Supernaut
Supernaut is a podcast about spirituality, sobriety, and the spectrum of self. Hosted by Beth Kelling, this show explores what it means to seek clarity, connection, and personal truth in a world that rarely slows down.
Since beginning her sobriety journey in 2020, Beth has been diving deeper into spiritual practices, emotional honesty, and all the beautiful, messy layers of identity.
Each episode opens the door to conversations about healing, growth, creativity, intuition, and everything in between — because who we are isn’t fixed, it’s a spectrum.
Beth will be joined by guests who share their own stories, perspectives, and spiritual paths — offering insight, inspiration, and the occasional cosmic detour.
Whether you’re sober-curious, spiritually inclined, or just looking to feel a little more human, you’re in the right place
Supernaut
Slowing Down - Isaac Maser
A chance to slow down and listen to the wild turkeys—that's what spirituality means to Isaac, who joins Beth Kelling for a deeply personal conversation about finding the divine in unexpected places. This thoughtful exchange reveals how our spiritual journeys often intertwine with our greatest challenges.
Isaac shares his approach to Christianity that "goes against the grain," believing that sacred experiences happen beyond church walls. His spiritual curiosity was nurtured by a mother who encouraged questioning everything through daily morning debates, leading him to explore diverse religious traditions from Buddhism to demonology before finding his own path.
The conversation takes a vulnerable turn as Isaac opens up about facing fears—literally confronting his fear of heights daily in his roofing profession—and his journey through addiction. His candid reflection on quitting alcohol after an allergic reaction and the birth of his son reveals how watershed moments can transform our lives. Perhaps most powerful is his insight on overcoming tobacco addiction: "Lydia for sure. You got to be a man about it and just do it." This sparks Beth's reflection that while we're taught to love ourselves first, sometimes it's our love for others that helps us heal.
Their exchange exposes the paradox of religious communities that preach forgiveness while practicing judgment, from family reactions to tattoos to the pressure to appear perfect in church. This authenticity makes their conversation feel like eavesdropping on two friends discussing life's biggest questions without pretense.
What emerges is a refreshing perspective on spirituality that embraces both tradition and questioning, structure and freedom, self-love and the love of others. Have you found your garden—that place where, like Jesus in scripture, you can truly connect with something greater than yourself?
0:00 Introduction to Spirituality and Sobriety
3:35 Finding God in Different Places
8:15 Debating Faith and Learning Religions
14:20 Facing Fears and Confrontation
19:20 Christianity, Judgment and Forgiveness
22:10 Conspiracy Theories and Taylor Swift
24:30 Journey Through Addiction and Sobriety
28:50 Quitting for Others and Future Generations
This is Supernaught. My name is Beth Kelling and I'm going to talk about spirituality, sobriety and the spectrum of self. I've loved talking about spirituality for as long as I can remember and I've been on a sobriety journey since 2020. The more I talk about sobriety, the stronger I become. The more I explore spirituality, the more fulfilled I feel. This is a space for stories and for the moments where struggle meets transformation. This is Supernaught, hi Isaac.
Speaker 1:Hi I asked you to come on Super Knot because we don't get the chance to talk for more than five minutes very often, but anytime it is a conversation over five minutes it seems to get really deep. Yeah for sure You're a really wise person and I just really enjoy talking to you. So I don't know what you believe spiritually and I'm curious.
Speaker 2:You know it's a. It's kind of an ongoing question. You know it's a, I don't know. You know it's a. I always want to learn what everybody else believes and then try to come up with my own opinion. I'm definitely Christian, but I do go against the grain a little bit. You know I don't. I don't know just the physical church structure is. You know I believe that people find God in different places, whether it's driving, it's out in nature. You know, in the Bible it mentions that Jesus went to the garden to meditate. Well, why did he go to the garden? I think a lot more people in the world need to go find a garden.
Speaker 1:Yeah, that's what I'm feeling in life right now Like I just need to listen to the birds. I literally just need to walk outside amongst those trees, like it's spring right now and so everything's brown and kind of gross. But the fact that the birds are making noise and coming out brings a lot of peace to me and I just need to be out there more. But to find the actual time Are you good at finding the time?
