Latest / Community Routes / Episode 115: Celebrate Through Hard Times
Transcript
- 0:02Speaker 1: Hey everyone, welcome to
- 0:04Speaker 1: Community Roots, a place we
- 0:06Speaker 1: gather in community to talk
- 0:07Speaker 1: about mental health so we can
- 0:09Speaker 1: travel the journey of life
- 0:10Speaker 1: together.
- 0:11Speaker 1: I'm Samuel Richards.
- 0:13Julie: I'm Julie Richards.
- 0:15Sarah : I'm Sarah Wakefield.
- 0:18Speaker 1: And welcome.
- 0:20Speaker 1: I can say, genuinely, it's good
- 0:23Speaker 1: to get back in the flow, uh,
- 0:25Speaker 1: with the two of you kind of into
- 0:27Speaker 1: this community.
- 0:28Speaker 1: Roots flow.
- 0:28Speaker 1: So I'm excited to kind of sit down and, you know, get through
- 0:32Speaker 1: these tough times together.
- 0:35Julie: And we are genuinely inviting
- 0:37Julie: you all into the community
- 0:39Julie: roots, uh, community and family
- 0:42Julie: here because
- 0:43Speaker 1: Love it.
- 0:43Julie: two of our co-hosts here have February birthdays.
- 0:50Julie: Just
- 0:50Speaker 1: Whoop,
- 0:51Julie: saying,
- 0:51Speaker 1: whoop.
- 0:51Sarah : Yeah.
- 0:52Julie: just saying that.
- 0:53Julie: Two of the three of us, um,
- 0:56Julie: which kind of inspired this
- 0:58Julie: idea.
- 0:59Julie: We've got a few birthdays going on in the family in February,
- 1:04Julie: including shout out my mom is eighty five this week,
- 1:10Speaker 1: Wow.
- 1:10Julie: which
- 1:11Speaker 1: Happy
- 1:11Julie: is
- 1:11Speaker 1: birthday,
- 1:11Sarah : Wow.
- 1:11Speaker 1: grandma.
- 1:12Julie: yeah, it's something to pause and to realize.
- 1:15Julie: That's a lot of living and a lot of loving and giving and caring
- 1:20Julie: for the whole extended family.
- 1:22Julie: We were able to gather on kind
- 1:25Julie: of a Google Meet, seeing
- 1:27Julie: everyone in.
- 1:29Julie: Let's see, we were three time zones and six states.
- 1:36Julie: Yeah, that was
- 1:38Sarah : Wow.
- 1:38Julie: that was wild to see everybody.
- 1:41Julie: So, um, really had me reflecting about how important it is to
- 1:47Julie: pause and take notice of milestones and meaningful
- 1:53Julie: moments in our lives that even whenever we were going through
- 1:57Julie: things that might be really hard, really heavy.
- 2:00Julie: I think, you know, I hear a lot of people that I sit with during
- 2:05Julie: the week telling me the heaviness that they feel, you
- 2:09Julie: know, in current
- 2:10Speaker 1: Mm.
- 2:10Julie: events or politically or even in their own family system, and
- 2:14Julie: what helps us through that.
- 2:18Julie: I think an important piece of
- 2:21Julie: kind of counterbalancing that is
- 2:24Julie: to look for the things that we
- 2:26Julie: can celebrate, the things that
- 2:28Julie: we can pause and be with and
- 2:32Julie: really experience some of the
- 2:34Julie: joy, noticing some of the good
- 2:36Julie: or, you know, looking across the
- 2:38Julie: lifespan.
- 2:40Julie: Two of our co-hosts are in two different decades.
- 2:44Julie: So
- 2:44Speaker 1: Mm.
- 2:44Julie: there's
- 2:45Speaker 1: We're
- 2:45Julie: kind
- 2:45Speaker 1: all three
- 2:45Julie: of like,
- 2:46Speaker 1: in different.
- 2:46Julie: well, yes, but I'm not having a birthday this month.
- 2:49Julie: So I took myself out of that one.
