Catching Up with Pamela Topjian: The Life Shift Rewind

Hello my friends.

I just wanted to drop some special bonus episodes into the feed that you probably have not heard unless you are a part or an early part of the Patreon for the Life Shift podcast.

If you don't know, I do have a Patreon.

It currently only has two tiers.

One is a three dollar a month tier just to support what I'm doing, helps cover production costs.

And then there's a five dollar tier which will get you episodes early and just the, I guess, warm fuzzies for help out with the Life Shift podcast.

But I used to have other tiers where people were so generous and were offering additional money each month to get bonus episodes and possible winnings of T shirts and all sorts of things.

And then I realized a couple months ago that I wasn't able to deliver what I wanted to, especially for those of you that were giving me the extra money.

So right now we're just kind of doing the early episodes.

You'll always get those.

So if you want to support the Life Shift podcast, please jump over to patreon.com forward/thelifeshiftpod podcast and you can find that information there.

But I come on here because I want to share a series of these bonus episodes that I did early on in the Patreon journey.

There are like 20 plus episodes in which I had bonus recordings with previous guests.

So I would go back and we would have a conversation about the experience of sharing their story on the Life Shift podcast.

Catch up on anything.

And I think these are super important and I know most of them did not see the light of day from outside of the Patreon.

So I'm going to be dropping these episodes.

Whatever you're listening to now is another episode.

So I'm going to use the same intro for all of them.

But here is one of the bonus episodes with a former guest from the Life Shift podcast.

And if you like this, let me know because I'm thinking of bringing some of this back and talking to previous guests as I go into year four.

So enjoy this bonus episode that was once released on the Patreon feed.

I'm Matt Gilhooley and this is the Life Shift candid conversations about the pivotal moments that have changed lives forever.

Hello, my friends.

How are you doing today?

I'm doing great, Matt.

Thank you so much.

Thanks for coming back and being willing to engage in the after the recording conversations.

And I know you're familiar with them because you are a Patreon supporter and you do listen to those and I actually Remember a couple times where you were like, oh, I haven't heard that episode before, but I heard their, their follow up and I want to go back and listen.

Right, right, absolutely.

And, you know, so often we, whenever we listen or watch any P.O.

with somebody else, a lot of times a lot of people are like, I wonder what's going on with them now, or I wonder what happened after.

And so that's so awesome that you do this, because I haven't heard of others doing this, and I think it's.

Yeah, I think it's a really great.

Addition, if we're being honest here.

It's very selfish of me because I love to come back because, you know, with the Life Shift podcast, these conversations, a lot of them are really deep conversations.

Right.

And yours included.

And after the recording, even though it was only like an hour of time together, I feel like we're all connected now, you know, or like I'm connected with each person, so it's kind of just like following up with an old friend, you know, even though technically we only spent an hour together.

Right, right.

So.

And that was the same with you.

Yeah.

And, and you know, for me though, too.

And you know, we've mentioned this before or, you know, on Twitter and social media and am one that likes to watch YouTube.

And so many people think of podcasts as just, you know, your Spotify or your Apple or your Google podcast, all of that, you know, which is awesome.

And I totally understand people walking and doing other things while they're listening, but I really like to look at somebody's face when they're having a conversation, and that just might be my age or it just might be something with my brain that it connects better, but I really like to see that.

So the funny thing is, is I feel a little more because I watch you every week in a conversation with somebody, so I do feel a little bit of a connection that way too.

Besides just being, you know, social media friends and having that hour together, I'm also watching your conversations every week.

I had a friend once say that sometimes I talk back to you, Matt.

Oh, I do too.

I do too.

Not just you, but your guests.

Like, I'll have to stop sometimes and be like, can ponder or, you know.

That's good.

Yeah, it is.

That's the power of storytelling.

I, I, when I make my videos, I make them with you in mind because I know that you're a regular watcher and I really appreciate that.

Thank you.

Thank you.

I also know as a podcaster, that's kind of what we've been told is the next thing that we should be doing.

However, when I, when I look at them, the faces that I make are really not desirable.

Like, I just look.

You'Re just listening.

You're just listening.

