Craving real-life connection? Why women are tired of performative living

Are you exhausted by living online but still feeling disconnected?

In this Season 5 premiere of Thrive Like a Mother, we’re naming something many women are feeling but haven’t said out loud. It’s the quiet burnout from performative living and the deep craving for embodied, in-person connection.

In this episode, we’ll talk through:

• Why I think digital connection isn’t satisfying us anymore
• What actually shifts in your nervous system when women gather in person
• How slowing down and returning to real-life rhythms helps you thrive

You’ll also hear a recap of Seasoned Conversations and why this gathering confirmed something powerful that I repeat often: we were never meant to do life alone.

Season 5 is about returning to ourselves, choosing presence over urgency and rooted living over rush.

If episode resonates, share this episode with a woman who’s craving something deeper right now.

Follow and chat with me on Instagram:

Podcast account - @thrivelikeamother.podcast

Personal account - @thrive.empowered

Sending you light and love always!

Transcript

Welcome Back & Season Five Intentions

SPEAKER_01 0:00

It was a heart response, truly, as I don't think in stepping into being a chef, that wasn't the first thing that came to mind organically as I was hearing from my friends and, you know, just watching just the state, the state of our being, the state of our world, the state of everything that's happening. It was a response literally from my heart to women that are craving that type of depth, that are seeking and in search of that type of depth, of wanting spaces that feel safe, that feel slow, that feel intentional. Hey Liv, I'm Ebony and welcome to Thrive Like a Mother. On this podcast, we're scared for our truth, but that fear is what fuels us to truly live in it. You're in the right place if you feel like you're stuck in survival mode and you're ready to step into who you were truly meant to be. I'll share resources and tools I use daily to help you in your journey towards a healthier mindset and to break the wheel of survival. The journey may not be easy, but you won't have to face it alone. I'm a mama of three healing day by day from past trauma, and I'm on a mission to build a life I've always dreamed of, but never thought was possible. So, love, if you're ready to believe in what's possible, let's link arms and thrive together. Hey loves, welcome back to Thrive Like a Mother. Wow, we are on season five, y'all. Season five. And I really want to start this new season right off the bat, naming something that I truly believe a lot of us might be feeling coming into 2026, even if we haven't had words for it quite yet. And that is we are tired. We are tired, not just physically, but also emotionally, mentally, spiritually tired. Tired of feeling like we have to perform our lives online, tired of consuming so much information, so many news events, so much, instead of connecting with each other, tired of feeling like we are surrounded by a lot of people, but still feeling lonely. And underneath that tiredness, that exhaustion, there is this deep craving, a craving for real life and for embodied connection. Y'all, we I feel like coming out of the pandemic, right? We are craving that connection again for being in rooms with other women where we don't necessarily have to explain ourselves or feel like we have to show the highlighted version of ourselves, or even feel like we have to hold it all together and stay strong. Right. And so this episode, this first episode of Thrive Like a Mother season five, this season is about returning to ourselves. It's about slowing down, it's about reconnecting with our bodies, it's about choosing intention over the rush, over the hustle and bustle. This season is truly an invitation to thrive from an anchored space. And so today, today we're gonna talk about, like I said, why we're feeling and craving that real life again, right? What is the shift that is happening that I keep talking about with my friends or keep just seeing show up on social media, even? Why are we craving that again? And what truly does happen when women gather around a table in a room? And I want to share some just insights about seasoned conversations and how it really became a response to that craving and that longing. And so here's what I've been noticing, right? First of all, in my own personal life, and like I said, in conversations that I've had with friends and other women, is that that digital connection, y'all, it is reaching its limit. It's reaching its limit. Not saying that there's not a place and space for it in our lives. But we scroll, we like, we comment, we consume, and yet still so many of us are still feeling unseen. Social media, it gives us access to people. It gives us the opportunity to share. But what it doesn't give us is that true presence. It shows us, like I said, those highlight reels, but it doesn't actually hold us when things are feeling heavy or are feeling like just too much. And I don't think that that means that we failed at connection. If you think about it, the pandemic took us out of our humanity where we were forced to isolate. We were forced not to be an in-person community with each other for safety, right? There was a reason, but it forced us to take such a huge part of what makes us human and put it to the side for a while. We were never meant to do this life alone. We were never meant to process things like grief and joy and motherhood. So many mothers who were birthed, birthed during the pandemic alone. We were never meant to process our healing and our growth, our successes in isolation. And so if you have recently, like I like I said, I've been feeling it myself and then other people around me, we've been feeling that pull towards something deeper, something slower, something more real. There's not anything wrong with you. Like I said, we are finding our humanity again. We are settling in that again and realizing that it is starting to feel safe to do those things again. And that longing, that craving, that is our deep wisdom. There is truly, y'all, something powerful that happens when women gather in the same space, physical space at the same time. When we are able to sit across from one another, uh, when we're able to laugh together without having a screen in between us, we can do things like notice body language, we can notice a tone of voice, we can notice our breath and our emotions. And when women are able to gather in those spaces, maybe even around a table, our defenses, our walls, they start to feel like they can come down and soften. Things that we've been going through, they start to surface. We feel like we can share. Our nervous systems start to feel like they can settle because we remember at those tables in those spaces that this whole time that we were feeling like we were going through something alone, we weren't because we're never alone truly in our experiences. There is another woman that maybe hasn't gone through exactly the same thing, but possibly has felt the same emotions or has gone through something pretty similar. And here's the thing about seasoned conversations. I made it very intentional that it was not only us sitting around a table, but I made sure that seasoned conversations also had the element of food in it. And the thing is, it's not just about the food. Yes, it matters. Yes, the vibe and the aesthetic, yes, it matters, right? But what it really truly was about was about presence. And there is something so special about being present while you're eating, not rushing through that. I was very intentional on knowing that, you know, we as humans, we do know how to slow down when we eat. We don't always necessarily, especially as moms. Sometimes we're just like grabbing and eating things, you know, moving so quickly, sometimes not even sitting down. But when we do gather around food, when we do gather around a vibe, around a dim lit room with candles and flowers and warmth, there is this like remembering that starts to happen. This remembering of like who we are beneath all the hats that we wear, all the responsibilities, all the expectations, all the performance that we've been putting on. And seasoned conversations, it was truly born out of longing for that remembering, longing to come back to our humanity. It it was a heart response, truly. As I don't think in stepping into being a chef, that wasn't the first thing that came to mind organically as I was hearing from my friends and, you know, just watching just the state, the state of our being, the state of our world, the state of everything that's happening. It was a response literally from my heart to women that are craving that type of depth, that are seeking and in search of that type of death, of wanting spaces that feel safe, that feel slow, that feel intentional. And selfishly, you know, I am one of those women, right, who am in a space in my life where I am craving that level of death with other women that like truly get it, right? And that response, it's brought me to a realization, you know, we're on Thrive like a mother, right? And the thing is, I say it all the time that thriving doesn't happen in isolation. It doesn't happen when we're alone. It happens when we are in community. And so what unfolded with season conversations really confirmed something I already knew in my body, full force. I myself am someone who I respond. I respond to the calling that I hear. And what I was hearing is that we as women, like we're ready. We're ready to return to real life in-person experiences, to sit down with each other, to eat together, to talk through things that we may have been holding on to alone. We are ready to be held in community without feeling the pressure that we have to show up perfectly, that we have to perform. And so Season Conversations was not just an event. Yes, it was a beautiful event. I will say that. But it truly was a reflection of this culture shift that I've been feeling where we as women, we are choosing more presence over doing the things on the to-do list. We are choosing connection over consuming more and more information. And we are choosing intention with our time in our presence instead of urgency, instead of we need to do this quickly. We're saying, hmm, what is how is this going to impact me if I choose to do this quickly? What is the intention behind it? We're we're getting honest with ourselves, y'all. And it is, it is honestly so, so beautiful. And so as I kick off season five of the Thrive Like a Mother podcast, I gotta give you the vibes, right?