- 2:52Julie: But but yeah, like just thinking about what has been meaningful
- 2:57Julie: and, you know, any of us going through a birthday or a family
- 3:02Julie: birthday is that pause of one of the traditions in our household
- 3:07Julie: was always like, what do you remember this year?
- 3:10Julie: And what has been
- 3:10Speaker 1: Mhm.
- 3:11Julie: meaningful memories and good
- 3:14Julie: times together, or lessons
- 3:16Julie: learned, or things that were
- 3:18Julie: significant
- 3:19Sarah : Yeah.
- 3:20Julie: that became noteworthy or memorable or
- 3:24Sarah : No.
- 3:24Julie: things like that?
- 3:25Sarah : You know,
- 3:25Julie: So
- 3:25Sarah : I had a day that was
- 3:27Julie: I
- 3:27Sarah : relatively
- 3:28Julie: don't know.
- 3:28Sarah : low
- 3:28Julie: Do
- 3:28Sarah : key
- 3:28Julie: either of
- 3:29Sarah : for
- 3:29Julie: you have
- 3:29Sarah : my
- 3:29Julie: reflections
- 3:29Sarah : birthday, and I didn't
- 3:30Julie: on
- 3:30Sarah : really set anything
- 3:31Julie: this
- 3:31Sarah : up.
- 3:31Julie: idea of celebrating
- 3:32Sarah : And I had a
- 3:32Julie: or
- 3:32Sarah : friend
- 3:32Julie: reflecting
- 3:33Sarah : reach
- 3:33Julie: on
- 3:33Sarah : out
- 3:33Julie: your own
- 3:34Sarah : and ask if
- 3:34Julie: trip
- 3:34Sarah : I wanted to get
- 3:35Julie: around
- 3:35Sarah : brunch,
- 3:35Julie: the sun?
- 3:36Sarah : and
- 3:37Speaker 1: Huh.
- 3:38Sarah : she made it special.
- 3:39Speaker 1: Yeah. I
- 3:39Sarah : It was a
- 3:40Speaker 1: even
- 3:40Sarah : simple
- 3:40Speaker 1: think
- 3:40Sarah : thing,
- 3:41Speaker 1: like,
- 3:41Sarah : but she said, I want to, you
- 3:42Speaker 1: uh.
- 3:42Sarah : know, I want to
- 3:43Speaker 1: Go
- 3:43Sarah : celebrate
- 3:43Speaker 1: for it Sarah.
- 3:43Sarah : you.
- 3:44Sarah : And I thought it almost made me
- 3:47Sarah : cry, like, oh man, I hadn't
- 3:48Sarah : planned on being celebrated, but
- 3:50Sarah : we got to get together and make
- 3:54Sarah : it special.
- 3:55Sarah : Like she.
- 3:56Sarah : It was just.
- 3:58Sarah : It was so sweet and I didn't
- 4:01Sarah : realize how much I wanted to be
- 4:02Sarah : celebrated.
- 4:04Sarah : Um, and so it made me think, like, how else can I make
- 4:09Julie: Mm.
- 4:10Sarah : make
- 4:11Julie: Mm.
- 4:12Sarah : a celebration out of little things?
- 4:15Sarah : Like, what can I cherish?
- 4:24Julie: Oh.
- 4:24Speaker 1: Mm.
- 4:28Sarah : Mhm.
- 4:37Speaker 1: Mm.
- 4:37Julie: Mhm.
- 4:38Speaker 1: Mm. I like that.
- 4:41Speaker 1: I also like how, I mean, you
- 4:44Speaker 1: were celebrating your birthday,
- 4:45Speaker 1: but it was also lunch with a
- 4:47Speaker 1: friend.
- 4:49Speaker 1: And I think the differentiator
- 4:51Speaker 1: there is the purposefulness, you
- 4:54Speaker 1: know, the taking the time out
- 4:55Speaker 1: with your friend and just, you
- 4:58Speaker 1: know, almost dedicating that
- 4:59Speaker 1: time.
- 5:01Speaker 1: Um, something that I like about this idea of celebrations is,
- 5:06Speaker 1: yeah, I have a birthday at the end of the month.