But you know, and speaking of that, that's one thing that I noticed when I, because I, you know, I know others have said this, that they go back and watch their episode or listen again before they do the follow up with you.

And so I did the same thing and I was a little surprised at my expressions and how much I use my hands.

And I'm sure you were like, man, her hands are all over in that screen.

Didn't even notice.

And I'm not even any Italian, but my, I use my hands so much and my expressions were kind of crazy too.

So it's just human.

Like you always say we're just human.

So.

Yeah, we are.

And you know, there we.

I was having a debate the other day with someone of like, is it still a podcast if it's on YouTube?

I don't know.

But you know, I have the option to do it and I do it and I appreciate that you watch it and other people leave comments and you leave comments and it's just really, really wonderful that you are willing to kind of be a part of this community and just seemingly like it.

So thank you for that.

Yeah.

Oh, well, thank you.

Thank you for this.

Absolutely.

I mean, it's.

These stories are so important and one thing that I found that was really, really kind of surprises me is that no matter what the story is, no matter what the lifestyle is, the person, what they've been through, what they haven't been through, whatever, there's always something that you can relate with and isn't that, I'm sure you have found that too.

That's really interesting.

It's like the human emotions and just our human experience is so much more connected than we think, you know?

Yeah, I agree.

It's.

It's very interesting.

It's kind of this.

I, I think a lot of people have this story too, where something, even in your story, it was something someone said really that kind of triggered something.

And the funny thing is a lot of times we could have heard that thing a thousand times before that.

Right.

But it's like right moment, right time, and I think there's something about listening to podcasts as well, in which you hear something on that particular.

In whatever kind of state you're in and it hits you in a way that maybe it wouldn't have three Months ago.

And so I agree.

We are far more connected and have far more similarities than we have differences.

Absolutely.

Absolutely.

And that's what really strikes me with listening to all of them.

And even if there's one that you think, oh, I have absolutely nothing in common with this person, the little blurb about what's going on in their life or what their life shift is about or anything, you know, I can't relate with even in those.

Some of the feelings that they have had through some of it is really relatable, and it's just interesting.

Yeah.

And I think, too, before we go into your story, I think we naturally resonate more with the stories that are not necessarily the same story, but thematically connected.

So in my case, I personally relate more to stories that are an external force or an external something that was out of my control, changed my life.

A lot of people have these more internal fires.

Like yours was a bit more inter.

It came from the inside to, like, make happen.

I mean, you had other external things that obviously changed your life, but the one we talked about and the one we really dove into was more of this internal fire.

And so I think we naturally kind of gravitate towards one or the other.

But to your point, there's so much that we can learn from each other if we just listen.

I think that's kind of the whole exercise here is just listen to each other.

Right.

And to not feel so divided and so disconnected from everybody that we maybe don't think we can relate with.

Exactly.

So, you know, we were talking before we recorded that.

We recorded your episode in December of 2022, and then your episode, which was number 48 for anyone listening, came out on February 7, 2023.

And that feels like it was a really long time ago at this point.

Yeah, it does.

And before we started recording, I said, a lot hasn't happened since then, other than, you know, I've started another book I'm working on.

But in my episode, I barely ment mentioned the book.

And I realized because we recorded in December and it was published in January.

So that's why.

I mean.

No, am I.

Am I mistaken?

No, you had your book out.

Your book.

Okay.

Because it was published.

So it's been out over a year now.

So I know it was January, that it was.

Okay.

So it had been out a year.

Yeah.

You know, and.

And to be fair, I.

When I.

I have other people that have written books on the show and, you know, like, this is.

I know your book is definitely entwined with your life.

It Is your life.

It is my life.

Yeah.

But the show's not about books, right?

No.

And it's not about plugging what you're doing either.

It's your story.

And a lot of times that.

Yeah, yeah.

And a lot of times a lot of people are used to going on and sort of, okay, I'm doing another plug.

Okay.

They want to hear about what I have out there or what I service, I offer or whatever that else.

But a lot of times I noticed, too, that they're from maybe for the first time, even though they might be sort of, you know, out there with whatever they do.

Even a lot of them have their own podcasts, but this is the first time they're really delving into their own story or bits of their story that are really deep and really in there.