SPEAKER_00 13:03

This season is about slowing down.

A Place To Land: Guided Breath

SPEAKER_01 13:09

It's about being more intentional, it's about being anchored in our bodies, in lived experiences, in what it actually truly means to thrive as a woman and as mothers. And every single episode this season, there's a shift that you're going to feel because it's not just going to be about information anymore. It's not going to be as much as giving you the tools to put in your toolbox, but we are going to be reflecting a lot more this season. And so, yes, I'm going to give you the advice. Yes, I'm going to still give you the tools, but we are going to be being intentional about reflecting how to put that into action in our lives. So at the end of every single episode now, I'm going to be leaving you with something a little bit new that I have been noodling on for a while. This constant, right? I wanted to make sure that every single episode, yes, I give you the tools, but yet also I give you that constant. And it is a place to land. And so before we close today, I want to introduce that constant, this place to land. This is your moment to pause, to breathe, to let, you know, everything that you've heard today about the shift, the welcome shift, allow that to really just settle in your body. Instead of leaving this episode and rushing off to the next thing on what I know is a to-do list that never ends. Like, right? And so wherever you are, I want you to take a breath with me. If you're listening in the car, you can still do this. Just don't close your eyes.

SPEAKER_00 15:03

But take a breath with me. Inhale slowly. Hold it for a few seconds. Three, two, one, and exhale fully.

Reflection Prompt: Craving Connection

You’re Not Broken For Wanting More

Closing Gratitude & Next Steps

SPEAKER_01 15:26

I don't know if y'all can hear it in the background, but our my my dog, my almost 12-year-old English bulldog, also took a breath with us. But here's the reflection, y'all, that I truly want to leave you with today. It's where in my life am I craving more real connection? It might be one, it might be more than one. And you don't have to feel like you have to answer this right now. Sit with that question and notice what comes up for you, right? And allow whatever that thing or those things are, allow it to start to guide you with more intention in your life, right? And gently. Don't feel like this is another thing you have to do. Put on your to-do list. This is not about that. This is really just about getting honest with yourself and taking that small, gentle step to start feeling more intention in your life. And so as we begin season five, I want you to know this. You're not broken for wanting more. You're not needy for craving more connection. You are human. And we just as a people on this earth, we are coming back into our humanity after a hiatus of one of the most powerful things about being human or just about being on this earth, right? Remember that thriving it doesn't happen through doing more on the to-do list. It doesn't happen with consuming more information. It happens when we return to ourselves, when we return to our bodies, and when we return to each other. And so this season, like I said, y'all, it's an invitation. Slow down with me this season, choose intention, stay anchored, and remember, as I will remind you every single episode, that we were never meant to do this life alone. Thank you for being here with me. Thank you for continuing to grow with me. And thank you for the return to real life, right? One breath, one conversation, one moment at a time. All right, y'all. I will see you right back here next week. Thank you so much for listening, love. If anything in today's episode resonated with you, share it with your bestie or share it on social media and tag me so we can chat about it. As always, sending you light and love. And remember, you are worthy, you are enough, and you deserve to thrive.