The Brain It On! Podcast
Your brain is the powerhouse behind your life, your relationships, and your ability to overcome challenges. On The Brain It On! Podcast, we explore practical ways to nurture your brain for optimal health and happiness. We delve into strategies to strengthen your connections with loved ones, build resilience, and navigate life's ups and downs with a focus on brain health. This podcast offers actionable tips, emotional regulation techniques, and a trauma-informed approach to help you thrive in all areas of life. Discover how understanding and caring for your brain can transform your relationships and empower you to face any challenge with confidence.
The Brain It On! Podcast
Building Your Fellowship: Find Inspiration for Resilience
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In this episode, we draw parallels between our personal journey and the epic tale of "The Lord of the Rings," exploring how stories can inspire resilience. We discuss building supportive fellowships, embracing life's challenges, and choosing how to respond to uncertainty.
Discover how J.R.R. Tolkien's classic series offers insights into navigating personal trials, mirroring Thomas's own journey. Learn practical strategies for cultivating strong relationships, reframing hardships, and finding meaning in difficult times. We explore the power of inspiration in literature and art, focusing on understanding your narrative and finding strength in shared experiences.
Key Takeaways:
- Building your "fellowship": Cultivating supportive relationships and understanding your personal narrative.
- Embracing the "perilous path": Reframing challenges as opportunities for growth.
- Choosing your response: Finding agency and meaning in difficult circumstances.
Additional Resources:
Watch this episode on YouTube and subscribe to our new YouTube channel for visuals from our journey, behind-the-scenes photos, and extra content! 🎥
Introduction to Brain Health
Speaker 1Your brain is the powerhouse behind your life. On this podcast, we explore strategies to strengthen your connections, build resilience and navigate life's ups and downs, with a focus on brain health.
Speaker 2Discover how understanding and caring for your brain can transform your relationships and empower you to face any challenge with confidence.
Speaker 1Get ready to brain it on any challenge with confidence. Get ready to Brain it On. Hello everyone, and welcome back to Brain it On. Today we're exploring the power of inspiration, how stories, music, poetry and other artistic mediums can serve as a roadmap for navigating our own trials and triumphs. We'll be sharing our personal journey through Thomas' cancer and how themes from classic literature and film have offered us guidance, strength and hope.
Speaker 2More specifically, we're going to be exploring the relevant themes found in JRR Tolkien's classic series, the Lord of the Rings. So we're kicking off a special three-part series of episodes that'll dive into the inspirational principles and truths that can be found through artistic mediums like the literature, music, poetry, etc. That you were talking about there.
Speaker 1And that's why we have the fancy music.
Speaker 2Exactly the fancy Shire music. It's not our usual guitar intro music.
Speaker 1Mixing it up keeping it fresh, exactly. And we're looking forward to how these can offer us insights from Lord of the Rings about navigating both our own personal trials and also hopefully allow our listeners and viewers on YouTube if you're watching on YouTube the chance to see yourself within these stories.
Speaker 2Yeah, I'm stoked about the series. When Lindsay suggested that we do an episode or episodes based on the Lord of the Rings, it was probably my proudest moment as a husband. I've had a long relationship with this series of stories. I read them as a child. I was probably four or five when my mom started reading them to me, so bless her heart for doing that. I also dressed up like a black writer for Halloween for like four years straight, and this was back in the early 90s when no one knew what that was.
Lord of Rings Special Series
Speaker 2And so I don't know if me doing it before it was cool makes me some sort of Lord of the Rings hipster. Who's to say? But yes, yes, it does yes, yes it does.
Speaker 1I would say it does.
Speaker 2But I watched the cringy 1970s cartoons of it. I learned all the poems. Anyways, it's just something that's near and dear to my heart, so the fact that you wanted to jump in and do this means the world to me. I'm so nerdy. I'm actually, instead of my normal wedding band, today wearing my Lord of the Rings replica ring from New Zealand. It has the black speech on it and everything, and I figured if there was a day to wear it, today would be the day.
Speaker 1Today is not that day. No, today is that day Today is that day.
Speaker 1So yes, honestly, if you are not a Lord of the Rings fan or you haven't seen the films, you might think that this is not for you. I wasn't that way either. Until meeting Thomas, I had watched a little bit of the first movie, but I certainly wasn't enthusiastic or I didn't have a big knowledge about it previously. I forgive you, thank you, but I love that. You're a Lord of the Rings hipster and now I am fully immersed in the story and the lore and I love it as well.