And.

And that's, you know, you give them the platform to.

To finally sort of just let it out if they, you know, whatever they're comfortable letting out.

But, yeah, to tell their story.

Yeah.

How did you feel once we stopped recording?

Like, you were.

We had the conversation.

You didn't really.

I mean, we didn't really know each other.

We had interacted a little bit on Twitter, and then we came in and you shared a really deep, personal story.

How did you feel after we stopped recording?

It was one of the first ones that I felt like I didn't get real graphic.

So I had been on others, and it seems like almost some people really like that shock value, and you didn't seem to be that way.

You wanted more of, like, you know, you could tell the story and you could really get a real good idea of the story without getting really kind of gross and graphic, you know, and so it was one of the first ones that I thought, oh, this is one that I might be able to share with my kids, you know, or other people, friends or whatever, that it just seemed to be a little more smooth and.

And on level, you know what I mean?

Not.

It didn't go way off.

You know, I don't know how to explain that, but.

But yeah, it just didn't get so graphic, you know?

You know, discussing abuse or.

Or anything.

You know, I don't know that that was intentional on either of our sides.

I think we were really having the conversation about, I mean, you.

To remind people your story.

I mean, we essentially said that you buying a bus ticket basically saved your life and got you out of suicidal feelings and abuse and toxic relationships and struggling hardcore and really turned your life around.

And so in that conversation, I think our Goal was really like, look what's possible.

Right.

Look how we can reflect on such terrible.

No one should ever go through these times.

But also, look how I evolved.

Look how it's possible.

And I think that's probably why we didn't go down those graphic pieces, because we were focused on who you are now and how those moments made you who you are now.

Yeah.

And another thing that you had mentioned, and you were the first one to mention this, and now whenever I see myself on others, I notice it, too.

But how you said that you can tell from my expressions and the way I talked that, the way I talked about my past compared to my life now that it's just, you know, you could tell from looking at me the difference in my life and how I talk about it.

The level of your voice, too.

Yeah.

The way, like, I feel like the old.

It almost is the dark and the light.

I feel like when you tell your story of your upbringing and the situations you were in in your early life and then your marriages and all the pieces that came along with that, it felt very dark because it was.

But the way you delivered it was also very.

Yeah.

Like, the sound of your.

Everything was dark about it.

And as soon as we started talking about current day Pamela, like, and what you do and the joy that you find in the things around you and the things that you're creating, it's a higher.

There's a higher pitch.

There's, you know, like, there's.

Yeah, there's just more joy behind it.

And so, I mean, that's.

That's awesome.

But it's also awesome that you didn't even realize you were doing that, because I think it says a lot, too.

Yeah.

Yeah.

And I loved that you mentioned it, because now I notice it, and it's just like.

Well, yeah, of course.

But it's just.

It is.

It's kind of fun to see that the.

The evolution of.

Of our growth.

You know, I think it's.

I think it's important.

And that's kind of.

Sometimes I have guests that will.

Or people that want to be guests on the show, and you can tell that they haven't yet reached the point in which they've reflected enough on that moment and see how it's changed them or even that they've identified that moment, that specific moment.

And, you know, so with your story, it's like you were able to pinpoint it and we were able to see, like, the two different versions of you.

Yeah.

And all that.

Yeah.

And that's another thing, too, is that with the, you know, you had pointed out like that the phone call from the landlord, you know, or, you know, I had called them and them saying, can you be out in two weeks?

Or you know, just my friend asking me, you know, maybe you want to do that.

Just one little sentence.

And I know you have said this in other ones, but one little sentence or one tiny little thing can really change your whole life.

It doesn't necessarily have to be getting on the bus and going for a three day ride or it doesn't have to be some big moment like, like a death in the family or something.

Sometimes it's these little things that really are life changing, you know, and you don't really think of those things when you're asked or when you think about what was a pivotal moment for me in my life.

But yeah, definitely, it's a fun exercise too.

I've also had interactions with people before they come on the show where I challenge them to really try to pinpoint that.

Because truthfully, it happened for me too, in the sense that when I started the show, I really thought, okay, when my mom died, it was right, that was the moment.