Speaker 2:You know where I live. I'm pretty fortunate when I step out of the truck when I get home, like last night, I heard the wild turkeys and I just stood there for three minutes and I felt completely just free of all the shit that was in my head. Just uh, you know, just taking the time to enjoy the little things might sound cliche, but I, uh, I'm a firm believer in that yeah, yeah, no, for sure.
Speaker 1:I think that's the most important thing is to find time for the little things, and you have two young children, so is that hard sometimes, like, how do you make sure that you're getting your you time?
Speaker 2:um, you definitely have to catch any opportunity that arises, um, and try to involve them. You know I try to. You know, if we, if we hear turkeys or or see a deer like last night we saw a deer and I told waylon, um, you know, oh, listen to the turkeys, and and then I I feel like it's teaching him to, to soak those things in and and appreciate the little things as well. So it's definitely an uphill battle with children, but it's totally worth it. I love every minute of it. Um, yeah, yeah.
Speaker 1:So you said, uh, kind of a mix of things. You like to learn what other people believe and then kind of choose your own. Can you go into that more? And, veda, can you maybe text Steve or call him and tell him that they should be more quiet out there, and we'll cut that out.
Speaker 2:Definitely my mother was a big push behind learning what everybody else believes. How are you supposed to be right if you don't know how to debate, or you know? I think that's kind of where it stemmed from is, uh, me being a rebellious child and my mother said, well, you don't, you don't, you don't know anything. So, uh, I read, I read a lot of books about different, different faiths and different religions, um, buddhism and Hinduism, uh, a little bit of satanic stuff. It's a little disturbing.
Speaker 1:You read it and thought, oh, I can stay away from that.
Speaker 2:Yeah, yeah, for sure, and you know just yeah.
Speaker 1:Didn't your mom teach you to debate, though, didn't she?
Speaker 2:encourage that. Most definitely, most definitely. But was religion? Did she as well, or did she kind of put her foot down debate though, didn't she?
Speaker 1:encourage that most definitely, most definitely. But with religion, did she as well, or was she? Did she kind of put her foot down?
Speaker 2:yeah, yeah, she she was definitely encouraging to debate everything, um, always question everything, um, and think be a thinker, uh, otherwise you're, you're gonna be told what to do the rest of your life.
Speaker 1:Yeah.
Speaker 2:Yeah, I give a lot of credit to my mother for sure for a lot of stuff. Every morning since I was homeschooled, I was fortunate enough to have morning talks with her which were pretty much just an hour-long debate of something, and then the next morning we'd have something new or you know, but we'd give it about an hour.
Speaker 1:Every morning you got an hour and you were supposed she would pick a topic and you were supposed to debate it.
Speaker 2:Yeah, or if we just didn't come to a conclusion, we'd give it a rest and then visit it again the next day.
Speaker 1:That's amazing.
Speaker 2:and then visited again the next day, that's amazing. Yeah, so I'm definitely very grateful for my mother.
Speaker 1:Were you happy that you were homeschooled? Was it your whole every grade?
Speaker 2:You know definitely the first couple weeks were like hell yes, I don't have to go to school. And then it got a little lonely at times. And this was what grade 9th, 10th, 11th and 12th Okay.
Speaker 1:And you're the youngest or the middle, you're the middle.
Speaker 2:Out of four boys, I'm the second oldest, so kind of in the middle.
Speaker 1:Did you homeschool them too?
Speaker 2:She homeschooled my younger brother at the same time as me, so we weren't necessarily alone. We grew up as best friends. And then currently she's homeschooling our baby brother, his 12. So, yeah, and he loves to debate as well, so at times it gets annoying and exhausting, but it's fun.
Speaker 1:Awesome. I was homeschooled in fourth grade. My mom, I feel like, kind of tricked me into it. She said this is the grade where they start talking about sex and wouldn't you rather learn from me than from them? And the new school has new carpet and you're allergic to new carpet, and I don't know if I actually am. No, I'm just kidding. Yes, mom, I kind of would get highs from like nylon and new carpet type stuff on my arms. And she homeschooled my brother and that went well. But, yeah, we fought a lot. She caught me cheating. I wrote the answers on my arm, so it was good. I'm glad that I did it.
