Uncomfortable Friend

Send a text Hello again to the amazing listeners of Uncomfortable Friend. I've been so moved from some of your stories and emails over the course of recording that I've decided to come back with a Season 2! This time, we'll be talking about a wider variety of subjects including generational trauma, grace, masculine/feminine energies, and thoughts around active waiting. Most of all,...

Send a text I've been so very blessed with the support I've received from hosting this podcast and sharing my story. Thank you for coming on this journey with me as I work to figure out life after the loss of my beautiful son, Lincoln. I've been recently motivated to combine my focus and use my energy for something that can be even bigger... what that looks like, I'm not sure y...

Send a text Nothing stays the same, especially not grief. Impermanence is a fundamental concept in various philosophies and spiritual traditions, highlighting the idea that everything in life is in a constant state of flux and that nothing remains the same forever. This week doesn't have much structure... I discuss some observations from a walk we recently did to remember another beautiful ch...

Send a text Have you ever let your emotions take over your thoughts? Use them to justify why you should or shouldn't do something or if you like or dislike someone? We all do it... and  judgement can definitely be important... but how may we shift this thinking into something more meaningful? Something that allows you to better align your desires with the situation or people you're with?...

Send a text I am inspired by this concept of individuals known as "volunteers" or "volunteers from other dimensions" who have come to Earth to assist humanity during times of transition, struggle, and transformation. If you haven't listened to "The Matrix" and/or "Finite vs Infinite Game", you may want to listen for greater context, but I tried my best...

Send a text "Before Lily and After Lily has marked my entire adult life". Today I have the honor of speaking with Ron, an amazing facilitator and volunteer, for the East Side Chapter of The Compassionate Friends, here in Western Washington. He taught me about the concept of "Collateral Losses", has been powerfully vulnerable with his struggles of grief, took me through how he b...

Send a text I've been taking a coaching course on positive intelligence and found myself struggling with many of it's concepts as it relates to significant trauma and grief. Today I discuss a little of what I've learned around our saboteurs, our inner sage (or inner God), the gifts that we can pull from difficult situations and how I've been looking at positive intelligence as...

Send a text I was so incredibly fortunate to sit down with one of the amazing facilitators of the Helping Parents Heal Seattle Chapter, Wendy, to talk about her "Firecracker" son Hugh. We discussed a variety of topics including the opioid epidemic, what she's learned from his life, surprising aspects of grief, how her views on life have changed, what has brought her comfort, and wha...

Send a text This week I was motivated by Simon Sinek's talk about the Infinite Game. So much of our life, especially the first half of it, has us lost in a world of finite... did we get married, have children, have a good job, retire, etc...? But does this matter? What would it look like if we examined what an infinite game could look like in the major areas of our life? Listen along this wee...

Send a text Ok... I think I actually believe we are in the matrix... we are in a virtual reality, wearing a meat suit, experiencing this life through our consciousness. Did I lose you? Do you think I've gone crazy? Well, this week, I'll elaborate on what I mean by the matrix and dive into some philosophy that showcases that this is a topic humans have been thinking about for quite some t...

Send a text I've been so very blessed to receive signs from my son, Lincoln, since his passing. They started out a bit obscure and over the years I've gotten more specific with what I've wanted. Today I share a bunch of signs that I've received, and encourage any of you who are missing a loved one to ask them for a sign of their love.  Resources: Helping Parents Heal Cate Coffe...

Send a text I planned for this episode to be a deep dive into the difficult decisions we make as parents, and ended up on a completely different tangent. I decided to share an amazing lesson about love (see link below), and go through some ah-has I've had this week. By no means is this an exhaustive list of love filled moments I've had the honor to experience, but it's a deep dive i...

Send a text Love despite imperfections demonstrates acceptance, understanding, and empathy to name a few. While this does not mean ignoring or condoning harmful behavior, it does acknowledge weaknesses and the continued necessity to work together to grow and support one another. Today I talk about the 8 categories of people (children, partner, friends, family, colleagues, acquaintances, strangers,...

Send a text I truly believe that resilience is one of the six major gifts/lessons we come to learn here while on Earth. There's a lot of suffering that comes with life, AND life can be so beautiful. This week I explore Lucy Hone's TedTalk on the three secrets we can learn from resilient people and and how I've personally worked through them. Resources: Helping Parents Heal Lucy Hone...

Send a text I feel like I've been going a million miles a minute. As more and more people wake up to the choices they have in life, a big one we uncover is about how we're spending our time. Maybe it's the post-COVID world that is trying to get "back to normal", but I have a feeling it's going to get a bit worse before it gets better. If you're feeling the same,...

Send a text Have you ever been listening to music in the car and immediately get taken to a place where you can feel the love and pain of loss? Just ugly tears rolling down your face, and yet you want to belt it through the roof? In today's episode, I share my "Good Ugly Cry" playlist... songs that have moved me to tears and continue to allow me to feel a special connection with my...

Send a text Choice is fundamental to our human existence. This week I talk about how choice has affected my personal autonomy, my self-expression, how it's empowered me, helped me to learn and grow, and how it's also a responsibility that I have to myself and those around me. Choice saved my life... understanding that loss and grief wasn't happening to me, and that I had a choice in...

Send a text Parenting is a FULL TIME job that never ends... it can feel impossible to think we are ever doing something right... or when we do something well, the game changes and our kiddos require something different. Today, on the upcoming 5 year anniversary of my son Lincoln's passing, I take some time to discuss some of my parenting highlights through 2023 that have been inspired by him...

Send a text It's probably not surprising that there's a lot of darkness that comes with grief... however, so many people feel scared or ashamed to talk about it. Today I touch on 8 different aspects of the dark side of grief in hopes to shine a light on these very real and human feelings: Guilt, anger, ambivalence, physical symptoms, longevity, existential questions, and loss of safety/c...

Send a text Someone recently asked me... "Can you tell me how you decided to make the choice to have children?" If you read the news, the worlds feels like a scarier place every single day. She had heard that I wasn't the "motherly" type growing up and was looking for some data points on my decision, especially since I seem to be extremely content with my choice. That got...

Send a text Does silence make you uncomfortable? Do you find yourself wanting to fill the void with TV, social media, or gaming? Today I explore what happens when you allow for silence, what I've observed, and offer a challenge to those who are listening... If you'd like to share what revelations you've had with silence, you have a question/idea for an episode, or if you'd like...

Send a text In this episode I explore how I evaluate what would be the response of fear vs. love. I've mentioned a few different times that I think this is the ultimate decision we have, but what does it look like in application? Today I give some examples for my family, my children, my marriage, and at work. What are some situations that you experience where you aren't quite sure what t...

Send a text "Shut up, Rachel!"... Rachel is the name I give to the negative critic in my head, not because I've ever met a bad Rachel, but because I most frequently get called Rachel by mistake. Well she is an expert at blame... especially a blame directed toward others. In this week's episode, I talk about how blame shows up for me and what I do about it. I also offer a load o...

Send a text Establishing true confidence is really tricky. There are so many experiences that can take it away: Failure, criticism, comparison, trauma, shame.... Today I talk about some of my life experiences that broke my confidence, especially the loss of my son and the medical challenges of my daughter, and how some great resources have helped me to re-establish that. If you want to learn more...

Send a text I feel a sense of relief that I never questioned whether or not I "should" talk to people about Lincoln, especially my kiddos. While I have no clue what's "right", I share how my family has chosen to remember him, some of the items and traditions that we have, some of the conversations I have with my kids, and the surprising questions I've been asked. Reso...