But it wasn't.

It was really when my dad sat me down and was like, she's dead.

Because truthfully, she was dead for like five hours and I was still living the same life because I didn't know.

Right.

It can be, as, you know, taken out of context.

It's a very innocuous, like moment of someone just talking to you.

It's a couple words.

Or the conversation with your landlord that was almost like your freedom pass.

Like, yeah, all right, here's your permission to get the hell out of here and start anew.

How about when you listened to the first.

To it the first time or watched it?

I mostly focus on the times, like just now, all the ums and the times I couldn't find the wording and, and things.

Wish I would have said differently or like I said, my, my hands were all over the place.

That's because you watch the video, if you listen to the audio, you didn't have any ums.

I took them all out.

Well, good.

Thank you.

It had to be pretty hard for you, so I apologize.

It's a natural thing.

And I noticed too, which is, which is interesting.

When people are getting deep in their story, in their own personal story, there's far more filler words because they're.

I think they're searching, I think they're looking around in that experience to find the words that accurately depict what that Experience was like.

So I noticed that because I'll have people that are seasoned presenters that can sell whatever, zero filler words.

Right.

But as soon as they get into something that is very personal, it's a lot of ums or like, you know, those kind of things.

Yeah, yeah, yeah.

So I noticed that the life of being a human.

Yeah.

And I.

Whenever I'm on one of any podcast, I'm always very critical the first time I listen.

Like, I don't.

When I first did a First.

The first few that I did, I wanted to listen right away.

And I was like, I couldn't do anything else but listen.

You know, like, I had to hang up and I had to listen.

Or like as soon as I got it, I had to listen.

But then it's like I have to be in the right mindset.

It's like I want to now I have to wait a little while.

I still haven't listened to that.

I'll say to myself, I got to listen to that.

I'm almost afraid because I know I'm going to be very critical of just.

Did I say that correctly?

Did that come across right or.

You know, I'm searching for words sometimes that I would.

If I was in a conversation just with a friend or with my husband, I would just.

It would just come out, but you can't find it sometimes when you're, you know, talking to somebody on camera or even.

Did you.

Was there anything you said that kind of surprised you on the listen back?

Yeah, I.

Yours was the first one that I mentioned about how I hid, you know, like E.T.

like you said, which.

Which really.

That's all I pictured.

It still just cracks me up because it's.

It is what it.

What it was.

But yours is the first one that I sort of said that out loud.

And I think that that is in my book.

I'm not 100% positive if it even is, but that's a part of my childhood, a part of me that was, I don't want to say ashamed, but it seemed so odd.

It seemed like such an odd behavior that I kind of just never really said it out loud or it seemed so.

It seemed so odd, but it also seemed kind of really small.

Like, this is something that I did when I was little.

I hid and I hid in the tree and I just was, as you said, you know, blending in with my surroundings.

Like I didn't exist, really, almost, which is very sad, you know.

And that's another thing.

Listening back is trying to listen back after the first time of Listening back and listening again.

I felt a little more for her than I did.

I wasn't critiquing myself anymore.

It had been out a while, and I'm like, you know, I could feel the emotions more so than when I was telling it.

You shared parts that were important, I think, because as kids, when we have childhood trauma, I think sometimes we absorb, like, we almost take, like, shame or blame for that or, like, some kind of weird, like.

But all of that was out of our control.

We were just doing what we could to feel safe, as safe as possible.

And in your case, blending in and not standing out might have been the safest route for that little version of you.

You know, I think it's always interesting, though, like, because in conversations that are recorded now, we can know, like, what rabbit hole we actually went down, whereas in a regular conversation, we don't have that recorded.

And sometimes I'll be like, oh, wow, I said that out loud.

And I don't think I've ever said that out loud before in that way.

And now it makes a little bit more sense.

Exactly.

And it's almost a good exercise in reflection for your guests.

You know, they can listen back and.

Yeah.

If they haven't told it before.

Yeah.

So what's changed since.

Since we recorded in your.

In your life?

Well, I'm still.

You know, I was taking classes, so I'm getting closer to done, which is very exciting.

I have.

January 24th is my first.

Is my last class.

Awesome.

