This is a place for those messy questions we ask ourselves in the middle of the night. I'll share mine here in the open, you'll get to ponder yours in private. Somehow, in that sharing and pondering, we'll make our way to a life with a little more breathing room, a little more intelligence, a little more forgiveness for ourselves and those we love.
All the episodes of this podcast will still be available wherever you get your podcasts, but I don't plan on making any new ones.If you'd like to listen to Prince Tarkten, the story I wrote for Trent, it's here, for free: https://insighttimer.com/julekucera/guided-meditations/prince-tarkten-a-fable-for-those-who-are-no-longer-childrenIf you'd like to listen to my memoir, Sweet Baby Lover, it's here, for purchase: https://www.audible.com/pd/Sweet-Baby-Lover-Audiobook/B0BZ1XGCH5Thank you for being here.Thank you for listening. I appreciate it.
The Trust Technique: https://trust-technique.com/
Sometimes what the heart wants is a dog.This one came from DuPage County Animal Services: https://www.dupagecounty.gov/government/departments/animal_services/adopting_from_dcas/
More connections to the past, in Wisconsin in the present.
Wondering if my dead husband might have something to say to me.
Sometimes what you were told happened isn't what happened.
My adopted brother was never interested in finding his birth parents. Then he was.
aerial video of the new courts: https://youtu.be/1Rs1zf5nGU0
Journal of Radical Permission: https://www.penguinrandomhouse.com/books/710778/journal-of-radical-permission-by-adrienne-maree-brown-and-sonya-renee-taylor/
Sometimes, even sharpening the saw is too much.Here's the video of me opening the first box from the second printing of Prince Tarkten books (would I be satisfied this time?): https://julekucera.com/wp-content/uploads/2023/03/Prince-Tarkten_unboxing.mp4What's Prince Tarkten? https://julekucera.com/books/Want the audiobook of Prince Tarkten? Sending an email is too much work for both of us. Just download it here: https://julekucera-reflections.simplecast.com/episodes/prince-tarkten
As Dave wrote in response to Woo-Woo #1, logic and woo-woo don't have to be mutually exclusive. Sweet Baby Lover audiobook: https://www.audible.com/pd/Sweet-Baby-Lover-Audiobook/B0BZ1XGCH5
Sweet Baby Lover is my memoir. It explores whether it's better to have loved and lost than never to have loved at all. Even though Trent left the planet more than a decade ago, there are times I wonder if he's fiddlin' in my business. Sweet Baby Lover: https://www.amazon.com/Sweet-Baby-Lover-story-death/dp/0990455505/
Projects tend to expand. Sometimes, that's not a bad thing.Sweet Baby Lover: https://www.amazon.com/Sweet-Baby-Lover-story-death/dp/0990455505/
Who I am now is not who I was. Why is it so hard to think of myself differently?
Finding comfort in right answers while living next to the river of a dementia.
Support varies. Creators need to know who is where in their Universe of Support.Jennie Nash: https://jennienash.com/
Using the St. Louis University Mental Status (SLUMS) test with my mother.SLUMS test: https://www.slu.edu/medicine/internal-medicine/geriatric-medicine/aging-successfully/assessment-tools/mental-status-exam.php
Memory is faulty. Some years are not what we thought.
Jule's 2014 memoir gets a refresh and a new last chapter, linked here:Sweet Baby Lover, new chapter 47: https://julekucera.com/wp-content/uploads/2022/12/SBL-2023_BookGuts-ch47only_2022.12.18p.pdfSweet Baby Lover, new book guts: https://julekucera.com/wp-content/uploads/2022/12/SBL-2023_BookGuts_2022.12.18p.pdf
And maybe it's not just the kids who aren't alright.
Beef takes a toll on our planet. So does plastic, even if we think it's recyclable.
There are easy things, things that don't cost money but save it, that help the planet.
It can be overwhelming thinking about all the ways we are hurting the planet, and all that will need to be done to give our Earth a chance. So let's start small.
Whether I'm taking in YouTube videos or the New York Times or political podcasts, too much is too much. To quote Viktor Frankl, "Between the stimulus and the response is the choice."
You never know what an author will be like in person.
Byron Katie is the founder of The Work, an inquiry process that enables us to dismantle our thoughts and access the wisdom we hold inside.Byron Katie/ The Work: https://thework.com/
Aaron Sorkin is one of my writer heroes. These are the lessons I took from his talk last Saturday in Cincinnati, at the Hyatt Hotel for the Neihoff Lecture.
Thanks to Cassie Holmes, Ph.D., I figured out why I was becoming less happy.Book: Happier Hour, by Cassie Holmeshttps://www.cassiemholmes.com/happierhour
Sometimes the lessons in a dance class have nothing to do with learning the moves.
After staying in a 40-foot-long, 8-foot-wide container cabin, I learned I liked the basic shape but needed a little more elbow room. I drew a sketch of a possible floor plan. But what next?Architectural firm referenced: Drawing Department, https://drawingdept.com/
In one of Jane Friedman's online workshops, Dan Blank recommended that authors make a list of their beliefs. I did. The result was a list of 78 beliefs.
My memoir, Sweet Baby Lover, is available through Amazon. If you order the paperback format, Amazon will print one and send it to you. But up until recently, they didn't have the capability to print a full-color book (such as a children's book) print-on-demand. Even though they just started offering this service, I wasn't sure of their quality. So I had Prince Tarkten printed in China. I've never done this before. When the boxes of books arrived...
I wanted to find out if a container cabin would work for me on my land in Kentucky. So, on the way back from my trip to New Jersey and Connecticut, I paused for two nights in Pennsylvania to stay in an 8'-wide container cabin.Airbnb cabin: https://www.airbnb.com/rooms/42359300
Even though I don't know what comes next, I know where I am. I have fallen off the wagon.
Recording an audiobook about the past bumps up against the present.
The Huberman Lab podcast on grief, and Jenna.https://hubermanlab.com/the-science-and-process-of-healing-from-grief/
InsightTimer chanting meditation: https://insighttimer.com/stressfit/guided-meditations/the-power-of-aumTuning fork credited by a friend for her glowing skin: https://biofieldtuningstore.com/products/sonic-sliderThe Body Keeps the Score: https://smile.amazon.com/Body-Keeps-Score-Healing-Trauma-ebook/dp/B00G3L1C2K/
The Body Keeps the Score, by Bessel van der KolkVan der Kolk's interview on the Ezra Klein podcast.