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It's Good to be the King: Reclaiming small joys, emotional freedom, and the power of choosing your own internal weather.
Manage episode 489188213 series 2492986
Hi everyone. Iām Leah Burkhart, and welcome back to The Healthy Sensitiveāa podcast for sensitive souls trying to live awake in a world thatās still half-asleep.
This is a space for those of us who donāt just want to get through lifeāwe want to feel it.
Weāre the kind of people who tend to live like everything is a miracle, to borrow the quote often attributed to Einstein.
We notice the way light changes in a room. The shift in someoneās tone. The way our own hearts thud when something matters.
And weāre not here to tune that outāweāre here to make space for it.
Thereās a quote Iāve always loved by Vivian Greene:
āLife isnāt about waiting for the storm to pass. Itās about learning how to dance in the rain.ā
And for sensitive people, I think weāre not just dancing in the rain. Weāre memorizing the smell of it, writing poetry about it, and wondering if weāre supposed to be doing it better.
That brings me to what I really wanted to share today.
š ļø What Iām Building (and Why)Lately, Iāve been thinking a lot about what kind of content I want to create.
Thereās just so much noise out thereāpodcasts, Substacks, social media reelsāand Iāve had moments where Iāve wondered if I should even add to the pile.
At first, I thought: maybe if I sound smart enough, Iāll be adding value. Maybe I should teach more. Prove Iām useful.
But when I really sat with it, I asked a deeper question:
What has helped me most when I felt low?
Sometimes, sureāI wanted information.
What vitamin could help?
How do I sleep better?
Whatās the research say?
But more oftenā¦
What I needed most was just to not feel so alone.
To hear someone say, āMe too.ā
Not with advice. Just with presence.
Thatās part of why Iāve funneled so much energy into the Meetup groups I run. I want to create a place where sensitive people can gather and just be real with each other.
But I also know not everyone can join a live group.
Some folks need asynchronous connection.
They need the content to come to themāwhen theyāre ready, and in a form they can take in.
So Iām building something.
Itās not done yetāitās still in the messy, creative, patchwork phaseābut Iām building a full ecosystem for sensitive people.
One that includes:
Free content (like this podcast and my Substack)
A $5/month membership that gives you access to all the live Meetup groups and coaching circles
And, eventually, a space where you can take courses, engage in community discussions, and find tools tailored to how your system works
Right now, that $5/month just covers the cost of the Meetup account itself. But here's the bonus:
If you join now, youāre grandfathered in at that price for life, even after the full system is live and has more features.
Itās my way of saying thank youāto the early believers.
And for those of you who just want to keep listening or reading quietly in the backgroundāthatās okay too. The podcast and Substack posts stay free.
Always.
Now let me take you to the story thatās been living in my chest all week.
Iāve been thinking about my grandmother.
She was a woman with sharp wit, a minimalistās soul, and a strong pour of scotch in the evening.
She had three kids, including my dad. And she went through something thatāat the timeāwas quietly devastating.
Her husband left her⦠for a man.
And this was not a time when that was talked about or supported. It was brave. And hard. And real.
But they navigated it with grace.
He said, āIf you get a child support check, itās because I have money. If you donāt, itās because I donāt.ā
He let her keep the house. He stayed honorable.
She didnāt crumble. She figured it out.
And what I remember most is not the hardshipābut the way she sat in her chair at the end of the day, a beret perched on her head, a glass of scotch in hand, and this sly, self-satisfied smile as sheād say:
āItās good to be the king.ā
It was as if, in that moment, she wasnāt waiting for anything else to fall into place.
She wasnāt chasing peace. She was choosing it.
That image of her came to me during this weekās Mindfulness Monday.
I led a group where we explored this prompt:
If money, time, and energy werenāt an issueāwhat would you choose to experience?
And once we imagined it, I asked:
What is the feeling youād be chasing in that scenario?
And then:
Whatās one small way you might access that feeling todayāwithout needing the whole setup?
Because sometimes, we can skip the middleman.
We donāt need the mansion to feel cozy.
We donāt need the month off to feel rested.
We donāt need a new identity to feel whole.
What weāre really longing for is often a sensation. A felt experience.
And sometimes, we can create it with a candle. A breath. A decision. A pause.
We ended that session by writing our own permission slips:
āI hereby give myself permission to feel free.ā
āTo feel joyful.ā
āTo feel held.ā
It reminds me of Viktor Franklās Manās Search for Meaning.
He survived Auschwitz. Lost his family. And still wrote:
āEverything can be taken from a man but one thing: the last of the human freedomsāto choose oneās attitude in any given set of circumstances.ā
He wasnāt being naĆÆve.
He wasnāt saying suffering doesnāt matter.
He was saying meaning matters more.
And when we can frame even a hard moment in purposeāor tendernessāor beautyāthatās where real power lives.
š§” Wrap-UpSo maybe todayās question is:
What would it look like to stop waiting for the storm to passāand dance anyway?
To sip your metaphorical scotch, wear your metaphorical beret, and say:
āItās good to be the king.ā
And to know that youāre not alone.
Because youāre not just listening to a coach or a health educatorāyouāre tapping into a community of sensitive, deeply human people who are asking the same questions and sharing the same kinds of reflections.
If thatās a community you want to join, the linkās in the show notes.
And if youāre just here to listen quietly for now, welcome. You belong, too.
Until next timeābe well, be curious, and give yourself the feeling⦠before the fix.
Want to join our meetup group?