Speaker 1:And then also in ninth grade, I chose to go to the Christian school in Cambridge. I don't know if I ever told you that, but that was a good experience. There was only like 10 people in each grade and, um, that's where I had to do my first speech in school, where I would cry because I couldn't do speeches and I would run off. Yeah, but getting better all the time still a big fear. But, um, do you have any fears?
Speaker 2:Uh, I guess tons of them, you know, um, I think, as, as a parent, you you inherit a whole new wave of fears. But yeah, heights, it's good heights, really.
Speaker 1:Have you flown in a plane?
Speaker 2:Yep.
Speaker 1:You don't like it though. I just I've kind of I haven't fully overcome the fear, but I know how to manage it you just make yourself do it, but you're never going to choose to like, hey, let's get on a plane yeah, even getting on certain buildings. It's a little intimidating at times, but so you chose a profession where you're just like facing your fears all the time climbing on roofs.
Speaker 2:That's awesome, not surprised. So you showed us a profession where you're just like facing your fears all the time.
Speaker 1:Yes, climbing on roughs Yep, wow, that's awesome.
Speaker 2:Not surprised, yeah, and I tell people that and they're like you're so bullshit and I'm like I'm for real. I think only a handful of people have actually seen me terrified up on a roof, but yeah you just got to do it.
Speaker 1:Yeah, terrified up on a roof, but uh, yeah, you just got to do it. Yeah, um, fears like that haven't. Like when I went skydiving, I was just like refused to be scared as a you're flying up in the plane and the squares are getting smaller and smaller and I'm like I still didn't feel any fear in my body. I'm like, if I'm gonna die, I'm gonna. But then I was holding on and my feet were dangling and it's tandem. So there's somebody behind me with their legs um around and we're both sitting and he's just like, okay, like go now. And I'm like no, like we'll, we'll get sucked out, won't we? And he's like, no, you won't get sucked out. And then he just kind of went one, two, three and we just went. And I mean so I was scared when he said, let go, when I was scared to get sucked out.
Speaker 1:Otherwise, heights haven't been a thing for me. Planes, I just shut, I fall asleep before the plane even takes off. I kind of just refuse to even think about. I'm so good at blocking things out of my brain yeah, I feel like being up in a plane.
Speaker 2:That's a whole different. That's a whole different level of heights. I mean a building. You fall and you get hurt. I mean you're just kind of.
Speaker 1:I guess I would almost rather have a plane crash than fall off a building.
Speaker 2:Most definitely, Most definitely yeah.
Speaker 1:Yeah, when I was working with Glenn and doing some overhead door stuff, one time a service call and I was climbing up a ladder and that's when I had the first time I thought this thought, because I've said it a few times since. It's like I'm just not smart enough to know I should be scared of heights, because I've never really fallen and I should check the ladder better. You know, I mean I'm not, I wasn't great at it. Anyways, any other fears Personal I mean, of course, yeah, the ones with the kids, I mean there's a million there but any personal fears that you have overcame in the past or that you're thinking you might want to?
Speaker 2:Confrontation.
Speaker 1:I think you're already pretty good at that, but I suppose we can always all get better.
Speaker 2:Yeah, yeah, you know, because there's always a bigger fish in the world. You're always meeting bigger people. But yeah, you just got to do it and it feels so good to to do something that you're scared to do yeah, yeah, okay.
Speaker 1:So back to the religion the buddhism, the hinduism. Is there anything from those religions that you've pulled out and been like? I just really like that about them. Um, I want to implement that into my life, into my christianity um, yes and no, I think.
Speaker 2:I think a lot of people like to yes and no. I think a lot of people like to say that they you know as far as forgiveness and grace. I think a lot of people like to claim that they are serious advocates for that or that their religion is all about that. I would say Christians are probably some of the hardest to forgive or hardest to handle that topic, and judgmental people are often found in churches.
Speaker 1:I find yeah, that is true, that's that really is in in grade school, when I kind of started falling away from Christianity grade school, middle school maybe, when I go to church and just feel like I had to be perfect and I just didn't feel good, I guess.
Speaker 2:And I guess.