Speaker 2I remember I started reading it to you.
Speaker 1Yes, after we got married.
Speaker 2I waited until marriage, because now you couldn't go anywhere. Just to play it safe you had to lay in bed next to me and listen to me.
Speaker 1It was beautiful. We actually started it up again. You started reading the other night. You do the voices. Are you going to do some of your voices for us today in the episode? Perhaps? I hope you do so again. If you're not into these types of movies, know that we're going to talk about themes that transcend the genre and that are applicable to everyone's lives.
Speaker 2Yeah, really. You know, that's what's powerful about stories is they're a way to find inspiration. Sometimes the most unexpected places, when you're facing a challenge or trying to understand something complex, a good story can be like a little secret door a secret tunnel, secret tunnel. That's an avatar reference avatar, last airbender reference. So 50 points to gryffindor, thank you for that.
Speaker 1That's awesome, thank you. So. Just like a secret door, a secret tunnel, these stories bypass our defenses, right?
Speaker 2Right right, our normal defenses that we might have against direct advice or lectures, the themes, the underlying truths. They just kind of sink in almost without you noticing. It's like you're enjoying the adventure, the characters, the world, and suddenly you realize you've absorbed something profound, something that resonates with your own experience in a way that plain speaking just couldn't have Totally characters, the world and suddenly you realize you've absorbed something profound, something that resonates with your own experience in a way that plain speaking just couldn't have.
Speaker 1Totally and actually. So you were not a Brene Brown fan when we met.
Speaker 2I was not. Well, I mean, I wasn't not a fan. I didn't know who she was.
Speaker 1You didn't know who she was but much like I entered your world of Lord of the Rings, I brought you into the realm of Brene. Brown and social emotional learning and something that she talks about in her book Atlas of the Heart and actually more specifically, her HBO series called Atlas.
Speaker 2I have the same name.
Speaker 1She uses movie clips to illustrate complex emotions, making it more relatable, emotions making it more relatable. And when she does this, it shows how stories again like you mentioned allow you to bypass defenses and explore deeper truths that resonate with us. And she talks about one of her. I believe it's Dare to Lead, perhaps the book that she wrote. She says owning our stories can be hard, but not nearly as difficult as spending our lives running away from them.
Speaker 1Only when we are brave enough to explore the darkness will we discover the infinite power of our light.
Speaker 2Little goosebumps hearing that one Straight up.
Speaker 1And that's what stories do. They help us explore our vulnerabilities and find that inner light.
Speaker 2I'm really glad you had me watch that with you. It put a lot of things in perspective, and hearing you talk about it now makes me think about how much I leaned on stories like Lord of the Rings throughout my treatment.
Speaker 1It wasn't just like escapism.
Speaker 2No, it wasn't pure escapism. It might've been a little bit escapism.
Speaker 1A little bit.
Speaker 2But it was a way of finding strength, seeing examples of resilience and reminding myself that even in the darkest times there's always hope. And you know that's really what we're doing with this little series here is we got closer to being able to return to Bend from Portland. We started to talk about our hometown as the Shire our own little Shire here. It was the beautiful place where the Hobbits start out in. That's their little homeland. It's all green and grassy and tranquil.
Speaker 1And here in Bend, in our Shire, it's actually white. It's snowing out right now.
Speaker 2It is snowing right now and I get really excited when it snows and I get very distracted.
Speaker 1It's taking everything within Thomas to not like run outside and do snow angels. So thank you it is. We might have to shut the window shades because I'm just mesmerized. I know I brought up the snow I shouldn't have so it's white in our shire right now.
Speaker 2It is so anyways, when shouldn't have? So it's white in our shire right now, it is so anyways. When we got back from portland, we're like, hey, let's pop in. Lord of the rings. We haven't watched it for a while and it's amazing that as we grow as people and go through things, uh, the stories we love if they're, you know, written well uh can also grow and mean different things to us as we evolve as people.
Speaker 1I was actually going to do a Lord of the Rings inspired episode years ago, back when we had the Positive Choices podcast. I don't know if you knew this or not but I wanted to relate, you know, the epic adventure of Lord of the Rings to like a teaching adventure when you first become an educator.
