Process of Progress

We're taking a breather, folks! Enjoy some conversational shenanigans between Hollis and Cecylia before they take a brief hiatus to take care of some other business. We'll see you again in late autumn!

We've been in Flow State University for a few weeks now, and we have some pressing questions. We've been told that the Flow State is this incredible, freeing experience, but going with the flow has landed Hollis and Cecylia in some unpleasant times and lessons. After a lengthy metaphor involving rivers and whirlpools, we emerge with a better understanding of this paradoxical concept.

We return to the OG format this week as we ask each other: “What are you working on? What showed up for you this week?” Moment to moment decisions showed up; whether or not to push or let go showed up. It seems the Universe has signed us up to learn and practice “The Flow State.”

PNew beginnings are on the horizon: Cecylia moves into her tiny house as well as a new, more worthy headspace, and Hollis looks to her birthday that so happens to fall on a new moon. So much has changed within such a short period of time, we feel like we're in a different dimension. Things feel like they are about to change even more—and we're looking forward to whatever's next.

Part celebration and part review, a big dream has just come true. After three years, Cecylia has finally moved into her tiny house. The journey has been long, good, bad, and everything in between, and this episode is all about the lessons and gifts gained along the way.

We have a super-packed episode on the art of healing, where Dr. Armitstead delves into the incredible tool of muscle testing for total health and wellbeing. Superconsciousness, vibrational health, purging toxicities, sympathetic resonance, and rewiring the subconscious are ALL on the docket. Total health is a true wonder and Dr. Armitstead brings it down to earth. This episode literally heals.

Our brains are buzzing with all of the recent vocabulary we have to describe our emotions, which is simultaneously very helpful and a bit overwhelming. Our homework stretched our limits even further with something called “empathetic badassery,” revealing some very honest conclusions about ourselves and the people we empathize with.

We have the tremendous privilege of speaking with author, educator, and emotional expert, Karla McLaren, this episode. From her book, The Art of Empathy, to cultic mindsets to her own incredible journey, Karla shares tremendous insights on how to navigate our inner world, and how doing so will make the outer world a much, much better place.

Everything seems to be happening all at once as of late, and Hollis and Cecylia feel the need to ask, “What exactly is being asked of us right now?” We don’t have a good answer—yet—but we do think we’re in one of the hardest parts before we transition into a reality that’s closer to the one we’ve been working towards.

We’re thrilled to welcome the “Ace of All Trades” to our podcast, Alicia Easter. So how does one transition from a well-paying, typical corporate job to living a life that fully encompasses the dynamic soul? Being who you are and making money at it aren’t mutually exclusive, and Ace is here to prove it with her inspiring journey.

We’re feeling a little out of “podcast shape” this episode as we meander through various topics, including our homework from Megan Cuzzolino, what movies influenced us the most as kids, and the difference between similes and metaphors. We talk about our deeper, negative emotions along the way: maybe they’re not insurmountable enemies but vital signals and signposts.

We welcome Megan Cuzzolino to the podcast to talk about her journey from secure government employment to yoga teacher and transformation coach. Chock full of incredible, real-life stories and advice on how to manage anxiety (and just get a better grip in general), we’re thrilled to interview our first official guest.

Shadow work and exploring with the darker side of our nature comes with a lot of uncertainty, and it doesn’t help that society has conditioned us to avoid it. Yet if explored with courage and trust (particularly trust in oneself), it can also unleash us and set us free.

It’s never not going to be scary. It’s never not going to be uncomfortable. There’s always something you’re going to have to push through. What makes these big fights worth the constant battle? Small wins. They’re small but powerful. They keep us in the ring.

What happens when you don’t do what you say you’re going to do? We believe it’s called dropping the ball. We come to this episode with our tail between our legs; neither Hollis nor Cecylia followed through on the homework, and we’re basically here to admit it. A bit of embarrassment, a bit of overwhelm, and a bit of insight into why we dropped the ball, all in this episode.

We can hardly believe it! It’s the first episode of 2021 and the first episode of our second season! Cozy up next to the fire with us as we talk about our New Year’s resolutions and plans for Season 2. Let’s celebrate how far we’ve come and where we’re headed.

While we prep for Season 2, the Process of Progress presents The Awesome Meditation to help jumpstart those New Year’s resolutions. :-D

We can hardly believe that it’s been a whole year since the Process of Progress was born. We’ve talked up an extra special—and extra long—episode to button up the holiday season, continuing our PSA to read more books and listen to more music, but also to review one hell-of-a year. Get lost 2020. Onward to Season Two and 2021! See you then! :-D

We’ve traded out our cellphones for books these past two weeks with some significant results. As the last generation that didn’t grow up with a screen-in-hand, we reminisce about what we used to do with our spare time when smartphones weren't an option—including reading, listening to music, and sometimes just being bored. Let’s see what happens when we continue this experiment for another two weeks.

We each spent a lot of energetic currency since the last episode. With this new tool to assess our resources, we’re already being more prudent with our time. We discuss what’s worthy of our focus, but when everything in the modern world constantly screams for our attention, focus itself has become severely scattered.

After reviewing some takeaways about willpower, Hollis presents the fascinating concept of viewing your energy as currency, and the homework unfolds from there. We want to practice the suggestion of it’s not a “Hell, yes,” then it’s a “No.” As two people pleasers, we’ll see how we do.