Yeah.

And I don't know how life will change after that.

I think that I'm, you know, I'm going to totally revamp my business and that.

I mean, I have to, with all I've learned, but I don't know what that looks like, so I'm kind of waiting for that to show itself to me.

But I've started writing a second book, and it's actually almost done.

My goal for that is January 24th, and that's just on the nursing career, which is another thing that when we talked, it was just like, just a little blip in there, but it wasn't a big part of.

I didn't realize, I think, how much of my life really was being a nurse.

And in my book, there's still not a whole lot about it.

In my own.

My other book, people have asked me more about that, and I thought, you know what?

I can write a whole memoir on my nursing career and why I quit that and how I went about quitting that, and then segue at the end of the book.

Into, you know, hypnotherapy, what I do now.

So that's probably the biggest thing that's changed or that's different.

That wasn't even in there when we talked.

I mean, I know we briefly mentioned it and I always thought.

And this.

If you can tell me if I'm totally wrong, but I often see there are a lot of people in the nursing profession that put all the energy in taking care of someone else and very little energy in taking care of themselves and doing things to protect themselves.

And I would imagine that you might have done some of that.

Yeah, yeah, definitely.

It was very.

I think, which is not a bad thing, but it's also a bad thing.

You know, like, it's like, it's great.

You're helping other people, but.

Right.

It was a good thing though too, that you, it gave you purpose, it gives you something to do, you know, when you're feeling like, you know, you don't know what is going on in your life, you know, when it feels so out of control, that's one piece that you feel like, okay, I'm on the job, I know what to do.

I can help this person, person with this.

I can read these doctor's orders.

I can, you know, I know what everything means and I can just go and do it.

You know, just having that confidence in something and you know, just the ability.

Yeah, but I mean, save lives.

Well, yeah, I mean save people, we hope.

Yeah.

Right.

Or like help people feel better in some way.

Right, yeah, helping people feel better in some way and more so.

I mean, I was never any kind of.

Of life saving nurse I was in.

I never worked in any kind of ER or anything.

I was mostly Alzheimer's and home health.

That's a big lift.

That's a big important lift as well because there's a lot of challenges that come with that.

Yeah, definitely.

Well, that is.

I'm glad to hear it because I know.

I don't think you weren't.

I don't think you were working on that, that second book by the.

When we started recording.

I don't think I was either.

And I think it was kind of an idea that you were percolating like on Twitter and you're like, I'm thinking about this.

And then you kind of made it thing and so good for you putting, putting that stuff into action.

Thank you.

Thank you.

Awesome.

I know you listen to a lot or watch a lot of the episodes.

Are there any types of stories that you resonate with more or any that stand out to you that were like.

Oh, so I.

I don't.

You know, it's hard to.

Since I listen to them all and I listen to other podcasts as well.

It's hard to remember exactly which ones and that.

But I know that, like, the Christy Olinger with the journaling and reading her brother's book and that and her talking about parenting being so hard and how we don't talk about it, that was really.

That really stuck out to me.

I felt like I had nobody in my parenting either, you know, and then journaling is something also that's very important in my life and how my first book started.

So that one really stuck out to me.

And plus, I don't know something about her.

And just.

I mean, I would suggest people watch more than maybe they do, because I don't.

You probably got this from her, too, or.

I don't know, were you guys friends before or something?

I was on their podcast.

Okay.

But that was really the second time that I had spoken to her.

Okay.

Because there's something about the way she looks and the way she talks.

It's just.

She's just enjoyable to watch, you know, so it's just very.

Well, it's a good thing she's in communications.

Right?

Yeah.

Right.

Right.

There you go.

Yes.

Yeah.

And you know what's interesting about that episode?

That's one in which I didn't resonate with personally because it's just not something that's in my practice.

It's not something that I.

It's not really related to what my life shift was, kind of like, how it.

How it triggered me.

But I got so many messages behind the scenes about her episode and how people wanted to start journaling or they needed to shed these bad habits or do these things.

And so it goes all the way back to what you were saying first.

You just don't realize how you know somebody's story, even if it's not your same experience.

They might not be parents.

They might not be doing whatever.