Speaker 1And so I actually had this in one of my files on my phone. First become an educator, and so I actually had this in one of my files on my phone. And as we were talking about bend being our Shire, I realized, oh my gosh, this is the context, like. This is where I see myself way more authentically, way in a much deeper level, truly feeling like the Lord of the rings, the. The burden of this, this heavy burden you're carrying this season of our lives. It resonates so much more than the original podcast idea, which never came to light. But now we're in this season where it has a different meaning as you mentioned, it's real, real relevant now.
Speaker 1Should we give the spoiler alert?
Speaker 2We should yes it's very obvious, but we're going to have spoilers in this podcast. Yes, we should. Yes, that's very obvious. We're going to have spoilers in this podcast.
Speaker 1If you haven't seen Lord of the Rings by now, you probably have avoided it on purpose somehow, but we encourage you to watch it and I, as my whole family knows, I get really enthusiastic about a story or a movie if I see a new movie and I may or may not have spoiled some Star Wars movies, some new movies in the past, so I have to give spoiler alerts whenever I share something.
Speaker 2It's decent of you. It's very decent of you.
Speaker 1So before we move on to the core content for this episode, shall we do a quick health highlight. Yes, let's have a quick health highlight so on march 2nd we left ohsu and we returned home to bend our shire. We're so happy to be home. We have the shire background behind us and we have some of thomas's favorite things around us nerdy trinkets nerdy trinkets all around.
Speaker 1we're so happy to be home and thomas spent exactly four and a half consecutive months away from home being treated in Portland for your bone marrow transplant, and that was 142 days. But who counted?
Speaker 2Who counted. Indeed, as of this week, I've been fighting cancer for eight months High five. Yeah.
Speaker 1That's amazing.
Speaker 2I've been home for two weeks with you, you know, readjusting to home life, but not necessarily home life as we've known. You know, like I still can't really see people or go anywhere because my immune system is still kind of shoddy right now and we're waiting for my neutrophils to go up and my ability to fight off diseases, and so you know I don't want my grafts compromised further and it further it's a whole thing we're having to be cautious.
Speaker 2All my friends and family that I haven't gotten to see since I've been back, just know that I would love to visit with you as soon as I possibly can.
Speaker 1Yes, that time will come very soon. Since returning home, thomas started to get these headaches so, to be safe, they did a lumbar puncture on Friday, which is a test where they take out some of his cerebral spinal fluid to see if there is any leukemia in there. Most likely, the headaches are just a result from the radiation that you went through, and our fingers are crossed and we're praying that the results will just show that, yeah, there's some inflammation there, but I appreciate that our doctors wanted to be safe.
Health Update & Homecoming
Speaker 2Yeah, for sure, they can do as many little tests as they want on me. You know more information is better and they did a really good job here at St Charles with the lumbar puncture. I was very impressed.
Speaker 1They did, and we don't know the results yet. We thought it might happen this weekend. You know, my chart will just tell us.
Speaker 2Right.
Speaker 1But now that the day's I mean it's almost over, we're probably going to get the news tomorrow.
Speaker 2Probably, which is St Patrick's Day.
Speaker 1Hopefully this will break the holiday news curse, which it's actually comical For most of the major holidays leading up to today, we've gotten some not-so-awesome news, so we're hoping that tomorrow is different and a totally different side note is that you have some of the best nails I've ever seen now.
Speaker 2Thank you, that's all. Thanks to my new stem cells from Fraulein Olga you can actually see it's almost like rings on a tree. You can see where my nails stopped and hers started and hers are way nicer than mine.
Speaker 1I have some nail envy now I do.
Speaker 1Yeah, I would too, I'm stoked and our donor we call her Olga, we don't know her real name, but she has so kindly offered, or she has accepted the request, that we have to have more stem cells donated. Thomas is grafted. He's not fully engrafted with his transplant and so on. I believe it's April 30th she's going to do another donation, so on May 1st they're going to fly the you know the fresh stem cells and you're going to have a secondary or supplemental transplant to get your counts up and it's just going to give you the boost that you need for your body to fight off any remaining cancer and to get your transplant fully engrafted. So we are so thankful to her again.
Speaker 2Hats off to Olga. We really appreciate you, wherever you are right now, hopefully living your best life, our best life, out in Germany, and I look forward to having more of your stem cells. I hope that doesn't sound creepy. It does not. In this context, I think it's perfectly acceptable.
Speaker 1All right, shall we transition to Lord of the Rings?
Speaker 2Yes, let us. We have a new song for that oh yeah, Also fits with the St Patrick's Day theme too, you know.
Speaker 1Yes, I didn't even think of that.