So mote it be, indeed. This episode is about willpower, and what better way to celebrate Halloween than a little witchy way of saying, “My will be done.”? What breeds willpower is another question, but we have an assignment to foster some conclusions. AND: There’s a few scary tales from the past, which mostly leave Hollis aghast. On Halloween night, you might get a fright, from the Process of Progress Podcast! Thanks for your time on this All Hallow’s Eve. The spell is cast, so mote it be!

We just can’t make up our minds! Seriously, we can’t, and we speculate that it isn’t just us. Decision fatigue in this modern life has us stressed out and worn out when we could be using our energy elsewhere. Let’s see if we can clean up some of that mental dilly-dallying and reclaim a chunk of our power.

With our new structure in place, we review last week’s homework of recreating a project we hate, each of us with very different—but very healing—results. We also couldn’t help but notice how much we procrastinated, building up expectations before we even started. Initiation seems to be more difficult than the project itself. With a bit of observation and some research, maybe we can figure out why that is.

It’s the Process of Progress’ nineteenth episode! (We think…we hope…yeah, if you exclude the specials, we’re pretty sure it’s Ep. 19.) We’re trying out a new structure for our podcast, dividing into two parts! Tune in for our reflections on the previous episode, Commitment, alongside a new topic and a new challenge to accompany it. We’re so excited to grow, change, and try out this new format. We’re especially stoked you’re here to listen in.

What keeps us coming back to our projects? What motivates us to keep going and keep showing up when we’re pretty sure we should have quit a while ago? Commitment is a funny thing we do despite the odds. We each have our reasons for sticking to our guns, and even though they’re quite different, we’re sure there’s a psychological tie between them—one we’re committed to figuring out. ;)

Step one: we visualize the future. Step two: we doubt it could ever happen. Step three (optional but most likely): we freak out about it. As far as we know, faith is unique to humans, our built in failsafe to keep us going when our future-vision makes things look impossible. After a healthy dose of “patter-aid,” we dive into how we’ve kept the faith with meditation, raw experience, and a bit of Bon Jovi.

We all need it, but not everyone has one to support them. Modern life can be isolating, and the definition of community has changed with the times. Cecylia revisits her loss of community, and Hollis shares how she made roots in New York City. We hash out our own definitions, which hopefully makes it easier to recognize common ground in the future.

It’s our first reflection of many (we’re certain) as we move through our podcast journey. Listening to ourselves talk has inevitably brought on some self analysis, critiques, and praises for the work we’ve been producing. We’re only fifteen episodes in, and producing a podcast has already helped us improve in some very expected and unexpected ways.

Revolutionary energy is explosive and powerful, inevitably transforming into equivocal creations. Whether that energy becomes a painting, conversation, activist group, song, or written word, the result is vital to the collective change. In Part II of “Revolutionary Energy” we touch on the work, both general and specific, that emerges from these tumultuous times.

Amidst the Covid-19 crisis and the paramount Black Lives Matter movement, we take a break from our usual format for a multi-part real-talk about the world around us. In Part I, we look to the stars. As budding/hobbyist astrologers, we find the cosmos have a great deal to say about the radical cultural shifts we’re going through—and where we’re headed next. Buckle up, Star Babes.

We frequently allow our past mistakes to define our present capabilities, mistrusting ourselves and how far we’ve come. Defining this behavior is new for both of us, even though we’ve experienced it many times over. To amend these self-biases and move forward with confidence, we try to be kind, forgiving, and attentive to ourselves.

Productivity doesn’t just happen. We have checklists to build momentum. We have systems and tools to make work as seamless as possible. We have countermeasures for the inevitable times when “we just don’t wanna.” A lot goes into just getting it done.

We’ve hit double digits, and we’re loving this podcast more than ever! Accepting and loving a creative work goes hand in hand with feelings about the self and authenticity. Easier said than done: we’re just now figuring out how to stand up for ourselves and our creations just the way they are.

When burnout drains the creative wells dry, replenishing them is essential. This often takes a lot of time, some patience, and being okay with chilling the eff out. Slowly but surely, amazing signs emerge to show us that the creative wells have been refilled.

Hollis transferred an entire business online, and Cecylia moved her entire life to a new city in an unreasonably short amount of time. We had to be creative and keep going despite exhaustion, despite Covid-19, and despite burnout, tapping into the special reserves at the bottom of the well.

We discuss how each of us defines failure—and how that failure has defined us. Our individual experiences are very different, but the lessons are essentially the same. We instinctively want to control what we’re afraid of, and the antidote is impossibly simple: simple, but difficult to do.

Covid-19 is upon us. The world’s gone nuts. We’re gonna pause the podcast for a moment until things settle, but we’d like to leave you with a bit of positivity before we go.

After an incredible New Year’s together, two weeks have passed for our next recording...and reality has struck. We’re both scratching our heads over why the start has been so contrastingly rough. Turns out that after partying like kids, we’re being asked to grow up.

We’re ready to use our time wisely and be productive AF...and then the stars conspire against us and we’re forced to pump the breaks. What seems like a frustration is actually a friend. There’s a lot to be said—and even done—when you accept the natural cycle of slowing down.

It’s our first episode! How we pulled it off amidst our already busy schedules is up for discussion. Managing time is so easily sabotaged, and the motivations to protect it can be elusive. Turns out that wrangling spare time is possible—provided you know what’s stopping you.