Speaker 1:I didn't know how to say that to my parents because they made me go every single Sunday. I mean they went every week and they loved it. But and we even went to a hippie church, compared to the one my grandma went to, she went to the Missouri Senate Zion Church and when my mom broke away and went to the Lutheran Church in Brunswick that you know, we sang more and we got to speak our mind more. My grandma didn't talk to my mom for a while. I mean I was a kid so I don't know for sure, but I want to say like six months maybe. And yeah, I mean speaking of forgiveness. My grandma also didn't talk to my mom for a few months when she found out I was pregnant without being married.
Speaker 2:Yeah.
Speaker 1:You know, and my mom was like it's a baby, like how can you be upset about a baby? Like obviously this isn't ideal, but it's a human life, and so that's where Christianity to me was just kind of like I'm supposed to judge people, I'm supposed to act a certain way. I didn't see other people acting differently outside of church. You know some people say that like oh, I see them acting one way in church and a different way outside of the church. That I didn't really see. But just in general I just didn't like I've never liked rules and fitting into anything. Yeah.
Speaker 2:Yeah, for sure, I grew up Missouri Synod going every Wednesday during, you know, Lent, Still go, still go. But definitely, you know, me and my, my brothers, we like, we like tattoos and that's not super openly accepted. We like tattoos and that's not super openly accepted. Um, so it was. It was a little different, you know, and it still kind of is. You know, some of the older generation look at you and um, but you know, that's just everybody's different.
Speaker 1:Yeah, okay, totally like grandma bashing this episode, because that's just another thing, though. I mean, I love my grandma, she's amazing. But when I was like 15 or 16, we went on a cruise the family and I got a fake like henna tattoo. And she literally said to me and she's never said anything like this before, any words like this in her life and she looked at me and she said if you ever get a real tattoo, I'm going to disown you and come to your wedding dressed as a whore. I was literally like what? Like I'd never heard her say anything like that before. I went and told my brothers we're all laughing hysterically. We're like you know what that? That's so wild.
Speaker 1:And then, after my son was born and she got really close, I mean she forgave my mom, forgave me. She had to be around James all the time when he was a baby. And then I got my first tattoo when he was a few months old and I just didn't even hide it from her because I'm like, if you want to see James, you're going to have to accept that I have a tattoo. You never said anything to my brothers about having a tattoo. It's a sin for women but not for men.
Speaker 1:Yeah, I mean, come on, grandma, yeah like so yeah, I think, uh, learning other religions can sometimes push you more into the religion that you were raised into too. Do you have any examples of that?
Speaker 2:um, I don't know. I mean, when I got into demonology that was kind of interesting.
Speaker 1:Yeah, I do want to hear more about that.
Speaker 2:That was super interesting, you know, learning about all the different demons and all that, and then that led into all the different angels.
Speaker 1:Who wrote this book about demons?
Speaker 2:Oh God, I can't even remember. I do. I'll have to bring it in, but yeah, it's interesting. But yeah, then it led to learning about angels and there's. You know, then you kind of start thinking about Christianity in a different way. You know, it's not some pretty religion, it's pretty wicked. You know, there's so many different layers.
Speaker 1:Yeah, yeah, so do you believe that there's angels around us? My mom told me when I was little that I had two angels and that I should name them, and I kept that with me forever. And then I had a reading one time and she said you know, some people have one angel, some have two, some have three. And this lady told me I had two. So I never really I'm sure I named them at that point, but I don't have names for them right now or names that I remember naming them. But that was really exciting when she said I had two and my mom had said I had two. So what did you learn about angels?
Speaker 2:the different types and what their, what their jobs and roles were. Um, and that was, that was interesting.
Speaker 1:Um, but then you kind of have to wonder, says who right like, that's what I'm saying is who is this guy that wrote all this stuff like where did he get his info?
Speaker 2:yeah, you know, I mean you can't. I think it's just human nature to question everything um you know, even just the bible itself, like who you know? That's a pretty, that's a pretty big uh thing to question the bible. But yeah you know there's there's so many other um books of the bible that were just kind of uh left out. So it's uh. It's interesting to hear who decides what.
Speaker 1:Yeah, yeah, okay, I'm going to pause and call them because they are very distracting. Yeah, I can hear everywhere you guys are saying and it's super distracting. Can you guys go talk someplace else, please? Thank you, okay. Bye, I'll try and get in the same spot. I don't know if it's been distracting for you, but I'm like it was okay for a minute, but then it got really loud. Yeah, okay.