- 5:09Speaker 1: Um, but also practicing the
- 5:13Speaker 1: small celebrations of, like,
- 5:15Speaker 1: something I've been trying to do
- 5:16Speaker 1: is appreciate every cup of
- 5:18Speaker 1: coffee I have in the morning,
- 5:20Speaker 1: which ends up being about two
- 5:23Speaker 1: cups of coffee every day at the
- 5:27Speaker 1: minimum.
- 5:28Speaker 1: But, uh, making that kind of my
- 5:31Speaker 1: celebration of it's been cold
- 5:33Speaker 1: out, focusing on the warm like
- 5:35Speaker 1: on the flavor that it's kind of
- 5:38Speaker 1: complex.
- 5:40Speaker 1: Um, and I think even just taking that time to be more purposeful
- 5:45Speaker 1: about what I'm noticing, um, has been kind of like a celebration
- 5:50Speaker 1: in of itself.
- 5:52Speaker 1: Um, and I do think, like, it's something I look forward to now
- 5:58Speaker 1: where maybe in the past, it was more of an expectation or
- 6:03Speaker 1: whenever I'm not actively practicing that noticing, it's
- 6:06Speaker 1: more of like, let me get the coffee and go to work.
- 6:08Speaker 1: You know, like kind of like just the other checkbox that I have
- 6:12Speaker 1: as opposed to, you know, a mini celebration or a kind of like,
- 6:17Speaker 1: uh, Hyuga is what comes to mind.
- 6:20Speaker 1: Just that celebration of the routine and the parts of the
- 6:26Speaker 1: routine that I like.
- 6:29Julie: There's so much mindfulness in making a cup of coffee.
- 6:34Julie: You know, hearing the
- 6:35Speaker 1: To.
- 6:35Julie: hearing the water and smelling
- 6:38Julie: the the roast of the coffee
- 6:41Julie: beans and the the trickling
- 6:44Julie: sound of it pouring into a cup,
- 6:47Julie: and then the smell of the fresh
- 6:49Julie: coffee and then the warmth on
- 6:51Julie: your throat.
- 6:53Julie: And just the whole thing can be
- 6:56Julie: very much a morning pause and a
- 6:59Julie: ritual and.
- 7:02Julie: I know I just made myself some, um, chai.
- 7:06Julie: After eating our dinner and it was like, this is a nice wind
- 7:11Julie: down from the day.
- 7:12Julie: And just that pause, it feels celebratory to have that.
- 7:17Julie: It's not something I do every day, but it's
- 7:19Speaker 1: Mhm.
- 7:20Julie: like it is the celebrating small victories, as on one of the mugs
- 7:26Julie: that I gave to Carrie years ago and she still enjoys it and
- 7:30Julie: sends me a picture.
- 7:30Julie: Sometimes when she's holding
- 7:32Julie: that mug of just how important
- 7:34Julie: it is.
- 7:35Julie: You know, when there are things that are heavy and hard or
- 7:38Julie: stressful or, you know, we talked recently about everything
- 7:42Julie: converging at once.
- 7:43Julie: It's like we need something
- 7:44Speaker 1: Mhm.
- 7:45Julie: that can kind of help us to reset,
- 7:48Sarah : I'm really loving
- 7:49Julie: refuel,
- 7:49Sarah : this idea of
- 7:50Julie: kind
- 7:50Sarah : small
- 7:51Julie: of
- 7:51Sarah : celebrations.
- 7:51Julie: pause and pace ourselves
- 7:52Sarah : Um.
- 7:52Julie: a little bit
- 7:53Sarah : And I'm just
- 7:54Julie: that
- 7:54Sarah : picturing in my mind,
- 7:55Julie: we
- 7:55Sarah : uh,
- 7:55Julie: still make
- 7:56Sarah : calling
- 7:56Julie: room
- 7:56Sarah : a
- 7:56Julie: for
- 7:56Sarah : friend
- 7:57Julie: some
- 7:57Sarah : up and
- 7:57Julie: joy
- 7:57Sarah : saying, hey, let's
- 7:58Julie: and
- 7:58Sarah : celebrate all the
- 7:59Julie: gratitude
- 7:59Sarah : snow being gone.
