It's About DAMN Time

At some point, pushing through stops being resilience.Lately, I haven't been taking care of myself. Work stress. Money stress. Bad sleep. Not exercising. Creativity feeling stuck. And after three panic attacks in a few weeks, I had to stop telling myself I was fine.But this episode became about something bigger.Why are we so willing to endure things we already know aren't working?Jobs. Relationships. Habits. Entire versions of our lives.Sometimes we're so focused on making it through the day that we never stop long enough to ask whether the life we're fighting so hard to maintain is actually making us happy.I don't have the answer in this episode. I'm still figuring my own shit out.But maybe evolving starts with being willing to admit that something isn't working anymore.In this episode, I talk about:• The difference between enduring and evolving• What almost walking out of my job made me realize• How survival mode can affect your health, creativity, and happiness• Why we stay in situations long after we know they're draining us• The uncomfortable question I couldn't answer about what makes me happy• Why I don't have a five-step solution this time• Taking small steps when changing everything feels impossibleBecause maybe the question isn't, "How do I keep getting through this?"Maybe it's, "Why am I still trying to?"Connect with Me🔗 Follow me on all platforms: @DaWholeDamnShow🎧 Follow It’s About DAMN Time: @ItsAboutDamnTimePod💥 Cop the DAMN University merch right here → Shop now

What if healing isn't about becoming a whole new person?What if part of healing is going back for the version of yourself that stopped talking?My friend Tamara Cox joins me for a conversation that started with a simple phrase: Heal Out Loud.Tamara stepped away from social media for almost nine months. She needed the break. But when she came back, she realized she wasn't just returning to social media. She was trying to find a version of herself she felt like she had lost.We talk about choosing authenticity over perfection, protecting your mental health, losing people when you show up as yourself, adjusting mentally to physical change, and learning that healing doesn't always happen through some huge breakthrough.√ Sometimes healing is getting out of bed.√ Going to therapy.√ Setting the boundary.√ Showing up when you don't feel ready.And somewhere in this conversation, Tamara stopped talking about herself and unknowingly started talking directly to me.Because maybe I've gotten a little quieter too.In this episode:• What “healing out loud” actually means• Why Tamara disappeared from social media for almost nine months• Losing your voice and learning to trust it again• Choosing authenticity even when people don't accept it• Body image after significant weight loss• Why your old self doesn't deserve to be erased• Healing through ordinary moments instead of waiting for breakthroughsFollow Tamara on Instagram and TikTok: @hey.ms.tamara📲 Connect with Me🔗 Follow me on all platforms: @DaWholeDamnShow🎧 Follow It’s About DAMN Time: @ItsAboutDamnTimePod💥 Cop the DAMN University merch right here → Shop now

We say we want peace.Then peace finally shows up...and something about it feels weird.So we start looking for something to fix. Something to worry about. Something to react to. Sometimes we even create the very chaos we said we were tired of.This week, my friend and DAMN University alum Leigh LaRie is back, and she is NOT the same woman who joined me for Surviving Survival Mode.Leigh has spent the last few years doing the work. Setting boundaries. Changing how she responds to triggers. Taking better care of herself. Reevaluating friendships. Holding herself accountable. And most importantly, learning how to stop sabotaging the peace she worked so hard to find.We talk about why familiar chaos can feel safer than unfamiliar peace, what happens when your growth changes your friendships, and why healing isn't just knowing your triggers. It's seeing what you do when those triggers show up again.And sometimes the hardest part of changing your life isn't getting what you asked for.It's believing you deserve to keep it.In this episode, we talk about:Why peace can feel uncomfortable when you're used to chaosHow Leigh realized her healing was actually workingThe difference between knowing your triggers and responding differently to themWhy we sometimes sabotage the very things we say we wantWhat happens to friendships when you start changingWhy every relationship doesn't need a dramatic "cutoff"Learning to feel emotions without immediately reacting to themFinding self-care that actually works for YOUWhy small changes don't always give you instant resultsAccountability without beating yourself upMaking room for the things that actually matterLearning to accept happiness without waiting for something to go wrongIt's About DAMN Time"It's about DAMN time that people stop running from the peace that they prayed for." — Leigh LaRieConnect with Leigh LaRieFollow Leigh LaRie across social media and check out the Dirty Roses Podcast wherever you listen to podcasts.The DAMN ChallengeThis week, pay attention to one moment when everything is actually...okay.No emergency. No problem to solve. Nobody needs saving.Notice what your brain tries to do with that silence.Before you create a problem, revisit an old one, or go looking for something to worry about, ask yourself:Am I uncomfortable because something is wrong...or because peace still feels unfamiliar?Sit with it.You asked for peace.Give yourself a chance to actually have it.Follow Leigh on IG → hereFollow The Dirty Roses Podcast on IG → hereVisit The Dirty Roses Podcast Website → here📲 Connect with Me🔗 Follow me on all platforms: @DaWholeDamnShow🎧 Follow It’s About DAMN Time: @ItsAboutDamnTimePod💥 Cop the DAMN University merch right here → Shop now

