Recommended Episodes:

Secret #68 — Secrets of Rest with Alex Soojung-Kim Pang

Secret #30 — Wise Effort with Dr. Diana Hill

Secret #69 — No One Is “Self-Made” with Dr. Lakeysha Hallmon

A tender, practical conversation about how a terminal diagnosis can sharpen priorities, deepen connection, and teach the rest of us how to live on purpose—today.

Psychologist Dr. Ray Owen and Sam Stroud, recently diagnosed with MND/ALS, join Emma and Chris to talk about presence, priorities, and building a life that stays wide—even when options narrow. Sam shares what helped in the first weeks after diagnosis (stay engaged with life, ask for real support), while Ray maps compassionate skills for meeting pain without letting it shrink your world. Together, they show how practices like meditation can hold difficulty and meaning at the same time, and why honest community is a lifeline for patients and families alike. You’ll leave with grounded tools for navigating illness—and for living more fully even if you’re well.

Topics Discussed in this Episode:

• Staying engaged with life after diagnosis
• First-person stories as antidotes to fear
• Meditation as capacity-building (not escape)
• Compassion skills for making room for pain
• Community and honest conversation as lifelines
• Mortality as a focusing practice for priorities

View extended shownotes here

Struggling with your child’s big feelings? Our new children’s workbooks are here to help kids and parents handle worry, disappointment, and anger using practical, compassionate tools. Follow the journeys of Justin Case, the Glumm Twins, and Max Cross as they learn that tough emotions are normal and manageable. Find all three workbooks at bookstores everywhere and give your family the support they deserve.

• ORDER Max Cross Gets Unstuck from Anger: An Acceptance and Commitment Therapy Workbook for Ages 8-12 (ACT Workbook series for kids)
• ORDER Justin Case Sits with Anxiety: An Acceptance and Commitment Therapy Workbook for Ages 8-12 (ACT Workbook Series for Kids)
• ORDER The Glumm Twins Unhook from Sadness: An Acceptance and Commitment Therapy Workbook for Ages 8-12 (ACT Workbook Series for Kids)

Recommended Episodes:

• Secret #68: Secrets of Rest with Alex Soojung-Kim Pang
• Secret #61: Reimagining Anger with Russell Kolts
• Secret #62: The Connection Paradox with James Cordova
• Secret #69: No One is "Self-Made" with Dr. Lakeysha Hallmon
• Secret #55: Belonging with Meg McKelvie
• Secret #48: The Tree That Bends with Ross White
• Secret #60: There is No Normal with Dr. Steven C. Hayes
• Secret #54: The Reign of Pain with Howard Schubiner
• Secret #67: Living with Death with Dr. Robyn Walser and Dr. Manuela O'Connell

What happens when we look back on a year of conversations and discover the recurring themes that shape our lives? In this special year-in-review episode, hosts Chris McCurry and Emma Waddington reflect on the surprising paradoxes they've encountered throughout their podcast journey—the uncomfortable truths that keep emerging despite our be

Struggling with your child’s big feelings? Our new children’s workbooks are here to help kids and parents handle worry, disappointment, and anger using practical, compassionate tools. Follow the journeys of Justin Case, the Glumm Twins, and Max Cross as they learn that tough emotions are normal and manageable. Find all three workbooks at bookstores everywhere and give your family the support they deserve.

• ORDER Max Cross Gets Unstuck from Anger: An Acceptance and Commitment Therapy Workbook for Ages 8-12 (ACT Workbook series for kids)
• ORDER Justin Case Sits with Anxiety: An Acceptance and Commitment Therapy Workbook for Ages 8-12 (ACT Workbook Series for Kids)
• ORDER The Glumm Twins Unhook from Sadness: An Acceptance and Commitment Therapy Workbook for Ages 8-12 (ACT Workbook Series for Kids)

Recommended Episodes

• Secret #60: There is No Normal with Dr. Steven C. Hayes
• Secret #56: Spirituality with Dr. Matthieu Villatte
• Secret #55: Belonging with Meg McKelvie

What happens when we stop glorifying the “self-made” myth and start honoring the power of community?
Dr. Lakeysha Hallmon—educator, entrepreneur, and founder of The Village Market and Our Village United—joins hosts Emma Waddington and Chris McCurry to explore the truth that success is never a solo act. Together they unpack the cultural illusion of rugged individualism, how to build intentional communities, and why collaboration, not competition, is the path to collective flourishing.

Dr. Hallmon shares how divine assignments, purpose, and persistence shaped her journey, and invites listeners to reframe independence as interdependence—to see that thriving is always a village effort.

Topics Discussed:

• The myth of the “self-made” person and the harm of rugged individualism
• What it means to be village-made, not self-made
• How community closes economic and opportunity divides
• The six village archetypes: futurists, builders, connectors, collaborators, enthusiasts, and observers
• Why resistance to collaboration is normal—and what to do about it
• Divine assignments, purpose, and trusting discomfort as part of growth
• How to build communities with alignment, trust, and presence

View Extended Shownotes here

Struggling with your child’s big feelings? Our new children’s workbooks are here to help kids and parents handle worry, disappointment, and anger using practical, compassionate tools. Follow the journeys of Justin Case, the Glumm Twins, and Max Cross as they learn that tough emotions are normal and manageable. Find all three workbooks at bookstores everywhere and give your family the support they deserve.

• ORDER Max Cross Gets Unstuck from Anger: An Acceptance and Commitment Therapy Workbook for Ages 8-12 (ACT Workbook series for kids)
• ORDER Justin Case Sits with Anxiety: An Acceptance and Commitment Therapy Workbook for Ages 8-12 (ACT Workbook Series for Kids)
• ORDER The Glumm Twins Unhook from Sadness: An Acceptance and Commitment Therapy Workbook for Ages 8-12 (ACT Workbook Series for Kids)