- 8:00Julie: and,
- 8:00Sarah : Let's grab
- 8:01Julie: connection,
- 8:01Sarah : a cup of tea
- 8:02Julie: relationships,
- 8:02Sarah : together.
- 8:02Julie: all the things
- 8:03Sarah : You
- 8:03Julie: that
- 8:03Sarah : know,
- 8:04Julie: help
- 8:04Sarah : make,
- 8:04Julie: us
- 8:04Sarah : like,
- 8:04Julie: through.
- 8:05Sarah : finding these little pockets of creating, I should say, creating
- 8:09Sarah : these little pockets of joy.
- 8:21Julie: Seriously?
- 8:24Julie: Yeah.
- 8:24Speaker 1: But really.
- 8:32Julie: Yes. And really appreciate
- 8:36Speaker 1: I mean, that's.
- 8:36Julie: the difference of that.
- 8:37Julie: Like, we have gotten through so much cold and, you know, we've
- 8:40Julie: had a little bit more sunshine.
- 8:43Julie: We've had longer days of daylight happening like that.
- 8:49Julie: Transition is happening into spring.
- 8:52Julie: We don't have to hurry that along.
- 8:54Julie: But I noticed more, more birds and them being louder
- 8:59Speaker 1: Oh, yeah.
- 9:00Speaker 1: Me
- 9:00Julie: like
- 9:00Speaker 1: too.
- 9:01Julie: Like, it's just there's there's
- 9:03Julie: a lot of good little noticing,
- 9:05Julie: you know, of just that shift in
- 9:08Julie: season that is slowly
- 9:09Julie: transitioning us.
- 9:11Julie: And, um, it's important to be present for that and take that
- 9:18Julie: in and enjoy it.
- 9:20Julie: Like, even, you know, looking to the what you're gonna wear in
- 9:24Julie: the week and looking at, oh, I can wear some lighter clothing.
- 9:27Julie: I don't have to be so bundled in every thick sweater and
- 9:33Julie: everything that I've been trying to stay warm with, it's like,
- 9:35Julie: oh, I can walk a little later.
- 9:38Julie: It feels
- 9:38Speaker 1: Right.
- 9:38Julie: kind of nice.
- 9:42Julie: Definitely worth celebrating.
- 9:48Speaker 1: I also noticed, like, um,
- 9:51Speaker 1: Christmas and New Year's, that
- 9:54Speaker 1: huge bundle of celebrations
- 9:57Speaker 1: happening during the coldest,
- 10:00Speaker 1: darkest part of the year that
- 10:04Speaker 1: noticing those celebrations are
- 10:06Speaker 1: taking those times for those
- 10:07Speaker 1: celebrations, you know, are
- 10:10Speaker 1: something that we've
- 10:10Speaker 1: historically done.
- 10:13Speaker 1: Um, and that I think can help us weather some of these tougher
- 10:16Speaker 1: storms, especially when we can't practice some of the self-care
- 10:20Speaker 1: maybe that we're used to.
- 10:21Speaker 1: I think something that
- 10:23Speaker 1: historically we've done on this
- 10:25Speaker 1: show is advocate for going
- 10:26Speaker 1: outside and taking deep breaths
- 10:29Speaker 1: of air when, you know, for the
- 10:31Speaker 1: past three or four weeks, at
- 10:32Speaker 1: least, where we're at, it was in
- 10:34Speaker 1: the negatives.
- 10:35Julie: Mhm.
- 10:36Speaker 1: And so maybe finding ways to celebrate in these cold seasons
- 10:42Speaker 1: or other ways that we can kind of practice that self-care or
- 10:45Speaker 1: practice that noticing or, you know, um, those little those
- 10:51Speaker 1: little celebrations are good ways to kind of weather this
- 10:55Speaker 1: sort of darker season anyway.
- 10:57Sarah : Forever.