Click Here: The Healthy Sensitive Meetup Group
98 episodes
Manage episode 489188213 series 2492986
Hi everyone. Iām Leah Burkhart, and welcome back to The Healthy Sensitiveāa podcast for sensitive souls trying to live awake in a world thatās still half-asleep.
This is a space for those of us who donāt just want to get through lifeāwe want to feel it.
Weāre the kind of people who tend to live like everything is a miracle, to borrow the quote often attributed to Einstein.
We notice the way light changes in a room. The shift in someoneās tone. The way our own hearts thud when something matters.
And weāre not here to tune that outāweāre here to make space for it.
Thereās a quote Iāve always loved by Vivian Greene:
āLife isnāt about waiting for the storm to pass. Itās about learning how to dance in the rain.ā
And for sensitive people, I think weāre not just dancing in the rain. Weāre memorizing the smell of it, writing poetry about it, and wondering if weāre supposed to be doing it better.
That brings me to what I really wanted to share today.
š ļø What Iām Building (and Why)Lately, Iāve been thinking a lot about what kind of content I want to create.
Thereās just so much noise out thereāpodcasts, Substacks, social media reelsāand Iāve had moments where Iāve wondered if I should even add to the pile.
At first, I thought: maybe if I sound smart enough, Iāll be adding value. Maybe I should teach more. Prove Iām useful.
But when I really sat with it, I asked a deeper question:
What has helped me most when I felt low?
Sometimes, sureāI wanted information.
What vitamin could help?
How do I sleep better?
Whatās the research say?
But more oftenā¦
What I needed most was just to not feel so alone.
To hear someone say, āMe too.ā
Not with advice. Just with presence.
Thatās part of why Iāve funneled so much energy into the Meetup groups I run. I want to create a place where sensitive people can gather and just be real with each other.
But I also know not everyone can join a live group.
Some folks need asynchronous connection.
They need the content to come to themāwhen theyāre ready, and in a form they can take in.
So Iām building something.
Itās not done yetāitās still in the messy, creative, patchwork phaseābut Iām building a full ecosystem for sensitive people.
One that includes:
Free content (like this podcast and my Substack)
A $5/month membership that gives you access to all the live Meetup groups and coaching circles
And, eventually, a space where you can take courses, engage in community discussions, and find tools tailored to how your system works
Right now, that $5/month just covers the cost of the Meetup account itself. But here's the bonus:
If you join now, youāre grandfathered in at that price for life, even after the full system is live and has more features.
Itās my way of saying thank youāto the early believers.
And for those of you who just want to keep listening or reading quietly in the backgroundāthatās okay too. The podcast and Substack posts stay free.
Always.
Now let me take you to the story thatās been living in my chest all week.
Iāve been thinking about my grandmother.
She was a woman with sharp wit, a minimalistās soul, and a strong pour of scotch in the evening.
She had three kids, including my dad. And she went through something thatāat the timeāwas quietly devastating.
Her husband left her⦠for a man.
And this was not a time when that was talked about or supported. It was brave. And hard. And real.
But they navigated it with grace.
He said, āIf you get a child support check, itās because I have money. If you donāt, itās because I donāt.ā
He let her keep the house. He stayed honorable.
She didnāt crumble. She figured it out.
And what I remember most is not the hardshipābut the way she sat in her chair at the end of the day, a beret perched on her head, a glass of scotch in hand, and this sly, self-satisfied smile as sheād say:
āItās good to be the king.ā
It was as if, in that moment, she wasnāt waiting for anything else to fall into place.
She wasnāt chasing peace. She was choosing it.
That image of her came to me during this weekās Mindfulness Monday.
I led a group where we explored this prompt:
If money, time, and energy werenāt an issueāwhat would you choose to experience?
And once we imagined it, I asked:
What is the feeling youād be chasing in that scenario?
And then:
Whatās one small way you might access that feeling todayāwithout needing the whole setup?
Because sometimes, we can skip the middleman.
We donāt need the mansion to feel cozy.
We donāt need the month off to feel rested.
We donāt need a new identity to feel whole.
What weāre really longing for is often a sensation. A felt experience.
And sometimes, we can create it with a candle. A breath. A decision. A pause.
We ended that session by writing our own permission slips:
āI hereby give myself permission to feel free.ā
āTo feel joyful.ā
āTo feel held.ā
It reminds me of Viktor Franklās Manās Search for Meaning.
He survived Auschwitz. Lost his family. And still wrote:
āEverything can be taken from a man but one thing: the last of the human freedomsāto choose oneās attitude in any given set of circumstances.ā
He wasnāt being naĆÆve.
He wasnāt saying suffering doesnāt matter.
He was saying meaning matters more.
And when we can frame even a hard moment in purposeāor tendernessāor beautyāthatās where real power lives.
š§” Wrap-UpSo maybe todayās question is:
What would it look like to stop waiting for the storm to passāand dance anyway?
To sip your metaphorical scotch, wear your metaphorical beret, and say:
āItās good to be the king.ā
And to know that youāre not alone.
Because youāre not just listening to a coach or a health educatorāyouāre tapping into a community of sensitive, deeply human people who are asking the same questions and sharing the same kinds of reflections.
If thatās a community you want to join, the linkās in the show notes.
And if youāre just here to listen quietly for now, welcome. You belong, too.
Until next timeābe well, be curious, and give yourself the feeling⦠before the fix.
Want to join our meetup group?
Click Here: The Healthy Sensitive Meetup Group
98 episodes
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