Speaker 2:They're just passionate.
Speaker 1:I know, I know, isaac, I told you not to laugh. All right, isaac, you're big into conspiracy theories. What's the one that you're focused on right now? You said it like changes day by day, right?
Speaker 2:it does, it does um, you know, and this isn't any new one, but um probably catch a little bit of flack for this taylor swift yeah, what's going on with it right now?
Speaker 1:I I know that there was stuff with um ryan reynolds and what's her name.
Speaker 2:Yeah, you know, I can't remember her name.
Speaker 1:Blake Lively Yep, yep, yeah, does it have to do with that? That's like the last thing that I've heard.
Speaker 2:I guess it's like who is she? And it's like, oh, she's this girl from wherever and she's just a singer. And it's like, oh, she's this girl from wherever and she's just a singer, but there was a conspiracy theory about her actually being Xena Shrek. And this is Taylor or Blake Taylor, taylor Swift being Xena Shrek I think I'm pronouncing that right the daughter of the man who created the Satanist church.
Speaker 1:Wow, wow. So were you a fan of Taylor Swift before this conspiracy theory came out? Are you still?
Speaker 2:I like how she rocked the hell out of the NFL world. I'm not a fan of the NFL, nor am I not a fan. I can care less, less.
Speaker 1:I just like how she stirred the pot and yeah so you love that one girl comes in just like, makes everything up, yeah.
Speaker 2:I love it. I love it. I love all the middle-aged guys that are just getting so upset about it. Yeah, that's, uh, that's what I've been on, and I don't know if it's true or not. I don't think so, but it's definitely interesting, and the one podcast that I was listening to it's called the rabbit hole. They, um, they were talking about it and it's pretty convincing the way that they said it. Yeah.
Speaker 1:Yeah.
Speaker 2:So many, so many coincidences, you just can't help but question. You know they look identical and this Dina lady, she's still alive, but so it's like, well, I just kind of I don't know, but it's, it's super interesting.
Speaker 1:Yeah, I think Taylor is Taylor just because she's dated lots of narcissists and used her art to express that in a healthy way. Somehow she's got to get rid of all that pain and people can relate. But yeah, I mean, she has something special about her. So, yeah, that makes sense. So you? So? This podcast is also about sobriety. You've never been a big drinker. Was there ever a moment in your life where you were like I just need to stop or just never interest you?
Speaker 2:Yeah, so I was kind of a heavy drinker for a while. Um, I started at a pretty young age. Um, unfortunately, about 15 it really started ramping up.
Speaker 1:Um, you know, I was always somehow I was always really good at getting it um, I know when when I was 15, too we would just walk down Main Street and see this guy riding a bike and we're like, hey, for five bucks, would you?
Speaker 2:buy us a bottle.
Speaker 1:There was never a day that we couldn't find alcohol whether somebody's liquor cabinet or just somebody going in.
Speaker 2:Yeah, it was so easy to find. So yeah, 15 to I. I guess 21 is really. When I quit I had an allergic reaction that led to a hospital visit and it was a little bit of a wake up call.
Speaker 1:What were you allergic to?
Speaker 2:Wheat. Oh yeah, a wake-up call. What were you allergic to? Wheat the wheat? Oh it's yeah, yep, so um, you know, I I tried to go other routes um drink things without weight in them yeah, yeah, and then it just it kind of fizzled out, um, and then I had, we had whaling and that was a huge thing.
Speaker 2:So for four years I've been sober it got pretty out of hand for a while, right before he was born. I like to travel and explore. I remember my mother opened the truck door and there was a bunch of beer cans and whatnot falling out and she, she stumbled across a lot of that. So that was. That was a hard, a hard thing to face. You know nothing. Nothing's more than a disappointed parent. But especially I really looked up to my mom and still do, and that was really hard seeing her face.
Speaker 1:Did she say anything, or was it just her face?
Speaker 2:Her face mostly. But yeah, between that, the allergic reaction and Waylon.
Speaker 1:You were like this is just a sign.
Speaker 2:Yeah, yeah.
Speaker 1:Just something I don't need in my life. Yeah a sign. Yeah, I mean yeah, it's just something I don't need in my life yeah, well, do you think that?
