It was in a recent conversation that I realized this about myself, that I am in a constant state of change and churn, and that I sometimes let that get me anxious and stressed. It's silly, since I know I bring this on myself. I could say no. I could turn down opportunities to sing, to speak, to mentor someone. But I love it. I love this feeling of change and growth, and none of the decisions I make are things I don't want to do.
Episode 191: After Happily Ever After, a Novel by Leslie Rasmussen That Hits Home
Leslie Rasmussen didn't intend to write a novel. Her idea was to interview people in their 40s, empty-nesting or nearly empty nesting, in long-term relationships or newly divorced, hearing their stories and finding commonalities in order to write a non-fiction book for people to find comfort in these transitions.
She found so many commonalities that she decided to combine the patterns she was hearing about to write the stories of one fictional family's experience.
This story resonates because it feels so familiar. Every character is familiar, from the teenaged daughter to the high achieving best friend. The primary protagonist is me. She's you. She's your husband or your wife. Though her actions and how she chooses to move through her current situation won't exactly match what you might do, the feelings and circumstances absolutely will.
Episode 189: Podcast Brief 3 - Ideation & Adaptability Gain Momentum
In this week’s episode I’ll round out a description of my top five talents with Ideation and Adaptability. Ideation being the one that I imagine as a hamster on a wheel in my head, constantly running, coming up with ideas about what I’ll do next, ideas to solve problems, sometimes completely random ideas about why things happen the way they do, how things work (usually unrelated to anything that actually matters in my life), and how to express concepts so they’re sticky and/or persuasive.
Adaptability is the talent that allows me to switch gears easily, and that makes me a good person to be around when a project goes sideways.
Episode 113: Stories that Create and Build Life-Long Friendships
EPISODE 100: Community is the Key to Your Emotional Health and Personal Development
For this 100th episode, I couldn’t think of a more appropriate theme than Community. It’s my community that make me who I am today. It’s my community - that I built with intention - that bring me satisfaction, challenge, and joy. It’s my community that helped me be the person I aspire to be, and to raise our children to be independent, kind, compassionate adults.
Episode 85: What Feels Like Internal Conflicts Are Likely Close Connections
Caroline Mays felt conflicted, almost like she had two completely separate lives. She had her life on the road as an endurance runner, with a group of peers and friends she could share all the aches, pains, and achievements of that sport. And she had her life as a writer, with other writers and friends she could share the disappointments, obstacles, and accomplishments in her work.
Episode 60: No Such Thing as Coincidence
When We Connect the Dots, We See Purpose in Life and Struggle
Carol Campos doesn't believe in coincidence, but that doesn’t mean she knows exactly why anything actually happens.
But when she looks back at each decision she made, each relationship she spent time nurturing, and each of the choices she made, she can see all of the connections among those choices, bringing her to where she is right now.
From the last couple of years of high school, until she reached a point in a successful career, she followed the path she believed was expected of her. Though she switched gears periodically, and took different steps, she continued to move forward, almost stumbling through her career without real thought or intention.
And then - everything changed. Carol realized she was not only dissatisfied in her career, she didn’t really know how she defined success for herself. So she left her cozy career and took time to really dig into what she wanted, how she defines success, and what she wanted to do next.
So many of us are in transition right now, and with the current workforce shifts, the world of career and professionalism looks completely different from how it looked just five years ago. When we spend time looking back at our patterns, and how each of our choices connects to lead us forward, those transitions become smoother and more comfortable.
Here are a few references from our conversation:
E-Squared, by Pam Grout
Embracing Life Transitions As the New Normal, Podcast episode about transition, restaurant analogy
Elizabeth Gilbert: Flight of the Hummingbird The Curiosity Driven Life, Elizabeth Gilbert
Carol has worked in the corporate world for over 20 years, most recently in a leadership role at a Fortune 10 company. For years she felt that she was meant to do something different, but could never quite put her finger on what that was. For the last 7 years she has immersed herself in classes and workshops, learning about energy healing, meditation, as well as numerous spiritual and holistic topics. In early 2018 she left her corporate job and made the leap into the unknown. What she discovered was that she could combine her extensive business experience with these new, soul-aligned interests. Thus, The Divine Breadcrumb was born!
Carol is a certified Reiki practitioner as well as a certified Angel Card Reader. Most recently she was certified by the HeartMath Institute as an Add-Heart Facilitator, teaching a technique used by thousands of people, including Navy Seals, to achieve heart coherence — a state which greatly improves emotional and physical health.
Carol is passionate about traveling, learning about new cultures and helping people on their own path. She holds a B.A. in Communications from Hofstra University. Carol resides in Massachusetts with her rambunctious rescue cats, Petey and Emmett.