it's the relationship you've always wanted, the career opportunity you've been working toward, financial freedom, or simply a life that looks different from the one you're living today. The interesting thing is, you can be confident in who you are, proud of how far you've come,...

What if the person you're trying so hard to convince to choose you isn't even the right person for you? So often, we get caught up in proving we're worthy of someone's love, attention, or effort that we forget to ask ourselves whether they're actually right for us. In this episode of Wandering the Wild Mess, Heather gets real about the difference between fighting for a relationship and forcing one...

Do you actually miss your ex… or do you just miss having someone there? In this episode, we’re talking about the confusing space after a breakup where loneliness can sound a lot like longing. Because sometimes you’re not missing the relationship itself. You’re missing the familiarity, the routine, the comfort, the person you always texted, and the version of life you thought you’d still have. We g...

Have you ever felt stuck in life, knowing something needs to change, but somehow you keep finding yourself in the same patterns, having the same conversations, and telling yourself the same story? The truth is, nothing changes if nothing changes. In this episode of Wandering the Wild Mess , we're talking about why we stay stuck, why familiar patterns can feel safer than the unknown, and what it re...

I knew divorce was going to change my life. I just didn’t realize how much of my life would change with it. Divorce doesn’t just end a marriage. It can change your routines, relationships, future plans, identity, and even the way you see yourself. And when so much of the life you knew disappears at once, one question can get really loud: What do I do now? In this episode of Wandering the Wild Mess...

The biggest lie about starting over is that you’re back at square one or even worse.. you're too far behind. This episode will show you why you are NOT!  You’re not starting from nothing. You’re starting with lessons, wisdom, experience, and a much clearer understanding of who you are, what you want, and what you want to do differently this time. And this life is NOT a race.  For the fin...

What happens when you’ve rebuilt so much of your life, but it still doesn’t look like you thought it would by now? In episode five of the Starting Over Series, we’re talking about a part of starting over that doesn’t get talked about enough: the lonely gap. It’s that strange space between how far you’ve come and the parts of your life that still haven’t arrived yet. Maybe you’re no longer grieving...

When life doesn’t go according to plan, it can feel like you’ve lost your direction entirely. In episode four of the Starting Over Series, we’re revisiting one of the most-loved episodes of Wandering the Wild Mess and exploring what it really means to let go of control, release the future you thought you were supposed to have, and find direction after a major life shift. Whether you’re navigating...

You can change your surroundings, your routines, and even the people around you—but if you’re still making decisions from an old version of yourself, it’s easy to recreate the same life in a different place. In episode three of the Starting Over Series , we’re talking about the identity shift that happens when who you were no longer fits, but you haven’t fully become who you’re meant to be next. B...

What does it really mean to let go of your old life and fully step into the person you’re becoming? Letting go of who you were can sound freeing, especially when you know it’s no longer who you want to be. But as so many of us learn, wanting to become someone new is much easier than actually letting go of who we’ve been. Even when you know you’re ready for something new, there may still be parts o...

What happens when the life you knew has fallen apart, and you’re left looking at the pieces, wondering, “Where do I go from here?” This is the first episode of a six-week Starting Over Series . Every rebuilding journey begins with something ending: a divorce, heartbreak, loss, career change, move, or a life that no longer looks the way you planned. Before you can rebuild, you have to acknowledge w...

What does it look like when you stop trying to control everything on your own and finally let go and let God? If you know me, it's a little wild to be sharing this story, as I spent years trying to figure out the formula for a meaningful, fulfilling life. I turned to personal growth, mindset, manifestation, neuroscience, self-help... anything that could help me understand how to become the person...

In the 100th episode of Wandering the Wild Mess , Heather sits down with her friend Sydney Smith for a full-circle conversation about starting over, divorce, identity, faith, friendship, and everything that has changed since the podcast began. Sydney was there before Wandering the Wild Mess was even a real podcast — including the night Heather finally bought the domain after years of talking about...

Starting over can feel like everything has fallen apart, but sometimes, it happens because something beautiful is being built. What if the biggest starting-over moment of your life came from saying yes to love? In this episode of Wandering the Wild Mess , I sit down with my friend Celeste Leon to talk about the unexpected relationship that completely changed the direction of her life.  After...

Have you ever looked back at your life and realized you didn’t have one fresh start; you had several? And most of them were a lot messier than you expected? We often imagine starting over as one defining moment: the breakup, the divorce, the move, or the career change. But sometimes starting over happens again and again, with each new chapter taking away another piece of the life and identity you...

Divorce doesn't just end a relationship; it completely changes the way you see yourself, love, and the life you want to build. But if we never stop to understand why our relationships ended or what role we played, it's easy to repeat the same patterns and find ourselves in familiar situations that don't serve us. In this episode, I sit down with Brad Lowry to get a man's perspective about what rea...

Have you ever looked around at your life and thought, "I didn't think I'd still be here?" Not necessarily because your life is bad, but because it's different than you imagined. In this episode of Wandering the Wild Mess , we talk through the emotional reality of what I'm calling "the lonely gap," t he season between surviving a major life change and slowly building a life that feels like home aga...

People joke about getting their "starter marriage" out of the way.  There are divorce parties, jokes about finally finding the right person after years with the wrong one, and the idea that once your marriage ends, your real life can finally begin. But I think that story leaves something out.... In this episode, we reflect on the day we say "I do," the moment we believe we know exactly what o...

Have you ever looked around at your life and thought, “How did I end up here?”  Not always in a bad way, but in the way that makes you realize your life looks nothing like what you once imagined. In this episode of Wandering the Wild Mess , I sit down with Thea Lissi, a singer-songwriter, dancer, entrepreneur, dance studio owner, and mother, for a vulnerable conversation about divorce, healin...

The biggest lie about starting over is that you're back at square one. You're not. You're starting with lessons, wisdom, experience, and a clearer understanding of who you want to become. And sometimes the moments that force us to start over also give us something we never had before, the chance to become someone new. In this episode of Wandering the Wild Mess , I share why starting over may not b...

How many doors have you closed before opportunity ever had the chance to knock? Because you didn't know how it would work out. Because you weren't sure you were ready. Because hearing "no" felt worse than staying where you were. In this episode, I explore how fear of rejection, embarrassment, uncertainty, and discomfort can keep us from the very experiences we're hoping for. From joining a new gym...

Starting over changes more than your life... it changes what you're willing to accept in a relationship. It also has a funny way of sending you back into the world of dating, whether you feel ready or not... In this episode, Heather sits down with her good friend, life and relationship coach, and fellow podcast host, Taylor Ely, to talk about dating after starting over, leaving relationships that...

When did you know it was time to get divorced? It's one of the questions I get asked most often, and the truth is, there wasn't one defining moment..  In this vulnerable episode, I share the real story behind my divorce, what it felt like to spend years trying to make a marriage work, pretend it's "not that big of a deal," convincing myself to stay, hoping things would change, and quietly wre...

What happens when self-improvement slowly turns your entire life into a performance review? In this episode, we talk about the pressure of constantly trying to become a better version of ourselves after heartbreak, divorce, healing, and starting over, and what happens when personal growth starts turning into exhaustion instead of fulfillment. From perfectionism and self-optimization to isolation,...

Some people are trying to break records. Some people are just trying not to quit. It depends on the season they’re in..and both matter. In this episode, we’re talking about why showing up for yourself is sometimes the biggest win of all. Because sometimes winning looks big and obvious, and other times it looks like quietly continuing when no one else sees how hard it is for you to keep going. Mayb...