Something can connect with you at the right moment to.

To.

To connect with you.

So I don't know why I just said connect and connect.

But, you know what I'm saying is that you never know what piece of someone's story is going to, like, ding, you know, something go off in your brain.

So, yeah, that episode was very, very popular for a lot of people.

And then Daniel Rinaldi about his brother, and it kind of made me realize, I don't.

I don't know that I've really grieved so much for my sister, how much I've given thought to that.

That really made me realize he had a whole bunch around his brother passing, and I had lost a sister as a teenager.

And I don't really.

I don't know if I need more therapy around that or I.

I think there's something still in me that hasn't.

I haven't really grieved about it.

You know, I was never given that opportunity as a kid, you know, and so many other things come up that were, you know, almost pushed it down.

Yeah, that pushed it down, exactly.

So that one was, you know, something that really struck me.

A little trigger.

Yeah, a little trigger and another little trigger.

And I don't know who said it.

And I was kind of searching around, and I thought it was Beth Booker, but it might not have been her.

But somebody was talking about the grief of miscarriage and how it's something that we don't talk about too much because having a miscarriage, especially early on, is really very common, and everybody knows that it's the body's way of expelling something that's not going to develop normally anyway.

And it's.

You know, it is what it is.

But once you know, you're pregnant, whether it was intentional or not, it's still a loss, and you still feel that.

And that was something, too, that.

I don't know that I.

I know that.

I mention it in my book, and I know that it was.

I mean, thank goodness I did not have a baby with that man, you know, my second husband.

But at the same time, it does hurt.

It hurts you.

It's a.

It's a grieving, and it's a loss.

And so somebody had brought that and said, you know, that's something we need to talk about, because all these women are feeling this, and they just don't talk about it because it's not really.

It doesn't seem like it's that big of a thing because it's so common, but it is.

It's still.

Yeah.

And it's also.

I think there's a lot of societal shame about it where there shouldn't be.

Right.

Because I think that, you know, people are afraid to tell people it happened because they think it's like something they did or something, you know, like to be blamed for.

And I don't know who said it either.

I know Beth talked a lot about how new mothers feel and thinking about, like, sometimes it's really, like, terrible those first.

Right.

Couple months, just the way you feel as a human, whether that's Physically, emotionally, all of it.

And I know in her, she was like, you just like, your baby's cute, but how are you.

Right.

Like, really thinking about the mother in that sense.

But I don't.

I'm not.

I'd have to go back and look and see who said that specific.

She may have said that as well.

But I think you're right.

I mean, I think that is kind of why the life shift exists.

I think we, you know, we want to share things that are so common, but I think a lot of times we're just, like, ashamed because society has told us that we shouldn't.

We should only talk about the good things and the things that.

The awards that we win and the promotions that we get.

But.

But that's not what connects us.

You know, it's these.

It's these tougher moments.

I had early.

Early on, I had a guest, Lauren, who talks about her journey through infertility and the challenges and how much shame she felt.

And this was like, the first time she had talked to someone outside of her immediate family about it.

And since then, she's felt so much like, confidence and she's found her voice, and she feels.

She even went to her company's HR and got family help for, like, the rest of the company, you know, and because just sharing your story and so I think the power of storytelling is really strong.

Do you feel a strength in when you tell your story now?

Now that you've told it multiple times in many different ways?

I feel like every time I do, it's another opportunity for somebody who needs to hear it, to hear it.

And I do feel a little more confident in being able to share it with some expression.

Like, I remember some of the first few times I did, it was very much like almost like rote memory, like just blah, blah, blah, blah, blah.

This happened, this happened, this happened.

And there was a couple people that said to me, you know, that were, like, shocked at some of it.

And I was just, like, going over, like, a list and not really allowing myself to even feel it while with talking with somebody.

And I think I'm getting a little better at that.

So that's.

That's one difference, I think, in telling it.

And I think there.

That's probably common for people that have experienced things that you've experienced that, you know, you kind of try to make it as bulleted of a list as possible to just kind of get through the conversation because it's a lot harder to sometimes live in that space if you haven't fully.

I Don't think you ever fully.