Speaker 2All right, Okay. So, like we said, when we started watching Lord of the Rings, we got back home from Portland and we started finding ourselves in the stories, having kind of profound epiphanies about our journey.
Speaker 1For instance, you've been carrying the ring like the cancer. This tremendous burden that I cannot bear. It's yours to bear, but, like Sam, I can be by your side and offer support and do whatever I can.
Speaker 2And, honestly, you have been my Sam. You've been keeping me going when I feel like I couldn't take another step, and so I'm just so honored to have had you alongside me in this journey.
Speaker 1Oh, you're going to make me cry and you've done the same.
Speaker 2If you cry, I'll cry. It'll be a mess.
Speaker 1And it can feel daunting knowing that you have this huge journey or adventure ahead of you to fight cancer, to overcome a major challenge, whatever it is that's in your life right now. If you have a complex relationship or you're pushing through maybe a period of grief or change that feels hard, it's tempting to want to find an easier path, like a shortcut, but sometimes, as Gladriel says, in the Rings of Power, sometimes the perilous path is the only path. Which also brings me to another quote that is similar, that we found applicable, and in fact we've actually said this back and forth to each other, and I'll reference you or I'll ask you to say it again with me, because it's so comforting. I hope you do your Gandalf voice here in a moment, but it's the conversation between Frodo and Gandalf. When Frodo is at this place, where he doesn't want to go on the perilous path, this is not something that he wanted to sign up for and Gandalf gives him some encouraging words. So would you do the honors, thomas?
Speaker 2I would love to.
Speaker 1Okay. So Frodo says I wish the ring had never come to me. I wish none of this had happened.
Speaker 2So do all who live to see such times, but that is not for them to decide. All we have to decide is what to do with the time that is given to us. There are other forces at work in this world, frodo, besides the will of evil.
Speaker 1Bilbo was meant to find the ring, in which case you are also meant to have it, and that is an encouraging thought that is a quote that I've told you, when I've said I'll just look at you and I'll say I wish the ring had never come to us, like I wish you never had cancer.
Speaker 1And then so do all who live to see such times You'll say that, and it's just this reminder of like, yeah, we don't get to pick our circumstances, but we can choose how we respond with the time that's given us, which is just so Ooh, so powerful.
Speaker 2Yeah, we can't change the past, but we can choose how we respond to the present. It's so interesting that Frodo's initial reaction to learning about the ring back when they're at bag end was to try to get rid of it and give it to Gandalf, you take it. And after Gandalf says he can't slash, won't take it. Uh, frodo asked the question. What must I do then? You know that was kind of like when I learned I had cancer.
Speaker 1I was like I don't want cancer?
Speaker 2no, I got. Okay, I have it. What do I have to do then? You know, um, and so gandalf gives pretty specific instructions of the plan for those to follow until they get to Rivendell later and that's kind of what like it was like in a two-day turnaround period where we found out oh, I have cancer, this is the plan. We have to go to HSU in like five days. I was a lot like Frodo.
Speaker 1My immediate reaction when we were in the oncology office was why can't Thomas be treated here?
Speaker 1Thomas's mom, as we mentioned before, has pancreatic cancer and she was receiving her cancer treatment at the Ben Cancer Center and we were driving her there. We knew the staff at the front desk and we were there quite often, and so we're sitting here in a different part of the cancer center, across from an oncologist who's telling us that we need to go to Portland, and I said why can't we stay here? And the doctor was very firm. She said going to Portland was essential, that your cancer was rare and aggressive and that it demanded a level of care far beyond what Ben could offer. So this meant that we had to leave our shire, our familiar life in Bend, for the uncertainties of this aggressive cancer treatment in Portland, and it wasn't something that I was thrilled about. And, as I mentioned, my initial thought was about, you know, wanting to stay home like a true hobbit, longing for the comfort of home, and that was something I was so clinging on to, not wanting to go on this journey.
Speaker 2Not being thrust into this adventure. You never asked for.
Speaker 1Exactly yeah.
Speaker 2But through the constant back and forth between Portland's hospitals, the Ronald McDonald House and our home in Bend, we've come to a powerful realization, which is that we are each other's home, actually, regardless of where we are, as long as we're together.
Speaker 2we've found our true home and so we've been able to laugh and cry and feel that deep connection, no matter where we are. Even if I were back here and you were still up in portland and I are separated from you, like I wouldn't feel like this house is our home right now. You know, like I just like sam and frodo um, they're so close. We're obviously close in a different way. We're married and they're not romantically involved, they're just friends. Having you alongside, like I've mentioned, made all the difference in the world.