- 10:58Julie: Mhm. We've talked a little bit about being sick and how after
- 11:02Julie: you recover a little bit and you're suddenly so grateful for
- 11:07Julie: a night of sleep that is a little bit more restful,
- 11:10Speaker 1: Yeah.
- 11:11Julie: or
- 11:11Speaker 1: Oh, yeah.
- 11:12Julie: a
- 11:12Speaker 1: We have talked about that.
- 11:13Julie: yeah, or like coughs that seem to last for six and seven weeks.
- 11:18Julie: And it's like, seriously?
- 11:19Julie: It's like, oh, I don't actually
- 11:21Julie: have to have a cough drop today
- 11:23Julie: or something.
- 11:24Julie: I mean, like, it's the smallest
- 11:25Julie: little things that you can just
- 11:28Julie: really be
- 11:29Speaker 1: Notice
- 11:29Julie: thankful
- 11:30Speaker 1: and
- 11:30Julie: for.
- 11:30Speaker 1: celebrate.
- 11:31Julie: Yeah. Like thankful for the
- 11:32Julie: breath in my lungs and the
- 11:35Julie: ability to
- 11:36Speaker 1: I was gonna
- 11:36Julie: breathe.
- 11:37Speaker 1: say, uh, we all don't have a kink in our neck right now,
- 11:41Speaker 1: which that's something.
- 11:43Speaker 1: Once you get, you know, you're
- 11:44Speaker 1: moving around like an old
- 11:46Speaker 1: fashioned Batman or something,
- 11:47Speaker 1: but just noticing the
- 11:50Speaker 1: flexibility in the range of
- 11:51Speaker 1: motion.
- 11:52Julie: Mhm.
- 11:55Speaker 1: I'm glad I got you with that, Sarah.
- 11:57Speaker 1: At least.
- 12:04Speaker 1: Um, well, folks, I know, uh, for a lot of us or even, you know,
- 12:11Speaker 1: either politically or economically or just kind of in
- 12:14Speaker 1: a darker season, um.
- 12:19Speaker 1: It's hard to weather those storms.
- 12:21Speaker 1: And so, um, finding the time,
- 12:24Speaker 1: finding those little moments of
- 12:26Speaker 1: celebration or maybe even
- 12:27Speaker 1: looking forward to the bigger
- 12:29Speaker 1: celebrations that you have
- 12:31Speaker 1: coming up.
- 12:32Speaker 1: Um. You know, uh, even as we're kind of, like, in a changing
- 12:38Speaker 1: moment of history, I think, uh, you know, recently we've talked
- 12:44Speaker 1: about being present.
- 12:46Speaker 1: Those celebrations are a way of
- 12:48Speaker 1: being present and still like
- 12:49Speaker 1: accepting that, you know, this
- 12:52Speaker 1: is our this is our go around of
- 12:54Speaker 1: things.
- 12:55Speaker 1: And we still need to take care
- 12:57Speaker 1: of ourselves and, you know, the
- 13:00Speaker 1: Those celebrations and that
- 13:02Speaker 1: being present as a way of doing
- 13:04Speaker 1: that.
- 13:09Julie: And not letting that moment go by.
- 13:11Julie: I mean, life does go fast.
- 13:12Julie: That was one of the things that my mom said in front of
- 13:15Speaker 1: Yeah.
- 13:15Julie: the whole family was just she said, how did I get to be this
- 13:19Julie: old, this fast?
- 13:22Julie: And it's true.
- 13:22Julie: Like the decades really, really go by, the years go by, and
- 13:28Julie: suddenly you're thinking, how did I get here?
- 13:31Julie: How did I get to this point?
- 13:32Julie: And.
- 13:35Julie: Life is worth celebrating.
- 13:37Julie: And you know, if you are someone that goes through a lot of deep,
- 13:42Julie: dark days or if life feels just almost too much at times, you
- 13:50Julie: know, one of the things I used to do at night after a really,
- 13:54Julie: really hard day, as I would say I did it.
- 14:00Julie: I made it through.
- 14:01Julie: I made it through another day.
- 14:03Julie: And
- 14:05Speaker 1: Mm.