But if you haven't, like, processed it enough that you feel confident in visiting but not getting stuck back there, because there's, you know, if you've ever had any kind of depression or something like that, you know, how easily you could very well get stuck back in there.

And so I think there is a protection that comes with that.

So that makes sense.

Right.

And I've had people say to me that they had, like, in reading the book or listening to one of the podcasts, they would say, I had to take a break.

Like they were.

That.

I don't know if it's moved or, you know, felt.

I don't want to say bad for me, but they were just.

Empathy.

Yeah, it's empathy, I guess.

Yeah.

And they just kind of were like, oh, my gosh, I didn't realize, you know, and it's amazing that you're just living and living well, but I don't.

And then I don't.

I didn't realize how much it was until I started telling my story, you know, even through going through therapy and hearing all those words of neglect and PTSD and hearing those words from the therapist and realizing so much from the childhood, I still didn't.

Didn't realize that it was that big of a deal, you know?

Well, I.

I found this experience as well, of, like, there aren't too many opportunities in which we have a chance to tell our story without interruption from someone that was there from beginning to end.

Right.

And I think when you do that, you're like, oh, you know, like, even in a therapy session, you're probably just telling a chunk.

You're probably just telling, like, at this point, to this point, it's not, you know, and so that seems, like, terrible, but manageable.

But if you.

But telling that story from beginning and going and this happened and this happened, then you start to realize, oh, it is a big deal.

And, you know, I think.

I think it's wonderful to see that you took your power back and you, you know, you are creating the life that you want to live.

And I'm sure it's not perfect in.

In certain ways, and, you know, but that's life, too.

Yeah.

But at the same time, you're things on your own terms now and creating the things that you want to do.

You're now part of this Life Shift Community 1 in Patreon, and I super appreciate that.

But just being a part of this journey for me, if there's someone out there that's like, I kind of want I don't know.

Is there anything that you could say to someone that maybe is on the fence about sharing their story or just like trusting me with their story or anything like that?

Yeah.

So I think that, that, you know, it's said so often, and you have said it so often, but it really needs to be, you know, put out there that there is a lot of power in telling your story.

There is a lot that would come from it, from within you that you don't even realize.

It's not only empowering, but it's reflective and that's so important.

You gain so much of your own self discovery through reflecting on your own story.

And people.

I know people will say, you know, I don't need to hash out my whole past.

And.

But it's not like that.

You know, it's more of a conversation about it, getting it out of you so it doesn't get stuck in there like I was talking about the grief of my sister.

It's stuck in there.

I know it is.

And you have to get these things out of you to process them a little better.

And sometimes just having this casual conversation.

And as far as the Life Shift podcast, you are such a person, and I know others have said this too, and I also know that you don't take compliments well, but, you know, you do definitely have this very soothing way about you.

Like, it's almost like it could be a counseling session.

It's almost like just having somebody to listen and you do, you know, genuinely care and that comes across.

And I think that for your podcast especially, that's something that is an experience in itself that not.

You might not get with other podcasts.

You know, I appreciate that.

Yes, I'm terrible at compliments, but I will accept that.

And thank you.

I think there is something about everyone's story or having these conversations that somehow heals a little part of me that I didn't realize needed that healing.

And so this journey, like I said, even these Patreon bonus episodes are little bit selfish.

Like, there is a little bit of selfish piece to having these conversations.

I hope that other people are inspired to have these conversations with the people around them, because I think the deeper the conversations and the more real we are with each other, I think the better experience we're going to have as a whole.

Right?

Absolutely.

And I think it opens that up for other people to know that you can have these conversations.

Yeah, it is.

Yeah.

Well, thank you for being a part of the Life Shift podcast, being a part of the Patreon community If you are listening to this bonus episode and you haven't heard Pamela's story, Check out episode 48 to listen to that.

And I'm sure she would love to connect with you on social media, so we'll include those in the in the information as well.

Thank you for for doing this, though.

Thank you.

Thank you.

Was it as scary as you thought it might be?

No, no, of course not.

All right.

And everyone listening, we'll be back in a weeks with another after the recording Patreon bonus episode.

Thanks again, Pamela.

For more information, please visit www.thelife shift podcast.com.