Speaker 1I think that's why I had a hard time. When I came to Bend for maybe it was a week or longer when I was sick, I did a podcast episode. I'll link that in the show notes. But I just went through this period of this feeling really sad and really low because I was home but you were still in Portland. I was sick, I had to quarantine and so I was home, but I didn't feel like I was home. So you are my home, thomas. Sorry, kitty, our cats on the couch across from us. So, so sweet, she's not my home.
Speaker 2I wish you heard. You're sleeping right now.
Speaker 1Okay, good, all right. So now let's dive into the main strategies and parallels we found between our journey and the Fellowship of the Ring. Understand the power of owning your story and maybe sprinkle a little brain science in. What do you think?
Speaker 2Sounds great, let's do it. I'll do a chime or something. No, that's a robot. No, that's not a robot. Okay, we're back. All these buttons.
Speaker 1I know we got fancy with the buttons.
Speaker 2Hey transition music. We found it so. Tip number one build your fellowship.
Speaker 1Just like the fellowship strength came from its diverse members who were all supporting each other, we've also learned the importance of cultivating strong social connections. From the very beginning, when we had this call to adventure, call to go get this treatment, we had these people who came around us, this fellowship, so to speak, and this has been our friends, our family, our neighbor, taking care of sweet kitty who's sitting across from us. And it's about learning to be each other's Sam, that person who's so unconditionally loving you, coming alongside you, and who helps remind you of your values, maybe some of those shared values that you have. So, as we share our burdens and these experiences together, it makes it more bearable when we do this and a little bit of brain science coming from that brain perspective when we connect with others, our brains release this feel good chemical called oxytocin. We've talked about it before and it's like this warm hug for your brain. Plus, it activates the part of our brain that helps us understand and empathize with others, which makes those connections even stronger. Yeah, that's good.
Speaker 2Second, embracing the perilous path. The fellowship faces numerous dangerous challenges, often feeling lost and uncertain, and we've faced our own perilous path, but we've learned to find courage in facing difficult situations, understanding that these challenges lead to growth. It might feel like we're wandering in the dark at times, but, as Tolkien wrote, not all those who wander are lost.
Speaker 1I love that. There's a lot of bumper stickers that I see in Bend. Yeah, people who it says not all who wander are lost Usually love that there's a lot of bumper stickers that I see in Bend yeah, people who it says not all who wander are lost.
Speaker 2Usually on a Subaru Outback too.
Speaker 1Yes, I wonder if they know it's. They probably know it's from Lord of the Rings. They have to. I hope they do. I hope they do too.
Speaker 2But not all who wander are lost, and sometimes it's in those moments of uncertainty that we find our true strength. This also relates to understanding the chapters of your own story. Sometimes those chapters are dark, but they're still a part of your narrative.
Speaker 1That's a really powerful point, thomas, and it brings to mind the words of Christine Kane, who is an Australian activist, an author, an international speaker, who's dedicated her life to empowering others and fighting injustice. That's crucial word there.
Speaker 2Yeah, very good distinction.
Speaker 1She once said sometimes, when you're in a dark place and you think you've been buried, you've actually been planted.
Speaker 2When we're going through those moments of uncertainty, those dark chapters in our story. It can definitely feel like we're being buried under the wave at all. You know we might feel lost, overwhelmed and like we're just trying to survive. But what if, instead of being buried, we are actually being planted? That's such a cool concept.
Finding Ourselves in Stories
Speaker 1I love that. So what if those challenges, the moments of feeling lost, are actually the very things that are helping us grow stronger roots? What if they're preparing us for a future we can't even imagine yet, like us starting this podcast Eight months ago, having a podcast about bringing on challenges and helping people who are going through cancer? That was never on our radar, and even I mean we were helping your mom, supporting her through her cancer journey, but we didn't think that it was the time to do a podcast. That wasn't part of our story yet. And yet, with this additional cancer your cancer it's brought us to a place, this future, that we could not have ever imagined, and it makes me think that, just like a seed needs to be buried in darkness before it can sprout and grow, we need to go through those difficult times to develop resilience, that strength and a deeper understanding of ourselves and actually the brain science totally backs this up Of course it does.