- 14:05Julie: it's, you know, our track record for getting through hard days is
- 14:08Julie: one hundred percent.
- 14:11Julie: Like,
- 14:11Speaker 1: Mm.
- 14:11Julie: the fact that you're here is matters and that it means a lot
- 14:16Julie: that you're here and
- 14:17Speaker 1: Mm.
- 14:17Julie: that that you keep on going, even though sometimes it is hard
- 14:21Julie: to keep going.
- 14:22Julie: I mean, that that is worth celebrating if you get to your
- 14:26Julie: birthday and you realize I've been on the planet for all these
- 14:31Julie: years, that alone is worth celebrating, that you came this
- 14:36Speaker 1: Mm.
- 14:36Julie: far and that, you know, sometimes you might not feel
- 14:40Julie: like your life has made an impact or a difference, but I
- 14:45Julie: truly believe that it does.
- 14:46Julie: And that is worth noticing and looking back on and and really
- 14:53Julie: with kindness and compassion.
- 14:55Julie: Let me say that to anyone who is
- 14:57Speaker 1: Mm.
- 14:57Julie: kind of looking at their birthday or how long they've
- 15:01Julie: been on the planet as something that's been so hard.
- 15:04Julie: It's like really worth celebrating that you came
- 15:09Julie: through a lot, you've carried a lot, and we see you and we
- 15:13Speaker 1: Mhm.
- 15:13Julie: extend so much, um, compassion and kindness and welcome.
- 15:22Julie: And that we are so glad you're here.
- 15:28Speaker 1: Agreed.
- 15:30Speaker 1: Well thanks so much for joining us this week.
- 15:33Speaker 1: Um, take the time to notice, you know, celebrate uh, any time.
- 15:39Speaker 1: Feel free to reach out.
- 15:41Speaker 1: Uh, you know, this is community roots.
- 15:44Speaker 1: Uh, and so anytime you want to, uh, kind of reach out to here,
- 15:50Speaker 1: we're ready to build community with you in general.
- 15:53Speaker 1: So, um, you can email us at Community Roots gmail.com.
- 15:58Speaker 1: I think it's been a while since
- 15:59Speaker 1: we've mentioned that email and
- 16:01Speaker 1: feel free to reach out with
- 16:02Speaker 1: questions.
- 16:03Speaker 1: Or just maybe those noticings or
- 16:06Speaker 1: what are what have you been
- 16:07Speaker 1: celebrating?
- 16:08Speaker 1: That's something I'd be interested to hear.
- 16:11Speaker 1: Um,
- 16:12Sarah : We want to hear
- 16:13Speaker 1: what
- 16:13Sarah : from you.
- 16:13Speaker 1: are the small things
- 16:14Sarah : Yes.
- 16:14Speaker 1: that you're celebrating?
- 16:15Speaker 1: Uh, hey.
- 16:16Speaker 1: And maybe the big stuff too, but also the small stuff I think is
- 16:20Speaker 1: just as important to me.
- 16:22Speaker 1: But.
- 16:22Julie: And you can reach out to us on Instagram or Facebook as well.
- 16:25Julie: Those are places that you can find us and that's the action
- 16:30Julie: step this week.
- 16:32Julie: Reach
- 16:32Speaker 1: Love
- 16:32Julie: out and
- 16:32Speaker 1: it.
- 16:33Julie: tell us, yeah,
- 16:35Speaker 1: Yes.
- 16:35Julie: reach out and tell us something
- 16:36Julie: you're celebrating, no matter
- 16:38Julie: how small, how big it all is
- 16:41Julie: part of what we want to share
- 16:43Julie: with you.
- 16:46Speaker 1: My answer is warm shower in the morning.
- 16:49Speaker 1: That's my celebration.
- 16:52Julie: That's worth
- 16:52Speaker 1: Uh,
- 16:52Julie: celebrating.
- 16:54Speaker 1: yeah.
- 16:55Speaker 1: Well, have a good one, folks.
- 16:56Speaker 1: Keep in touch.
- 16:57Speaker 1: And until then, we'll talk to you guys soon.
- 17:00Speaker 1: Bye.