What if the thing you're craving isn't actually sex?Maybe you want to be held. Maybe you want a real conversation. Maybe you want to feel seen, understood, safe, or connected to somebody again.This week, I'm joined by spiritual intimacy coach and sensual alchemist Inez Powell for a conversation about what intimacy really looks like beyond the bedroom.We talk about why so many of us confuse sex with intimacy, how stress and disconnection affect our relationships, why communicating what we need can feel so damn hard, and the different ways we experience connection that have nothing to do with sex.I also had a realization during this conversation: sometimes when I thought I wanted sex, what I really wanted was intimacy. A hug. Some affection.To be the little spoon and get my head rubbed.And for men especially, why can asking for something that simple feel so difficult?This conversation goes places I wasn't expecting, including men's emotional health, vulnerability, boundaries, kink, communication, and how the way we were raised affects our ability to connect as adults.Maybe the problem isn't that we need more sex.Maybe we need to get better at recognizing and asking for the intimacy we're actually missing.In This EpisodeWhy sex and intimacy aren't the same thingHow emotional, intellectual, physical, and experiential connection show up in relationshipsWhy affection doesn't always have to lead to sexLearning how to ask for the touch and connection you needHow communication can make or break intimacyWhy men aren't always given space to express vulnerabilitySetting boundaries and communicating desires without shameHow childhood messages about masculinity can follow men into adulthoodWhy reconnecting with yourself matters before trying to connect with somebody elseAbout Inez PowellInez Powell is a spiritual intimacy coach, sensual alchemist, yoga instructor, massage therapist, and Reiki practitioner whose work explores intimacy, energy, connection, and personal growth.Connect with Inez on Instagram at @blacklistenyogi.DAMN ChallengeSlow down long enough to check in with yourself.What kind of connection do you actually need right now?Before looking for someone else to fill that need, take some time to reconnect with yourself. Get outside. Touch some grass. Breathe. Rest. Play. Do something that pours back into you.Because sometimes becoming more connected to other people starts with becoming more connected to yourself.📲 Connect with Me🔗 Follow me on all platforms: @DaWholeDamnShow🎧 Follow It’s About DAMN Time: @ItsAboutDamnTimePod💥 Cop the DAMN University merch right here → Shop now

I didn't plan this episode.No outline. No real direction. I just needed to talk.After dealing with some unexpected grief, old guilt, and my own fear of how short life really is, I found myself asking a question I wasn't prepared to answer:What actually makes me happy?And the fucked up part?I didn't know.I've spent years showing up for other people. My daughter. My family. My friends. My job. This podcast. But somewhere along the way, I got so used to putting myself last that I stopped knowing what choosing myself even looked like.So this episode became less about grief and more about what grief made me realize.Life is short. We say that shit all the time.But what does it actually mean to live when you're dealing with bills, financial stress, responsibilities, survival mode, and people who depend on you?Maybe living doesn't start with the big vacation, the new car, or finally having enough money.Maybe it starts smaller.Buying the damn shoes you've needed for four years.Saving a little money toward that trip.Finally getting the tattoo you've been talking about forever.Making room for something that exists simply because you want it.Because if we've spent years practicing how to put ourselves last, maybe we have to start practicing how to choose ourselves too.In this episode, I talk about grief, my fear of death, financial struggles, losing yourself in your responsibilities, why accepting help can be so damn hard, and the uncomfortable realization that I don't really know what makes me happy right now.I don't have the answer yet.But maybe finding out is the work.The D.A.M.N. ChallengePick one thing you've always wanted to do and take one real step toward it.Don't worry about whether you can do the whole thing today.Research it. Price it. Save $20. Make the call. Write the first page. Put something on the calendar.Start conditioning yourself to make room for you.Life is short.You deserve to live some of yours for yourself.📲 Connect with Me🔗 Follow me on all platforms: @DaWholeDamnShow🎧 Follow It’s About DAMN Time: @ItsAboutDamnTimePod💥 Cop the DAMN University merch right here → Shop now