Speaker 2:so you have celiac or just gluten insensitivity um insensitivity.
Speaker 1:Yeah, so that could almost maybe be a blessing at this point. It kind of made you start thinking in that direction yeah, yeah, and that's exactly what my family said.
Speaker 2:they were like it's kind of a blessing in disguise, um, because I was getting out of control. Um, I was pretty outgoing, I was pretty vocal about my opinions and not a respectful way, um, you know, just kind of all the stereotypical bad habits that come with drinking Um. But I'm super glad that I did it, I'm super glad that I went through it. I'm, I'm, I'm happy that I, I uh found that just and, uh, I think I'm a better person for it, yeah.
Speaker 1:I don't regret any of my drinking, either because it made me who I am, and or any drugs that I've been addicted to, but you know, it's all made me who I am, made me stronger, made me understand other people's.
Speaker 2:Exactly, addictions yes, yes, yes, yeah, yeah, and I you know you can't help, but try to help other people. I don't know it's, I don't know. I like hearing about other people's problems and trying to help them and share my experience.
Speaker 1:Yeah, definitely so any other addictions or kind of addictions that you've gone through and have been hard to quit, I mean even self-talk, to gambling, to you know, there's so many things that we do that are just habits that we break out of. Is there anything or that you want to?
Speaker 2:um overthinking but, yeah, you know, just just constant worrying about nothing. So I think it's super important just to take those seconds to listen to the wild turkeys or whatnot, just to try to battle that. But yeah, I think that's. I quit chewing tobacco. That was probably most definitely the hardest thing I've ever done.
Speaker 1:How did you do it?
Speaker 2:I had Lydia, my daughter. I tried multiple times, it just never worked. I became the biggest asshole. My wife Shelby. She's a fucking saint for putting up with me. But yeah, lydia for sure.
Speaker 1:It was just a click in your head of like she's not going to have a father. That shows.
Speaker 2:Yeah, I was like you know, you got to be a man about it and just do it yeah.
Speaker 1:Yeah. So I was raised that you know you should love yourself so much. You should love yourself first. Nobody else can love you unless you love yourself completely first. But now I'm exploring the idea of other people loving you. You know letting other people love. You can help you love yourself. You know letting other people love. You can help you love yourself.
Speaker 1:And, and that goes along with this idea of like, if you're just trying to quit something for yourself, that doesn't always work, but when you put it on somebody else that you love, um, I think and I keep thinking of an eat, pray, love when she you might not know that book or movie, but she is in like a Hindu temple or something and she's trying to repeat this mantra over and over again for hours and it's really hard. So then she starts envisioning this girl and starts thinking about her when she's doing the mantra and putting all the attention towards her, and then she's able to get through this couple hour long session, you know, which helps elevate her and her meditation. But to get through it, you know she had to put it on somebody else. So I think that's something worth exploring is that we can't always quit for ourselves, but we can quit for other people.
Speaker 2:Yeah, yeah, for sure.
Speaker 1:Harness our love into somebody else. So, yeah, I think that's beautiful. Yeah, yeah, for sure. Harness our love into somebody else. So, yeah, I think that's beautiful.
Speaker 2:What do you do right now that you hope that your grandkids don't do? I hope they don't overthink things. I hope they don't, you know. I hope they just are better at just doing whatever they want to do, you know, going for it without having to worry about anything. That's what I hope.
Speaker 1:Yeah, love that. What do you do right now that you hope that they do when they're your age?
Speaker 2:I hope they have firm beliefs. You know, I, I hope um, but always question everything and be open-minded. But um, yeah, I I hope they have a good work ethic. I hope they yeah.
Speaker 1:Yeah, definitely. Well, it was so fun talking to you. I'm so glad that you came on.
Speaker 2:Thank you, thank you.
Speaker 1:Not comes from the Greek word sailor and means voyager or traveler, like an astronaut searching the stars. A super not is one searching the inner and outer worlds of self, navigating life, consciousness and reality, striving for betterment. The paradox is that seeking and striving can create more unrest and more unhappiness. So, while calm seas may not make great sailors, I plan to explore the idea of light, rescuing darkness instead of fighting it.