I Choose Grit.

A social worker (Carrie) and a nurse (her friend, Kendal Lee) who both have chronic illnesses continue a conversation about living through the USA’s current #epidemicoflonelinesa, and specifically, how social media has played a role…and maybe sometimes, can be done well.

Carrie & her friend Kendal chat about the current Epidemic of Loneliness in the USA, their own experiences of this being exaggerated by chronic illness, & one unique way they’ve found connection in the midst of these challenges. (full article from surgeon general if you geek out about reading about all things connection and isolation and community like K & C: https://www.hhs.gov/sites/default/file...

Carrie gives an update on the return to work life & what it’s been like to start a private practice for those with a chronic illness (after seasons of being off work because of a chronic illness), & a common thread already among clients. ~recorded on a walk that you will hear made Carrie embarrassingly winded~ reach Carrie at carrie@schuesscounseling.com

Carrie started her own therapy practice! & hopes you all have such a Merry Christmas. She is also mistakingly two days off from the actual podcast anniversary-but close enough yes? www.ichoosegrit.com/therapyservices

Carrie shares tips and aspects of her summer abroad that made it work while managing her health // also some added bonuses & lessons learned while to being away she didn’t necessarily anticipate. Ichoosegrit.com for more on Carrie’s trips!

Life in Lourdes & 3 good stories.

Carrie shares of the continued struggle to balance work and managing her health, and why she made plans to spend a summer in Lourdes, France.

Carrie shares a few things she’s experienced recently she at one point thought were completely out of the question for her.

Carrie chats with two Milwaukee missionaries, Steven Kehoe & Griffin Rain, who are choosing grit by living a lifestyle many don’t pursue, in a community they started themselves—with hopes to foster reconciliation in their neighborhood. Learn more here: https://https://www.realpresencemissionaries.org// further support Carrie in this project here: patreon.com/ichoosegrit

Carrie shares some hacks she has learned to get through.. & even enjoy…the holidays while suffering. Most of all: REMEMBER YOU ARE A GIFT REGARDLESS OF WHERE YOU’RE AT & WHAT IS HAPPENING IN YOUR LIFE. ••• if you like what you’re hearing: SUBSCRIBE & SHARE. ••• follow @ichoosegrit on social media, and ichoosegrit.com ••• to donate & better support Carrie in this project/life: go to patreon.com/ich...

Carrie chats with a few friends (Mia Lyon + Andrew & Dana Steufen), who are living out intentional community while married about what that means to them, how it started, and why they have found it to be so necessary for their marriage & family lives. Warning: this may make you want to become their neighbors. // further support Carrie in this project at: patreon.com/ichoosegrit

To continue the conversation on community, Carrie tunes in a for a minisode to share some of her experiences of community life while experiencing suffering.

Carrie chats with 3 of her friends: Sophie Collins, Samantha Vosters, & Amanda Fahrendorf, representing 3 different women’s households, about their experiences with genuine community, what it means to them, & why they’ve chosen to make it a priority. Tune in to hear about learning to love & be loved up close and personal; something that, at times, takes more grit than anything. • Hit subscribe! •...

Carrie sits down with another neighbor/friend, Berta Hawley, who is also her hero. Berta was born with holes in her heart & entered the foster system at age 3 & despite both of these things causing major challenges in her ability to function well, she just graduated high school and started college this fall. She is a gritty, graceful, & straight-up beautiful human. // to further support Carrie in...

Joy Bass and her son, Rashad, sit down with Carrie to talk about some major challenges they faced as a family over the past year and a half. After experiencing a major move, their car being stolen, and job loss for Rashad, Rashad eventually found himself losing his ability to function due to challenges to his mental health. The gamechanger? Mom stepping in. (leave more about supporting this podcas...

Today’s featured guest is Amanda Fahrendorf, Carrie’s friend & roommate, talking about a summer she spent as a missionary in Honduras that proved to be completely not what she imagined it would be (to say the least). Hear Amanda process this time of coming face to face with her own weaknesses, in a way that she can now say she is grateful for.

A conversation Carrie had with her friend/neighbor, Briana Mueller, on her lifelong experience of living with Type 1 Diabetes—a disease that doesn’t ever allow you to forget about it. (Also-some romance included😉). {further support Carrie in this project at www.patreon.com/ichoosegrit}

why I said yes to a JOB. as well as some unanticipated grief happening simultaneously.

A talk given by a member of Carrie’s neighborhood & parish, Aaron McCoy, to local young adults over the summer. Aaron melds together his firsthand experiences of racism within the church & within our country, a healing experience of conversion, & his knowledge of theology to inform our community on this issue & specifically how he feels Catholics should respond. He also graciously allows time to p...

Carrie reflects on the accidental social experiment she found herself in the middle of after one whole year of doing interviews on suffering....making it kind of impossible for her to not talk about Jesus. Merry Christmas!! https://www.patreon.com/rss/ichoosegrit?auth=TMG2GzNBLsNw2noG6G-aLUiJca4b6V3z

A conversation Carrie has with her friend, Monica Murphy, about two ways she chose grit while seeking a career path: 1) showing up to a corporate job that felt brutal for two years, and 2) leaving to pursue a career that she always felt drawn to but also kinda steered away from. Today? She couldn’t be more grateful (even 4 months after original recording😉). Love this project? Learn how to better...

Carrie chats with her friend Steve Calme about a serious bout with depression he experienced while struggling to find his purpose. And from facing this burden as he pursued his Master's degree and eventually a doctorate, to seeking out help, and eventually choosing to do what he knew would benefit him even though he completely didn't feel like it.....it won't take you long while listening to see h...

Carrie thought it time for an honest life with chronic illness update as she’s now 5 months into wholly focusing on regaining strength...as well as some insight into her complicated employment journey, and her slight proposition to the “everyone should work” mentality. Also this: https://www.patreon.com/rss/ichoosegrit?auth=TMG2GzNBLsNw2noG6G-aLUiJca4b6V3z .

This weeks episode features, Lona Owens, a friend of Carrie’s that loves to share what she learned through her experience with homelessness if able to help another by doing so. Lona shares her walk through the shelter system, eventually gaining housing, and ultimately, a true transformation that came when she discovered her own dignity among a genuinely welcoming community. Recording of this episo...

Loved getting to sit down with a friend I’ve known as long as I can remember, Rebecca Syens (formerly Surita). Becca let me pick her brain about her experience of being diagnosed with Aplastic Anemia our junior year of high school. Becca explains why we didn’t talk much about it at the time she was going through it + ultimately how it completely shaped her career choice today. Her entire story is...