Speaker 1You can think about this concept of it's actually called experience-dependent neuroplasticity. So when we face challenges, especially the prolonged or intense ones, our brains aren't just passively reacting to it. So your cancer journey eight months is a very long time. This isn't just a passive reacting. Our brains are actively rewiring themselves and these connections between neurons strengthen or weaken, based on our experiences. So when you are repeatedly navigating difficult situations, our brains become more efficient at handling stress, better at regulating emotions, better problem solving. It's like our brains are saying okay, we've seen this before, we know how to handle it. And this is how we build resilience and how those dark places actually become fertile ground for growth. So that feeling of being planted isn't just a metaphor, it's a neurological reality. And if you're interested in learning more about Christine Kane, she has a really good book. It's called Unshakeable. It's 365 days of devotions where it has her wisdom, scriptures from the Bible and really encouraging stuff. We read it every day over coffee.
Speaker 2So, tip number three, remembering that all we have to decide is what to do with the time that is given to us. So Frodo, overwhelmed by his burden, expresses a desire for a different reality, like I did. So Frodo, overwhelmed by his burden, expresses a desire for a different reality, like I did Right Understandably. But Gandalf reminds him that we have agency in how we respond and this is the ultimate owning of your story, you know.
Speaker 1Yes, so in Gandalf's response. So do all. I'm not going to do this. Can you say it?
Speaker 2I'm not as good, so do all who live to see such times.
Speaker 1This acknowledges Frodo's humanity. He wasn't like get over it, dude. He didn't say think about the greater picture, no, he pauses and he acknowledges this fear. But then he redirects Frodo's focus to agency and meaning and highlights the importance of finding purpose even in difficult circumstances, which is a concept that aligns with post-traumatic growth. A lot of us have heard of post-traumatic stress, but there's the concept of post-traumatic growth. What's that thing that you like to say?
Speaker 2If I'm going to go through this, I want to grow through this.
Speaker 1Mic drop, that's really good.
Speaker 2I'd like to think that I made that up.
Speaker 1We have not Googled to confirm. We're just going to believe that Thomas came up with that.
Speaker 2I'm sure someone else somewhere said it.
Speaker 1But we will never know ourselves.
Speaker 1And so David Kessler is a grief expert and he actually proposes that it's about finding meaning even amid suffering. And so you know, there's the five stages of grief. He proposes that we should have a sixth stage, which is about finding meaning once you've gone through and of course the stages are not necessarily linear, they can be cyclical but making sure that people come to this place where they can find meaning even amid suffering. And from a brain science perspective, when we choose how to respond to a situation, we feel more in control, and that lowers our stress levels. It's like even when things are tough, we can still steer the ship to an extent. And when we focus on finding meaning and purpose, neurologically our brains release chemicals that make us feel good and motivated, and it ties into finding a light in the darkness. Our brains are wired to find that light. We do have a negativity bias, but once we shift and decide you know what, I'm not going to get overwhelmed by the darkness, I'm going to look for the good, I'm going to look for the light Then our brains are wired to focus on that and to look for the good of our situation. We talk about gratitude a lot, so sometimes the journey is on purpose. But even when we feel lost and it doesn't seem purposeful, we are finding our way.
Speaker 1And Gandalf and Frodo were on that journey, a wandering journey at times. They knew the direction they were going, but there were a lot of things they didn't anticipate along the way. So to solidify these ideas from the Fellowship of the Ring, here's a recap of those three takeaways. Number one forge your fellowship. Create a strong, supportive relationship or relationships plural that provide a sense of belonging and shared purpose. Number two embrace the perilous pathledge, the inevitability of facing difficult challenges and reframe them as opportunities for growth. And finally, choose your response. Decide how you'll respond to the circumstances you face. As Gandalf, wisely advised, and again, this is fluid. You might not have the best response at first, you might be, you know, frustrated or not wanting to go a certain way, but give yourself grace as you ultimately find your purpose and your meaning.
Speaker 2Great recap. And also we encourage you to find your own inspiration. Find the story, the movie, the song, whatever it is that speaks to you, that resonates with your own journey, that inspires you to push through the hard times, because those touchstones, those sources of inspiration, they can be the light that guides you through dark times.
Speaker 1We hope you've found some comfort and inspiration and that you'll join us for the next part of our journey, as we explore the two towers, and in that episode we'll be discovering how, even when our paths diverge, when we face seemingly insurmountable challenges or obstacles, inner strength and enduring friendships can guide us towards hope and renewal. Thanks so much for listening.
Speaker 2Take care.
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